Donosy i zeznania ujawniające spiski niepodległościowe w Poznańskiem (1845–1847)

Denunciations and testimonies revealing independence conspiracies in the Poznań Province (1845–1847) The article provides an analysis of denunciations and testimonies given to the Prussian authorities by Polish conspirators preparing an uprising against the partitioning powers ruling Poland in the nineteenth century: Prussia, Russia and Austria. The denunciations and testimonies led to an unmasking of the conspiracy, to arrests and to a failure of the uprising plans. The main objective of the article is not to discover new historical facts, although the author does point to several matters presented in the sources and hitherto not discussed in the literature. Instead, the objective is to demonstrate the problems of interpretation encountered by archivists and historians tackling the sources referred to in the title. The author seeks to draw attention to the factographic and interpretative difficulties and traps awaiting those studying this type of police and court records — in this case produced by the Prussian state in the nineteenth century. The information found in the available sources — police and court sources as well as descriptive sources produced by participants in the events — is insufficient to explain the reasons behind and circumstances in which the denunciations were made, revealing the preparations for a Polish uprising against the three partitioning powers — Russian, Prussia and Austria — in the mid-1840s. All delators presented in the article justified their action by citing reasons of a higher order — a desire to avoid the tragedy of a premature or unnecessary uprising (S. Mielżyński, H. Poniński) or to minimise the consequences of arrests — as well as broader political goals (F. Wiesiołowski, L. Mierosławski). As the available sources suggest, they stuck to their opinions and versions of events. Historians are left with conjectures concerning the intentions behind and circumstances of the denunciations, which do not justify unequivocal conclusions or categorical judgements.