Central National Committee (Polish: Komitet Centralny Narodowy (KCN)) was the underground coordinating committee of the Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 independence movement in 1860's Congress Poland

Congress Poland

The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...

 which was responsible for preparing a general uprising against Tsarist rule in order to reestablish Polish independence, lost after the Partitions of Poland

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

. It represented the "Red", left wing, faction in the independence movement, which emphasized an end to serfdom

Serfdom

Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...

 without compensation to landlords as a necessary component of the Polish national struggle, as opposed to the "White" faction which advocated more moderate social reforms, while also supporting Polish independence.

The committee was organized in June of 1862, in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

. After establishing underground cells, levying a national tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

 to fund the upcoming insurrection and appointing a Polish police, it issued a manifesto for the beginning of what became the January Uprising

January Uprising

The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...

 against Tsarist Russia. Thereafter it transformed itself into the Provisional National Government of Poland (on January 22, 1863).

Its main leaders included Stefan Bobrowski

Stefan Bobrowski

Stefan Bobrowski was a Polish 19th-century politician and an activist for Polish independence...

, Jarosław Dąbrowski, Zygmunt Padlewski

Zygmunt Padlewski

Zygmunt Padlewski was a Polish insurgent who participated in the January Uprising.-Early years:Padlewski was born in a mansion in Czerniawka Mała, Russian-partitioned Poland on January 1, 1836. His father, Władysław, took part in the November Uprising...

, Agaton Giller

Agaton Giller

Agaton Giller was a Polish historian, journalist and politician. He and his brother Stefan Giller played notable roles in the Polish independence movement and in the January 1863 Uprising.-Life:During the January 1863 Uprising, Agaton Giller was a member of the National Government...

, and Bronisław Szwarce. The official publication of the committee was the newspaper "Ruch".