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94-528: From the beginning, the alliance was much more valuable to the Commonwealth than to Prussia. Soon after the treaty was signed, the international situation, and changes within the Commonwealth, made the treaty much less valuable to the Prussian side. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth embarked on a series of major internal reforms, seeing the alliance as a guarantee that it had the backing of a powerful neighbour in

188-629: A ceasefire with the Russians and joined the Targowica Confederation, as demanded by the Russian Empire. By the early 18th century, the magnates of Poland and Lithuania controlled the state – or rather, they managed to ensure that no reforms would be carried out that might weaken their privileged status (the " Golden Freedoms "). Through the abuse of the liberum veto rule which enabled any deputy to paralyze

282-462: A de facto protectorate. "The worst possible news have arrived from Warsaw: the Polish king has become almost sovereign" was the reaction of one of Russia's chief foreign policy authors, Alexander Bezborodko , when he learned of the new constitution. The Kingdom of Prussia was also strongly opposed to the new Polish constitution, and Polish diplomats received a note that the new constitution changed

376-664: A change of commander on 4 June, did the Army, now under General Józef Judycki , try to stand and fight the Russians. The Russians however defeated Judycki at the Battle of Mir on 11 June and kept advancing through the Grand Duchy. The Commonwealth army retreated towards Grodno . On 14 June the Russians took Wilno, after only a small skirmish with local garrison; on 19 June, incompetently defended Nieśwież ; and on 20 June, Kaunas , this time without any opposition. Judycki, disgraced,

470-466: A constitutional document. Overall, the first two years of the Sejm passed with few major reforms, and it was the second half of the Sejm duration that brought major changes. The elections of autumn 1790 resulted in a new group of deputies joining those already elected. A second Marshal of the Sejm was elected ( Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha ). As Małachowski was seen as associated with the reformers, Sapieha

564-502: A delaying battle with the Russians at Volodymyr-Volynskyi ( Battle of Włodzimierz ). Meanwhile, Poniatowski's army retreated to the Bug River , where Kościuszko's units on 18 July fought the Battle of Dubienka , which was a draw. With about 5,300 troops Kościuszko defeated the attack of 25,000 Russians under General Mikhail Kakhovsky . Kośicuszko then had to retreat from Dubienka, as the Russians begun flanking his positions crossing

658-515: A major cause of the Commonwealth's downfall was the peculiar parliamentary institution of the liberum veto ("free veto"), which since 1652 had in principle permitted any Sejm deputy to nullify all the legislation that had been adopted by that Sejm. By the early 18th century, the magnates of Poland and Lithuania controlled the state – or rather, they managed to ensure that no reforms would be carried out that might weaken their privileged status (the " Golden Freedoms "). The matters were not helped by

752-458: A mediator, as it was not in Prussia's interest to see the Commonwealth strengthened so that it could threaten Prussia in the future. The Prussian statesman Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg expressed the fears of European conservatives: "The Poles have given the coup de grâce to the Prussian monarchy by voting a constitution", elaborating that a strong Commonwealth would likely demand the return of

846-620: A nearly four times larger enemy army under General Mikhail Kakhovsky, who had about 64,000 men under his command. Kakhovsky's forces were divided into four corps: 1st, 18,000 strong, under the command of General Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov , 2nd, under General Ivan Dunin , 3rd, under General Wilhelm Derfelden , and 4th, under General Andrei Levanidov . The Targowica Confederates did not represent any real strength; and their attempts to gather popular support in Poland upon crossing borders failed miserably, with only few dozens joining at first; later

940-510: A new alliance could be formed. Although subsequent events would prove him wrong, the question of whether this could have been foreseen, and prevented through continued military resistance, has been subject to much debate among historians . The Polish military was widely dissatisfied with the ceasefire; Kościuszko, Prince Poniatowski and many others would criticize the King's decision and many, including Kościuszko, would resign their commission in

1034-580: A new constitution for a new Poland. Mably had submitted his recommendations ( The Government and Laws of Poland ) in 1770–1771; Rousseau had finished his Considerations on the Government of Poland in 1772, when the First Partition was already underway. Notable works advocating the need to reform and presenting specific solutions were published in the Commonwealth itself by Polish-Lithuanian thinkers such as: Also seen as crucial to giving

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1128-460: A quasi-coup d'état: recall notices were not sent to known opponents of reform, while many pro-reform deputies arrived early and in secret, and the royal guard were positioned about the Royal Castle, where the Sejm was gathered, to prevent Russian supporters from disrupting the proceedings. On 3 May the Sejm met with only 182 members present, about a half of its "dual" number (or a third, if one

1222-553: A single state, and their equal representation in state-governing bodies. The Mutual Declaration strengthened the Polish-Lithuanian union , while keeping many federal aspects of the state intact. The Sejm was disbanded on 29 May 1792. On that day, soon after learning that the Russian army had invaded Poland , the Sejm gave the commander-in-chief position to the king, and voted to end the session. Soon afterwards,

1316-423: A southern in what is now Ukraine . In both, the Polish forces retreated before the numerically superior Russian forces, though they offered significantly more resistance in the south, thanks to the effective leadership of Polish commanders Prince Józef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko . During the three-month-long struggle several battles were fought, but no side scored a decisive victory. The largest success of

1410-837: A statesman respected both by most factions, was elected as the Marshal of the Sejm . Many supporters of the reforms were gathered in the Patriotic Party . This group received support from all strata of Polish-Lithuanian society, from societal and political elites, including some aristocratic magnates, through Piarist and Enlightened Catholics , to the radical left. The Party's conservative, or right, wing, led by progressive magnates such as Ignacy Potocki , his brother Stanisław Kostka Potocki and Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski , sought alliance with Prussia and advocated opposing King Poniatowski. The Patriotic Party's centrists, including Stanisław Małachowski, wished accommodation with

1504-537: A violent overthrow of the old order. Reforms were opposed by conservative elements, including the Hetmans' Party . The reform's advocates, threatened with violence from their opponents, managed to move debate on the new constitution forward by two days from the original 5 May, while many opposed deputies were still away on Easter recess. The ensuing debate and adoption of the Constitution of 3 May took place in

1598-515: The Battle of Zieleńce on 18 June. The victory was celebrated by King Poniatowski, who sent the new Virtuti Militari medals for the campaign leaders and soldiers, as "the first since John III Sobieski ". The Russian forces, however, kept advancing. Under the command of Józef Poniatowski, the Polish army retreated in good order, yielding to the more powerful enemy as necessary to avoid annihilation. In early July, near Dubno , Prince Poniatowski and Kościuszko were betrayed by Michał Lubomirski, who

1692-572: The Constitution of 3 May 1791 , often described as Europe's first modern written national constitution, and the world's second, after the United States Constitution . The Polish Constitution was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the federative Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its system of Golden Liberties . The Constitution introduced political equality between townspeople and nobility and placed

1786-774: The First Partition of Poland in 1772–1773. However, events in the world appeared to play into the reformers' hands . Poland's neighbours were too occupied with wars to intervene forcibly in Poland, with Russia and Austria engaged in hostilities with the Ottoman Empire (the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) and the Austro-Turkish War (1787–91) ). The Russians also found themselves fighting Sweden (the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90) ). In

1880-589: The Four-Year Sejm ( Polish : Sejm Wielki or Sejm Czteroletni ; Lithuanian : Didysis seimas or Ketverių metų seimas ) was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw between 1788 and 1792. Its principal aim became to restore sovereignty to, and reform, the Commonwealth politically and economically. The Sejm's great achievement was the adoption of

1974-665: The Friends of the Constitution , regarded as the first Polish political party, and including many participants of the Great Sejm, was formed to defend the reforms already enacted and to promote further ones. The response to the new Constitution was less enthusiastic in the provinces, where the Hetmans' Party exerted stronger influence. The Great Sejm's reforms were brought down by the Targowica Confederation and

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2068-576: The Kościuszko Uprising . The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (also known as the Poland ) had been a major European power since its formation in the late 16th century and was still one of the largest states in Europe in the latter part of the 18th century. Over time, its state machinery had become increasingly dysfunctional. By the early 17th century, the magnates of Poland and Lithuania controlled

2162-505: The Sejm (Commonwealth's parliament) proceedings, deputies bribed by magnates or foreign powers or those simply content to believe they were living in an unprecedented "Golden Age", paralysed the Commonwealth's government for over a century. The idea of reforming the Commonwealth gained traction from the mid-17th century; it was however viewed with suspicion not only by its magnates but also by neighboring countries, which had been content with

2256-713: The Triple Alliance , represented on the Polish diplomatic scene primarily by the Kingdom of Prussia . That line of reasoning gained support from Polish politicians such as Ignacy Potocki and Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski . Within the Triple Alliance, Prussia was hoping for some territorial gains in the Baltic region through war (with Russia), diplomacy (from the Commonwealth) or a combination. With regard to

2350-434: The peasants under the protection of the government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of serfdom . The Constitution abolished pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the liberum veto , which at one time had placed a sejm at the mercy of any deputy who might choose, or be bribed by an interest or foreign power, to undo all the legislation that had been passed by that sejm . The 3 May Constitution sought to supplant

2444-434: The " Great Sejm " of 1788–92. Poland's neighbors were preoccupied with wars and unable to intervene forcibly in Polish affairs. The Russian Empire and Archduchy of Austria were engaged in hostilities with the Ottoman Empire (the Russo-Turkish War, 1787–1792 and the Austro-Turkish War, 1787–1791 ); the Russians also found themselves simultaneously fighting in the Russo-Swedish War, 1788–1790 . A new alliance between

2538-813: The 3 May was the Deklaracja Stanów Zgromadzonych (Declaration of the Assembled Estates) of 5 May 1791, confirming the Government Act adopted two days earlier, and the Zaręczenie Wzajemne Obojga Narodów ( Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations , i.e., of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ) of 22 October 1791, affirming the unity and indivisibility of Poland and the Grand Duchy within

2632-735: The Balkans, the Triple Alliance aimed at restraining Russia, as well as its ally, Austria, and there were expectations of a war between the Alliance and Russia (and possibly Austria) around 1791. Prussia tried to take the opportunity of the Russia's wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden to move the weak Commonwealth into its sphere of influence . Some factions in the Commonwealth deemed that as an opportunity to shake free from decades of Russian control. However, Prussia did not expect much from

2726-495: The Commonwealth a much less valuable party for Prussian long-term goals. Already, in the fall and the winter of 1790, Prussian diplomacy had begun negotiations with Russians and hinted at abandoning Poland. Potocki attempted to offer another deal to Prussia, namely, to support Prince Louis Charles of Prussia for the Polish throne, but Frederick William II of Prussia , advised by Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg , refused that offer, as it did not seem profitable enough to Prussia, which

2820-536: The Commonwealth must either reform or perish. In the last three decades preceding the Great Sejm, there was a rising interest among progressive thinkers in constitutional reform . Even before the First Partition, a Polish noble, Michał Wielhorski , an envoy of the Bar Confederation , had been sent to ask the French philosophes Gabriel Bonnot de Mably and Jean-Jacques Rousseau to offer suggestions on

2914-569: The Commonwealth's territory, while Prussia took 58,000 square kilometres (22,000 sq mi). This event reduced Poland's population to a third of what it was before the First Partition. The rump state was garrisoned by Russian troops and its independence was strongly curtailed. This outcome came as a surprise to most of the Targowica Confederates, who had wished only to restore the status quo ante bellum ( Commonwealth magnate -favoring Golden Freedoms) and had expected that

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3008-612: The King. The liberal left wing (the Polish Jacobins ), led by Hugo Kołłątaj (hence also known as " Kołłątaj's Forge "), looked for support to the people of Warsaw . While King Poniatowski also supported some reforms, he was initially not allied with this faction, represented by Potocki, who preferred a republican form of a government. Events in the world appeared to play into the reformers' hands . Poland's neighbors were too occupied with wars to intervene forcibly in Poland, with Russia and Austria engaged in hostilities with

3102-561: The Laws (cabinet of ministers) decided to ask for a ceasefire. Tsarina Catherine demanded that King Poniatowski join the pro-Russian aristocratic faction, the Targowica Confederation; with his cabinet split, he gave in to her demand around 22–23 July, which effectively forced Prince Poniatowski to terminate military resistance. The last military confrontation of the war was fought on 26 July at Markuszów in Lublin province, where an enemy attack

3196-560: The Ottoman Empire (the Russo-Turkish War and the Austro-Turkish War ); the Russians also found themselves fighting Sweden (the Russo-Swedish War ). At first, King Poniatowski and some reformers hoped to gain Russian support for the reforms; they attempted to draw Poland into the Austro-Russian alliance , seeing a war with the Ottomans as an opportunity to strengthen the Commonwealth. Due to internal Russian politics, this plan

3290-506: The Polish capitulation was a mistake both from the military perspective, and the political one. In the realm of military, the Poles had reasonable chances to defend the Vistula river line, and exhaust the Russian invading forces. From the political one, showing a willingness to fight could have persuaded the partitioning powers that their plan was too costly. King Poniatowski's hopes that

3384-501: The Polish forces was the defeat of one of the Russian formations at the Battle of Zieleńce on 18 June; in the aftermath of the battle the Polish highest military award, Virtuti Militari , was established. The Russians' greatest success in this war was the Battle of Mir on 11 June ( O.S. 31 May). The war ended when the Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski decided to seek a diplomatic solution, asked for

3478-484: The Polish state so much that Prussia did not consider its obligations binding. Just like Russia, Prussia was concerned that the newly strengthened Polish state could become a threat and the Prussian Foreign Minister, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schulenburg-Kehnert, clearly and with rare candor told Poles that Prussia did not support the constitution and refused to help the Commonwealth in any form, even as

3572-516: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Prussia seeming to provide security against Russian intervention, and on 3 May 1791 the new constitution was read and adopted to overwhelming popular support. With the wars between Turkey and Russia and Sweden and Russia having ended, Tsarina Catherine was furious over the adoption of the document, which she believed threatened Russian influence in Poland. Russia had viewed Poland as

3666-533: The Polish–Prussian alliance was now only anti-Russian. Then, on September 9, the Great Sejm, despite some opposition, declared that Commonwealth territories could not be divided. As Prussia was expecting to receive Gdańsk and Toruń from the Commonwealth as compensation in a subsequent treaty, with the Commonwealth being compensated through territorial gains from another neighbour, the Sejm declaration, which meant that no territory could be traded to another state, made

3760-596: The Polish–Prussian alliance was subject to a comprehensive study as early as the 1890s, when Polish historian Szymon Askenazy published his work on the subject ( Przymierze polsko-pruskie , 1900) focusing on the diplomatic and international aspects. Askenazy argued that the alliance fell more by inept Polish diplomacy than the Prussian agenda of realpolitik , but that view is not supported by majority of historians, and noted by Jerzy Łojek , who admitted, in his Geneza i obalenie Konstytucji 3 maja (1986), that he shared Askenazy's minority viewpoint. The question of to what degree

3854-611: The Prussian commander of the Lithuanian army, Duke Württemberg, betrayed the Polish-Lithuanian cause by refusing to fight the Russians. He never reached the frontlines, feigned illness in Wołczyn , and issued contradictory orders to his troops. Thus the Army of Lithuania did little to oppose the advancing Russians, and kept withdrawing before their advance. Minsk was abandoned, after some skirmishes, on 31 May. Only after

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3948-478: The Prussian-Russian Treaty on the partition that month. Prussian forces later assisted Russians in several key battles of the Kościuszko Uprising , such as in the defeat of Tadeusz Kościuszko 's forces at the Battle of Szczekociny . By 1795, Commonwealth would cease to exist, with Prussia acquiring Gdańsk, Toruń and other territories that it had desired (see Prussian partition ). The issue of

4042-674: The Russian ambassador to Poland, Yakov Bulgakov , delivered a declaration of war to the Polish Foreign Minister Joachim Chreptowicz . Russian armies entered Poland and Lithuania on the same day, starting the war. The Russian army numbered nearly 98,000. It was commanded by generals-in-chief Mikhail Krechetnikov and Mikhail Kakhovsky . The Russians also had an advantage in combat experience. The Russian plan called for Kakhovsky to advance through Ukraine, taking Kamieniec Podolski , Chełm and Lublin , and approach Polish capital of Warsaw from

4136-732: The Russian-guaranteed Cardinal Laws abolished under the new statute. To that end these magnates formed the Targowica Confederation . The Confederation's proclamation, prepared in Saint Petersburg in January 1792, criticized the constitution for contributing to, in their own words, "contagion of democratic ideas" following "the fatal examples set in Paris". It asserted that "The parliament ... has broken all fundamental laws, swept away all liberties of

4230-782: The Second Partition , and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution ) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservative nobility of the Commonwealth opposed to the new Constitution of 3 May 1791 ) and the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great on the other. The war took place in two theaters: a northern in Lithuania and

4324-407: The Sejm transformed itself into a confederated sejm to make it immune to the threat of the liberum veto . Russian tsarina Catherine the Great had issued the approval for the sejm confederation a while ago, at a point she was considering that the successful conclusion of this Sejm may be necessary if Russia would need Polish aid in the fight against the Ottoman Empire . Stanisław Małachowski ,

