Greater Poland uprising of 1806 was a Polish military insurrection which occurred in the region of Wielkopolska, also known as Greater Poland, against the occupying<ref>Quarterly review of scientific publications Przednia okładkaPolska Akademia Naukowa Ośrodek Rozpowszechniania Wydawnictw Naukowych Ossolineum, page 55, 1969. In the first one on the ground of preserved plans of archives in Merseburg, the plans of fragments of extension of Poznan, from 1793 to 1806, are described. It is the date of the first Prussian occupation of Great Poland</ref>"in 1806 provided the impetus for a Polish uprising against Prussian occupation in 1806 and again in 1830–1831" Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War Richard Ned Lebow, page 153 Cambridge University Press 2010 Prussian forces after the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772–1795). The uprising was organized by General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski to help advancing French forces under Napoleon in liberating Poland from Prussian occupation. The Wielkopolska Uprising was a decisive factor that allowed the formation of the Duchy of Warsaw (1807) and the inclusion of Wielkopolska in the Duchy of Warsaw. Historical background While the Kingdom of Prussia already possessed large Polish population in Upper Silesia, it gained additional Polish citizens during the partitions of Poland. From the beginnings of Prussian rule Poles were subject to a series of measures aimed against them and their culture, notably the Polish language was abolished in favour of German. The War of the Fourth Coalition between Napoleonic France and the Kingdom of Prussia gave hope to the Polish inhabitants of Greater Poland of recovering their independence and ending oppressive Prussian rule. Napoleon, counting on the benefits of gaining control over lands on the other side of Prussia, sent a group of emissaries to South Prussia to collect information about the situation in the province and the sympathies of the Polish citizens. On 20 September 1806 the emperor issued orders to form a new division from Polish deserters from the Prussian army. There were so many that two days later, Napoleon decided to form a second division. The open conflict between France and Prussia ensured that Prussia could only maintain a small number of troops in Greater Poland. Moreover, a large portion of those soldiers were Polish nationals. This caused a great deal of trouble for Prussian commanders; for instance, between 1 November and 20 December, 3000 Polish troops (1/7th) deserted from the Toruń Corps. Mission of General Dąbrowski In