How did the Russian government suppress the January Uprising?

The Russian government suppressed the January Uprising (1863–64) through a combination of overwhelming military force, harsh administrative reprisals, and strategic social policies designed to fracture Polish unity.12

Military and Administrative Suppression

The Russian Empire deployed a regular army of 300,000 men to combat the insurgent guerrilla units. In Lithuania, the governor Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov—infamously known as the "hangman of Vilnius"—brutally crushed the rebellion. In Warsaw, the viceroy Teodor Berg implemented a similarly severe regime, utilizing large garrisons and emergency legislation to maintain control. Following the capture and execution of the movement's final leader, Romuald Traugutt, in 1864, the government executed or deported many participants to Siberia and confiscated thousands of landed estates.12

Social and Political Measures

To weaken the rebellion, the Russian government enacted reforms in 1863 to win the loyalty of the peasantry, effectively pitting them against the szlachta (gentry) and the Catholic Church. Furthermore, the state pursued an aggressive policy of Russification, which included the abolition of the Uniate Church, harassment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the reduction of Poland to a mere province of Russia.12