Jak króla dla Królestwa Polskiego na przełomie 1812 i 1813 roku szukano

This article is devoted to the issue of searching for a monarch for the restored Kingdom of Poland. A substantive analysis of the source material shows that we can observe two periods here – the first is the period preceding the establishment of the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, and the second is the period of efforts to change the political orientation, pursued by Warsaw ministers and some confederation activists at the turn of 1812 and 1813. It was a period of missed opportunities. Although there was a natural candidate for the Polish throne – Frederick Augustus of Saxony – his distance from the preparations for the proclamation of the confederation caused the monarch to distance himself from the entire movement. After Napoleon’s defeat in Russia in the second half of 1812, Warsaw ministers began secret negotiations with Alexander I, using the contacts of Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. These talks were intended to lead to the Polish crown being handed over to the Romanov dynasty. Ultimately, the talks reached an impasse, and Tsar Alexander, emboldened by his military successes, postponed decisions on the Polish question until the end of the war with Napoleon.