4418-673: The Triple Alliance de facto capitulated to all Russian demands. In the meantime, similar negotiations of a never-realised Polish–Swedish alliance fell through as well. The Treaty of Jassy in January 1792 ended the Russian war with the Ottomans, and in April, the First Coalition wars began, forcing Prussia to move the bulk of its forces west to deal with Revolutionary France . Russia, angered by Poland's attempt to move out of its influence, invaded Poland in May . Around then, Prussian policy

4512-462: The alliance or even that it would pass. When the treaty was first proposed to the Great Sejm by Prussian Ambassador Ludwig Heinrich Buchholtz on 13 October 1788, Prussians expected that it would cause long and fruitless debate which the only outcome would be to ensure the weakening of the position of Russia and, to a lesser degree, Austria in Poland. Overall, for Prussia, the alliance with Poland

4606-457: The alliance was realistic and to what degree it represented a Prussian diplomatic feint to mislead Commonwealth politicians is still debated by modern historians. Similarly, as Piotr Wandycz has noted, the advantages and disadvantages of the alliance have been debated by the historians for over a century. Polish%E2%80%93Russian War of 1792 Around 2,000 according to Russian sources The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of

4700-570: The capitulation would allow an acceptable diplomatic solution to be worked out were soon dashed. With new deputies bribed or intimidated by the Russian troops, a new session of parliament, known as the Grodno Sejm , took place in fall 1793. On 23 November 1793, it concluded its deliberations under duress, annulling the constitution and acceding to the Second Partition . Russia took 250,000 square kilometres (97,000 sq mi) of

4794-445: The coming weeks. Prince Poniatowski even considered rebelling against his uncle's orders, and even issued orders to bring the King to the army's camp by force if necessary, as was postulated by the more radical faction. Ultimately he decided not to continue fighting against his uncle's will, and the order was rescinded at the last moment before the departure of the group charged with capturing the King. Most Polish historians agree that

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4888-400: The command of King Poniatowski as a reserve. Tadeusz Kościuszko proposed a plan where the entire Polish army would be concentrated and would engage one of the Russian armies, to assure numerical parity and to boost the morale of mostly inexperienced Polish forces with a quick victory; this plan was however rejected by Prince Poniatowski. (Only a few months before, however, both commanders had

4982-471: The constitution but could not say so initially to avoid any Polish-Russian reconciliation and would not help even as a mediator, as it is not in Prussian's interest of the state to see Poland so strengthened that it could later threaten Prussia. In January 1793 a Prussian corps entered Greater Poland , it was not as a Commonwealth ally but instead to guarantee Prussia's share of spoils in the Second Partition of Poland . Prussian forces were acting in support of

5076-479: The context of the Austrian Empire and the Russian Empire 's war with the Ottoman Empire , Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski , attempted to draw Poland into the Austro-Russian alliance since he saw a war with the Ottomans as an opportunity to strengthen the Commonwealth. Internal Russian politics prevented that plan from being implemented. Spurned by Russia, Poland turned to another potential ally,

5170-417: The demands that the Polish side found difficult to accept. The treaty was finally signed on 29 March 1790, and ratified on 23 April. It was a defensive treaty, as each country promised to aid the other in case of an invasion. Several factors, however, soon reduced the value of the treaty for Prussia. The Treaty of Reichenbach on July 27, 1790, meant that Prussia was no longer considering a war with Austria;

5264-560: The deterioration of the Commonwealth and abhorred the thought of a resurgent and democratic power on their borders. With the Commonwealth Army reduced to around 16,000, it was easy for its neighbors to intervene directly (The Imperial Russian Army numbered 300,000 troops overall; The Prussian Army and Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire , 200,000 each). A major opportunity for reform presented itself during

5358-414: The existing anarchy fostered by some of the country's reactionary magnates , with a more egalitarian and democratic constitutional monarchy . The reforms instituted by the Great Sejm and the Constitution of 3 May 1791 were undone by the Targowica Confederation and the intervention of the Russian Empire at the invitation of the Targowica Confederates. The reforms of the Great Sejm responded to

5452-455: The expected front, under Tadeusz Kościuszko , Michał Wielhorski and Prince Poniatowski himself. The Polish Crown army in Ukraine, led by Prince Poniatowski, and supported by Kościuszko, was about 17,000, 21,000 or 24,000 strong (Derdej distinguishes between the primary force of 17,000 and Prince Michał Lubomirski 's reserve division, of 4,500 ). In the southeastern war theater, they faced

