Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
| Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania[a] | |||||
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| Motto Latin: Si Deus Nobiscum quis contra nos (If God is with us, then who is against us) Pro Fide, Lege et Rege (Latin: For Faith, Law and King, since 18th century) |
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| Capital | Commonwealth and Crown of the Polish Kingdom: Kraków, Warsaw ca. 1600; Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Vilnius[b] | ||||
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| Government | Hereditary Monarchy (1569–1573) Elective Monarchy (1573–1791 / 1792–1795) Constitutional Monarchy (1791–1792) |
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| King & Grand Duke | |||||
| - 1569–1572 | Sigismund II Augustus | ||||
| - 1764–1795 | Stanisław II Augustus | ||||
| Legislature | Sejm | ||||
| - Privy Council | Senate | ||||
| History | |||||
| - Union established | July 1, 1569 | ||||
| - Protectorate of the Russian Empire | 1768 | ||||
| - 1st Partition | August 5, 1772 | ||||
| - May 3rd Constitution | May 3, 1791 | ||||
| - 2nd Partition | January 23, 1793 | ||||
| - 3rd Partition | October 24, 1795 | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - 1582 | 815,000 km2 (314,673 sq mi) | ||||
| - 1618 | 1,153,465 km2 (445,355 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - 1582 est. | 6,500,000 | ||||
| Density | 8 /km2 (20.7 /sq mi) | ||||
| - 1618 est. | 10,500,000 | ||||
| Density | 9.1 /km2 (23.6 /sq mi) | ||||
| Today part of | |||||
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (or Union, since 1791 the Commonwealth of Poland) was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest[1][2] and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 km2)[3] and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century.[4] It was established at the Union of Lublin in July 1569, disappeared as an independent state after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.[5][6][7]
The Union possessed features unique among contemporary states: its political system was characterized by strict checks upon monarchical power. These checks were enacted by a legislature (Sejm) controlled by the nobility (szlachta). This idiosyncratic system was a precursor to modern concepts of democracy,[8] constitutional monarchy[9][10][11] and federation.[12] The two component states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, yet Poland was the dominant partner in the union.[13]
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was marked by high levels of ethnic diversity and by relative religious tolerance guaranteed by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573,[14][15][16] though the degree of religious tolerance varied over time.[17]
After several decades of prosperity,[18][19][20] it entered a period of protracted political,[11][21] military and economic[22] decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its more powerful neighbors, Austria, Prussia and the Russian Empire, during the late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a massive reform effort and enacted the Constitution of May 3, 1791 - the first written constitution in modern European history and the second in modern world history.[23][24][25][26][27]
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[edit] Name
The official name of the Commonwealth was The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polish: Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie, Lithuanian: Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė, Ukrainian: Королівство Польське та Вели́ке кня́зівство Лито́вське Korolivstvo Polśke ta Vełyke Kniazivstvo Łytovśke, Belarusian: Каралеўства Польскае і Вялікае Княства Літоўскае Karalieŭstva Polskaje i Vialikaje Kniastva Litoŭskaje). Prior to the 17th century, international treaties and diplomatic texts referred to it by its Latin name Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae. In the 17th century and later it became known as the Most Serene Republic of Poland (Polish Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska, Latin Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae).[28] Its inhabitants referred to it in everyday speech as the Rzeczpospolita (Rusyn: Рѣч Посполита Rěč Pospolyta, Lithuanian: Žečpospolita). Western Europeans often simply called it Poland, applying the pars pro toto synecdoche. The widespread term 'Commonwealth of the Two Nations' (Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów) was coined in the 20th century.[29]
[edit] History
Poland and Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances during the 14th century and early 15th century. Several relatively weak agreements between the two (the Union of Kraków and Vilna, the Union of Krewo, the Union of Vilnius and Radom, the Union of Grodno, and the Union of Horodło) were struck before the more permanent 1569 Union of Lublin. This agreement was one of the signal achievements of Sigismund II Augustus, last monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Sigismund believed he could preserve his dynasty by adopting elective monarchy. His death in 1572 was followed by a three-year interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system; these adjustments significantly increased the power of the Polish nobility and established a truly elective monarchy.[30]
The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the early 17th century. Its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles (Pic. 2) who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years' War; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict which devastated most of contemporary Europe. The Commonwealth was able to hold its own against Sweden, Tsardom of Russia, and vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and even launched successful expansionist offensives against its neighbors. In several invasions during the Time of Troubles Commonwealth troops entered Russia and managed to take Moscow and hold it from September 27, 1610 to November 4, 1612, until driven out after a siege.
| History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | |
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 This article is part of a series |
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| 1569–1648 | |
| 1648–1764 | |
| 1764–1795 | |
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Poland Portal |
Commonwealth power began waning after a series of blows during the following decades. A major rebellion of Cossacks in the southeastern portion of the Commonwealth (the Khmelnytskyi Uprising in modern-day Ukraine) began in 1648. It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, for protection by the Muscovian Tsar.[31] Muscovian annexation of part of Ukraine gradually supplanted Polish influence. The other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655. Supported by troops of Transylvanian duke George II Rakoczy and Friedrich Wilhelm I, Elector of Brandenburg, The Deluge was the Swedish royal response to years of Commonwealth belligerence.
In the late 17th century, the weakened Commonwealth's King John III Sobieski allied himself with Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor to deal crushing defeats to the Ottoman Empire. In 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottoman Empire. For its centuries-long stance against the Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity).[12][32] During the next 16 years the Great Turkish War would drive the Turks permanently south of the Danube River, never to threaten central Europe again.[33]
By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought Poland to the brink of anarchy. The Commonwealth was facing many internal problems and was vulnerable to foreign influences. An outright war between the King and the nobility broke out in 1715 and Tsar Peter the Great's mediation put him in a position to further weaken the state.[34] The Russian army was present at the Silent Sejm of 1717, which limited the armed forces to 24,000 and specified its funding, reaffirmed the liberum veto, and banished the King's Saxon army; the Tsar was to serve as guarantor of the agreement.[34] Western Europe's increasing exploitation of resources in the Americas rendered the Commonwealth's supplies less crucial.[35] In 1768 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth became a protectorate of the Russian Empire.[36] Control of Poland was central to Catherine the Great's diplomatic and military strategies.[37] Attempts at reform, such as the Four-Year Sejm's May Constitution came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania would not be re-established as independent countries until 1918; Ukraine and Belarus established independence in the 1990s.
[edit] State organization and politics
[edit] Golden Liberty
The political doctrine of the Commonwealth was: our state is a republic under the presidency of the King. Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that Rex regnat et non gubernat (The King reigns but does not govern).[38] The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king (Pic. 1). The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa, negotiated at the time of his election.
The monarch's power was limited, in favor of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance). Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the Pacta Conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point onwards, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators. The Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones).
The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the Golden Liberty (Polish: Złota Wolność, a term used from 1573 on), included:
- election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate, known as wolna elekcja (free election);;
- Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
- Pacta conventa (Latin), agreed-to agreements negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier Henrician Articles.
- religious freedom guaranted by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573,[14]
- rokosz (insurrection), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
- liberum veto (Latin), the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a free veto nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto in provincial sejmiks;
- konfederacja (from the Latin confederatio), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.
The three regions (see below) of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy.[39] Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poseł (deputy) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions.[40]
Golden Liberty created a state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar political systems existed in the contemporary city-states like the Republic of Venice.[41] Interestingly, both states were styled Serenissima Respublica or the Most Serene Republic.[42] At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization, absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization,[12] confederation and federation, democracy, religious tolerance, and even pacifism. The Sejm's usual veto of wars has been described as an example of democratic peace theory.[43]
This political system unusual for its time stemmed from the ascendance of the szlachta noble class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as a mixture of:
- confederation and federation, with regard to the broad autonomy of its regions. It is, however, difficult to decisively call the Commonwealth either confederation or federation, as it had some qualities of both of them;
- oligarchy,[12] as only the szlachta—around 15% of the population—had political rights;
- democracy, since all the szlachta were equal in rights and privileges, and the Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). Also, the 15% of Commonwealth population who enjoyed those political rights (the szlachta)[44] was a substantially larger percentage than in majority European countries;[45] note that in 1789 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote, and in 1867 in the United Kingdom, only about 3%.[44][45]
- elective monarchy, since the monarch, elected by the szlachta, was Head of State;
- constitutional monarchy, since the monarch was bound by pacta conventa and other laws, and the szlachta could disobey any king's decrees they deemed illegal.
[edit] Shortcomings
The end of the Jagiellon dynasty in 1572 — after nearly two centuries — disrupted the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility.
When presented with periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the szlachta exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not found another strong dynasty. This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Transylvanian Stefan Batory (1576–86), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa, whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as The Deluge (1655), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline.
Zebrzydowski's rokosz (1606–07) marked a substantial increase in the power of the magnates, and the transformation of szlachta democracy into magnate oligarchy. The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed[47][48] by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over a century, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, while its neighbors stabilized their internal affairs and increased their military might.
[edit] Late reforms
The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the May 3rd Constitution, which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe.[27] The revolutionary Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution:
- abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachta's confederations;
- provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government;
- established popular sovereignty and extended political rights to include not only the nobility but the bourgeoisie;
- increased the rights of the peasantry;
- preserved religious tolerance (but with a condemnation of apostasy from the Catholic faith).
