The brief history of Poland

Part 1:
Since stone ages till consolidation of the Polish State
Part 2:
Since union with Lithuania till the Golden Age of Poland
Part 3:
Since the end of the Jagiellon dynasty till The Cossack Wars
> Part 4:
> Since the war with Sweden till partitions of Poland
Part 5:
Since Napoleonic Wars till the Spring of Nations
Part 6:
Since the uprising of 1863 till the independece of 1918
Part 7:
Since the interbellum WWI-WWII till the fall of communism
Part 8:
Recent period

Part 4.
Since the war with Sweden till partitions of Poland

  1. The Passing of Poland's Position as a Great Power
  2. The Disintegration of Political Sovereignty
  3. The Three Partitions
1. The Passing of Poland's Position as a Great Power

The Causes of the War with Sweden, 1655-1660

The Peace of Westphalia (1648) greatly enhanced the power of Sweden by giving to her control of a considerable stretch of Baltic seaboard, including the estuaries of the Oder, Elbe and Weser. Soon afterward Sweden, desirous to emulate the prosperous commerce of Holland and England, prepared for the extension of her control of the sea, and plans were laid for a campaign against Poland weakened by the bloody Cossack rebellions and the war with Muscovy. The new Swedish King, Charles X Gustavus, in whose favor the extravagant and philosophically inclined Christine had abdicated, desired, moreover, to dispose finally of the claims of the Polish King to the Swedish throne and chose the time when Poland was least able to defend herself against foreign aggression. Knowing the martial qualities of the Poles he hesitated at the opening of the hostilities. The pendulum finally swung against Poland when an outlawed Polish magnate, Jerome Radzieyowski, went to the Swedish monarch with tales of the hatred borne by the people against King John Kazimir and of the great opposition party awaiting only an opportunity of uniting with Sweden, and urged that the time was most propitious for making a triumphal entry into Poland.

The Treason of the Polish Nobility

Although the truce of Stumdorf was not to have expired until 1661 and regardless of international law and a specific agreement, the first Swedish host under Wittemberg appeared in the northwestern part of Poland in 1655 when the country was in the throes of the Cossack and Russian wars. The nobility of Great Poland assembled in camp at Uyscie, on the Netze under the leadership of the traitor woyewodas Christopher Opalinski, of Posen, and Charles Grudzinski, of Kalisz. In spite of the superiority of numbers and a favorable position, the Polish army capitulated without firing a shot and swore allegiance to Charles after having receiving solemn assurance that none of their privileges and religious beliefs would be violated. Meanwhile, another army under the personal leadership of the Swedish King entered Great Poland, and a third army under General de la Gardie made its way into Lithuania through Livonia. After the Russian troops occupied Wilno, the schismatic Lithuanian hetman Janus Radziwill laid down his arms at Kiejdany, to the north of Kovno. The Swedish armies reached Warsaw without difficulty. Later Cracow, although bravely defended by Czarniecki, was also forced to surrender. At the same time the Russian troops and Chmielnicki's Cossacks took Lemberg and camped outside the walls of Lublin. Apprised of the situation, the Elector of Brandenburg, brother-in-law of Radziwill, entered West Prussia "to, protect it." Recalled from Ukraine, the regular army also surrendered upon finding the whole country bowing in recognition of Charles. John Kazimir, with his wife and small court fled to Glogow in Silesia, and Poland ceased to exist as an independent nation. The country was divided among Sweden, Russia and Brandenburg. Soon, however, seizing the opportunity when Charles turned against the Elector of Brandenburg, the people rose in a body and with the aid of foreign alliances restored their national and state existence.

The Uprising of the People

When the nobles betrayed their King, and surrendered to Charles X they entertained the hope that the military power of Sweden would assist them in defeating the Muscovites and Cossacks. Keen was their disappointment when they found that even their own estates and churches were not immune from plunder. The Swedish soldiery robbed the manors, desecrated the churches, violated the convents and outraged the population. The cruelty of the soldiery soon brought forth a strong reaction on the part of the Poles of all classes. The peasants first, armed with scythes, sickles and flails began guerilla warfare. In Great Poland the local armed attempts merged into a strong movement under Christopher Zegocki, and were soon followed by similar organizations formed in Little Poland and Lithuania.

Stefan Czarniecki

In December 1655, the provincial armies became united by the act of confederation. The foremost soldier of the time was Stefan Czarniecki, a man of austere principles of life, of unimpeachable honesty and deep patriotism. An. implacable foe of the magnates and of political anarchy, he was one of the rare types that combine an exalted conception of civic duty with clear vision and force of action, He was a man of genius and of exceptional strength of character. When the King returned, the confederacy was solemnly confirmed at Lancut (in present-day Galicia) and Stefan Czaniecki was proclaimed generalissimo of the confederate army. The picturesque and valiant defense of Czenstochowa (the city famous for the miraculous image of the Madonna) by Kordecki, Prior to the Paulist Abbey, supplied an additional stimulus and gave assurance to the masses that the "Queen of the Polish crown" had not abandoned them. In the Cathedral of Lemberg the King swore to alleviate the hard lot of the peasantry who first rose in defense of their country.

Swedish Alliance and the Polish League

Seeing the extent of the popular uprising; Charles turned for help to Poland's enemies. The Elector of Brandenburg in 1656 signed a treaty to support Sweden in compensation for which he was proclaimed independent ruler of the East, or Ducal Prussia, and was promised a few districts in Great Poland. Little Poland, Mazovia and Lithuania were offered to Rakoczy, Duke of Transylvania, and Ukraine to Chinielnicki. The rest of Poland, namely, West or Royal Prussia and Livonia, were to go to Sweden. The allied troops ravaged the country and defeated the Polish armies in several encounters. To balance the Swedish alliance, John Kazimir set out to form a counter league. Muscovy, dissatisfied with the disposition Charles had made of the coveted Lithuania and Livonia, was ready to conclude the war with Poland and to join against Sweden. The negotiations were prolonged, the Tsar demanding the cession of Lithuania, which he had occupied, and a war indemnity. The reasons advanced by the Tsar's deputies for his claims are so characteristic and so purely Hegelian that they are worthy of quotation: "The war must have been right when God gave Lithuania into the Tsar's hands; and what God gave, the Tsar must not eturn to anybody."* They did, however, consent to the return of Lithuania to Poland in twenty years; only White Russia and the territories on the left bank of the Dnieper were to remain in the Tsar's possession. In addition, they insisted on the recognition of, the Tsarevich as successor to John Kazimir. The Polish delegation could not of course, agree to this demand, so glaringly against the constitution. They promised, however to bring the matter up at the next Diet with a view of proposing the Tsar as hereditary king of Poland. The treaty was signed at Niemiezia near Wilno, in 1656, and soon the Muscovite troops took the field, against Charles with the hope of making a permanent conquest of Livonia. For Poland the relief afforded by the cessation of hostilities in the East was of great importance.  At the same time Polish diplomacy also scored a few additional successes. The struggle for supremacy between France and Austria gave an opportunity of exploiting one side in favor of Poland. Each of the two countries had strong adherents in Poland and at the court. The King, like his father, Zygmunt III, had pro-Austrian attachments; the Queen Marie, Louise Gonzague, the widow of Wladyslav IV whom John Kazimir married, was a Frenchwoman with strong leanings toward her native country and with powerful friends in Poland. The pro-Austrian policy prevailed and not only did the intervention of Ferdinand III expedite the negotiations with Muscovy, but by the treaty of Vienna (1657) Austria promised, though she did not send, an army to defend Cracow. A few months later Denmark also covenanted to help Poland against Sweden, as did the Tartars. The Elector of Brandenburg, seeing the magnitude of the Polish league, in spite of the treaty, promptly abandoned his Swedish ally and entered into an agreement with Poland at Wielawa (1657) by which he was released from recognizing Polish suzerainty over East Prussia. In consideration of the two fiefs given to him, those of Bytow and Lauenberg, he agreed to send six thousand men against Sweden.

The Defeat of Sweden and the Peace of Oliva, 1660

So fortified, Poland threw herself with new vigor into the fight which was exceedingly sanguinary because of the determination and strength of the invaders. Rakoczy's large Hungarian army was finally overpowered and the Swedes driven out of the country by the hero of the war, Stefan Czarniecki. He pursued them as far as Denmark, and the feats of the Polish cavalry, who twice swam the straits to the Island of Alsen, have gained for them lasting glory. A new outbreak of hostilities with Muscovy led to an. early peace with Sweden, which was made under French mediation and signed at Oliva near Gdansk, on May 3, 1660,and by which Poland lost all Livonia to the north of the River Dvina and John Kazimir renounced his hereditary claims to the throne of Sweden. Thus came to an end the long feud, which had lasted almost sixty years.

Growth of Religious Fanaticism

The War with a Protestant nation and its tocsin cry, "For our faith and our country," the excesses of the Swedish soldiery and their desecration of Catholic churches, the successful defense of Czenstochowa and the final defeat of the Swedes, attributed to divine interference, the assistance afforded the Swedes by the Protestant elements in Poland, the impending war with orthodox Russia, and the constant danger from Mohammedan Turkey, all contributed to the arousing of religious fervor and fanaticism in Poland, and to the identification, in the popular mind, of Catholicism with patriotism. The future history of Poland but tended to merge the two conceptions into one. The Arians or Anti-Trinitarians, who openly helped the Swedes, were the objects of particular animus and were singled out for banishment from the country (1658). The enforced emigration of hundreds of the most enlightened families was a great loss to Poland; comparable with the loss later sustained by France in her similar intolerance of the Huguenots. Among the Polish exiles were writers of first magnitude, such as Zbigniew Morsztyn, Erazm Otwinowski and Simon Budny, the last having distinguished himself by his masterful and critical studies of biblical texts, which outdistanced modern biblical scholars by two centuries.

Causes of the War with Muscovy, 1658-1667

War with Muscovy, which hastened the conclusion of war with Sweden, was, caused by the flat refusal of the spiritual and temporal lords of Poland to consider the Tsar's ambitions to the Polish throne and to ratify the new agreement into which the Republic entered with the Cossacks. The Cossacks, whom Chmielnicki had placed under the suzerainty of Muscovy, soon became dissatisfied with the Tsar. They realized that only in Poland could their ideals of freedom and liberty be respected and that the autocratic and despotic form of the Tsar's government was inherently inimical to them. When Chmielnicki died in 1657 John Wyhowski, the temporary hetman, proceeded immediately to arrange for a return of the Cossacks to Polish sovereignty. On September 16, 1658, an agreement was signed at Hadziacz, near Poltava, by the terms of which the Cossacks were admitted into the Polish state on the same basis as the Lithuanians had been by the terms of the Union of Lublin, as "the equal with the equal, and the free with the free." The Cossacks were given equal privileges with the nobility of Poland; had similar rights over peasants; and were free to elect their own hetmans, marshals, chancellors and other dignitaries who were entitled to seats in the Polish Senate, as were their metropolitan and the diocesan bishops. They were guaranteed freedom of faith and the Uniate Church was abolished in Ukraine. Polish political thought now soared high above the narrow-minded spirit of a short time before and laid an equitable, just and solid foundation for a symbiosis of Ukraine with Poland and Lithuania. Perceiving this, the Tsar determined to prevent it by force of arms and sent an unexpected expedition into Poland. Though still at war with Sweden the Republic raised an army large enough to deal successfully with Muscovy despite the fact that a section of the Cossacks under the younger Chmielnicki fought against her. The Polish arms triumphed in battle after battle and after the Peace of Oliva, when the Western armies were released, they forced the Muscovites to capitulate at Cudnow in Volhynia (1661). Chmielnicki then declared for Poland. As had so often before happened in Polish history, so now again the brilliant military successes could not be properly exploited, this time on account of the revolt of the unpaid armies. The Crown troops as well as those of Lithuania formed confederacies and refused to continue the campaign until their wages had been paid. The nobility, too, seeing the enemies beaten off, resolved to discontinue hostilities and to turn their attention to the sorely needed internal reforms.

The Rebellion of Lubomirski, 1666

The betterment of the economic status of the peasantry and the King's vows to that effect made in the Cathedral of Lemberg during the Swedish invasion could well be and were disregarded, but the need of regulating parliamentary procedure and of simplifying the method of royal elections was urgent and immediate. The intrigues of the Austrian Ambassador Lisoli prevented the consideration of parliamentary reforms and made the matter of succession to the throne precedent over all else. An attempt was made at preventing the impending interregnum by electing an heir to the throne during the life of John Kazimir, but it resulted in nothing except a terrific political tempest, which for a time made impossible the consideration of any other question. The main influences at work in the matter of succession were those of France and Austria. The Queen aided by Pac and John Sobieski favored the Duke d' Enghien the son of Conde the Great. George Lubomirski marshal of the Crown, a man of great distinction wealth and no less ambition headed the Austrian faction. When the matter of election was brought up at the Diet of 1661 feeling rose so high that the King feared the disruption of the session and recalled the subject from consideration. After the close of the Diet both parties set to work to gain supporters. A confederacy was organized by George Lubomirski, called the Polish Cromwell, who, by his demagogue-like appeals to the ignorant squires, rallied great support for the cause of "free elections, threatened by the French party, " thus dodging the real issue.

Jerzy Lubomirski

Preparations were made for armed resistance to the election of the candidate of the party he opposed. The King brought suit against him for conspiracy, treason and the incitement of rebellion. The Court of the Diet, composed of the King's supporters sustained the charges and sentenced him to infamy, loss of dignity and exile. In the eyes of the knighthood he was a martyr of the cause of liberty, to be supported to the utmost. Meanwhile Czarniecki formed another confederacy and with the aid of Sobieski took up the defense of the country against Muscovy. The Cossacks encouraged by the turmoil in Poland and prompted by a lust for plunder and spoils began to harass Poland and Czarniecki's attention had to be turned to them. In the midst of all this came the clash of Lubomirski's forces with those of the King. The rebels threatened Warsaw and a compromise was finally agreed upon. Lubomirski expressed his regrets and the King promised to abandon his plan of bringing about an election of his successor.

