Administrative Districts of Prussian Poland – Kingdom of Prussia After the Second Partition of Poland (1793-1794)

During the years of 1788-1792, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth congress held what is commonly referred to as the Four-Year Sejm. The congress would meet to reform the commonwealth and its laws. The King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanisław Poniatowski, supported the political and economic reforms and helped pass the changes into law. The biggest and most profound reform was the newly adopted May 3rd Constitution (Wikipedia, Great Sejm, 2009).

On March 29, 1790, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth signed a pact of alliance with Kingdom of Prussia, which would be called the Polish-Lithuanian and Prussian Alliance. The pact would guarantee military aid for each country if either were attacked. The pact would be tested in 1792 (Wikipedia, Second Partition of Poland, 2010).

Internal and external forces were at odds with the newly ratified constitution. The internal forces were led by Polish Magnates who were against the newly formed constitution, they would be called the Confederation of Targowica. The external forces were led by the Russian Empire, who considered the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a vassal of their empire. The Russian Empire was also against the new Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s constitution. The Russian military and the Confederation of Targowica declared war on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on May 18, 1792 (Davies, 2005).

The Russian military invaded the lands of the Ukraine. Then Prussia would break the Polish-Lithuanian and Prussian Alliance by invading from the west, which solidified the defeat of the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish–Russian War of 1792 would end before the year was through (Wikipedia, Second Partition of Poland, 2010).

In 1793, a defeated Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was sectioned off by the Prussian and Russian victors. Prussia received the port city of Gdansk and the area of Great Poland, including Poznań (Posen), Kalisz (Kalisch), Gniezno (Gnesen), Płock, and Brześć Kujawy (Brest). The lands were incorporated into South Prussia (Magocsi, 2002).

The new lands would be incorporated and divided into the following administrative districts: the Province of East Prussia, the Province of West Prussia (including the Netze District) and the Province of South Prussia. The areas were divided further into Kammer-departments (sub-provincial departments) and then Kreise (smaller districts or counties). The administrative districts, with their German names, were as follows:

– Westpreussisches Kammer-Departement (Kreis Marienwerder, Kreis Marienburg, Kreis Kulm, Kreis Michelau, Kreis Dirschau, Kreis Danzig, Kreis Stargard, and Kreis Konitz)

– Westpreussisches Kammer-Departement für den Netzdistrict (Kreis Deutsch Krone, Kreis Kamin, Kreis Bromberg, and Kreis Inowroclaw)

– Ostpreußisches Kammer-Departement (Kreis Samland, Kreis Bradenburg, Kreis Braunsberg, Kreis Morungen, Kreis Meidenburg, Kreis Rastenburg, and Kreis Tapiau).

– Litauisches Kammer-Departement (Kreis Insterburg, Kreis Semesten, and Kreis Oletzko).

– Departement der Kriegs- und Domainen-Kammer zu Posen (Kreis Posen, Kreis Oborniki, Kreis Meseritz, Kreis Bomst, Kreis Fraustadt, Kreis Krebe, Kreis Schrimm, Kreis Kosten, Kreis Krotoschin, Kreis Peisern, Kreis Schroda, Kreis Gnesen, Kreis Wangrowitz, Kreis Powitz, Kreis Brzesk, Kreis Radziejow, and Kreis Kowal).

– Departement der Kriegs- und Domainen-Kammer zu Kalisch (Kreis Kalisch, Kreis Adeinau, Kreis Konin, Kreis Ostreschow, Kreis Wielun, Kreis Lumtomiersk, Kreis Warta, Kreis Schadek, Kreis Sieradz, Kreis Petrikau, Kreis Radomsk, and Kreis Czenstochau).
 – Departement der Kriegs- und Domainen-Kammer zu Warschau (Kreis Warschau, Kreis Blonin, Kreis Tschersk, Kreis Rawa, Kreis Sochaczew, Kreis Gostin, Kreis Orlow, Kreis Lenczyca, Kreis Zgierz, and Kreis Brzenin).

When describing place names in Prussian Poland, during the years of 1773-1792, I recommend using the format listed below: