View source for Great Sejm

{{Short description|1788–1792 Polish-Lithuanian parliament}}
[[File:Kazimierz Wojniakowski, Uchwalenie Konstytucji 3 Maja.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Great Sejm adopts the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]] at the [[Royal Castle in Warsaw|Royal Castle]] in [[Warsaw]].]]

The '''Great Sejm''', also known as the '''Four-Year Sejm''' ([[Polish language|Polish]]: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|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 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 [[federation|federative]] Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its system of [[Golden Liberty|Golden Liberties]]. The Constitution introduced political equality between [[townspeople]] and [[szlachta|nobility]] and placed the [[peasant]]s 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 [[Chamber of Deputies|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 the existing [[anarchy (word)|anarchy]] engineered by some of the country's [[reactionary]] [[magnate]]s, with a more [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] and [[democracy|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.

== Origins ==
[[File:Stanislaw malachowski.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Stanisław Małachowski]], [[Marshal of the Sejm|Marshal]] of the Great Sejm]]
The reforms of the Great Sejm responded to the increasingly perilous situation of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]],<ref name="Jędruch1982-151"/> only a century earlier a major European power and indeed the largest state on the continent.<ref name="Wandycz2001-66"/> 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.<ref name="Davies1998"/> Many historians hold that 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.<ref name="Carsten1961"/> By the early 18th century, the [[magnate]]s 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]]").<ref name="Davies2005-274"/> The matters were not helped by the inefficient monarchs [[Royal elections in Poland|elected to the Commonwealth throne]] around the start of the 18th century,<ref name="Jędruch1982-153-154"/> 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.<ref name="JPL"/>

The [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] European [[cultural movement]] had gained great influence in certain Commonwealth circles during 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 Poland|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 the Commonwealth must either reform or perish.<ref name="Luk9699"/> In the last three decades preceding the Great Sejm, there was a rising interest among progressive thinkers in [[constitutional reform]].<ref name="Jędruch1982-164-165"/> Even before the First Partition, a Polish noble, [[Michał Wielhorski (1730-1814)|Michał Wielhorski]], an envoy of the [[Bar Confederation]], had been sent to ask the French ''[[philosophe]]s'' [[Gabriel Bonnot de Mably]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] to offer suggestions on a new constitution for a new Poland.<ref name="Williams2007"/><ref name="RomanielloLipp2011"/><ref name="Lukowski2010"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-166-167"/> Mably had submitted his recommendations (''[[The Government and Laws of Poland]]''<!--Du gouvernement et des lois en Pologne-->) in 1770–1771; Rousseau had finished his ''[[Considerations on the Government of Poland]]'' in 1772, when the First Partition was already underway.<ref name="Cranston"/> Notable works advocating the need to reform and presenting specific solutions were published in the Commonwealth itself by Polish-Lithuanian thinkers such as:
* [[Stanisław Konarski]], founder of the [[Collegium Nobilium (Warsaw)|Collegium Nobilium]] (''[[On the Effective Conduct of Debates in Ordinary Sejms]]'', 1761–1763);
* [[Józef Wybicki]], composer of the [[Polish National Anthem]] (''[[Political Thoughts on Civil Liberties]]'', 1775, ''[[Patriotic Letters]]'', 1778–1778);
* [[Hugo Kołłątaj]], head of the [[Kołłątaj's Forge]] party (''[[Anonymous Letters to Stanisław Małachowski]]'', 1788–1789, ''[[The Political Law of the Polish Nation]]'', 1790); and
* [[Stanisław Staszic]] (''[[Remarks on the Life of Jan Zamoyski]]'', 1787).<ref name="Jędruch1982-166-167"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/>

Also seen as crucial to giving the upcoming reforms their moral and political support were [[Ignacy Krasicki]]'s satires of the Great Sejm era.<ref name="Jędruch1982-179"/>

== Proceedings ==

===1789–90===
[[File:Official diary of the Great Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1788-1792.png|thumb|200px|right|Great Sejm official diary]]
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.<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/><ref name="Sanford"/><ref name="Justyński1991"/> On its second day the Sejm transformed itself into a [[confederated sejm]] to make it immune to the threat of the ''liberum veto''.<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/><ref name="Ostrowski1873"/><ref name="bardach304-305"/> 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]].<ref name="psb623"/> [[Stanisław Małachowski]], a statesman respected both by most factions, was elected as the [[Marshal of the Sejm]].<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/>

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.<ref name="FedorowiczBogucka1982"/><ref name="Corwin1917"/> 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.<ref name="WIEM"/> The Patriotic Party's centrists, including Stanisław Małachowski, wished accommodation with the King.<ref name=WIEM/> 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]].<ref name="FedorowiczBogucka1982"/><ref name=WIEM/> While King Poniatowski also supported some reforms, he was initially not allied with this faction, represented by Potocki, who preferred a [[republicanism|republican]] form of a government.<ref name="psb-ip7-8"/>

