Members of the Provisional Central Military Government of Galicia – a contribution to the collective biography

Abstract

In 1809, in the territories of the Austrian Partition, which had been taken away from Austrians by Polish soldiers, the Central Provisional Military Government of Galicia was formed. The duties of the Governement was the reorganization of administration in Galicia and organization of military troops. The President of the Government was Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski, the most popular and richest magnate in Galicia. Representatives of the local nobility were appointed to other positions in the Government and in the poviat administration bodies. Archive materials allowed the tracing of 53 members. They were born between 1740 and 1780, most often from rich landed gentry and nobility. They owned estates in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Their career path was typical of the social state they represented. Educated, most often in the spirit of the Enlightenment, they took their first steps in public service as administrative officials or military personnel. Some of these careers seemed to have been above average, but the fall of the country in 1795 led to their their interruption. Withdrawing from public life, they returned in 1809. This article, an attempt to form a characteristic of this group, is part of the research on the elite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th century.