Truce of Andrushov

The rebellion prevented the development of sufficient strength to support the loyal Cossacks. Disheartened, they turned, under Doroszenko, to Turkey at the time when  Mahmed IV was getting ready for a war with Christendom. In the face of a common danger and harassed by internal disorders, Muscovy and Poland agreed to a thirteen years truce at Andrushov in 1667, by which the Tsar renounced all claims to Lithuania and Livonia and Poland ceded to him Smoleosk, Siewiersk, Czernihov and the part of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper. The city of Kieff was left in Muscovite hands for two years. These cessions to Muscovy were considered but temporary in Poland and no crown offices pertaining to them were abolished.

Ascending Star of John Sobieski

At the Diet, which assembled in 1667, the King led by his strong-willed wife, once more brought up the matter of succession and again proposed the Duke d'Enghien. The Diet, which in view of the impending dangers carried through certain reforms and appropriated funds to pay the army, rejected the King's proposal although Lubomirski was no more alive. They again expressed their preference for "free elections" Meanwhile the Turks, Tartars and Cossacks made their appearance on the frontiers. John Sobieski, then Field Hetman, met them and with small forces maintained almost wholly at his own expense; and though battling against great odds was able by superior strategy to stay the avalanche and compel their retreat.

Abdication of King John Kazimir, 1668

The splendor of the achievements of Sobieski entirely eclipsed the waning star of the unfortunate John Kazimir whom the people held responsible for the deluge of misfortunes which had befallen the country during his reign. Deprived of the sustaining power of his remarkable wife and abandoned by almost everybody, he lost heart and abdicated on September 16, 1668. In a pathetic speech he warned the country against the many existing evils, and ended: "Wearied with age and the hardships of war, exhausted by deliberations, oppressed by the worries of twenty years, I, your King and father, surrender that which the world values most highly--- the Crown of this country." He stayed in Poland for another year, then left for France where he died three years later in the modest Abbey of St. Germain near Paris.

Political Corruption

During the interregnum following John Kazimir's abdication the alignment of the political forces came into strong relief. The magnates and political leaders were divided into two camps, the French and Austrian. French gold, lavishly spent by Louis XIV not only in Poland but everywhere else, made corruption an almost political institution in the whole of Europe. The vast sums spent by the late Queen in  support of the Duke d'Enghien gained a large number of influential supporters for the candidates of France. Even those among the magnates who favored the French party by conviction, were given bountiful subsidies. The Austrian party similarly sought influential support by bribing. Demoralization and corruption became the order of the day. The great body of electors saw what was going on and resented the foreign candidates and the corruptive influence which came with them into the country. At the election field where over 80,000 men assembled, the hostility of the great body of citizens toward the magnates became apparent and led almost to serious bloodshed, so intense was the opposition to the Frenchmen and to all the other foreigners. At a proper moment Bishop Olszowski proposed a native candidate, the son of the famous Cossack vanquisher, Wisniowiecki, who had become completely impoverished by the loss of all the great frontier estates forfeited by the loss of a part of Ukraine. "Long live King Michael Wisniowiecki!" was the spontaneous and unanimous reply (1669).

King Michael Wisniowiecki, 1699-1673

The healthy instinctive impulses of the electorate unfortunately were ill directed, as the new King was weak-hearted, weak-willed and weak-minded, and entirely under the domination of a small coterie. Educated at the Austrian court, he had strong pro-Austrian leanings and married Eleanor, the sister of Emperor Leopold I against the will of the Senate, composed largely of French sympathizers. Soon the French party, conniving with Louis XIV, began to lay plans for dethroning the legally chosen King and for elevating the young French duke, Saint Paul de Longueville, an adventurer par excellence. A passionate, strife ensued, characterized by rancor and vituperation. Diet after Diet was broken up, and not a few deputies lost their lives at the swords of angry partisans. Chaos became general and to make matters worse an immense Crescent host appeared in Poland.

Turkish War and the Treaty of Buczacz, 1672

When news of the election of Wisniowiecki, son, of the hated "Jarema," became known to the Cossacks it once again awakened their animosity toward Poland. They broke the Hadziacz agreement and went over to Turkey. The Cossack ally was welcome at the time when the Porte, having reached the zenith of its power was planning conquests of Austria and Poland in order to reach the Baltic. The new Turkish danger, stood in the way of the realization of the plans of Louis XIV and of the French party in Poland, which was spending all its time and energy to counteract the influences of the Austrian faction. In the capital not much thought was given to the organization of an adequate army to meet the Turks. Hetman Sobieski, with his small forces was accomplishing marvels of gallantry. He was, however, only retarding the Turkish advance not checking it. Soon the enemy overrode Ukraine and after a desperate defense by its small garrison Kamenietz Podolski, the strongest Polish frontier fortress and the key to the South, surrendered. In spite of the proximity of the enemy and the appearance of Sobieski in Warsaw and his insistence on energetic action, partisanship dominated patriotism. The Diet dissolved, nothing accomplished, and as a consequence Poland found herself suing for peace under the most humiliating terms By the so-called Buczacz Treaty, the Republic ceded to Turkey the provinces of Podolia and Ukraine paid a heavy war tax of 80,000 thalers and promised an annual tribute of 22,500 thalers (1672).

The Golomb Confederacy

This unprecedented humiliation was exploited by the Austrian party, to crush the French party by attributing to them complete blame for the disaster and even accusing them of  courting it with the aid of French diplomacy. They formed a confederacy, known as that of Golomb, indicted the leaders of the Senate and, as in the case of the Primate Prazmowski, deprived some of their offices and confiscated their estates. The confederacy had a distinct class character. It was the expression of resentment and distrust on the part of the rank and file squire against the corruption and dishonesty of the rich and powerful lords. The Assembly of the Confederation proposed to do away with life tenure of State office and to discourage the use of the liberum veto. Three Diet members who used this malicious device were indicted. There was a great deal of truth in the assertions and accusations of the Golomb Confederacy. The time, however, was not opportune for recriminations and vengeance, the more so because the struggle threatened to develop into a civil war, for Sobieski returning from his expeditions surrounded by glory, organized a counter-confederacy in support of the Primate. Through the good offices of reasonable and clear-headed men, and also because of the death of the Primate, the clash was prevented and steps were taken to organize an adequate army and to repudiate the Buczacz treaty. Austria and Muscovy were asked to join the campaign but, as always, refused to help.

The Victory Over the Turks at Chocim, 1673

A single-handed expedition was sent against the Turks under Sobieski and at Chocim, where fifty-two years before, in Zygmunt Vasa's reign, Chodkiewicz had checked the same enemy, Polish arms scored a splendid victory over the Porte. The Turkish army was almost entirely annihilated, and 120 mortars, 400 standards and the entire supply store fell into Polish hands. It was in keeping with Polish tradition that the fruits of this victory were not fully gathered. The mercenaries, not having been paid, struck, and the militia, apprised of the death of the King who expired on November 10, 1673, at the age of thirty-three years, was anxious to get back home for electioneering.

King John Sobieski, 1674-1696

The Convocation Diet assembled in Warsaw by the middle of January and the Austrian party, fearing the popularity of Sobieski, proposed the elimination of all Polish candidates at the election. The measure did not go through and in view of the war situation money was voted for the maintenance of an army 70,000 strong, and the date of election was set for April 20, 1674.

Jan III Sobieski

Led by the powerful Pac family, Lithuania stood irrevocably for the Austrian candidate, the Duke of Lorraine, whom they had also chosen to be the husband of the widowed Polish queen, the sister of the Austrian Emperor. The Duke of Neuburg was the French candidate. When it appeared that he could not be elected, the French party proposed John Sobieski who by his heroic deeds had gained considerable popularity among the nobles, although his past record as an active supporter of Louis XIV's policies, a participant in an illegal plot to dethrone the late King, and as a member of the camarilla of the intriguante queen, Marie Louise Gonzague, and of late the organizer of a counter confederacy in opposition to the Polish Cromwell, weighed strongly against him. In spite of the objections of the Pacs and the Wisniowieckis he was elected. The election was questioned by the Lithuanians who left the field but two days after reconsidering the matter, they voted to support the new King elect.

Peace of Zoravno, 1676

Almost immediately after the election, the King left with the army to halt a new Turkish invasion, postponing the coronation until a later date. After two years of brilliant  campaigning in the course of which the Turks were thrown across the Dniester and a great many towns (except that of Kamenetz Podolski) were retaken, Sobieski returned to Cracow for the coronation, and at the Diet immediately following the ceremony asked for adequate appropriations to continue the war.

Palace of Wilanow

He was soon in the field again. After the famous siege of Zoravno, where a hundred thousand Turks in vain endeavored to surround the small forces of the, Polish King, by the aid of French mediation, peace was established, the terms of which superseded the Buczacz treaty. Many other advantages were gained by Poland, among them the restoration of two-thirds of Ukraine (1676).

Internal Dissensions

The Diet expected more of the martial genius of the King and the treaty was not ratified. An additional reason for this action on the part of the Diet was the suspicion entertained as to the reasons that led France to bring about the peace. It was a matter of common knowledge that Louis XIV desired to draw Poland into  a war with his enemies, Austria and Brandenburg, and for certain considerations Sobieski supported the Hungarian revolutionaries and allowed the use of Polish territory for the passage of Swedish troops marching against Brandenburg. He even contemplated a campaign against the Elector to regain East Prussia. Austria was alarmed by the cessation of Polish hostilities with Turkey, fearing that the latter might  turn against her and strained every effort to gain sufficient support in the Diet against the King's plans. She was ably seconded by Brandenburg and the Pope, Innocent XI, who desired to see Poland in a league against Turkey, and who issued instructions to the Polish clergy advising them to work in that direction. Their endeavors were not in vain. The suspicious, ill-informed, ignorant and presumptuous country squires assumed the same attitude toward the King as they had done in Wladyslav's days and thwarted the realization of large plans, based on the possibilities of a European conflict. They again prevented the country from gaining the last chance to become an important factor in European politics, to which she was entitled by her magnitude and position. Seeing the pettiness of the thoughtless mob, which held supreme power in the State, Sobieski conceived the idea of effecting a coup d' etat, which alone could have saved the country from decadence. He informed Louis XIV that he intended putting a stop to anarchy and introducing absolute government in Poland, and asked his support in the matter. To his disappointment, the egotistic French monarch replied that he saw no advantage to himself in the proposed scheme. Left unsupported, Sobieski submitted to the pacifist measures of the Diet, which reduced the army from thirty to twelve thousand men. His attention was soon again turned to Turkey and Muscovy.

The Alliance with Austria, 1683

In spite of the failure of the Polish Diet to ratify the treaty of Zoravno, Turkey did not resume hostilities, having meanwhile engaged Muscovy in a war over the control of  Ukraine. The war was crowned by the treaty of Bakchiseray (Crimea) in 1681, according to which the part of Ukraine to the east of the Dnieper was to remain in the Tsar's hands, but the western part of Ukraine, which the Andrushov agreement of 1667 guaranteed to Poland, was to be divided  between Turkey and Poland and a desert maintained between the Dnieper and the Boh to separate the possessions of the two nations. Poland could not consent to sharing Ukraine with Turkey, and the King, disappointed with the Diet and with Louis XIV, to whom also his beloved wife, Marie Casimir, took a sudden dislike because he refused to grant a ducal title to her father, Marquis d'Arquien, turned to Austria. The alliance with Austria was based on a community of interests and on account of this it gave assurances of sincerity of purpose and firmness. It was, moreover, a realization of the idea of the Sacred League against the Infidel. Early in 1683 Austria and Poland finally concluded a treaty for defensive and offensive purposes, by which, among other things, the Emperor promised to raise an army of sixty-thousand to contribute 200,000 gold coins to the Polish war treasury and to interfere at Madrid for the repayment of the so-called "Neapolitan sums" which Queen Bona, the wife of Zygmunt I, loaned to Spain and which were never returned to Poland in spite of many representations. The Polish King covenanted to raise an army of forty thousand and agreed not to conclude a separate peace with Turkey. In case of a siege of either Vienna or Cracow the allies agreed to send relief expeditions and the monarch present with the allied troops in the field should be in command of the united forces.

Battle of Vienna, 1683

Very soon after the alliance was established an immense host approached Vienna under the leadership of the gifted Grand Vizier Kara  Mustafa. The Imperial army  under the Duke of Lorraine could not stem the rapid Turkish advance. The Emperor, who fled the capital, had sent imploring messages, one after another, to Sobieski. On the l5th of July 1683, the investment of Vienna was complete and a regular siege begun. Desirous of arriving in time, Sobieski made hasty preparations and not waiting for the Lithuanian army and the Cossacks, left in forced marches toward Vienna. On September 7th he joined the Austrian forces and assumed supreme command over the allied army, which comprised Bavarian and Saxon troops also. On the 12th the famous battle took place, directed by the Polish King in person. The course of the battle is a matter of record. The right wing of the allied army, comprised of the Polish winged hussars and other types of Polish horse for which the country has been famous, saved the day.

