Państwa zaborcze wobec zbiegów i dezerterów – rosyjsko-pruskie konwencje kartelowe z lat 1816–1830

Relationships between the Russian Empire (and the Kingdom of Poland) and the Kingdom of Prussia, which took place during the first fifteen years after signing the Treaty of Vienna (1815), included many so-called sensitive topics. Among them there were issues of border crossing: fleeing and desertion. In order to stop or limit people from such acts, invading countries signed a plethora of cartel agreements in the years 1816-1830. One of the first agreements was signed on 13th/25th May 1816 that soon – on 24th March/5th April 1817 – was extended by an additional extradition order. Another important Russian-Prussian agreement was a convention (with a declaration) dated back to 17th/29th March 1830. The discussed agreements, which regulated the procedures for effective capture and transfer of deserters and fugitives in quite detail, were supposed to refer only to legal, not political, issues partly by definition, and by international practice. This lasted until 1830, when David d’Alopaeus and Christian Bernstorff signed a cartel agreement from March 1830, which also concerned (in the secret declaration) the possible extradition of political criminals. Signing of such a convention just eights months before the outbreak of the November Uprising shows invading countries’ attitude towards a possible and anticipated fight for Polish national liberation.