Everything about Four-year Sejm totally explained
The
Great Sejm, also known as the
Four-Year Sejm (
Polish: respectively,
Sejm Wielki or
Sejm Czteroletni;
Lithuanian Didysis seimas or
Ketverių metų seimas) was a
Sejm of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in
Warsaw, beginning in
1788. Its goal became to restore sovereignty to, and reform, the Commonwealth, politically and economically. Its greatest achievement was the adoption in
1791 of the
May 3rd Constitution. The reforms instituted by the Great Sejm were annulled by the
Targowica Confederation and the intervention of the
Russian Empire.
History
The intention of
Catherine II of Russia, who treated the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a
vassal state, was for the Sejm to raise a 100,000 strong military force to aid
Russian Empire in their
recent war with the
Ottoman Empire. Because of that the Sejm was a
confederated sejm — immune to
liberum veto.
However, as Russia became distracted with the wars (against the Ottomans and
a later one against the Swedes), the Sejm became dominated by reform-minded politicians. In 1790 Poland signed
an alliance with
Prussia, obliging the members to come to mutual aid in case either country was invaded by the Russian Empire.
Since the beginning of its deliberations in
Warsaw, the Sejm was accompanied by increasing publicity and interest of the general population, one of the most famous being the "black procession" of
burghers demanding more equality with the nobility (
szlachta). The Sejm was significantly affected by the events in France —
French revolution, where demands for the similar reforms toppled the
absolute monarchy of
Louis XVI. Thus the pro-reform movement faced significant opposition from much of Polish
magnates and wealthy nobility, which reaped the most benefits from the current
status quo, and from the representatives of Poland's neighbours (
Austria,
Prussia and
Russia) which preferred to have a weak Poland on their borders.
Nonetheless the pro-reform movement grew in strength, and the
Patriotic Party formed around the king (
Stanisław August Poniatowski), drawing support from more liberal minded magnates and, from 1790, from the
Familia party of the
Czartoryski's. The most radical among the reform advocates were the
Polish Jacobins.
The Sejm abolished the
Permanent Council and from 1790 was dominated by the pro-reform king and his political supporters. Many
commissions were formed to take care of finances, economy and military. The army was increased to 100,000 (although financial problems soon forced the decrease to 65,000).
The largest achievement of the Sejm was the declaration of the
May 3rd Constitution. It was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the
federative Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its
Golden Liberty. The Constitution introduced political equality between
townspeople and nobility and placed 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 the
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 May 3rd Constitution sought to supplant the existing
anarchy fostered by some of the country's
reactionary magnates, with a more
egalitarian and
democratic constitutional monarchy.
The adoption of the constitution was a partial
coup d'etat. The advocates of the Constitution, faced with the threat of violence from the Sejm's anti-reform
Muscovite Party (also known as the "
Hetmans' party," so named from the fact that it was led by the
hetmans, the top military commanders), with many contrary-minded deputies still away on
Easter recess, managed to set debate on the Government Act forward by two days from the original May 5. The ensuing debate and adoption of the Government Act was far from standard: many pro-reform deputies arrived early and in secret, and the royal guards were positioned about the Royal Castle where the Sejm was gathered, to prevent Muscovite adherents from disrupting the proceedings. The Constitution ("Government Act") bill was read out and passed overwhelmingly, to the enthusiasm of the crowds gathered outside.
The Sejm was disbanded on
May 29,
1792. The reforms of the Great Sejm were brought down by the
Targowica Confederation and the intervention of the
Russian Empire. The
Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, remained in force only 14 months and 3 weeks.
Members
Important participants in the Great Sejm included:
» Patriotic Party
» Muscovite Party:
Józef Dominik Kossakowski
Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł
Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki
Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (Great Crown Hetman)
Seweryn Rzewuski (Field Crown Hetman)
Franciszek Grocholski
» Others
Michał Jerzy Mniszech
Adam Naruszewicz
Members of Great Sejm and his descendents(External Link
).
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