These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors which were content to leave the Commonwealth alone as a weak buffer state, but reacted strongly to king Stanisław August Poniatowski's and other reformers' attempts to strengthen the country.[39] Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the May 3rd Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European empire. Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence[49] and declared the Polish constitution Jacobinical.[50] Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the Confederation of Targowica, referring to the constitution as the contagion of democratic ideas.[51] Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria, also afraid of a strengthened Poland, used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion.[50] Prussian minister Ewald von Hertzberg called the constitution a blow to the Prussian monarchy,[52] fearing that strengthened Poland would once again dominate Prussia.[49][53] In the end, the May 3rd Constitution was never fully implemented, and the Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after the Constitution's adoption.
[edit] Economy
The economy of the Commonwealth was dominated by feudal agriculture based on the plantation system (serfs).[22] Slavery in Poland was forbidden in the 15th century; in Lithuania, slavery was formally abolished in 1588.[54] They were replaced by the second enserfment. Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark, a large farm worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes in the early era of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade.[55] The economic strength of Commonwealth grain trade waned from the late 17th century on. Trade relationships were disrupted by the wars and the Commonwealth proved unable to improve its transport infrastructure or its agricultural practices.[56] Serfs in the region were increasingly tempted to flee.[57] The Commonwealth's major attempts at countering this problem and improving productivity consisted of increasing serfs' workload and further restricting their freedoms in a process known as second serfdom.[56][57]
Though the urban population of the Commonwealth was about 20% of the total in the 17th century, which was much lower than in some West European countries (approximately 50% in the Netherlands and Italy) the urbanization of the country was of a specific character (Pic. 7).[58] The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the szlachta's privileged position when compared to the bourgeoisie, resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a rather slow development of industries.[58] While similar conflicts among social classes may be found all over Europe, nowhere were the nobility as dominant at the time as in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. There is, however, much debate among historians as to which processes most affected those developments, since until the wars and crises of the mid-17th century the cities of the Commonwealth had not markedly lagged in size and wealth behind their western counterparts. The Commonwealth did have numerous towns and cities, commonly founded on Magdeburg rights. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin. See the geography section, below, for a list of major cities in the Commonwealth (commonly capitals of voivodships).
Poland-Lithuania played a significant role in the supply of 16th century Western Europe by the export of three sorts of goods, notably grain (rye), cattle (oxen) and fur.[59] These three articles amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to western markets by overland- and maritime trade.[59]
Although the Commonwealth was Europe's largest grain producer, the bulk of her grain was consumed domestically. Estimated grain consumption in the Polish Crown (Poland proper) and Prussia in 1560–70 was some 113,000 tons of wheat (or 226,000 łaszt – a łaszt, or last, being a large bulk measure; in the case of grain, about half a ton). Average yearly production of grain in the Commonwealth in the 16th Century was 120,000 tons, 6% of which was exported, while cities consumed some 19% and the remainder was consumed by the villages. Commonwealth grain achieved far more importance in poor crop years, as in the early 1590s and the 1620s, when governments throughout southern Europe arranged for large grain imports to cover shortfalls in their jurisdictions.
Still, grain was the largest export commodity of the Commonwealth. The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea.[61] Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes: the Vistula, Pilica, Bug, San, Nida, Wieprz, Niemen. The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries. Most of the river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Hrodna become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy.[62]
From Gdańsk, ships, mostly from the Netherlands and Flanders, carried the grain to ports such as Antwerp and Amsterdam.[63][64] Besides grain, other seaborne exports included carminic acid from Polish cochineal, lumber and wood-related products such as ash, and tar.[58] The land routes, mostly to the German lands of the Holy Roman Empire such as the cities of Leipzig and Nuremberg, were used for export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides, furs, salt, tobacco, hemp, cotton (mostly from Greater Poland) and linen.[65][66]
The Commonwealth imported wine, fruit, spices, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries, Pic. 5), clothing, fish, beer and industrial products like steel and tools. A few riverboats carried south imports from Gdańsk like wine, fruit, spices and herring. Somewhere between the 16th and 17th centuries, the Commonwealth's trade balance shifted from positive to negative.
With the advent of the Age of Exploration, many old trading routes such as the Amber Road (Pic. 4) lost importance as new ones were created. Poland's importance as a caravan route between Asia and Europe diminished, while new local trading routes were created between the Commonwealth and Russia. Many goods and cultural artifacts continued to pass from one region to another via the Commonwealth. For example, Isfahan rugs imported from Persia to the Commonwealth were actually known in the West as Polish rugs (French: Polonaise).[67]
Commonwealth currency included the złoty and the grosz. The City of Gdańsk had the privilege of minting its own coinage.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Science and literature
The Commonwealth was an important European center for the development of modern social and political ideas. It was famous for its rare quasi-democratic political system, praised by philosophers such as Erasmus; and, during the Counter-Reformation, was known for near-unparalleled religious tolerance, with peacefully coexisting Catholic, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and Muslim communities. In the 18th century, the French Catholic Rulhiere wrote of 16th century Poland: This country, which in our day we have seen divided on the pretext of religion, is the first state