Sobieski at the gates of Vienna

The backbone of the Turkish army was broken. The Vizier fled with the remnants of his host and the green standard of the Prophet and all supplies and munitions fell into the hands of the Christian soldiers. Sobieski, who, because of the lack of support on the part of the Allies, suffered a reverse, which was, however, promptly compensated by another victory, pursued Kara Mustafa into Hungary. The heroic achievements of Sobieski and his army brought to him and his country everlasting fame and praise for the saving of European civilization and Christianity from destruction by a powerful and ruthless enemy who was determined to conquer Europe. It brought, however, no political advantage to Poland. Leopold and his court very soon became cold to their saviors and forgot the services rendered. It seems almost incredible that the army, which saved Austria from destruction, should have been treated as they were only a few days after the battle of Vienna.

The Battle of Vienna

Forage was refused to the horses, and other petty difficulties put in the way. After having pursued the Turks into Hungary and having cleared a considerable part of the country of them, Sobieski returned to Poland.

Holy League against Turkey

Austria did not keep the tacit agreement made with the Polish King of giving the Austrian Archduchess Marie Antoinette in marriage to his son James. She also prevented his marriage to Princess Radziwill, daughter of Boguslav, who was heir to immense riches in Lithuania and who subsequently became the bride of Louis Hohenzollern, the Elector of Brandenburg. This marriage was the cause of a great political tempest as the Hohenzollerns thus came into possession of very large estates and a number of cities in Lithuania. Anxious to insure regal station for his children and to crush the Porte forever Sobieski, in spite of his disquieting experiences with Austria, joined the Holy League against Turkey, the Emperor having given assurances that Moldavia and Wallachia would be given to James Sobieski, the King's son. The expedition into Wallachia was unsuccessful and to obtain the aid of Muscovy the Polish King made a sacrificing agreement with that country which had only a short time before proven treacherous and unreliable. By this new agreement of 1686 known by the name of the Polish commissioner, Grzymultowski, Poland, for the support against Turkey and for a compensation of a million and a half roubles, forever ceded Ukraine to the east of the Dnieper and the important City of Kieff on the western shore. The cession of the territories was an irreparable loss to Poland. She was deprived of her predominant position and influence in the East, and her command over the Cossacks, and was cut off from the Black Sea, which became the foundation for the growth of the Muscovite Empire. The political ideas of Batory and Wladyslav IV were, forever abandoned. Moreover, neither Muscovy nor Austria kept their promises. The Wallachian expeditions carried on single-handed were unsuccessful and finally abandoned in 1691.

Political Anarchy and Sobieski's Death, 1696

The constant internal dissensions caused and nourished by foreign intrigues were in no mean measure responsible for the King's failures in his final campaigns and in his  diplomacy. They resulted in the loss of territory and the decline of Poland's position as a great European power. French and Austrian money supported Polish anarchy. Diets were constantly torn up some even before the presiding officer could be elected. No law could be enacted. Corruption was rampant. Several attempts were made to depose the King. Religious intolerance became intensified and the first and last auto da fe in Poland was executed in 1689, on one Casimir Lyszczynski for his atheistic proclivities. The country became a theatre of constant strife between the various magnate families. At times the clashes resulted in formal civil wars, as was the case in the feud between the Sapiehas and the Bishop of Wilno. With the death of Sobieski on June 17, 1696, ended the glory of old Poland. He was the only man, says Prof. Sokolowski, who if he could not revive the country, could at least prevent Poland's speedy destruction. But "blindness and evil passion destroyed the last salvation plank and then begins the slow death of a powerful organism."

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2. The Disintegration of Political Sovereignty

The Election of August of Saxony, 1697

The election following Sobieski's death was the last that was free. Subsequent elections were held at the point of foreign bayonets. The debasement into which political morality had fallen at that period everywhere in Europe received its echo in Poland. Sordid haggling and corruption took possession of Polish political life under mischievous foreign influence. All past glory and lofty tradition were forgotten, and the country was given over to the personal rapacity of the magnates and the intrigues of foreign monarchs. James Sobieski was the candidate of the Austrian party, bitterly opposed by his mother, who favored the Elector of Bavaria, her son-in-law. The French candidate was the Duke Francois Louis de Conti. The family jealousies of the Polish magnates prevented the election of Sobieski; Conti's good chances were spoiled by the sudden decision of the Court of Versailles not to spend any more funds for the election; and so Saxon gold, supported by Russian influence, carried the day.

August II

The dissolute, intemperate and sly Elector of Saxony, August the Strong, having become a Catholic, mounted the throne of Poland as King August II, in 1697, although the Primate declared the French candidate to have been legally chosen. August was a man possessed of a strong will and of great political ambitions. Poland was to serve his designs. Heir to despotic traditions, he planned to turn her into a hereditary domain of his house.

The Close of Hostilities with Turkey, 1698

In the pacta conventa he promised to bring Ukraine and Podolia, with the fortress of Kamenetz, back to Poland. Soon after the election he determined upon and prosecuted a war with Turkey as the first step in the seeming fulfillment of his promises. The conflict was not long drawn out, for the Porte, after a series of long and disastrous wars with Sobieski and Austria was exhausted. The allied forces of Poland and Saxony, under Field Hetman Felix Potocki, won a brilliant victory at Podhayce in 1698, which hastened the conclusion of the peace at Karlowice, by the terms of which Austria received Transylvania and Hungary as far as the Save; Azov was ceded to Russia; and Ukraine, and Podolia with Kamenetz came back to Poland. Poland in return, abandoned all claims to Wallachia and Moldavia. This peace marks the end of hostilities between Poland and Turkey. The growth of Russia made them natural allies, in opposition to the disquieting growth of the colossus in the East.

Beginning of the Northern War, 1700-1721

An alliance with Russia was however, within the political machinations of the Saxon Elector. He schemed to take advantage of Charles XII, the youthful King of Sweden, and to wrest Swedish Livonia from him. Accordingly he entered into a secret treaty with Peter of Russia for a division of the Swedish Baltic littoral, a Swedish traitor by the name of Patkul being the chief agent in carrying out the negotiations. August was able to draw into the league the Danish King Frederick IV and later the Elector of Brandenburg, who, with the consent of the perfidious Polish king, crowned himself in Konigsberg as King in Prussia on January 18, 1701, although his sovereignty extended only over East Prussia. West or Royal Prussia was then still an integral part of Poland. When the Polish Diet voted its opposition to a war with Sweden, August decided to carry it on with his Saxon troops which very soon invaded Lithuania. Protests were made against the presence of Saxon soldiery in Poland, but in the private war that was being waged between the powerful magnates, the Sapiehas and the Oginskis, the cunning King found a pretext for the unlawful stationing of his troops in Lithuania. The Oginskis had formed a confederacy for the protection of the rights the nobility against the iniquities of the Sapieha "kinglets." The Saxon troops, under Field Marshal Flemming, were dispatched to Lithuania ostensibly to protect the nobles against the oppression of the Sapiehas, whom the King hated because of their power, but in reality to be near the frontier ready for an attack on Sweden. Soon they fired the first shot which started the great Northern War, lasting from 1700 to 1721. But to the allied powers, how disappointing were the opening chapters of that venture! In a few months Denmark was defeated and concluded a separate peace at Travendal (1700). Peter's army, five times as large as that of Charles, was routed at Narva on the Gulf of Finland and put to a most ignominious flight. The Saxons were defeated at Riga and compelled to retire hotly pursued by the Swedes, who occupied Courland and entered Lithuania. The Diet which assembled in Warsaw, to the unpleasant surprise of the King and his Russian ally, demanded the withdrawal of Saxon troops from Poland and the cessation of hostilities with Sweden, and protested against the recognition of the Elector of Brandenburg as King in Prussia. Charles sent a request to the Polish government for the dethronement of August. No immediate reply, however, was given to the demand of Charles, except that he respect the neutrality of the country. When the latter insisted on the dethronement of August and occupied Warsaw, war became inevitable. In the confusion that followed the conquests of the Swedish army in Poland, no unity of action could be expected. Great Poland was against the King, while Little Poland and Lithuania remained loyal to him. A confederacy of loyalists was formed at Sandomir, and a protest formulated against the breaking of the peace of Oliva by the Swedes. August called a Diet at Lublin, which demanded certain guarantees from the King and voted appropriations for a large army of defense. Still the treacherous King sued for peace, offering to Sweden the provinces of Courland and Livonia.

Election of Leszczynski (1704) and the Civil War

Charles, however, refused to consider peace and insisted that August be deposed. Pressed by him, Great Poland formed its own confederacy at Warsaw against the King who was conniving with foreign enemies against the country. A few months later the ruler was declared deprived of his royal office (1704). Charles favored the election of James Sobieski, but when August's agents apprehended him and his brother, and Alexander, the youngest of King Sobieski's sons, refused to be a candidate, the Swedish King proposed Stanislav Leszczynski, the woyevoda of Posen, who was elected by a small assembly of the nobility.

Stanislaw Leszczynski

The Sandomir Confederacy, supported by the Tsar of Muscovy, refused to recognize the new King, and as a result a civil war ensued, fought in the interest of foreign monarchs and leading to the practical disappearance of Polish sovereignty which became divided between Charles on one hand and Peter on the other, the latter having assumed the role of protector of the opponents of the Uniate  Church.

The Abdication by August II, 1706

After a series of defeats at the hands of the Swedes, August fled to Dresden, but soon Saxony was overrun by the armies of Charles, and August was forced to sign the peace of Altranstaedt in 1706. He surrendered his right to the Polish throne in favor of Leszczynski and released the two Sobieskis. Austria, Brandenburg, Holland and England  recognized the new Polish King, but the Sandomir Confederacy was less tractable. Aided by Russian troops, they waged a bitter war against the Leszczynski faction and the Swedish army. The country was laid waste and neither the Swedish nor the Muscovite armies showed consideration for the native population. Peter, ostensibly protecting the opponents of the Uniate Church, persecuted the adherents of that church in a most cruel manner, and unceremoniously interfered in the internal affairs of Lithuania and Little Poland hoping to pave the way for his son as the next King of Poland.

The Russian Campaign and the Battle of Poltava 1709

Having disposed of the Saxon Elector, Charles turned his attention to the last adversary and soon cleared Poland of all traces of Muscovite occupation. He planned to push his campaign northward, and reached Smolensk after a series of triumphant battles; but, persuaded by Mazepa, the last elective hetman of the Cossacks, who promised the support of Ukraine and large supplies of food and ammunition, he turned southward to free the Cossacks from the domination of the Tsar. The Polish King was apprised of Mazepa's plans and favored the new opportunity of bringing the Cossacks back to Poland. The campaign rashly undertaken ended disastrously for Charles. A part of his army did not reach him in time; the winter in Ukraine was extremely severe; the ill-provided army suffered intensely, becoming considerably attenuated; and Mazepa failed to arouse Cossack support for the venture. Surrounded at Poltava by an immense Muscovite host and wounded, Charles barely escaped to Turkey under the care of Stanislav Poniatowski, and the remnant of his army capitulated (1709).

The Withdrawal of Leszczynski, 1710

The Swedish disaster tolled the death knell of Leszczynski's reign. Immediately after the battle of Poltava, the Tsar and August moved into Poland. Hetman Adam Sicniawski one of the most rabid opponents of King Stanislav, joined hands with Peter. Only a part of the Polish army remained royal to Leszczynski, who, seeing that the matter could not be settled amicably as the opposition did not wish to have his case adjudged by the Diet, and trying to avoid further bloodshed, withdrew into Sweden. Meanwhile August renewed his treaty with Peter and offered him the much coveted Livonia. He also withdrew his abdication, claiming that it was exacted under duress and quoting the Polish statute of 1669, which prohibited abdications. The Diet of 1710 proceeded according to the dictation of the Tsar and reaffirmed the kingship of August. The Diet also granted freedom of faith to the communicants of the Greek Church. Peter demanded that he be made the guarantor of their rights, and in this wise received legal sanction for his meddling in the internal affairs of the country.

Russian Intervention in Poland

Charles, however, did not resign his plans. With the aid of Stanislav Poniatowski, one of his warmest friends, he was able to prevail upon Turkey to start a new war on Muscovy. When the Turkish campaign failed in 1711, Leszczynski begged the Swedish King to give up the war. Moreover, internal dissensions in Sweden compelled him to postpone further action at that time, and Peter was left unhampered to do in Poland as he pleased. He drafted a hundred thousand Polish recruits into his army, exacted heavy contributions from the population, arrested and executed many of the Uniate clergy and planned for the eventual extension of his sovereignty over the whole of Poland. These designs led him to oppose the realization of August's plans for a partition of Poland. The latter hoped by this means to add a portion of the country to his Saxon patrimony. For help in carrying out his designs, August planned to cede West or Royal Prussia to Frederick. When halted by Peter he tried another expedient.

The Civil War, 1715-1717

Under the pretext of fear of a Turkish invasion, August kept his Saxon troops in Poland in the hope that their insolent behavior might cause a revolution, which he expected to quell and then to change the form of government to suit his plans. The Saxon provocation caused, indeed, an armed uprising under the leadership of Stanislav Ledochowski, during which the country was turned into a barren waste. Everything that had survived former wars was destroyed in this civil strife. Agriculture, commerce and industry came to a standstill. Peaceful inhabitants turned into bands of brigands. Cities were depopulated. Cracow could count only ten thousand inhabitants. The unfortunate, ancient city of Kalisz, which in the XVIIth century had been the center of cloth manufacture with a large and prosperous population, was demolished during this war. Violence, rape, murder and plunder ruled supreme. August was unable to crush the revolution he had fomented and accepted Peter's offer of mediation. The eighteen thousand men Peter sent into Poland enabled Prince Dolgorookey to bring about an agreement (1716).

