This article is an attempt at presenting the reception of the so-called Act of 5th November 1916 in the Prussian Partition. The author has focused primarily on how this political declaration was perceived by the Polish political elites in the Poznań province.

This publication is dedicated to the response of Poles living in Russia during WWI to the Act of 5th November declared by Germany and Austria-Hungary. An analysis has been carried out on articles written by journalists and primarily democratic as well as national-democratic politicians in selected Polish newspapers published in Russia during WWI.

This article presents the opinions of Stanisław Koźmian (1836-1822) on the way in which the Polish cause was resolved during WWI until the Act of 5th November. According to Koźmian, the best solution was the Austrian-Polish concept revolving around incorporating the Kingdom of Poland to the Habsburg monarchy.