In the justification of the very preliminary draft resolution—which city officials stress—we read:
Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1745–1813), still considered a national hero in Russia today, was a military commander whom Western historiography knows primarily as the author of successes in fighting Napoleon’s armies in 1812. In Polish historiography, Mikhail Kutuzov is assessed as an enemy of Polish statehood and its independence.
From the end of the 17th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth fell into ever greater dependence on foreign powers. Russia played an important role in this policy; after the death of Augustus III, it decided at all costs to place its protégé, Stanisław August Poniatowski, on the Polish throne. Against this backdrop, a civil war broke out in the Commonwealth in 1764, during which supporters of the pro-Russian orientation used troops of the Russian Empire called in for assistance. The summoned units often forced the nobility by force to support the Russian candidate, and also fought bloody battles against opponents of Russian rule, who soon formed the Bar Confederation, whose aim was to cast off the Russian protectorate. Unfortunately, the period of fighting from 1764 to 1772 ended in the defeat of the anti-Russian faction and the First Partition of Poland. Nevertheless, the struggle for Polish independence continued, resulting in the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May in 1791 and an armed conflict against the Russian Empire in its defense, begun in 1792 but ending in the Second Partition of Poland. After the Kościuszko Uprising, the Third Partition followed, as a result of which new Russian administrative units were created in the Polish lands seized by the Russians.
During the fighting, already in 1764, the not-yet-17-year-old Mikhail Kutuzov appeared in the territory of the Commonwealth. The young soldier volunteered for the ranks of the Russian army under the command of General I. Wejmar. Kutuzov took part, among other things, in the fighting near Warsaw in June 1764 and in 1765, when he “forced Polish rebels to flee.” A year later he returned to Russia, but already in 1768, when the conflict with the Bar Confederates erupted, Kutuzov again appeared on the battlefield. This time he rose to the rank of captain and took command of small groups conducting irregular, almost guerrilla-style operations. He distinguished himself in the clash near Żwaniec (Ukraine) in February 1769, where an attack by his unit killed or led to the capture of 68 of the 400 Confederates. On the same day, his unit helped carry out a bloody assault on 300 defenders of a small town at the mouth of the Zbruch River into the Dniester.
In 1770, Kutuzov left Polish lands and went to the Turkish front. During his career, he admired and modeled himself on the military skills of General Suvorov, whose favorite he became. Aleksandr Suvorov is known for anti-Polish activities; he took part, among other things, in suppressing the Bar Confederation and became notorious for his bloody actions during the suppression of the Kościuszko Uprising, carrying out a massacre of the Polish civilian population with Russian troops during the defense of Praga in Warsaw in November 1794. It is estimated that between 5,000 and as many as 20,000 people died during the Praga massacre.
On 23 May 1785, General Potemkin issued Kutuzov an order assigning him the mission of creating, in the Polish lands east of the Bug River, from the units entrusted to him there, the Naburzańsk Jaeger Corps, and of making every effort to train and equip the formation and control the area during the war with Turkey (1787–1791).
Kutuzov returned to the Polish theater of war after 22 years, when the Targowica Confederates called on Russia for help in the fight against supporters of the constitution. Kutuzov then commanded a corps forming part of General Kakhovsky’s army. His units took part, among other things, in the Battle of Dubienka in 1792, which cost the lives of 900 Polish soldiers. After the fighting in Polish lands, Mikhail Kutuzov was assigned to Constantinople on a mission to take up the post of ambassador to Turkey, from where he continued activities aimed at crushing Polish efforts to throw off the yoke of Russian rule. Through the Moldavian monarch, the Poles maintained diplomatic relations with Turkey and tried to secure its support in the fight against the Russians, of which Kutuzov kept the court in St. Petersburg continuously informed. Other countries also sought an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, including revolutionary France, which sought to organize an alliance of five states (including Turkey and Poland) with an anti-Russian character. However, Kutuzov’s diplomatic efforts proved more effective, and the alliance did not materialize, dispelling Polish hopes of fighting for independence.
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, Kutuzov was appointed governor-general of Lithuania. The Lithuanian governor-generalship was established after the Third Partition in the eastern territories of the Commonwealth incorporated into the Russian Empire. As an administrative entity, it consisted of three governorates: Vilna, Kaunas and Grodno. The lands of the eastern voivodeships of the Commonwealth seized by the Russian Empire were inhabited in large part by Polish people.
Near the end of his life, on 13 March 1813, Field Marshal Kutuzov received a mission from Tsar Alexander I to organize administration over the territories taken from Napoleon by the Russians. In the Duchy of Warsaw, Kutuzov established the Supreme Provisional Council as the central administrative body in the occupied lands of the Duchy of Warsaw. Its responsibilities included all administrative matters of the country, except those reserved for the Russian military authorities. It took over responsibility for local administration, the judiciary and education, subordinating the Duchy of Warsaw to the Russian authorities and administering the territory until the constitutional authorities of the Kingdom of Poland were established.
Mikhail Kutuzov was a representative and implementer of Russia’s raison d’état, which during his activity was based, among other things, on turning the Commonwealth into a protectorate fully dependent on the Russian Empire, which in practice amounted to suppressing Polish pro-independence attitudes. He did not shrink from armed struggle; he took direct, often bloody, part in the fighting and conducted vigorous diplomatic and administrative activities directed against Polish independence.
The authors of the aforementioned document emphasize:
In view of the above, the continued patronage of Mikhail Kutuzov over the street name is controversial and unjustified. On the other hand, naming the street “Battle of Warsaw,” in view of its historical significance for the subsequent fate of Poland and Europe, is justified.
The Battle of Warsaw therefore carries a universal message about the need to stand up to dictatorships and the effectiveness of sacrifices in defense of freedom [...].
They also argue: – The Battle of Warsaw is one of the most underestimated and unknown events in Western historiography, and it is worth emphasizing that the battle fought near Warsaw had consequences for the whole of Europe. The Second Polish Republic stood in the way of the Red Army, which made no secret of its far-reaching plans connected with its march deep into the continent. To this day, historians still debate what the capture of Warsaw by the Red Army might have led to. Thanks to the sacrifice of the Poles, who were able, in the face of danger, to set aside political, ideological and religious differences, one of the greatest victories in Polish history was achieved.
There are 106 people registered at Michał Kutuzowa Street, including 90 adults, as well as 10 businesses.
When will the consultations take place?
Public consultations will be held in May this year. The rules have not yet been announced.
What will the new street be called?
The draft submitted by the chairman of the Bolesławiec City Council contains only one name: “Battle of Warsaw.” Nevertheless, a petition containing several other names has also been submitted to the city hall. In accordance with the procedures, the latter document will be handled by the municipal council’s Committee on Complaints, Requests and Petitions.
More about the whole matter in the report: Will there be no Kutuzowa Street? The city does not want such a street patron.