The First Dumb Diet

The treaty of Warsaw, as the agreement was  called, abolished the existing confederacies and prohibited future formation of such organizations; the Saxon troops were ordered  withdrawn from Poland within twenty-five days time; the authority of the hetmans was reduced to military matters only; the administration of the army was entrusted to the subdivision of the Treasury Department; the regular army was reduced to twenty-four thousand men, eighteen thousand in the Crown and six thousand in Lithuania; the tenure of state offices was reduced to two years and the duties revised; and finally, the building of new dissident churches was prohibited. The Diet of 1717 approved without discussion all the measures and dissolved six hours after its opening. It is known in Polish history as the first "Dumb" Diet. The Tsar became the guarantor of the laws, and did not withdraw his troops from Poland which he considered a conquered territory. Almost all of the measures approved by the "Dumb" Diet were harmful, particularly the diminution of the army to a number entirely inadequate for the defense of the country, surrounded as it was by military powers with large and modern armies.

Religious Intolerance

Soon the Tsar and the Prussian King made an agreement in Berlin (1719) to act jointly in Polish affairs and to prevent any reforms which would tend to strengthen  the Republic. August's plan to form an alliance with Austria and England against Russia and Prussia was frustrated by the shrewd political moves of the ambassadors of the two latter countries. The ignorant and fanatical nobility did not realize the gravity of the situation and by their religious intolerance, inculcated and nourished by the Jesuits, afforded opportunities for foreign powers to interfere in Polish internal affairs. In 1718 the Diet excluded one of its deputies because he was a Protestant, and in 1733 the dissenters were deprived of civic and political rights. The intolerance of that period, not as rabid, perhaps, as in other countries, was alacriously taken advantage of for Russian and Prussian interference which eventually led to the dismemberment of the country. The first step in that direction was made by Peter at the close of the Northern War when Livonia became a part of the Russian Empire.

The Union of the "Three Black Eagles" and August's Death, 1733

Realizing that it would be impossible to make Poland a hereditary monarchy, August endeavored at least to prepare the ground for his son's succession. The marriage of Leszczynski's daughter to King Louis XV of France, in 1724, spoiled his designs, for it gave a powerful support to the exiled King. He then conceived the plan of withdrawing his son's candidacy to the Polish throne and of enlisting French influence against the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI of Austria in the hope that his son who was married to the daughter of Emperor Joseph I, might press his claims to Austrian succession. The Court of Vienna, apprised of this move, approached the Russo-Prussian alliance and the union of the "three black eagles" came to pass in 1732, by which the three monarchs pledged to use their influence against the election of either Leszczynski or the son of the Saxon Elector and to resist any attempt at reforms in Poland. This union led the perfidious August to suggest once more to Prussia and Austria that Poland be dismembered, one part to become a hereditary part of his Saxon patrimony. In, the midst of negotiations he died on February 1, 1733, in Warsaw, whither he had gone to attend the session of the Diet.

The Interregnum, 1733-1735, and the 2nd Election of Leszczynski

By the nature of things, the interregnum following the death of August could be nothing but turbulent. The majority of the electors hadbecome convinced that only a native King should sit on the throne and favored the banished Stanislav Leszczynski, who was spending his life in retirement and study. The most powerful magnate families with Theodore Potocki, the Primate at the head, indorsed his candidacy and practically excluded everybody else. At the election field the great assembly of citizens, with a unanimity seldom known in Poland, elected Leszczynski on September 12, 1733, and the Primate officially announced his election, in spite of the threatening declaration made by Austria and Russia that they would not consent to recognize him.

Medal of Leszczynski

Counting on personal gains Prince Wisniowiecki, the Great Chancellor of Lithuania, and Theodore Lubomirski, the Woyevoda of Cracow, together with the Bishops of Posen and Cracow, withdrew with a small band of six thousand of their retainers to the suburb of Warsaw on the right bank of the Vistula, and upon the arrival of Russian troops elected the son of the late King August. Although the union of the black eagles excluded also the Saxon candidate who was a son-in-law of the Austrian Emperor, yet the enticing offers he made to Russia and Austria won their consent. The inducement offered  to Austria was his renunciation of all claims to Austrian succession and a promise to respect the Pragmatic Sanction; and to Russia, he promised Courland for Ernest Biron, the lover of Empress Anna.

August III

Under the protection of Russian and Saxon arms, August III was crowned in Cracow, on January 17, 1734.

The Dzikow Confederacy

Leszczynski, the legally chosen King, withdrew with his supporters to Danzig, pursued by the Russian army. The Russian Field Marshal Munnich threatened to destroy the beleaguered city and to butcher all ininfants for the resistance offered by their fathers. The unfortunate Leszczynski fled to Konigsberg, but the war between the two factions lasted for two years. The magnate Adam Tarlo became the marshal of the general confederacy which was organized in 1734 at Dzikow in defense King Stanislav The failure of Sweden, Turkey and France to send support against Russia and Saxony made August's position strong in spite of the fact that France declared war against Austria, nominally for the Polish succession (1733-1738) but de facto in her own interests. In 1735 the Confederacy suffered a defeat and the King was forced to leave the country. He abdicated the throne and France made him the Duke of the newly acquired province of Lorraine which he ruled, wisely and intelligently until his death in 1766.

August III, 1733-1763, and His Times

The Diet of 1736 was forced to recognize the new King and to consent to the cession of Courland to Russia after the death of the last Duke of the house of Kettler. This was the only Diet that had not been broken up during the twenty-eight years of August III's reign which is marked by a most crass and abject degradation of all life values---moral, social, political and scientific. Servility took the place of patriotism; all respect for law and order disappeared and the wantonness of magnates held full sway. Even tribunals hitherto respected were put under the thumb of the local potentates. The magnates openly carried on negotiations with foreign sovereigns and received subsidies for services rendered; the government ceased to be able to exercise any of its functions and to be a factor in European politics. Foreign governments interfered in Polish affairs and fostered anarchy to retain excuses for their interference. Neither Russia nor Prussia or Austria respected her sovereignty or her boundaries. They sent their armies through Poland whenever it suited their plans and at times even resorted to recruiting in Poland to replenish their forces.

Zaluski's Library

Exhausted by constant civil wars, the country was in a desperate condition of poverty. The lot of  the Polish peasant grew worse and the amount of unpaid labor he was obliged to render to his overlord, increased. Ignorance and fanaticism reigned supreme. The number of convents, cloisters and monasteries multiplied immensely. The beautiful literature of the Golden Age almost disappeared. Silly, mediaeval stories, astrology and the lives of the saints took its place. Separated from the West by the warrent and devastated German states, Poland was deprived of the refreshing scientific currents from France, Italy and England. The former custom of sending Polish youth to Western universities was replaced by pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulchre or to less, remote places of religious worship. "In the contemporary intellectual movement of, the West," says Smolenski, "Poland took no part; she did not even adopt its most significant achievements. The great discoveries of Keppler, Galileo, Newton, Pascal and Torricelli in astronomy and physics were as foreign t to her as were the philosophical ideas of Bacon, Descartes, Locke and Leibnitz. Ignorance closed the eyes of the people to a realization of the gravity of their situation. Men of wisdom and thought, who could look critically at public affairs, had to conceal their opinions lest they be indicted for heresy or assault upon the liberty of the nobles . . . Without being aware of the causes of the evil and the means for remedying them, the nation was rolling into the abyss of ruin." But the inexhaustible spiritual resources of the Polish nation were not crushed by this trying period. Like Phoenix from the ashes they suddenly arose again to life and asserted themselves with vigor toward the close of the century, during the Four-Years' Diet, when Poland again took place beside France as a center whence progress and regeneration spread over Europe.

The Intellectual and Political Awakening

The middle of the XVIIIth century saw the awakening of Polish thought. During his candidacy the philosophically inclined Stanislav Leszczynski published a pamphlet on the need of political reforms, which did not go entirely unheeded. He enthused a number of younger men who went abroad to study.

Elzbieta Druzbacka

In subsequent years his court at Nancy was the seat of art and learning, whence modern thought and ideas radiated into Poland and found numerous adepts among the magnates, constantly vying with each other for power and influence. Among other influential publicists of the time were the two brothers Zaluski, Andrew and Joseph, both bishops, who, in 1746, founded the first well equipped public library in Warsaw. Stanislav Poniatowski and a few others also published pamphlets on the need of political reform. It is noteworthy that in this dark period of Polish  intellectual life a strong. stimulus to the literary awakening came from a woman. The writings of Elizabeth Druzbacka soared high above the sordidness of her contemporary environment and blazed a new trail for Polish literature. She, in a measure, cleared the Polish language of foreign influences and of hybrid expressions.

Stanislaw Konarski

The greatest influence, however, was wielded by Stanislav Konarski a highly gifted and patriotic priest who upon his return from abroad after years of study, established the famous "Collegium Nobilium," where modern subjects and modern methods of instruction were introduced. Scholasticism was banished and science, astronomy, mathematics, history and modern languages took its place. In addition to imparting knowledge, Konarski strove to inculcate patriotism and sound civic ideas in the minds of his students. With him began the intellectual and political awakening of Poland which found expression in the Constitution of May 3, 1719, and in the monumental scientific works of the close of the XVIIIth and of the XIXth centuries. He wrote a great deal on political and social problems and fearlessly exposed the dangers of the existing system and particularly the wretched "liberum veto," which, to the nobility, was the pearl of their liberties. Single-handed, he undertook the Herculean task of codifying all the laws of Poland, beginning with those of Kazimir the Great and carrying them through to the end. His "Volumina legum,": prefaced by a learned dissertation on the origin and sources of law, became subsequently recognized as the official handbook for the use of the courts, diets and other state offices. The college founded by Konarski and its success invited imitation, and a number of old schools were modernized or new ones established. The revival of thought became noticeable all over the country and it did not fail soon to transmute itself into action.

Reform Parties

The two leading and most enlightened Polish families, those of Potocki and of Czartoryski, undertook to put into life the reforms advocated by the political thinkers of the time. Unfortunately, an element of family pride underlay the splendid motives of the two parties and prevented concerted action. Each strove for individual distinction and adopted different ways of carrying out their programs. The strife of the two political factions formed by the two families constitutes the political history of the reign of the thoughtless and slothful August III. The Potockis, firm supporters of Leszczynski, formed a party known as the Patriotic or National Party; the Czartoryski party was generally known as the "Family." The National Party aimed at the transformation of the Republic into a strong state; the other of reforming the government by securing a firm "family" hold upon it. The first party sought alliances with France, Sweden and Turkey; the second relied on Russia for support in the accomplishment of their plans. August III was an ally of Russia to whom he was indebted for his, election as King. Accordingly he offered no protest when Russian armies passed through Poland during the Russo-Turkish war (1737-1739), and, in compliance with his pre-election promise, gave ''Courland to Biron, protégé of the Russian Empress, after the death of Duke Ferdinand Kettler (1737). The National Party protested and took steps to organize an armed confederacy. Agreeing with the King's Russian policy, and having at their command the most important State offices, the "Family" Party was able to frustrate the plans of their opponents by dissolving the Diet. They were unsuccessful, however, in their attempts to induce the Republic to take part in the war of the Austrian succession, during which Frederick the Great wrested from Maria Theresa the ancient Polish province of Silesia. The Russians defeated the Saxons, and with the aid of the "Family" the Polish King endeavored to equip a large army and to draw Poland into the war. By preventing any of the Diets to come to pass the opposition rendered action impossible. Internal disorder, characterizing the Saxon rule in Poland, reached its apogee at about this time. Charged with designs of turning the country into a monarchy, the "Family" Party began to lose its sway, particularly after its unsavory dealings in disposing of the estates of the heavily indebted Prince Sanguszko at Ostrog became known and raised a tide of public indignation and contempt. Soon the "Family" was relegated to the role of the opposition. Realizing that their chances of regaining influence were slim, the Czartoryskis turned for support to neighboring nations, especially to Russia. The time was particularly propitious, as a member of the "Family," the elegant and young Stanislav August Poniatowski, as Ambassador to Russia, gained influence at St. Petersburg because of his love affairs with the wife of the heir to the throne. In 1762 the old Empress Elizabeth died, and Katherine II, having quickly disposed of her half-idiotic husband, Peter III, ascended the throne of Russia. The "Family" gathered forces for the purpose of overturning the government and introducing the planned reforms. The National party was ready to resist them by force of arms, and a civil war was impending when the news came of the sudden death of August III on October 5, 1763.

