Topic: At the mercy of the Tsar. Kingdom of Poland

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

XX. Polish lands in the years 1815‑1848. Student:

2. characterises the constitutional period of the Kingdom of Poland – political system, achievements in the field of economy, culture and education.

The general aim of education

Students will learn about the constitutional period of the Kingdom of Poland – political system, achievements in the field of economy, culture and education.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• characterises the achievements of the Kingdom of Poland in the field of economy, culture and education;

• analyses the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland of 1815.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text and audio recording.

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• computers with Internet access;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• materials from e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or large screen with a projector to display the content of the e‑textbook for the whole class.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to recall the findings of the Congress of Vienna concerning Poland.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains to the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students about Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia and his attitude towards Poles. Using the talk method, the teacher explains the reasons for this. The teacher tells the students about relations between Konstantin and Alexander I, about Konstantin's lost rights to the throne of Russia, about his marriage to Polish Countess Joanna Grudzińska.

3. Students fulfill Instruction 1. They analyse how the Kingdom of Poland differed from the Duchy of Warsaw in terms of area. They show on the map the borderland of the former Republic of Poland (the so‑called occupied lands, i.e. Lithuanian‑Russian lands), annexed to the Russian Empire.

Realization

1. The teacher introduces the students to the political system of the Kingdom of Poland, and then the students fulfil Instruction 2. They read the selected articles of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland. They discuss together what civil and national freedoms it guaranteed. Why were they important? Referring to the students' knowledge of romantic literature, the teacher discusses examples of the Tsar's violation of the constitution.

2. The students – divided into two groups – fulfil Instruction 3 and Instruction 4 respectively. Then, each group presents its findings. Group 1 evaluates the effects of personnel changes in the Ministry of Education carried out in 1820. Group 2 determines in which year the University of Warsaw enjoyed the greatest popularity among students. Then the teacher uses this information in the form of a talk to outline the educational and cultural achievements of the Kingdom of Poland.

3. Students fulfil Instruction 5. They learn about the economy of the Kingdom of Poland. Then they find them on the map of the Kingdom of Poland. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

4. When doing exercises and instructions, the teacher uses tents or a set of cards in three colors: green, yellow and red. Students use the cards to indicate to the teacher whether they are having difficulty in fulfilling the instructions (green – I’m doing great, yellow – I have some doubts, red – I need help).

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students to do Exercise 1. The students organize the information obtained during the lesson, suggest further pairs of information (author plus work), the teacher writes them down on the board and the students - in their notebooks

2. The students do Exercise 2, indicating the institutions and organisations established or the investments started in the times of the Kingdom of Poland.

3. The teacher assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. The teacher gives the students feedback on their work.

4. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to read the excerpt from the e‑textbook Broken friendship with the Russian ruler, and to fulfil the following instruction: “On the basis of the acquired knowledge and the information obtained during the lesson, answer the question: what changed in the thinking and actions of the nobility in the first half of the 19th century?”

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

At the mercy of the Tsar. Kingdom of Poland

In 1815 the Duchy of Warsaw was abolished and replaced by the Congress Poland. It was a constitutional monarchy connected with the Russian Empire by a personal union. The internal system of the state was regulated by the Constitution of the Congress Poland, which was developed under the direction of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and based on the French model. The most liberal in Europe constitution was respected neither by Grand Duke Konstantin nor by Polish politicians obedient to Russia. The brutal actions of the Russians and the violation of civil and national liberties by the Russian authorities aroused social resistance. In the aftermath of the Congress of Vienna, the cultural life of the country was revived. The Society of Friends of Learning, founded in 1800, played an important role in the intellectual life of the capital of the Congress Poland. The biggest Polish cities —= Warsaw, Cracow, Lviv and Vilnius —opened their own permanent theatres. A breakthrough in the history of the Congress Poland was the opening of the University of Warsaw in 1816. The Kingdom of Poland has also seen a rapid increase in the number of elementary schools and secondary schools. The Minister of the Treasury, Prince Franciszek Ksawery Lubecki‑Drucki, took care of the economic development of the country. Three industrial centres developed in the Kingdom of Poland: the Łódź Industrial Region, the Old‑Polish Industrial Region and the Dąbrowa Basin.