Partition and Napoleonic Wars

Following the 1795 Third Partition of Poland which brought an end to Poland-Lithuania, the former Podlachia Voivodeship was divided between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg monarchy (Austrian Empire from 1804), with the Bug forming the border between them. Part of Podlachia's eastern border became the boundary between Prussia and the Russian Empire. Within Prussia the Podlachian territory was organised as part of the Białystok Department of New East Prussia, which also included parts of the former Mazovian and Trakai Voivodeships; the Habsburg portion lay mostly within the Siedlce Kreis of West Galicia (Galicia and Lodomeria from 1803).

In 1807, by the Treaties of Tilsit, Prussia ceded all of its gains in the second and third partitions, as well as part of the first. Most of this territory, including the western and northern parts of Prussian Podlachia, became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, a Polish client state of the First French Empire, while the southeastern part including Białystok fell under Russian rule as the Belostok Oblast. The Podlachian territory within the Belostock Oblast corresponded with the Bielsk and Drohiczyn Uyezds (roughly "counties") and the western part of Belostok Uyezd. The small amounts of Podlachian territory in the Duchy of Warsaw lay within the Łomża Department, itself based on the territory of the Prussian Białystok Departement after the removal of the Belostock Oblast. The Habsburg part of Podlachia became part of the Duchy of Warsaw by the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn, forming much of the Siedlce Department. Although Prussian and Austrian rule was brief, it has remained administratively divided by the Bug ever since.

Russian rule

Congress Poland c. 1830.

  Augustów Voivodeship

  Podlachia Voivodeship

Belostok Oblast 1807–42

  Belostok Uyezd

  Bielsk Uyezd

  Drohiczyn Uyezd

At the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, the Congress of Vienna transformed most of the Duchy of Warsaw, including the formerly Podlachian parts, into "Congress Poland" (formally the Kingdom of Poland) and placed it in a personal union with Russia; with that, all of Podlachia fell under Russian control. In theory this kingdom was created as an autonomous entity but in practice its separate laws and freedoms were simply ignored by the Emperors and control was steadily centralised, particularly following the November and January Uprisings (1830–31, 1863–64). Within Congress Poland the former Siedlce Department became the Podlachia Voivodeship, while the former Łomża Department became the Augustów Voivodeship; these became the Podlachian and Augustów Governorates in 1837.

In 1842 the Belostok Oblast was dissolved and merged into Grodno Governorate,^[3] and the Drohiczyn Uyezd was merged into Bielsk Uyezd. In 1844 the Podlachian Governorate was merged into the Lublin Governorate.

In the 19th century the region was a stronghold of Polish resistance against Russian rule. Stanisław Brzóska, the last partisan of the January Uprising, operated there until 1865. He was hanged publicly by the Russians in Sokołów Podlaski in May 1865. As a result of the uprising, in 1867 Congress Poland was formally absorbed into Russia as the Vistula Land (Privislinsky Krai), although the Kingdom still nominally existed. The Podlachian Governorate was also restored under the name Siedlce Governorate, and the Augustów Governorate was split between the Łomża and Suwałki Governorates; Augustów itself went to Suwałki Governorate while the rest of the Podlachian territory went to the Łomża Governorate.

According to the Russian Imperial Census of 1897, the most spoken languages in the Siedlce Governorate were Polish (66.13%), Yiddish (15.56%) and Ukrainian (13.95%).^[6] At the same time the most spoken languages in Bielsk Uyezd were Ukrainian (39.1%), Polish (34.9%), Yiddish (14.9%), Russian (5.9%) and Belarusian (4.9%);^[7] those in the Białystok Uyezd were Polish (33.95%), Yiddish (28.34%), Belarusian (26.13%), Russian (6.68%) and German (3.59%).^[8]

In 1912 Siedlce Governorate was once again abolished and divided between the Lublin, Łomża and Kholm Governorates, with all three gaining some parts of the former Podlachia; Kholm Governorate was also removed administratively from the Vistula Land, instead being made part of the Kiev General Governorate.

World War I to present

During World War I the area was occupied by the German Empire, with most of the Vistula Land falling under the Government General of Warsaw (later the Central Powers puppet Kingdom of Poland) while the areas further east, including Białystok and the Suwałki Governorate, fell under Ober Ost.

In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, parts of the region, particularly Białystok, were contested by several states but ultimately became part of the Second Polish Republic following the Polish–Soviet War. During the interwar period the northern part fell entirely within the Białystok Voivodeship while the southern part belonged to the Lublin Voivodeship; the April 1938 reforms transferred Węgrów and Sokołów from Lublin to the Warsaw Voivodeship.

