Russian soldiers capturing Polish children in Warsaw 1831

Incorporation of Polish children into the Imperial Russian Army occurred during and after the defeat of the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

(1830–1831), when

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

adolescents were incorporated into the Imperial Army of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In March 1831, in accordance with Tsar Nicholas I, the children of those who took part in the November Uprising were treated as

cantonist Cantonists (Russian language: кантонисты; more properly: военные кантонисты, "military cantonists") were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "canton schools" (К ...

s and incorporated into special battalions of the Imperial Russian Army. A March 24, 1832 ''

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts ...

'' ordered the assignment to special children's battalions of adolescent boys, 7 to 16 years of age, children of political exiles, orphans, those of the poor and homeless. Several thousand children were taken.

References

{{Reflist Partitions of Poland Military occupations of Poland