The Last Royal Election, May 7, 1764

In spite of the fact that, owing to the exhaustion  caused by the Seven Years' War, there was less disposition on the part of theneighbors of Poland to interfere in her internal  affairs, this chance was not grasped by the political leaders of the time, more interested in a realization of their individual ambitions than in the destiny of their country. The Patriotic party favored the son of the deceased King. He died, however, before the election, and the leader of the party, Hetman John Clement Branicki, became the candidate. The Czartoryskis had prepared themselves thoroughly for the convocation diet and the election which they sought to postpone as long as possible. Russia was to be their chief supporter and she  began by paying eighty thousand roubles to the interrex, the Primate Wladyslav Lubienski, for deferring the election until May. The local assemblies became busy places of pre-election activity. Support was bought by intrigue, bribe and promise; the recalcitrant members were disposed of by thugs hired by  the "Family" or by Russian soldiers brought over to intimidate the opposition. To the convocation diet the two parties came armed to the teeth. Branicki and Radziwill brought considerable forces of the Crown and Lithuanian troops; the "Family" invited  Russia to garrison the city; and the royal palace and convention hall were guarded by the private militia of the Czartoryskis. The atmosphere was  not particularly conducive to an amicable settlement. The opposition immediately. after the opening of the session, declared that in view of the presence of the Russian troops in the capital no Diet would be held. Despite the pressure brought to bear  upon the Chairman of the Diet by the "Family" he refused to continue the session until freedom from military intervention was restored. The opposition  broke up the Diet and withdrew. The Czartoryskis did not relish the idea of going through another costly pre-election campaign, and resorted to the  flagrantly illegal measure of continuing a dissolved Diet and of deciding the various issues by a majority vote. Their program of reforms was well considered and far-reaching, but could be adopted only in part as both Prussia and Russia declared that they would not tolerate the abolition of the "liberum veto" and some other reforms The measures adopted related to the simplification of parliamentary procedure, the the abolition of the oath binding deputies to follow the instructions of the local assemblies they represented,  the creation of executive committees in matters relating to the State Treasury and the Army, changes in the judiciary, the protection of cities  against the willfulness of the nobility, and improvement of the methods of taxation, particularly of import duties, and the limitation of the power of the  nobles in judicial rights over the peasants. They legalized proxy representations at elections, and excluded foreigners from candidacy to the Polish  throne. Henceforth, only a Polish noble, Roman Catholic in faith, could be elected. They also recognized the imperial title of the Russian monarchs,  which former Diets had refused to do, as well as the royal title of the Elector of Brandenburg, and confirmed the cession of Courland to Biron. The opposition declared all the laws passed by the "Family" Diet not binding, and left the capital. They were  punished by a loss of all offices held by them and their supporters were pursued by the Russian troops sent against them. The "Family" did not hesitate to  adopt most radical measures against their opponents, many of whom, like Branicki and Radziwill, went  abroad. Their estates were sequestered. Thus far everything had gone well for the Czartoryskis, but their first disappointment came when the Russian  Empress expressed a wish to see her former lover Poniatowski, rather than Prince August Czartoryski, on the Polish throne. The Czartoryskis had to  respect her wish, but at the election at which Stanislav August Poniatowski, then thirty-two years old, was elected King of Poland, only five thousand electors  were present.

Stanislaw August Poniatowski

In the pacta conventa he swore to respect the laws of the nation, the privileges of the nobility, the enactments of the convocation diet, and to establish a military school for the nobles. Contrary to the time-honored custom, his coronation took place in Warsaw and not in Cracow, on November 25, 1764, on the name's day of the Russian Empress.

Stanislav August Poniatowski 1764-1795

The new King, son of the Castellan of Cracow and the Princess Constance Czartoryska, was a man of broad but superficial education, refined tastes, considerable ability, good breeding, soft manners, but of weak character. He was well-intentioned, but had no strong moral principles, was vain, egotistic and effeminate. He took great pride in receiving the Order of the Prussian Black Eagle from "so great a man" as Frederick the Second, felt no impropriety in receiving a regular salary from Catherine, whom he extolled as "the great Empress" and whose love made him "the happiest of men." The perspicacious Empress well knew his sentimental and feeble character, and decided to make him a tool in carrying out political plans, laid jointly by her and her friend Frederick of Prussia. It was the King in Prussia who protested most vigorously against the Empress giving her consent to the abolition of the "liberum veto" when the new King asked for it before the coronation Diet assembled.

Reforms of the "Family"

At this Diet the Czartoryskis clearly realized that the support Russia had given them was not meant to benefit Poland, but only to afford an opportunity for interference in internal affairs. The Russian Ambassador proposed an alliance for offensive and defensive purposes, and informed the assembly that should such an alliance be made the Empress would consent to the increase of the Polish army from twenty-four thousand, set by the Dumb Diet of 1717, to fifty thousand. He proposed a rectification of the Russo-Polish frontier which would have given a considerable stretch of territory to Russia, and the restoration of certain rights to the dissidents. The Prussian Ambassador took occasion at this time to inform the Diet that his sovereign regarded the contemplated tariff reform with disfavor. The Diet realized that the increase in the army was greatly needed, but that an alliance with Russia for offensive purposes would be detrimental to Poland making her a vassal of Russia and leading to unnecessary wars. Accordingly, they informed the Empress that an alliance for defensive purposes would be agreeable, but no common cause could be made with Russia for purposes of foreign aggression. They also informed Catherine that the privileges she requested for the "dissidents" could not be granted. The Prussian Ambassador was asked to state to his sovereign that the matter of taxation was an internal matter and his interference with reference to it was resented.

Russian Intrigue against the "Family"

As a result of these bold expressions by the Diet,  the Czartoryskis lost standing in St. Petersburg, and the Russian Ambassador received instructions to work against them and to  revive the former anarchy by all available means. It was not very difficult to foment trouble at that time when the great body of people was hostile to the high-handed methods of the "Family" and to the person of the foppish King, elected by a handful of paid retainers under the protection of the troops of his former paramour, who paid his debts, financed his election campaign and carried him on her annual payroll. Despite the fact that the King, in the words of the Russian Ambassador, "considered the Russian interests as his own," he nevertheless tried to remedy some of the ills of his native country. At the Diet of 1766 he again introduced a measure aimed at the restriction of the liberum veto, and the  adoption of the principles of a majority vote. This gave an opportunity to Repnin, the Russian Ambassador, to start his campaign against the King and the "Family." He declared that the Empress would never consent to the majority vote because "such a basis for law enactment could not be reconciled with the freedom of the nation." The measure failed of passage and the seeds of discord sown by Russian and Prussian agents soon bore fruit. With the aid of the unspeakable Gabriel Podoski, a priest soon afterwards made Primate as a prize for the services rendered to Russia, Repnin organized a confederacy at Radom, ostensibly with the purpose of overthrowing the King and his party. Russia feared the "Family," not the King. They knew he was a man without character, with whom they could do as they pleased. It was easier, however, to form the Confederacy under this slogan. The coarse and, shallow Prince Charles Radziwill, who had fled after Poniatowski's election and, whose large estates had been sequestered by Russia, was asked to become the Marshal of the Confederacy. For the return of his estates he promised to do everything the Empress might demand of him. A Russian agent was assigned to guide this scion of a proud and ancient family in his abject servility to a foreign sovereign.

The Radom Confederacy

When the Confederacy was organized a large Russian army arrived at Radom, and then Repnin demanded of the surprised and dumbfounded Confederates an expression of loyalty to King Poniatowski, for the dissenters equal rights with Roman Catholics and required the recognition of the Russian Empress as the guarantor of the cardinal laws of the Republic. Russian bayonets exacted an acquiesence in all of the demands of Repnin. At the confederation Diet, held with the King's approval in October,1767, Repnin presented his program, which included the abolition of all the disabilities of the dissidents, a new constitution and an alliance with Russia. When a strong opposition arose, Repnin, to facilitate matters, demanded the appointment of a commission with power to act. This project was vigorously opposed by Kayetan Soltyk, the Bishop of Cracow, Joseph Zaluski, the Bishop of Kieff, the Field Hetman. Watslav Rzewuski and his son Severin. All of them were arrested by Repnin's soldiers and taken to Kaluga in Russia. The outrage committed caused a storm  of indignation. After it had quieted down and the assembly had satisfied itself by sending a deputation with a request for release of the captive senators, business was resumed and Repnin was able to prevail upon the Diet to appoint a commission to work out jointly with him the new constitution.

The Second Dumb Diet

The new instrument assured to the dissidents religious and political rights equal to those enjoyed by the Roman Catholics. It may be of interest to note that the total number of dissidents, that is, Protestants and adherents of the Uniate Church in whose behalf that magnanimous Russian sovereign pleaded so vigorously, was at the time in Poland, somewhat over a million, or eight per cent of the population of the Republic.

Josef Wybicki

With only one exception the proposed constitution abolished all the reforms of the Convocation Diet of 1764, and retained the free elections, the unanimity of decision in almost all matters of importance, the liberum veto and the prerogatives of the nobility. The hetmans were elevated to senatorial dignity and Russia became the guarantor of the Constitution. All these provisions were adopted by the Diet without any discussion, and with but one loud voice of protest, that of Joseph Wybicki. This was the only demonstration of hostility and resentment by the assembled poltroons, for whom personal safety was superior to honor and the fate of their country.

The Bar Confederacy

The true expression of the outraged feelings of those who saw the iniquitous designs of Russia resolved to save the country from the slavery into which a part of the nobility was willing to engulf her for personal profit or preferment, can be found in the Confederacy which was organized "pro religione et liberate" at the town, of Bar, on the Dniester, in Podolia, chiefly by the middle class gentry under the leadership of Bishop Adam Krasinski, his brother Michael and the elderly but still fiery and active, Joseph Pulaski and his three sons, one of whom, Kazimir, subsequently became the distinguished hero of the American War for Independence.

Kazimierz Pulawski

The highly patriotic and exalted movement of protest, and resentment was so elemental and spontaneous that it lacked sufficient organization and planning. The Confederates had such faith in their holy cause and were so certain of universal support that they neglected making the necessary preparations, before hoisting the flag in defense of their country and its liberties and religion against foreign agrression. When the news of the formation of the Confederacy reached the King and the Senate they decided to persuade the leaders to abandon the venture and at the same time to apprise the Russian Ambassador of it and request his support if need be. The impetuous and shrewd Repnin did not wait for the result of the conferences of the King's envoy with the Confederates, but gathered his army and requested the aid of the Polish crown troops against the insurgents. Francis Xavier Branicki led the Polish crown regiments which joined the Russians and took by assault the towns of Bar and Berdychov. The Confederates were forced to withdraw and, in their retreat were harassed by the Cossacks and Ukranian peasants who, incited by their priests and the agents of the Russian government, burned and sacked defenseless towns and manors and murdered the people sparing neither women nor children. The frontier freebooters and brigands known as haydamaks, again laid waste the country which had been rebuilt and restored laboriously after the devastating Cossack wars. Wantonly and cruelly they pillaged and massacred. The carnage in the city of Human is and of the most revolting chapters in the history of that province, rife as it is, with bloodshed and destruction.

Pulawski's Monument

In spite of lack of organization, internal dissensions, checks and defeats, the Confederacy gained increasing support all over the country, not only among the lower strata of society but among the magnates as well, who at first had carefully stayed away. A butcher, by the name, of Morawski, the shoemaker Szczygiel and a Cossack Sawa Calinski, distinguished themselves by their valor and devotion, as did the saintly monk, Father Mark Jandolowicz, who formed a special brotherhood of the Knights of the Holy Cross. The managing board of the confederacy, or its general staff, was unable to unify the direct movement adequately. The brilliant achievements of Kazimir Pulaski, Zaremba, Dierzanowski and of Dumouriez, sent by France, were in vain because of the lack of coherence and unity in the directing body, the majority of whom consisted, by this time, of magnates who desired to overthrow the King. This policy was unfortunate because when the wavering King and the "Family" were ready to join the Confederacy, the treacherous Primate Podoski, acting in behalf of the Russian Government, insisted, upon the dethronement, and in this way all chance of a united action against Russia was frustrated. The King was forced back upon Russia, where he again sought support, and France, which during the ministry of Choiseul had supported the Confederates with money and experienced officers, became somewhat alienated when the Governing Board refused to join hands with the King. The other and most faithful foreign ally of the Confederacy was Turkey which declared war against Russia in 1768, giving as its cause the illegal activities of that government in Poland. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, the Turkish army was no match for the Russian naval and land forces under Admiral Orloff and General Rumiantseff. The successes of Russia cooled the Austrian sympathies for the Confederates. In 1767 Maria Theresa was ready to send her troops to free Poland and the King from the outrages and insults of Repnin. She was prevented from doing so by Frederick of Prussia, who threatened war if she carried out her plans. Her heir Joseph II did not, share her views. Back in 1769 he had conferred with Frederick with reference to Poland. The next year they again met at Neustadt in Moravia. As a result of this conference, Austria, under the pretext of the necessity of rectification of her frontiers, wrested away a considerable, part of the Province of Cracow, and Prussian troops occupied West Prussia up to Great Poland in order "to establish quarantine against plague" which Frederick "feared" could be carried into his domains. At the end of the year Frederick sent his brother to St. Petersburg to negotiate the first partition of Poland.

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3. The Three Partitions

The First Partition Aug 5, 1772

At the conferences which Frederick the Great held with Marie Theresa's heir at Nissa in 1769 and at Neustadt in 1770, the Russian victories over the Turks and their possible consequences were discussed. Frederick feared Russian aggrandizement in the South. It was to his interest to preserve a strong Porte, which could be advantageously utilized in the event of a Prussian war either with Russia or Austria. Despite the recent enmity between Prussia and Austria, by a deft presentation to the future Austrian sovereign of the dangers to which the Holy Roman Empire would be exposed by Russia's conquest of Moldavia and Wallachia, he easily won the acquiescence of the young and vainglorious Joseph II in his selfish scheme of protecting Turkey in the possession of Moldavia and compensating Russia with territories in Poland. Such an arrangement was doubly advantageous, for it checked Russia in the south and by upsetting the existing balance of political influence it opened the way for Prussian and Austrian claims to similar shares of the Polish Republic. Frederick's plan was well thought out, and its accomplishment would have enabled him to secure the much coveted West or Royal Prussia without cost. He was determined to carry the scheme through. His brother's mission at the Russian capital in 1770 had been to secure Catherine's consent to it, but the Russian Empress and her advisors; Panin and Chernishev did not cherish the idea of sharing Poland with other powers. To all intents and purposes Catherine was already mistress of the country. This condition served to intrench Maria Theresa in her adverse attitude to the scheme. The Austrian Empress had been opposed to the dismemberment of Poland and for that reason supported the Bar Confederacy, giving shelter to the General Board of that organization. In 1771 Maria Theresa approached Turkey and made an alliance with the Ottomans for the reconquest of Moldavia, with a further joint agreement to insist upon the territorial integrity of Poland. The plans alarmed Russia, and, fearing the strengthening of the alliance by the entry of Prussia, she submitted to the insistence of Frederick and agreed to cede Moldavia in return for a share in the partition of Poland.

