Spór Aleksandra I i Klemensa von Metternicha o kwestię polską podczas kongresu wiedeńskiego .......... 57

THE DISPUTE BETWEEN ALEXANDER I AND KLEMENS VON METTERNICH OVER THE POLISH QUESTION DURING THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA

This article examines how the contrasting political visions and personal dispositions of Tsar Alexander I and Prince Klemens von Metternich shaped their approaches to the Polish question during the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). The study builds upon Friedrich von Gentz’s assertion that the relationship between the two statesmen constituted one of the principal forces driving the negotiations. Drawing on Gentz’s memoirs alongside the works of Henry Kissinger, Adam Zamoyski, Wolfram Siemann, Szymon Askenazy, and Władysław Zajewski, the article reconstructs the motivations, political objectives, and perceptions that informed both actors’ policies toward Poland. It contrasts Alexander I’s liberal and legitimist rhetoric with Metternich’s conservative commitment to the European balance of power, arguing that their fundamentally different conceptions of the post-Napoleonic order determined their negotiating positions. The analysis demonstrates that Alexander I regarded the creation of a Polish kingdom under the Romanov dynasty as both a realization of Russian strategic interests and an expression of his broader vision of legitimate European order. Metternich, by contrast, viewed such a solution as a direct threat to the continental balance of power and to the security of the Habsburg Monarchy. The article argues that their confrontation extended far beyond the future of the Polish territories, reflecting two competing conceptions of the international order in Restoration Europe. Consequently, the Polish question emerged as one of the central arenas of Austro -Russian rivalry and a key factor in shaping the Vienna settlement.