In 1939 Poland was invaded and partitioned between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Although the border agreed upon in the Pact would have given all of Podlachia to the Soviet Union, the final border agreed upon in the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty signed after the invasion gave the southern part to the Nazi General Government, while the northern part of Podlachia was annexed by the Soviet Union as the Belastok Region of the Byelorussian SSR. Nazi Germany would annex the Soviet part as the Bialystok District in 1941. The region once again returned to Polish control in 1945.

In 1999 the modern Podlaskie Voivodeship was established which encompasses the northern part of historic Podlachia, including Białystok and Drohiczyn, as well as surrounding areas, including Łomża and Suwałki. Its southern border lies along the Bug.

Ethnic situation

A fragment of the ethnographic map by Aleksandr Rittikh with ethnic composition of Podlachia, 1875

While today Podlachia is mostly inhabited by Poles, many Belarusians live in the eastern parts.^[9] According to Polish census of 2002, in Podlaskie Voivodeship there were 46,041 Belarusians (3.9%) and 1,366 Ukrainians (0.1%).^[10] Autochthonous inhabitants have difficulties in national self-identification and identifying of their language.^[11][12] They often identify their nationality as "tutejszy" (literally "locals").^[13] Based on comparison of a survey and the census, Marek Barwiński supposes that people with a low level of national identity during the census usually choose the major nationality in their region.^[14]

Orthodox autochthonous inhabitants are known as khakhly (without any negative connotations, though today in Ukraine it is known as an ethnic slur for Ukrainians).^[15] According to Mykhailo Lesiv, this name appeared after it was used to denote locals in the Russian Imperial Army.^[15] Many scientific researches prove that the orthodox population in Podlachia have Ukrainian origin (19th century censuses, historical and linguistic researches), though today the number of people with the Ukrainian identity is very small.^[16]

Until the 19th century, Podlachia was populated by the Polish-speaking yeomanry (drobna szlachta), Jews (primarily in towns), and Ruthenian Greek-Catholics speaking a dialect related to modern Ukrainian – the so-called Khakhlak (Chachlak) dialect, which derived its name from a derogatory term for Ukrainians (khakhol or khokhol being the name of the traditional haircut of Ukrainian Cossacks).

In the 19th century, the inhabitants of Podlachia were under the rule of the Russian Empire, with southern Podlachia constituting a part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. After 1831, Russian authorities forbade the Greek-Catholic faith in northern Podlachia and it disappeared from the area. In 1875, Russians forbade this rite in the southern portion as well, and all Greek-Catholic inhabitants were forced to accept the Eastern Orthodox faith. However, the resistance of the local people was surprisingly strong and Ruthenian speakers from this area rejected the separation from the Pope. In 1874, blessed Wincenty Lewoniuk and 12 companions were killed by Russian soldiers in Pratulin. In reaction to these measures, the Ruthenians of southern Podlachia began to identify themselves with the national movement of the Roman Catholic Poles. To preserve the full communion with the Pope, they changed their rite from Eastern to Latin before the compulsory conversion of Greek Catholics into Orthodox. In 1912, Russian authorities issued a tolerance edict that made it possible to change confession from Orthodox to Roman Catholic (but not to Greek-Catholic, which had been completely deleted). A majority of the inhabitants of southern Podlachia changed their faith from Orthodox to Roman Catholic. At present, very few people in this area speak Ruthenian and nearly all consider themselves Poles. Meanwhile, the eastern part of northern Podlachia is still populated by Belarusians.

Podlachia is also the cultural center of Poland's small Tatar minority as well. After the annexation of eastern Poland into the Soviet Union following World War II, Poland was left with only 2 Tatar villages, Bohoniki and Kruszyniany (both outside the historical borders of Podlachia). Some Tatars from the territories annexed to the USSR have been repatriated to Poland and clustered in cities, particularly Białystok. In 1925 the Muslim Religious Union (Muzułmański Związek Religijny) was formed in Białystok. In 1992, the Union of Tatars of the Republic of Poland (Związek Tatarów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) with autonomous branches in Białystok and Gdańsk began operating.

Language

The dominant language in Podlaskie Voivodeship is Polish.^[17] Autochthonous inhabitants speak a Podlachian variety. Many linguists relate them to the Ukrainian language.^[18][19] Linguists have been exploring them since 19th century, when they were also known as Siedlce dialects (because of the name of Siedlce Governorate, where the dialects were mostly investigated).^[20] There is a problem if they should be considered as part of west Polisian dialects subgroup or as a separate subgroup of northern dialectal group of the Ukrainian language.^[21] In the Northern Podlachia Podlachian subdialects are also often considered to be Belarusian dialects^[22][20] or sometimes Ruthenian dialects.^[23]

Since the locals are known as khakhly, the local language is also called Khakhlatska mova (Ukrainian: хахлацька мова, "khokhols' language").^[15] S. Zhelekhov wrote in 1884 that the people call their language "Polesian, but those, who were in the army (in the soldiers) call it Khakhlatska".^[24]