Poland (map) 1772

This caused Austria to retrace her steps. On February 19, 1772, the agreement of partition was, signed in Vienna. A previous agreement between Prussia and Russia had been made in St. Petersburg on February 6,1772. Early in August the Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously entered Poland and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. On August 5, 1772, the occupation manifesto was issued; much to the consternation of a country too exhausted by the heroic endeavors of the Bar Confederacy to offer further resistance.

End of the Bar Confederacy

The regiments of the Bar Confederacy, whose executive board had been forced to leave Austria after that country joined the Prusso-Russian conspiracy, did not lay down their arms. Every fortress in their command held out to the very last round of ammunition and the last ounce of food. Famous was the defense of Tyniec, which lasted until the end of March 1773, and also that of Czenstochowa commanded by Pulaski. Cracow fell on April 28th, captured by the Russian general Suvorov who exiled the heroic garrison to Siberia. Neither France nor England, upon whom such great hopes had been based, helped in a sufficient measure or protested when the greatest crime in modern times was committed. So came to a tragic end the noble but ill-organized attempt of patriotic Poland to save itself from foreign aggression. It had cost about a hundred thousand men and once more laid the unfortunate country waste, but in the words of Professor Sokolowski, "it was the first demonstration of the reviving national conscience, the first armed protest before the eyes of Europe against outrage and unheard of oppression."

The Spoils of Russia, Prussia, and Austria

The dismemberment treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22, 1772. Frederick was elated with his success; Kaunitz was proud of wresting as large a share as he did, with the rich salt mines of Bochnia and Wieliczka; and Catherine "never signed a diplomatic document with greater satisfaction." By this "diplomatic document" Russia came into possession of that section of Livonia which had still remained in Polish hands, and of White Russia embracing the counties of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mscislav; Prussia took Warmia and West Prussia as far as the Netze and embracing the county of Pomerania, without the city of Danzig, the counties of Malborg, Chelmno, without the City of Thorn, and some districts in Great Poland; and to Austria fell Zator and Oswiecim, part of Little Poland embracing parts of the counties of Cracow and Sandomir and a great portion of Ruthenia in other words, the whole of Galicia, less the City of Cracow. By this partition Poland lost about thirty per cent of her territory, amounting at that time to about 484,000 square miles, and about four million of her people. The largest share of the spoils, as far as population and revenue were concerned, went to Austria.

The Diet of 1773 and the Treaty of Cession

After having occupied their respective territories, in brazen arrogance, the three robber governments demanded that the King and the Diet approve their action. The King appealed to the nations of Western Europe for help and tarried with the convocation of the Diet. When, as usual no help was forthcoming and the armies of the combined enemies occupied Warsaw to compel by force of arms the calling of the assembly, no alternative could be chosen save passive submission to their will. Those of the senators who advised against this desperate step were, after the well-known Russian fashion, arrested and exiled to Siberia by the representatives of the Tsarina. The local land assemblies refused to elect Deputies to the Diet, and after great difficulties less than half of the regular number of representatives came to attend the session, most of them men of degraded character, led by Adam Lodzia Poninski, the commander of the Malta Order, a cynic and notorious gambler, willing to undertake anything for money. In order to prevent the disruption of the Diet and the defeat of the purpose of the despoilers he undertook to turn the regular Diet into a Diet of a Confederacy, where majority rule prevailed. In spite of the dramatic efforts of Thaddeus Reytan, Samuel Korsak and others to prevent it, the deed was accomplished with the aid of Michael Radziwill and the dishonorable Bishops Mlodzieyowski, Massalski, and Ostrowski, who occupied high positions of State and who were ready to sell their country and honor for Russian gold. The Diet elected a committee of thirty to deal with the various matters presented. On September 18, 1773, the Committee formally signed the treaty of cession, renouncing all claims of Poland to the territories taken from her.

The First State Board of Education in Europe

While the committee was still in session the news reached Poland that Pope Clement XIV had dissolved the Order of the Jesuits. The lay members of the Committee argued for the retention of the Order in Poland, the ecclesiastical members for its dissolution solution. The opinion of the ecclesiastical prevailed, and with it came the question of the disposition the properties of the Order and of the organization of popular education, which had hitherto been, with such disastrous effect, in the hands of the Jesuits.

Hugo Kollontay

It was voted that the government takes over all the Jesuit schools and applies the income from the Jesuit estates to educational purposes. A special commission known as the Educational Commission was created to take charge of the schools of the country. In this manner education was secularized and the first State Board of Education in Europe was established. In spite of the fact that more than half of the Jesuit estates, worth over forty million Polish guldens, was stolen by the members of the Parliamentary Committee of Thirty, which with such light heart had subscribed to the act of foreign spoliation, enough was left to put the schools of the country on an adequate basis. The Commission had broad powers and set about its work in a most enthusiastic and competent manner. Among its moving spirits were some of the most enlightened men of the time, such as Hugo Kollontay, from whom Thomas Paine received many of his ideas on education; John Sniadecki, a mathematician of great renown; Stanislav Staszyc, the foremost political thinker of' the time, and many others.

Jan Sniadecki

Some of the most prominent men of Europe were consulted on various matters, and many, like Dupont de Nemours and others, visited Poland as advisers and remained as university instructors. The scope of the work of the Commission was immense. They organized and modernized the whole range of schools, beginning with the village parochial school and extending to the universities. A modern astronomical observatory was built at Cracow; a well-equipped chemical laboratory was established; and a school of surgery was opened, where human cadavers were used for instruction. At the University of Wilno the astronomical department as enriched by new instruments of precision, and chairs were established for the teaching of natural history, chemistry and anatomy. Andrew Sniadecki, brother of John, author of a celebrated work on the "Theory of Organic Beings," taught chemistry and medicine, Jundzill-botany and Joachim Lelewel-history. Other sciences found equally remarkable exponents at the University of Wilno.

University of Vilnius

A school of engineering, a conservatory of music, and an institute for the deaf and dumb were founded. A special council, known as the Society for Elementary Education, whose task it was to prepare suitable textbooks was created. The Commission trained teachers and vigorously fought all the obstacles thrown in its way by old modish folk who resented the reforms and the secularization of instruction. The Jesuits and low, ignorant clergy obstructed the progress of the work with the persistence of fanatics. Despite all the difficulties the Commission accomplished a great work, raised the standard of the education of the people, and gave stimulus to regeneration of science, literature and civic righteousness. The brilliant achievements of the movement may serve as one of the many extant proofs that the nation was sound and healthy and that its political depravity was limited to those elements of reaction whom France was able to drown in the mighty tide of the Revolution and whom the newly born American nation expelled from its midst. The large numbers of active workers throughout the land and the hearty support given by the nation to the labors of reform, crowned as they were with marked success, testify to the fact that below, what Mickiewicz later called, the "cold dirty lava" burned a fire of new life which even a century of calamities and disappointments could not extinguish. Hampered by foreign intervention Poland could not, like France and the United States, rid itself of this hardened crust of "dirty lava". The political corruptionists and reactionaries were in a position to carry on their wicked work.

Changes in the Constitution and Permanent Council

In addition to the act of bestowing princely titles upon their ringleaders, such as Poninski, Massalski Xavier Branicki, and approving those given by the Emperor to the Lubomirskis, Sulkowski and Jablonowskis, the above mentioned parliamentary committee made certain changes in the  constitution of the State. The various labors of that committee, which lasted for two years, were finally submitted to the Confederation Diet on March 27, 1775. Attempts were again made to protest against the highhanded actions of the committee which signed the act of cession, but were of no avail. The constitutional changes made by the committee brought the country back to the political framework adopted at Repnin's command by the Second Dumb Diet in 1768, with but four modifications. The first concerned the limitation of the rights of dissidents, to which the Russian Ambassador made no vigorous objections. The matter had already been made use of to intrench Russian influence in Poland and a new constitutional departure in that respect gave Russia but another opportunity to interfere on behalf of the oppressed dissenters should her interests demand it. The other new, features in the constitution specified that only a Polish nobleman holding property within the boundaries of the Republic could become King, and that sons and grandsons of a King might mount the Polish throne only after two successive reigns had terminated since the death of the royal father or grandfather. The constitution also provided for a Permanent Council to take charge of the administration of the country. The Council was to consist of thirty-six members, eighteen Senators and eighteen Deputies, elected by ballot every two years by the Diet. The King was president of the Council, which was subdivided into five departments: foreign affairs, police, war, justice and treasury. Corresponding ministers headed the respective departments and had special counsellors assigned to them. The decisions of the departments were subject to the approval of the majority of the Council. By this arrangement the King was stripped of every semblance of power. Henceforth he could do nothing without the consent of the Council and appointments to the various State offices could be made by him only from among the candidates presented by the Council. The power of the hetmans was similarly reduced. The army was increased to thirty thousand, new indirect taxes were introduced, and salaries were paid to the executive officers of the government. The Russian Empress became the guarantor of the Constitution.

Improvement in Economic and Social Conditions

The new constitution, although it retained the vicious old principles of liberum veto, free royal elections, and similar impractical measures, contained, nevertheless, many useful provisions. It created a strong centralized government with a considerable army at its disposal to enable it to carry out its provisions. In spite of the fact that the members of the Permanent Council were all subservient to Russia and ready to obey the Russian minister in every respect, and although they farmed out to themselves various State, and municipal monopolies bringing millions in income, and voted for themselves immense life pensions, yet they were successful in restoring order in the country, in raising taxes, paying the civil and military officers and in stimulating industry, agriculture and commerce. After the first partition, the Republic still occupied, an area of 344,000 square miles, and had a population of seven and a half millions. Previous anarchy and guerilla warfare had brought industry and farming almost to a standstill. Alongside of those who insanely squandered fortunes in the orgies of gambling, debauchery and gaiety, there were those who saw the paramount need of the economic upbuilding of the country. Encouraged by the government, many magnates and burghers invested their money in factories, and industrial and financial enterprises. Most active in this respect was Anthony Tyzenhaus, a wealthy Lithuanian potentate, who built cloth, linen and paper mills and who played an important part in the industrial reorganization then taking place.

Antoni Tyzenhaus

The King established a porcelain factory near Warsaw and a steel plant in the iron region. In four years the export trade of the country rose from twenty-two to one hundred and ten million. New roads and waterways were built and the old ones improved. The nobility of the County of Brest-Litevski undertook, at its own expense, the draining of Polesie swamps and built the highways of Pinsk-Slonim and Pinsk-Volhynia. Many a river was cleared and deepened and made fit for navigation. At private expense of the Lithuanian Grand Hetman Prince Michael Kazimir Oginski, a canal, known until this day by his name, was dug, connecting the river Szczara, a tributary of the Niemen, with Jasiolda, a tributary of the Pripet, and thus was established a direct route between the Baltic and the Black Seas. A similar waterway, known as the Royal Canal, was built by uniting the river Pina a tributary of the Pripet, with the river Muchawiec, flowing into the Bug. General prosperity increased. Crops were good and in order to improve the farming methods and increase their productivity, many magnates undertook extensive reforms and liberated their peasants. Numerous writers, mostly of physiocratic convictions, pointed out the need of such reforms, but the great mass of the landed gentry was in determined opposition to them, and entertained their old attitude of contempt toward the peasants and burghers. In 1776 the Lithuanian cities were deprived of autonomy and the project of Andrew Zamoyski, aiming at the removal of certain disabilities and the imposition of certain duties on the clergy, was publicly cut to pieces, to the great satisfaction of Stackelberg, the Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, who maintained that the measure advocated by Zamoyski was contrary to the liberties guaranteed by Russia.

The Renaissance in Art and Science

Simultaneously with the economic awakening of the country came the revival of science, literature and art, fostered by the magnates and particularly by the King. His palace was equipped with physical and chemical laboratories, an astronomical observatory, a rare library of old and new works, a numismatic collection and a splendid art gallery. From abroad he brought a number of highly skilled craftsmen, artists and sculptors, among whom Bacciarelli and Lebrun should especially be mentioned. The greatest minds and masters of the time met at his famous "Thursday dinners" where scientific, artistic and political subjects and ideas were presented and discussed in their academic as well as practical aspects.

Stanislaw Staszyc

The King was keenly interested in the application of scientific discoveries to practical ends. The application of electricity to human therapy, vaccination against smallpox, aerial navigation in balloons, the lightning rod and other discoveries of the time had in him an ardent admirer and champion. It was due to his inspiration that Bishop Adam Naruszewicz undertook his celebrated critical "History of the Polish Nation." The "prince of poets," Bishop Ignatius Krasicki, was another member of the King's circle, to which also belonged the poet Stanislav Trembecki.

Wojciech Boguslawski

Among the other cultural achievements of that time was the establishment of the first national theatre, which saw such a brilliant development under the leadership of Woyciech Boguslawski, and the founding of the periodic literary magazines. Philosophy, economics, pedagogy and political science had illustrious representatives in Hugo Kollontay, Stanislav Staszyc, Onufry Kopczynski, George Piramowicz, the Sniadeckis, the brothers Stroynowski, Wielhorski, Poplawski, Jezierski, Joseph Wybicki and others. The political writers of the time were chiefly under the influence of the Physiocrats and the Encyclopaedists. They advocated the abolition of serfdom, and proposed numerous land reforms and the recognition of the civic rights and economic needs of the townspeople.

A Polish Gentelman

Some, like Butrymowiez, argued for the equalization and polonization of the Jews. The pamphlet literature of that period is one of the richest in Europe. Among the leaders of the "third estate" two rose to particular prominence, the president of the City of Warsaw, John Dekert, and a lawyer by the name of Barss.

