Austria’s attitude towards Polish nobility in Galicia between 1772-1861

The specifi c policies of the Austrian government towards the Polish nobility in the pre-autonomous period resulted in signifi cant differences in their legal status. This became particularly evident in the 1870s and 1880s following the introduction of new laws on noble status and property. Three major groups emerged among the Polish nobility as a result. The fi rst group, called szlachta posesorska, consisted of nobles who owned land estates and serfs; the second, known as szlachta zagrodowa, was made up of those who owned land but no serfs; the fi nal group, szlachta 200 cząstkowa and poddańcza were those who did not own the lands on which they lived and who themselves were subject to certain feudal obligations. The process of dissolving the unity and cohesion of the Polish nobility sped up after 1848, when noble privileges were largely abolished as a consequence of the revolution. The old legal confi rmations of social status and legitimacy became worthless. This resulted in all Polish nobles, save those who possessed land, losing their status and becoming equal to peasants in the eyes of the law. Polish nobility then became divided into two, rather than three, groups: landowners with a legal right to their holdings and the rest, whose legal position did not differ from that of peasants. The divisions outlined above were cemented through the implementation of electoral laws for the National Parliament. The landowners became a privileged constituency of voters while the landless gentry - just like the peasants - formed a much less infl uential bloc.