Grand Duchy of Cracow
- For the Grand Duke, overlord of the Polanes, see Duke of Cracow
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The Grand Duchy of Cracow (German: Großherzogtum Krakau, Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie) was created after the incorporation of the Free City of Kraków to Austria on November 16, 1846. The title of Grand Duke of Cracow was just a part of the official titulary of the Emperor of Austria in 1846-1918.
At the same time the official name of the Austrian administrative entity containing approximately Galicia, and some Polish areas west of it, was changed to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the Grand Duchy of Cracow with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator.
The Duchy had its own local governement, Governorate Commission (Polish: Komisja Gubernialna).
The Free City of Kraków was a protectorate, however it was functionally independent, as a result of the Congress of Vienna (1815). It was under Prussian, Austrian, and Russian trilateral influence until, in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising, it was annexed by the Austrian Empire. The Free City was a remnant of the Duchy of Warsaw partitioned among the three states in 1815.
Each of these entities (Galicia, Lodomeria, Cracow, Auschwitz, and Zator) was formally separate; they were listed as such in the Austrian emperor's titles, each had its distinct coat of arms and flag. For administrative purposes, however, they formed a single province.
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