Western Krai (Russian: Западный край) or Stolen Lands (Polish: Ziemie Zabrane) is an unofficial name, introduced in 1834 by a Polish historian Maurycy Mochnacki, of the westernmost parts of the Imperial Russia, but excluding the Kingdom of Poland. Those territories - created from lands annexed to Russia during the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century (1772, 1793 and 1795) - were also known in Poland as the Stolen Lands or Taken Lands.
Western Krai was made of the following lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth:
- from the First Partition of Poland (1772): Inflants (Latgale), northern part of the Polotsk Voivodeship, entire Mstsislaw Voivodeship and Vitebsk Voivodeship, and south eastern part of the Minsk Voivodeship (about 92,000. km²)
- from the Second Partition of Poland (1793): remaining part of the Minsk Voivodeship, the entire Kiev Voivodeship, Bracław Voivodeship and Vilnius Voivodeship, parts of Podole Voivodeship and eastern parts of the Wołyń Voivodeship and Brest Litovsk Voivodeship (about 250,000. km²)
- from the Third Partition of Poland (1795): all the territories east of the Bug River and (about 120,000. km²) (after 1807, the Belostok Oblast)
It has never constituted one official administrative subdivision (Krai) of Russia but was a common name to two such subdivisions Northwestern Krai and Southwestern Krai.
It consisted of 9 guberniyas: 6 Belarusian and Lithuanian ones that constituted the Northwestern Krai (Vilna Governorate, Kovno Governorate, Grodno Governorate, Minsk Governorate, Mogilev Governorate and Vitebsk Governorate) and 3 Ukrainian ones that constituted the Southwestern Krai (Volhynia Governorate, Podolia Governorate and Kiev Governorate).
Due to its national specifics, it had some special laws and elements of government.
During the reign of Alexander I of Russia Poles prevailed in the western provinces. Since 1819 Grodno, Vilna, Minsk, Volhynia, Podolia governorates and the Belostok Oblast remained under the chief administrative management of the Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia. All positions of the local administration was dominated by Poles. Szlachta there had a wide local government and enjoyed many social, economic and military privileges.
Famous quotes containing the word western:
“It appeared that he had once represented his tribe at Augusta, and also once at Washington, where he had met some Western chiefs. He had been consulted at Augusta, and gave advice, which he said was followed, respecting the eastern boundary of Maine, as determined by highlands and streams, at the time of the difficulties on that side. He was employed with the surveyors on the line. Also he called on Daniel Webster in Boston, at the time of his Bunker Hill oration.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)