5546-533: The fears of European conservatives: " The Poles have given the coup de grâce to the Prussian monarchy by voting a constitution", elaborating that a strong Commonwealth would likely demand the return of the lands that Prussia acquired in the First Partition. Finally, Prussian-Russian relations stabilised with the end of the Triple Alliance, which was cemented by the British-Netherlands-Prussian-Russian treaty of 26 July 1791 in which

5640-485: The gentry and on the third of May 1791 turned into a revolution and a conspiracy." The Confederates declared an intention to overcome this revolution. We "can do nothing but turn trustingly to Tsarina Catherine, a distinguished and fair empress, our neighboring friend and ally", who "respects the nation's need for well-being and always offers it a helping hand", they wrote. The Confederates aligned with Tsarina Catherine and asked her for military intervention. On 18 May 1792,

5734-431: The increasingly perilous situation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , only a century earlier a major European power and indeed the largest state on the continent. By the 18th century the Commonwealth's state machinery became increasingly dysfunctional; the government was near collapse, giving rise to the term "Polish anarchy", and the country was managed by provincial assemblies and magnates. Many historians hold that

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5828-404: The inefficient monarchs elected to the Commonwealth throne around the start of the 18th century, nor by neighboring countries, which were content with the deteriorated state of the Commonwealth's affairs and abhorred the thought of a resurgent and democratic power on their borders. The Enlightenment European cultural movement had gained great influence in certain Commonwealth circles during

5922-405: The lands Prussia acquired in the First Partition . The Constitution was not adopted without dissent in the Commonwealth itself, either. Magnates who had opposed the constitution draft from the start, namely Franciszek Ksawery Branicki , Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki , Seweryn Rzewuski , and Szymon and Józef Kossakowski , asked Tsarina Catherine to intervene and restore their privileges such as

6016-466: The local garrison, but on 24 they were defeated near Krzemień-Wieś ; this last battle was the first significant Commonwealth victory on the northern front. While Prince Poniatowski and Kościuszko considered the outcome of the war still open and were planning to use the combined Polish-Lithuanian forces to defeat the still separate Russian forces, King Poniatowski, with the consent of the Guardians of

6110-410: The meantime, the previously antiroyalist Patriotic Party has begun drifting closer to the king. In February and March 1790, concrete proposals were exchanged between Warsaw and Berlin. Some difficulties were centred on Prussian demands for the cession of Gdańsk and Toruń and on tariffs, but the threat of a Polish-Austrian alliance, recently brought forward by Austria, caused Prussia to withdraw most of

6204-474: The nearby Austrian border. Although the Poles had to retreat from the Bug River line, they were not defeated so far, and a decisive battle or battles at more favorable locations closer to Warsaw were expected. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the Russians crossed the Commonwealth border four days later than in the south, on 22 May. Poland's ally, the Kingdom of Prussia , broke its alliance with Poland and

6298-490: The number would grow but not significantly, and even the Russians saw them as not having any military value, keeping them from the frontlines. In Lithuania, the Commonwealth Lithuanian Army numbered about 15,000, with an additional Crown detachment of about 3,000. They were commanded by Duke Louis of Württemberg . Württemberg made no plans for the war, and the troops were not readied for action by

6392-639: The opposite idea – Poniatowski wanted the troops concentrated, and Kościuszko, dispersed). Poniatowski also planned to avoid serious engagements in the first phase of the war, hoping to receive the expected Prussian reinforcements of 30,000 which would bring parity to the two sides. The first Russian forces crossed the border in Ukraine on the night of 18/19 May 1792. The Russians in that theater would encounter significantly more resistance than they expected, as Commonwealth's top commanders, Prince Poniatowski and Kościuszko were stationed there. Kościuszko joined Prince Poniatowski near Janów on 29 May. The Crown Army

6486-572: The overthrow of the 3 May Constitution would achieve that end, and nothing more. The last bid to restore the reformed Commonwealth came with the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. The uprising failed and resulted in the Third Partition in 1795, in which the country lost all its remaining territories and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist. Great Sejm The Great Sejm , also known as

6580-411: The process, but in fact, Prussia felt that those reforms were not in its best interest and felt threatened by them. When Russia invaded the Commonwealth in May 1792, Prussia refused a request to honour the alliance and intervene, arguing that it was not consulted with regard to the 3 May Constitution , which invalidated the alliance. A few months later, in 1793, Prussia aided Russia in the suppression of

