Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Polandattheturn
oftheeighteenthcentury
SituatedonthebroadNorthernPlainbetweenRussiaandthe
Germanstates,PolandhadlongbeenoneofEurope’slargeststates,
withheroriginsreachingbackto966.In1569,PolandandLithua-
nia,includingtheUkraine,hadjoinedtogethertoformanimmense
Respublica,oftencalledtheKPolish-LithuanianCommonwealth”.In
1596Poland’scapitalwasmovedfromKrakówtoWarsaw,whilethe
newCommonwealthbecameanelectivemonarchywithaSeym(parlia-
ment)consistingofaSenateand200electeddeputies.Tekingsofthe
Commonwealthwereelectedbyassemblyoftheentirenobility;foreign
candidateswerepermitted,invitingtheinterferenceofotherpowers.In
theseventeenthcentury,Poland’selectedmonarchsfailedtocurbthe
powersofthemagnatesintheSeymortoobtainthepowersneededfora
centralizedadministrationandlargerroyalarmy.Intheearlyeighteenth
century,asuccessionofSaxonkingspreferredresidenceintheirnative
DresdentoWarsaw.
Inthelateeighteenthcentury,Poland-LithuaniawasstillEu-
rope’ssecondlargeststateinareaandthirdinpopulation.YetPoland’s
sizenolongerreflectedherpower.In1764,CatherineIIofRussiapro-
curedtheelectionofherPolishfavourite,StanisławPoniatowski.To
Catherine’ssurprise,ratherthanactingasaRussianpuppet,Poniatowski
(nowKingStanisławAugustus)proposedreforms,includingthecrea-
tionofaresponsibleministry,theNationalEducationalCommission
(thefirstMinistryofEducationintheworld)andtheabolitionofthe
notoriousliberumveto,whichallowedanydeputyintheSeymtoveto
legislationandtoterminatetheSeym’sproceedings.Tesereformswere
naturallyopposedbyRussiaandPrussia,whohopedtocurtailthepower
ofthePolish-LithuanianCommonwealth.In1788,whenRussiawas
drawnintoconflictwithOttomanTurkeyandatatimewhentherestof
EuropewasbecomingpreoccupiedwitheventsinFrance,thekingand
theSeymusedthesedistractionstoincreasethesizeofthePolisharmy
andtointroduceahostofprogressivereformsbasedonEnlightenment
ideas,culminatinginthePolishConstitutionof3May1791.Itcreated
ahereditarymonarchy,confirmedtherightsofthenobility,grantedself-
|
18
|