Origins
After the Third Partition of Poland (1795), many Poles believed that revolutionary France, whose public opinion was very sympathetic to the ideals of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791, would come to Poland's aid. France's enemies included Poland's partitioners, Prussia, Austria and Imperial Russia. Paris was the seat of two Polish organizations laying the claim to be the Polish government-in-exile, the Deputation (Deputacja) of Franciszek Ksawery Dmochowski and the Agency (Agencja) of Józef Wybicki. Many Polish soldiers, officers and volunteers therefore emigrated, especially to Italy and to France. Eventually, the Agency was successful in convincing the French government (the Directory) to organize a Polish military unit. As the French Constitution did not allow for the employment of foreign troops on French soil, the French decided to use the Poles to bolster their allies in Italy, the Cisalpine Republic.
Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, a former high-ranking officer in the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, began his work in 1796 – a year after the total destruction of the Commonwealth. At that time he went to Paris, and later, Milan, where his idea received support from Napoleon Bonaparte, who saw the Poles as a promising source of new recruits, and who superficially appeared receptive to the idea of liberating Poland. Dąbrowski was soon authorized by the French-allied Cisalpine Republic to create the Polish Legions, which would be part of the army of the newly created Republic of Lombardy. This agreement, drafted by Napoleon, was signed on 9 January 1797, and marked the formal creation of the Legions.
Read more about this topic: Polish Legions (Napoleonic Period)
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