A Polish Lady

Aided by the champions of social reform and particularly by the great genius of Staszyc and Kollontay, they organized a movement for the recognition of civic rights of the cities, which found a sympathetic echo in the middle class gentry.

The Reform Party

The landowners had borne the brunt of the previous anarchy and misrule caused by the oligarchal magnates who based their power on the masses of impecunious nobles depending upon them for a living. The responsible, self-respecting middle class gentry, who once before had shown their patriotism by organizing the Bar Confederacy joined hands with the responsible real estate owners of the cities to establish a strong government based on the land owning elements of the country, and on the complete or partial elimination of the "noble" proletariat. This was in accordance with the political ideals reaching Poland from the West. The reform or patriotic party, as it was called, counted among its adherents the most distinguished men of the time. Some of the magnates like the "Polish Aristides" Stanislav Malachowski and the two brothers, Ignatius and Stanislav Kostka Potocki, joined in the reform movement. The Czartoryskis favored the reform party, as it was the only element in the country that openly championed freedom from Russian tutelage, whose dupes they had been and on account of which Polish state sovereignty had practically ceased to exist.

The Opposition

The party that was most bitterly opposed to the reformers was, in the first place, composed of the very reactionary and inert elements among the nobility who were almost unanimously supported by the episcopate, and therefore by the entire church hierarchy. The most dangerous elements in the opposition, however, were not those who deprecated the reforms because of ignorance or conviction, but the ambitious and unscrupulous despoilers like Poninski, Xavier Branicki and others. Not only were they opposed to fundamental reforms, but also seeing the moderately good work of the Permanent Council, attempted to influence the Russian Empress to overturn it. Anarchy was a much more profitable field for the rapacity of the magnates of their kind than an orderly government. The leadership of that element fell to Branicki, whose real name was Branecki, but who usurped the name of the ancient family of the Branickis after the last legal bearer of it, Hetman John Clement, died in 1771, Branecki was a man of the lowest instincts and of a most degraded character. He gained the first favors of Catherine by ruthlessly pursuing the Bar Confederates with the aid of the Russian Cossacks. The next steps were very easy. He became the owner of enormous riches and rapidly mounted from one dignity to another, until he became the Grand Hetman of the Crown. He then desired to restore to the office the great prerogatives it had possessed in the past and declared war on the Permanent Council, which restricted it. His chief political associates were Felix Potocki, the Polish Croesus, who owned over three million acres of land and tens of thousands of serfs, the despicable Bishop Kossakowski and his brother Simon and Severin, Rzewuski, erstwhile prisoner in Kaluga, whither he bad been exiled for making protests against the iniquities of Russia at the Radom Diet of 1768. Like Michael Radziwill he found it much more convenient to dull his national sensibilities and, upon receiving high honors, went so far as to champion the retention of Russian influence in Poland and the former pernicious political and economic liberties. The great mass of thoughtless, landless, homeless, penniless nobility was always at the command of the magnates. Immense bands of these hungry, ignorant and lawless nobles, following blindly the command of their unscrupulous and ambitious masters were the greatest menace to the country and its free institutions, and the cause of its decline and eventual downfall.

The Political Conferences with Catherine at Kaniow

Placed between the two political extremes was the compromise party of King and his brother Michael, the primate. They desired to strengthen the country and its government, but discountenanced opposition to Russian influence. They favored only such changes as could be made without arousing the opposition of the Russian sovereign. It was a hopeless program in the face of Russia's watchfulness and her determination to preserve the golden liberties of the Polish nobility. Yet, after the death of Frederick the Great in 1786, whose evil genius stood ever in the way of Poland's best efforts, the understanding reached in 1780 between Emperor Joseph II and Catherine in regard to Turkey was soon to be practically effected, and a change in the Russian policy was to be expected. In case of war with Turkey the support of Poland was of great value to Russia as it afforded the easiest route for the passage of troops as well as for the making of convenient junctures with the Austrian armies. Furthermore, the rich south Polish granaries and cattle herds afforded abundant supplies for the provisioning of the Russian troops. In 1787 Catherine, on her way to Crimea, stopped at Kaniow to confer with King Poniatowski concerning a Russian-Polish alliance and some internal Polish matters. The leaders of the extreme pro-Russian party all flocked to Kaniow for secret political conferences with the Empress and her hero Potemkin, and pledged their support against Turkey for Russian assistance against the King and the lawful government she had guaranteed to support. She did not accept their offer at the time but reserved it for future utilization. The leaders of the reform party, on the other hand, saw in the impending difficulties of Russia a chance to get rid of her control and influence. Soon the country was called upon to decide which of the two ways should be followed: an alliance with Austria and Russia: against Turkey and the further entrenchment of Russian influence in Poland, or a union with Prussia for the restoration of Polish sovereignty.

The Project of a Russo-Polish Alliance

After the conference at Kaniow, the Russian Empress sent the Polish King a copy of the proposed Russo-Polish treaty. It guaranteed the territorial integrity of the allied countries and called for mutual help in the event of foreign invasion. It declared against all reforms in the Polish government, but contained consent to holding the next Diet as of a confederacy in order to prevent its dissolution and in order to carry through the alliance as well as to provide for an increase of the army. The need of the latter was well recognized by all parties, and made possible the unanimous consent to a confederacy diet where decisions were reached by a majority vote.

The Four Years' Diet 1788-1792

The Diet met on October 6, 1788, in Warsaw and formed the confederacy. The two marshals of the confederacy, Stanislav Malachowski for  the Crown and Kasimir Nestor Sapieha for Lithuania, belonged to the Patriotic party. Their election ensured consideration of the various reform measures and augured ill for the proposed alliance with Russia. In two weeks after the opening of the session the project to increase the army to one hundred thousand passed and a special military commission was established to supersede the War Department of the Permanent Council.

Stanislaw Malachowski

The Russian Ambassador protested against this change, and threatened war. The King and the Primate argued against the change but the general sentiment was very strongly in favor of it.  It was pointed out that a department which was not responsible to the Diet and which was composed of men appointed at the request of a foreign government and subservient to it should not be given command of large army. This view prevailed and despite the Russian threats the measure was adopted.

The Alliance with Prussia

The severance of the Prusso-Russian entente, which since 1764 had hung over Poland as a sword of Damocles, and the Russian entanglement in a war with Turkey and Sweden, afforded the possibility of free action. Prussia, then in alliance with Great Britain and Holland strained every effort to embolden the Diet and to estrange Poland from Russia, hoping by an alliance with Poland and a war with Austria gain for herself the City of Thorn and the commercial port of Danzig, in return for the restoration of Galicia to the Republic. Albeit the request for the cession of these two cities was very firmly refused, the treaty with Prussia was made on March 27,1799. It guaranteed the integrity of the territorial possessions of the two countries and mutual help to the last in case of foreign invasion. Frederick Wilhelm II, the successor of Frederick the Great, was thus able to gain the confidence of Poland, much in need of protection and support to bring about the reformation of the government by which only she could be saved from inevitable destruction, and to which Russia was unqualifiedly opposed.

Accomplishments of the Four Years Diet

The alliance with Prussia and thus indirectly with England and Holland encouraged the Diet to break the treaty with Russia and to abolish the constitution which she had  forced upon the country in 1775. This marks the beginning of Poland's emancipation from the demoralizing influence of Russia. Patriotic enthusiasm reached a high pitch, and it was found possible to pass a law subjecting the nobility to the payment of regular taxes, which had hitherto been identified with slavery. Forty million guldens were needed annually to support the army alone on the footing voted by the Diet. Many new sources of revenue were devised, but it proved difficult to raise that amount for the war commission.

Jan Dekert

The army could not, therefore, be increased to the desired one hundred thousand. The total net revenue did not exceed forty millions. It was, however, twice the amount that had been raised a few years before and was considered a great success and a testimonial to the executive ability of the government and the patriotic response of the country. It enabled the government to obtain considerable loans abroad. Ten millions was obtained in Holland alone. Because the Diet did not limit itself to the revisions of the Constitution, but discussed and considered many social and economic problems, its work became dilatory, particularly in view of the obstructionist tactics of the opposition. The civic rights of the cities were brought very strikingly to the attention of the Diet by the bold act of the President of Warsaw who, in November, 1789, brought together at the capital the representatives of 141 Polish cities and jointly with them worked out a remarkable memorial which was submitted to the King and the Diet. By the enactment of April 18, 1791, the burghers received the privilege of neminem captivabimus or habeas corpus, the right to own land and to hold any ecclesiastical civil or military office. City home rule was restored and the representatives of the cities were admitted to the Diet to advise with reference to city matters. Many of the aristocrats asked to be entered among the citizens of the cities. In this wise a fundamental change in the political and social structure of the country took place without the employment of force or violence of any kind. This act of the Diet was but preliminary to the greater works of reform which it undertook.

The Constitution of May 3, 1791

After prolonged debates a new constitution was formulated. The Reform Party well realized that evolution does not proceed by leaps and refrained from adopting extreme measures advocated by the more radical wing of the party which was under the spell of the principles of the French Revolution. To be doubly sure they submitted a draft of the constitution to the several land assemblies with a request that it be locally considered and that additional deputies be sent to the Diet to express the opinion of the country. Almost all of  the local assemblies voted for the constitution with the exception of the clause making the throne hereditary, and elected the supporters of the reform movement as their delegates. It was evident that sober thought had taken possession of the country when it realized that it had drifted too far in the wrong direction. At the time when the country had already suffered one dismemberment and was soon to be deprived of its birthright to a free life and to an unmolested development, it was perhaps riper than ever before for rational and orderly democratic self-government, as evidenced by the progress it made during the past two decades, the provisions of the new constitution and the universal support it had received. In spite of the practically universal approval of the measures to be incorporated in the new constitution, the reformers hesitated to submit it to a vote lest the opposition, with the support of Russia, prevent its adoption. With the consent of the King, a coup d' etat  was agreed upon. The final draft of the new instrument was prepared in a small circle and the fifth of May was selected as the date on which it was to be adopted. This date was fixed for the reason that many of the members of the opposition were still away on their Easter vacation. Only reform sympathizers were apprised of the session. When the secret became known, the session was called for May 3rd, to prevent the arrival of the turbulent and obstructionist opposition. Haste was indicated as international conditions, changed and the outlook grew gloomier after Pitt's plans of a joint war with Prussia and Poland against Russia came to naught.

The Constitution of May

Moreover, at the Convention of Reichenbach, 1790, Austria, pressed by Prussia, consented to forego the war with Turkey, on the basis of a status quo, and Russia, having defeated the Turks, was eager for peace. The Prusso-Austrian understanding nullified the Prussian hopes of getting Thorn and Danzig in return for the restoration of Galicia to Poland. The need of forming a strong government as soon as possible became apparent and led to the coup d' etat On the third of May the Diet met in joint session at the Royal Palace, amidst great demonstrations and jubilation of the populace. After the reports of some of the Polish ambassadors were read to acquaint the deputies with the sinister significance of certain developments in foreign politics, the King submitted the draft of the proposed constitution. The reading of this short document proceeded amid the enthusiastic applause of the visitors and the hisses of the opposition. Although Branicki's underlings were present in full array and one of the deputies, by the name of Suchorzewski, made a theatrical display of emotion to manifest his resentment at the way "a revolution had been hatched that liberty may perish," yet the opposition were unable to frustrate the plans of the reformers. The Assembly adopted the constifution and anon the procession went to the Cathedral of St. John to witness the solemn oath the King took to respect and defend it.

Provisions of the New Constitution

The new constitution did not deprive the nobility of their privileged position. It similarly recognized Roman Catholicism as the prevailing religion but assured liberty and protection to all other creeds. The laws of April 18, 1791, concerning the cities, were all incorporated in the new constitution. Protection was given to the peasants in their relations with the landlords but serfdom and patrimonial jurisdiction were retained. While the ancient social organization was left practically unchanged, the form of government underwent considerable modification. "By the will of the people" it was made to consist of three distinct branches: the legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative authority was vested in the Diet, composed of the House of Deputies and the Senate. The deputies of the nobility were to be considered representatives of the whole nation and not of the several electoral districts as hitherto. All laws originated in the House of Deputies, the Senate approved them or suspended them until the next Diet. The Senate was composed of bishops, woyevodas, castellans and ministers. The Diet was to meet regularly every two years. It could, however, be called at any other time to consider special matters requiring immediate attention. Every twenty-five years an extraordinary session was to be called to consider amendments to the constitution. All decisions at the Diets were to be taken by a majority vote. Liberum veto was abolished, as were also the confederacies. The executive power was vested in the King and in the special council, known as the "Guardian of the Laws," composed of the Primate in his capacity of President of the Education Commission, and of five ministers, appointed by the King for a term of two years, and responsible before the Diet. The ministers were of: Police, the Seal, War, Treasury and Foreign, Affairs. The King had the power to appoint the executive officials. He also nominated the bishops and military officers. All the members of the executive branch of the government were to receive stipulated salaries. The King had the power to pardon criminal offenders. In the event of war, the King was to be commander in chief of the army. The throne in Poland was to be hereditary in the direct line of the King. In case of extinction of the royal family, a king was to be elected and then the throne made again hereditary in his line. Upon ascending the throne every king was required to take an oath on the constitution and on the pacta conventa. The judicial organization remained practically unchanged. The judges in the courts of the nobility were elective as before. There were separate courts for the cities and separate courts for the free peasants. Serfs were dependent on patrimonial jurisdiction. Appeals were to be taken to the tribunals.

