The Hohenzollern Monarchy was clearly facing defeat when the Emperor Napoleon and Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout crushed the Prussian army at Jena and Auerstedt in October 1806. The French Emperor decided to provoke an uprising in the Prussian partition of Poland to precipitate this outcome. Gen. Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and Józef Wybicki were summoned to Berlin and given the task of organising an uprising in Wielkopolska.

The two heroes arrived in Poznań on 6 November 1806 to a ceremonial welcome and stayed in Mielżyński Palace on the corner of the old town marketplace and ul. Wroniecka. Napoleon’s envoys concentrated their efforts on creating regular Polish detachments. They gradually took control without being unduly bothered by a Prussian administration still reeling from the shock of defeat. They seized control of Kalisz and disarmed the local Prussian garrison. This scenario was repeated in Konin, Kępno, Stawiszyn, Sieradz and Łęczyca. The creation of the Polish army began in 1807. This force soon saw action in Tczew and later began the epic of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw.

This was the first successful national liberation uprising on Polish soil after the partitions.