Alexander's Constitution

In November 1815 Tsar Alexander I granted the Kingdom of Poland, then under Russian control, a constitution.

Twenty years earlier, Poland had been partitioned among Russia, Prussia, and Austria, but now the constitution gave it a small measure of autonomy and the right to convene its own parliament, the Sejm.

The news of Poland’s constitution was extremely upsetting to a group of young imperial officers; it prompted them to begin forming secret anti-government societies and, in 1825, stage the Decembrist Revolt – an attempt to overthrow the monarchy and introduce a constitution.