6674-419: The reform-minded Patriotic Party. This alliance was also helped as the 1790 elections were more supportive of the royal faction then Potocki's; and the conservative faction gained enough new seats to threaten the reformers if they were to stay divided. With the mediation of Scipione Piattoli , Potocki and Poniatowski begun to reach a consensus on a more constitutional monarchy approach, and started to draft

6768-516: The reformers were supported by the burghers (townspeople), who in the Autumn of 1789 organized a Black Procession , demonstrating their desire to be part of the political process. Taking a cue from similar events in France, and with the fear that if burghers' demands were not met, their peaceful protests could turn violent, the Sejm on 18 April 1791 adopted a law addressing the status of the cities and

6862-473: The reforms of the Constitution of 3 May (which specified an army size of 100,000) numbered only 37,000. The army was reorganizing, with key documents on unit numbers and composition passed as recently as in April; it was also short on equipment and experienced personnel. In the southeast corner of the country – the Ukrainian lands – the Polish forces were initially concentrated separately in three regions of

6956-466: The reign of its last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764–95), which roughly coincided with the Enlightenment in Poland . In 1772, the First Partition of Poland , the earliest of the three successive 18th-century partitions of Commonwealth territory that eventually removed Poland from the map of Europe, shocked the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, and made it clear to progressive minds that

7050-541: The rights of the burghers (the Free Royal Cities Act ). Together with the legislation on the voting rights (the Act on Sejmiks of 24 March 1791), it became incorporated into the final constitution. The new Constitution had been drafted by the king, with contributions from others, including Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj. The king is credited with authoring the general provisions, and Kołłątaj, with giving

7144-410: The south. Krechetnikov was to advance through Minsk , Wilno , Brześć Litewski and Białystok , and approach Warsaw from the north, where he was to link with Kakhovsky. Whereas the Russians had good intelligence network in Poland, and were mostly aware of Polish army distribution and strength; the Poles had much less intelligence, receiving contradictory and often erroneous reports, and unsure whether

7238-417: The state or rather managed to ensure that no reforms would be carried out that might weaken their privileged status (the so-called " Golden Freedoms "). Tentative reforms began in the late 18th century; however, any idea of reforming the Commonwealth was viewed with suspicion not only by its magnates but also by neighbouring countries, which were content with the state of the Commonwealth's affairs and abhorred

7332-677: The thought of a resurgent and democratic power on their borders. With an army numbering around only 16,000, Poland found that its neighbours could easily intervene directly: the Imperial Russian Army numbered 300,000, the Prussian Army and the Imperial Austrian Army 200,000. All of those powers had already annexed about a third of the Commonwealth territory and population (211,000 square kilometers (81,000 sq mi) and four to five million people) in

7426-555: The time the war started. The Russian army in that theatre under General Mikhail Krechetnikov was 33,700 strong or 38,000 strong. The Russian army was also divided into four corps: 1st under one of Targowica Confederate leaders, Szymon Kossakowski 7,300 strong, 2nd under General Boris Mellin , 7,000 strong, 3rd under General Yuri Dolgorukov , 15,400 strong, and 4th under General Ivan Fersen , 8,300 strong. Additional Polish forces, about 8,000 strong, were to concentrate in Warsaw under

7520-432: The upcoming reforms their moral and political support were Ignacy Krasicki 's satires of the Great Sejm era. A major opportunity for reform seemed to present itself during the sejm of 1788–92, which opened on 6 October 1788 with 181 deputies, and from 1790 – in the words of the 3 May Constitution's preamble – met "in dual number", when 171 newly elected Sejm deputies joined the earlier-established Sejm. On its second day

7614-548: The war would even start up to the point the Russian troops crossed the border. Stanisław August Poniatowski , King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was the commander-in-chief of the Polish forces, but in practice he delegated this position to his nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski . Poniatowski had in theory at his disposal a 48,000 strong Crown army and the Lithuanian army more than half that size to confront them. In practice, Polish forces, still forming following

7708-459: The work its final shape. Poniatowski aimed for a constitutional monarchy similar to the one in England, with strong central government based upon a strong monarch. Potocki wanted to make the parliament (Sejm) the most powerful of the state's institutions, and Kołłątaj, for a "gentle" social revolution, enfranchising other classes in addition to the till-then dominant nobility, but doing so without