To be sure, the new constitution was not perfect when judged, by our present-day democratic standards. It was, however, a long stride in the right direction, undertaken amidst extremely difficult conditions. It corrected the vices of the former fundamental laws and gave the country a solid foundation and a strong responsible government. In the words of Professor Lewicki, "it was the middle ground between the ancient institutions and the extreme doctrines of the French revolution." The paragraph in the constitution providing for special sessions every twenty-five years to consider amendments is worthy of notice, as it is characteristic of Polish political thought, which never recognized fixity of form in social and political life. In its evolutionary conception of law, expressed as far back as the XIVth century, in the Wislica statute, Poland had been a precursor and leader. The French Revolution set out to create an "absolute" constitution which would guarantee "absolute rights of man"; the makers of the Polish constitution of 1791 held the view, now generally recognized, that a constitution should be an expression of the relation of all the living and active forces operating within a nation. In accordance with this principle they readily recognized the rights the burgesses as soon as they perceived that the cities were really conscious of their interests and willing as well as able to fight for their recognition. As the peasants of the time lacked political vitality and made no demands for their rights, their social status was not changed. They received protection from all kinds of iniquities as minors would. It was, however, expected that in another quarter or half century the peasants would develop their own economic consciousness and make political demands. To meet such and similar conditions the provision for periodic revisions of the constitution was devised.

Foreign Hostility to the New Constitution

The best test of the new constitution is to be found in its workings. Under it the country was transformed itself rapidly. Prosperity increased and law and order prevailed. Revenue came in regularly. The people were satisfied and the army was increased to fifty-seven thousand men, with an equipment of twenty-six thousand horses and over three hundred mortars. Unfortunately, the Patriotic Party, more concerned about seeing the reforms carried out than in occupying high positions, allowed some of the most important state offices to fall into the hands of the obstructionists. Two of the five members of the new Executive Council or the "Guardian of the Laws" were from among the reactionaries. Neither Branicki nor Rzewuski were deposed from hetmanic dignity and two other commanding positions in the army were given to young and inexperienced men, to Prince Joseph Poniatowski, the nephew of the King and to Prince Louis of Wutemberg, son-in-law of Adam Czartoryski and brother of the Austrian Empress and also brother of the wife of the heir to the Russian throne. The foreign prince turned traitor at a most critical moment, when Russian armies appeared in Poland to undo all the good work and exertions of the Patriotic Party and to put an end to the independence of the country, because it was endeavoring to eradicate past cankerous growths and to heal the wounds of the body politic. Russia well realized that the reforms adopted would make of Poland a strong and influential state and she was determined to prevent such a development as soon as sufficient forces could be despatched to Poland at the close of the war with Turkey (1792). Catherine remembered the assurances of support given to her by the powerful Polish magnates who had met her at Kaniow in 1787 in the event of her undertaking to undo the "Jacobinic reforms" aimed at the suppression of the former anarchy. She resolved now to make use of these gentletmanly pledges. In addition to such abject and crass creatures as Xavier Branicki, Bishop Joseph Kossakowski, his brother Simon and a few others, there were certain elements in Poland which she could also utilize to carry out her iniquitous scheme. Many ambitious magnates, such as Felix Potocki and Severin Rzewuski, saw in the provisions of the new constitution a check to their inordinate lust of power and importance; to others, the idea of a hereditary throne was genuinely and honestly repugnant. The large host of irresponsible and indigent noblemen realized that under an orderly system of government their services to the magnates would depreciate in value and they would, in consequence, be deprived of an easy living. All these men could be marshaled to serve the cause of Russia.

Confederacy of Targowica

While the Four Years' Diet was still at work reforming one thing after another, Branicki, Rzewuski, Felix Potocki and others held secret conferences with the Russian Empress and undertook to organize a confederacy with the object of overthrowing the government and abolishing the constitution. Protected by a large Russian army under General Kachowsky, the infamous Polish traitors issued their manifesto in the Ukrainian town of Targowica. Another Russian army under Krechetnikoff entered Lithuania, where Simon Kossakowski undertook to organize a similar confederacy. Here it was that the Prince of Wurtemberg, commanding the Lithuanian forces; betrayed by disorganizing the army and preventing it from offering determined resistance. Wilno, the capital of Lithuania, fell and it then became impossible for the dismembered army under new leadership to hold the Russian advance. Many cities and fortresses fell in quick succession, and the rapid progress of the Russians reacted on the campaign carried on in the other part of Poland by Prince Poniatowski. He was compelled to retire before the superior forces of the enemy and with every retreat a new part of the country became a hunting ground of the Targowica band. By intimidation and compulsion they forced the nobility to join the cursed confederacy; but the results of their nefarious work were slim. Unfortunately, however, the successes of the Russian armies had entirely upset the faint-hearted King. He lost faith in the ability of the Polish army to withstand the invasion, although it exhibited great gallantry, particularly under Kosciuszko, and was growing in resistance as it concentrated. When Prussia proved to be an entirely unfaithful ally, and when Catherine, in spite of the assurance given of her grandson's accession to the throne of Poland, declined to make truce, the exasperated King, together with many of his ministers, apprehending Catherine's threats, joined the Confederacy. By his act he upset all chances of a successful defense. The Polish generals and other officers resigned in a body and together with many other patriots went abroad. The army, then in splendid fighting trim, became disorganized and fell a prey to the leaders of the Confederacy and of Russia. Large supplies of ammunition fell into the enemy's hands, as did the State Treasury. The national guard organized in the cities had to disband and all of the multifarious patriotic plans of defense collapsed. The Confederacy which in spite, of Russian assistance had been feeble and quarrelsome, suddenly came into power. When only a while ago they had found but twelve active supporters in the whole of Great Poland and five in Mazovia, they now were masters of the situation. The Russian army took Warsaw and the confederates met at Grodno to annul all the reforms of the Four Years' Diet. Hardly were there ever greater misdeeds committed. The illustrious work of the patriots was undone with vengeance. Rapacity and corruption took its place. The fruits of the action of the Targowica leaders ripened quickly. Since then, in Poland the name of Targowica has been a terrible designation for national treason.

The Second Partition of Poland, 1793

When the delegation of the ignominious Targowica Confederacy reached St. Petersburg to thank the Empress for the noble help afforded, pourparlers were already going on concerning the further dismemberment of Poland. Prussia, suffering defeats from the republican Frenchmen, was bent upon recovering in Poland the losses suffered in the West and threatened with cessation of hostilities against France unless her demands were heeded. Fearing lest the threat be actually carried out, Russia and Austria consented to the second partition on January 23, 1793. Immediately following this treaty Prussian troops entered Poland and spread over Great Poland and other parts of the country. The City of Danzig resisted the invasion for over a month. A similarly obdurate resistance was offered by the City of Thorn until it finally fell under heavy bombardment. Proclamations of the Russian and Prussian governments were published and the adoption by Poland of the principles of the French Revolution was given as the reason for the second partition, and to add to their mockery they designated the Third of May as the day on which the occupied country was to render "homagium."

Poland (map) 1793

The honest but misguided members of the Governing Board of the Targowica Confederacy looked with consternation at what they had accomplished, and left the country. Others, like Felix Potocki, became Russian generals. Meanwhile the Russian Ambassador, Count Sievers, requested that the Diet assemble for the purpose of formally ceding to Russia and Prussia the territories occupied by the troops of the respective countries.

The Last Diet

To ensure themselves of a desirable election both the Russian and Prussian ambassadors used every means conceivable to bribe or intimidate the local diets into sending representatives agreeable to their designs. The Diet, consisting of but six senators and one hundred and twenty deputies met at Grodno and despite the vouched for character of the deputies, refused to ratify the pillage. Only after the recalcitrant members were either arrested by the Russian soldiery guarding the city, or were stilled by threats of confiscation of their estates, and not until the King was deprived of the supply of food and the country menaced with war should further resistance be offered, did the Diet consent on the 23rd of July, 1793, to cede to Russia the counties of Minsk, Kieff, Bratslav, Podolia and the eastern districts of the counties of Wilno, Novogrodek, Podlasie and Volhynia, an immense territory with 3,800,000 inhabitants. In this way Russia took the remainder of White Russia, the remainder of Ukraine and Podolia and the eastern sections of Polesie and Volhynia. As to the claims of Prussia, the Diet remained obstinate and refused to sanction them. The territories taken by the Prussians were the richest of the country's domains and were autochthonously Polish. No threats availed. Finally, on September 23, 1793, when no vote could be taken because the deputies refused to answer questions, Sievers by force compelled the King and the Marshal to sign the treaty of cession, by which Prussia acquired the cities of Thorn and Danzig, the counties of Gnesen, Posen, Kalisz, Sieradz, the whole of Kujawy, the county of Wielun with the City of Czestowchowa, the counties of Plock and Rawa and parts of Mazovia,  Austria did not participate in the second dismemberment. Only 245,000 square kilometers with about three and a half million inhabitants, was left of Poland. With the main purpose of the Diet accomplished, Sievers requested that a new constitution be adopted, which, in almost every way was similar to that of 1775. This labor of the last Polish Diet was superfluous as the months of the independence of the country were limited and the "people's rebellion" of Thaddeus Kosciuszko broke out sooner than even its organizers expected.

Rising of Kosciuszko, 1794

While the Grodno Diet was still in session, group of patriots in Warsaw were laying plans for a revolution in which the whole nation was to take part. The brutality of the Russian and Prussian soldiery and the severe economic crisis which followed the Targowica venture, and the second dismemberment, brought about a state of mind in which one spark could cause a social conflagration. When Igelstrom the new Russian Ambassador, requested that the Polish army, already weakened by the treacherous Polish hetmans, Kossakowski and Ozarowski, be reduced to half its size, Brigadier General Madalinski refused, to submit to the order and struck at Ostrolenka. This was the tocsin that tolled general alarm. From house-tops the revolution was proclaimed.

Tadeusz Kosciuszko

Kosciuszko, who had gained fame during the American War for Independence and who had recently distinguished himself under Joseph Poniatowski, was acclaimed Dictator. On March 24,1794, he issued his famous manifesto in Cracow. Without waiting, having only four thousand troops and two thousand peasants armed with scythes, he proceeded against the Russians and at Raclawice gained a brilliant victory  over a large body of them. The peasants exhibited wonders of chivalry and daring. Many a cannon was captured by them. In recognition of their patriotism and valor Kosciuszko issued a manifesto from his camp abolishing serfdom and granting to the peasants the ownership of the land tilled by them. The revolution gained impetus. Warsaw rose, and the population under the leadership of John Kilinski, a shoemaker, aided by a small Polish garrison, freed the city from Russian domination, taking over all the military stores and depots. Wilno soon followed Warsaw's example. Enthusiasm waxed high. Even Jews, called upon by the distinguished Jewish Colonel Berek Joselowicz to rise, formed a regiment. The Russians were driven out everywhere and the traitors like Bishop Massalski, Bishop Kossakowski, and hetman Ozarowski, hetman Kossakowski Ankwicz and others were hanged. The effigies of those who succeeded in fleeing the country were strung up on lampposts. The King's brother, the Primate, escaped an ignominious death by committing suicide. In spite of the auspicious beginning of the revolution, the energy of the governing body and the support and the boundless generosity of the people, it failed in view of the infinitely superior forces of Russia and Prussia, which were subsequently joined by Austria, the latter desiring to compensate its loss of Belgium at the expense of Poland. Incidentally it may be added that, as has been so well brought out by Chuquet and other historians, the Polish uprising under Kosciuszko saved France, from destruction, just as a later uprising against Russia in 1830 made possible the emancipation of Belgium from Dutch rule.

The Battle of Raclawice

When Cracow fell into the hands of the Prussians, the Polish forces retired to Warsaw. The defense of Warsaw was so determined that when General John Henryk Dombrowski organized resistance in Great Poland and struck at the rear of the Prussian army, they hurriedly raised the siege of the capital and withdrew, suffering great losses. No sooner had they retired than a huge Russian host, having taken Wilno, marched upon Warsaw led by Suvorov. To prevent the juncture of this army with that of Fersen, Kosciuszko decided to strike at the latter.

Jan Kilinski

Adam Poninski failed to bring support at the proper moment. Kosciuszko suffered a defeat at Macieyowice and, seriously wounded, was captured by the Russians on October 10, 1794. The news of his capture threw the country into despair. Meanwhile, Suvorov approached Warsaw and began to bombard its suburb, Praga, situated on the right bank of the Vistula. On November 4th Praga was taken and its population was literally slaughtered by the bloodthirsty soldiery. About fifteen thousand persons were butchered and many more thousands maimed. Until this day Polish mothers frighten their children with the name of Suvorov. The next day the capital fell. Wholesale executions, arrests and exiles to Siberia followed.

Berek Joselowicz

The immense estates of the Crown and those of the participants in the revolution were confiscated and divided among Russian generals and the Polish traitors who had sold their country. Prussia and Austria proceeded in a similar manner, the latter forcing thousands of Polish, refugees into ranks of he depleted army.

The Third Partition of Poland, 1795

Soon after the capitulation of Warsaw and of the Polish army came the third partition of the country. On October 24, 1795, Poland ceased to exist as an independent state entity. The part of the country between the rivers Bug, Vistula: and Pilica, together with the City of Cracow, went to Austria. The section to the west of the rivers Pilica, Vistula, Bug and Niemen, with the City of Warsaw, went to Prussia and the remainder to Russia. On November 25, 1795, on the thirty-first anniversary of his election and on the namesday of the Russian Empress, the wretched and pitiful King Stanislav August abdicated the throne of Poland at Grodno.

Poland (map) 1795

The Russian Government paid his debts and obligations; and after Catherine's death he was invited by Czar Paul I to St. Petersburg, where he remained until his death in 1798. And so came to an end, the history of the Polish Republic, but not of the Polish Nation.

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©2006 Zbigniew P. Szczęsny (Warsaw, Poland)