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TheDenisko uprising (Polish:Insurekcja Deniski), named after Joachim Denisko, was the firstPolish rebellion after the failedKosciuszko Uprising. It took place in late June 1797 in the regions ofPokucie andPodole, which after thePartitions of Poland became part of AustrianGalicia.

Joachim Mokosiej Denisko was born inc. 1756, in a Polishszlachta family ofVolhynia. AJacobin, he took part in the Kosciuszko Uprising, as a political and military commandant of the County ofKrzemieniec. In 1794, he carried out a failed rebel raid on Volhynia, after which he fled to theOttoman Empire, a traditional enemy of theRussian Empire. While in Turkey, Denisko worked on another rebellion, cooperating with a patriotic organization fromLwów, Centralizacja Lwowska.

Centralizacja Lwowska was founded in January 1796 inKraków, but soon afterwards its office was moved to Lwów. Its members were mainly rich landowners from Austrian and Russian occupied parts of Poland, with bulk of them living in Galicia. Centralizacja also had members in Volhynia and formerGrand Duchy of Lithuania: its target was a general insurrection, with support of Turkey and revolutionaryFrance. The organization was commanded byWalerian Dzieduszycki, while Joachim Denisko was one of key members.

First Polish military units were organized in Podole,Bukovina andWallachia in 1795. Polish patriots hoped for an armed conflict between Russia and Turkey (seeHistory of the Russo-Turkish wars), in which they supported the Ottomans. The number of Polish military personnel in northern provinces of the Ottoman Empire was about 1700; their camps were visited by French and English officers.

In early March 1797, a group of Polish officers created Zwiazek Wojskowy (Military Association), commanded by Joachim Denisko. An Act of Insurrection was published, in which the abolition of social divisions and serfdom was promised.Walerian Dzieduszycki was named military leader of the rebellion, whileKarol Kniaziewicz became its civilian leader, and speaker of the National Assembly.

In May 1797, after an internal conflict, Denisko was forced to give up his post. Furthermore, as a result of activities of Russian intelligence services, several members of Centralizacja Lwowska were arrested, including Dzieduszycki. Despite these setbacks, on 26 June Denisko, with 200 supporters, crossed the Austrian - Turkish border nearZaleszczyki. Four days later, on 30 June, after theBattle of Debronowice (the only major battle of the uprising), Austrian forces destroyed the Polish detachment. Some Poles managed to return to Turkey; those captured were hanged on 11 July nearCzerniowce. By the end of July, all Polish military camps were destroyed.

Denisko himself fled to Turkey. In 1798 he returned to Volhynia, after the Russian government declared an amnesty. He died in 1812 inSaint Petersburg.

• Partitions of Poland
• French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
• Austrian Poland

• Kronika powstań polskich 1794–1944, Wydawnictwo Kronika,Warsaw,ISBN 83-86079-02-9, pp. 57–58.
• Marian Kukiel,Próby powstańcze po trzecim rozbiorze, (reprint:) Kurpisz Poznań 2006 (oryginał: W. L. Anczyca i Spółki Kraków i Warszawa 1912), p. 225.

• Rebellions in Poland
• Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
• 1797 in Poland
• 1797 in the Habsburg monarchy
• Polish nationalism (1795–1918)
• Rebellions against the Habsburg monarchy

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