7802-669: Was already set against Poland. Rather than discussing how to aid it, Frederic Wilhelm and his ministers were discussing how to convince Austria and Prussia to a new partition. Lucchesini has already made several declarations that Prussia could not aid the Commonwealth, and in June that year, Potocki's mission to Berlin received a confirmation, motivated on the grounds that the 3 May Constitution changed Poland so much that Prussia did not consider its obligations binding. Prussian Foreign Minister Friedrich Wilhelm von Schulenburg-Kehnert clearly and with rare candor told Potocki that Prussia did not support

7896-413: Was initially seen as a conservative, although he would later switch sides and join the reformers. The doubled number of deputies exceeded the capacity of the parliament chambers, and not all of the deputies could secure a seat; public interest also grew and the entire building and the observation galleries were often overcrowded. While the Sejm comprised representatives only of the nobility and clergy,

7990-404: Was interested more in territorial gains than in a potentially-strengthened Commonwealth, which could ask for the return of the territories lost in the First Partition . The passing of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, although officially applauded by Frederick Wilhelm II, who sent a congratulatory note to Warsaw, caused further worry in Prussia. The Prussian statesman Ewald von Hertzberg expressed

8084-505: Was judged too weak to oppose the four columns of enemy armies advancing into West Ukraine and began a fighting withdrawal to the western side of the Southern Bug River , towards Lubar and Połonne , with Kośiuszko commanding the rear guard. Poniatowski, in the face of significant numerical inferiority of his forces, and promised reinforcements by King Poniatowski, decided to abandon Ukraine and move to Volhynia , where Połonne

8178-446: Was not implemented. Spurned by Russia, Poland turned to another potential ally, the Triple Alliance , represented on the Polish diplomatic scene primarily by the Kingdom of Prussia . This line of reasoning gained support from Polish politicians such as Ignacy Potocki and Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski. With the new Polish-Prussian alliance seeming to provide security against Russian intervention, King Poniatowski drew closer to leaders of

8272-552: Was only one of several potential options, but for some Polish politicians it became a new and increasingly the only available strategy. The reception of Prussian proposal by the Sejm exceeded expectations, which has significantly strengthened the Patriotic Party . For the next year or so, the Prussians decided to delay taking any clear action, keeping their options open. Buchholtz was also reprimanded for allowing things to go too far, and another Prussian diplomat, Girolamo Lucchesini ,

8366-411: Was repelled by Polish cavalry led by Poniatowski. At the time King Poniatowski decided to sue for peace, the Polish army was still in a good fighting condition not having suffered from any major defeat nor lack of supplies. King Poniatowski thought that due to Russian numerical superiority defeat was nonetheless imminent, and more could be gained through negotiations with the Russians, with whom he hoped

8460-447: Was replaced by Michał Zabiełło on 23 June. Nonetheless, since Mir, no decisive engagements occurred in the northern theater, as Polish army withdrew in relative order towards Warsaw, after minor defeat at Zelva , eventually taking defensive positions along the Bug river near Brest . Russians took Grodno on 5 July and Białystok on 17 July. On 23 July the Russians took Brest, defeating

8554-466: Was sent to Warsaw to aid him. One of the Prussian requests to play for time to the Patriotic Party was that before the treaty was signed, more reforms within the Commonwealth government had to be seen. In October 1789, the changing international situation, primarily the military defeats of the Ottoman Empire, suddenly and temporarily increased the value of an alliance with Poland for Prussia. In

8648-453: Was tasked with King Poniatowski with resupplying the troops; instead Lubomirski joined the Russian side and either hid the supplies for the Polish army, or outright passed them to the Russians. Lubomirski, however, was a powerful magnate, and it took until late May for the King officially to relieve him of his command. Within about a month of the Russian invasion, the Poles had mostly retreated from Ukraine. On 7 July Kościuszko's forces fought

8742-408: Was to be fortified as a major defensive point, and where Lubomirski was tasked with gathering supplies. On 14 June Wielhorski's unit was defeated at the Battle of Boruszkowce . On 17 June Poniatowski finally received awaited reinforcements, about 2,000 troops led by Michał Lubomirski. Next day the Poles, led by Prince Poniatowski, defeated one of the Russian formations of general Irakly Morkov at

8836-477: Was to count all individuals eligible to take part in the proceedings, including the Senate and the king ). The bill was read out and adopted overwhelmingly, to the enthusiasm of the crowds gathered outside. The work of the Great Sejm did not end with the passing of the Constitution. The Sejm continued to debate and pass legislation building on and clarifying that document. Among the most notable acts passed after

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