Events in the world appeared to [[political opportunity|play into the reformers' hands]].<ref name="Sanford"/> Poland's neighbors 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, 1787-1792|Russo-Turkish War]] and the [[Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791)|Austro-Turkish War]]); the Russians also found themselves fighting Sweden (the [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)|Russo-Swedish War]]).<ref name="Sanford"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-176"/><ref name="BideleuxJeffries1998"/><ref name="Lukowski2010-226"/> 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.<ref name="Łojek1986-24"/> Due to internal Russian politics, this plan was not implemented.<ref name="Łojek1986-26-31"/> Spurned by Russia, Poland turned to another potential ally, the [[Triple Alliance (1788)|Triple Alliance]], represented on the Polish diplomatic scene primarily by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]].<ref name="Łojek1986-31-32"/> This line of reasoning gained support from Polish politicians such as Ignacy Potocki and Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski.<ref name="Bauer55"/> With the new [[Polish-Prussian alliance]] seeming to provide security against Russian intervention, King Poniatowski drew closer to leaders of the reform-minded Patriotic Party.<ref name="Sanford"/><ref name="Wandycz"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-172-173"/> This alliance was also helped as the 1790 elections were more supportive of the royal faction then Potocki's;<ref name="psb-ip7-8"/> and the conservative faction gained enough new seats to threaten the reformers if they were to stay divided.<ref name="Jędruch1982-172-173"/> With the mediation of [[Scipione Piattoli]], Potocki and Poniatowski begun to reach a consensus on a more [[constitutional monarchy]] approach, and started to draft a constitutional document.<ref name="psb-ip7-8"/>

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.<ref name=bardach304-305/>

===1791–92===
[[File:Sala Senatorska Zamek Królewski w Warszawie 2016.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Royal Castle, Warsaw|Royal Castle]] Senate Chamber, where [[Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3 Constitution]] was adopted]]
The elections of autumn 1790 resulted in a new group of deputies joining those already elected.<ref name=bardach304-305/> A second Marshal of the Sejm was elected ([[Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha]]).<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/> As Małachowski was seen as associated with the reformers, Sapieha was initially seen as a conservative, although he would later switch sides and join the reformers.<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-197-199"/> 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.<ref name="Jędruch1982-172-173"/>

While the Sejm comprised representatives only of the [[szlachta|nobility]] and clergy, the reformers were supported by the [[Bourgeoisie|burghers]] (townspeople), who in the Autumn of 1789 organized a [[Black Procession]], demonstrating their desire to be part of the political process.<ref name="Jędruch1982-172-173"/> 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 the rights of the burghers (the [[Free Royal Cities Act]]).<ref name="Jędruch1982-175"/> Together with the legislation on the voting rights (the [[Act on Sejmiks]] of 24 March 1791), it became incorporated into the final constitution.<ref name="Jędruch1982-173-174"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-178"/>

The new Constitution had been drafted by the king, with contributions from others, including Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj.<ref name="Jędruch1982-179"/><ref name="Sanford"/> The king is credited with authoring the general provisions, and Kołłątaj, with giving the work its final shape.<ref name="Jędruch1982-179"/><ref name=bardach304-305/> Poniatowski aimed for a constitutional monarchy similar to the one in England, with strong central government based upon a strong monarch.<ref name=bardach304-305/> 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 a violent overthrow of the old order.<ref name=bardach304-305/>

Reforms were opposed by conservative elements, including the [[Hetmans' Party]].<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171"/><ref name="Handelsman1907"/> 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.<ref name="Jędruch1982-177"/> The ensuing debate and adoption of the Constitution of 3 May took place in 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.<ref name="Jędruch1982-177"/> On 3 May the Sejm met with only 182 members present, about a half of its "dual" number (or a third, if one was to count all individuals eligible to take part in the proceedings, including the Senate and the king{{Ref_label|a|a|none}}).<ref name="Jędruch1982-178"/><ref name="Jędruch1982-177"/> The bill  was read out and adopted overwhelmingly, to the enthusiasm of the crowds gathered outside.<ref name="Jędruch1982-184-185"/>

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 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 a single state, and their equal representation in state-governing bodies.<ref name="Constitutions1"/><ref name="Kowecki"/> The Mutual Declaration strengthened the [[Polish-Lithuanian union]], while keeping many [[Federation|federal]] aspects of the state intact.<ref name="mkw"/><ref name="bardach309"/>

The Sejm was disbanded on 29 May 1792. On that day, soon after learning that [[Polish-Russian War (1792)|the Russian army had invaded Poland]], the Sejm gave the [[commander-in-chief]] position to the king, and voted to end the session.<ref name="rzeczpospolita"/>

== Aftermath ==
Soon afterwards, the [[Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej|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.<ref name="Jędruch1982-179"/><ref name="Kowecki51"/> The response to the new Constitution was less enthusiastic in the provinces, where the Hetmans' Party exerted stronger influence.<ref name="Jędruch1982-184-185"/> The Great Sejm's reforms were brought down by the [[Targowica Confederation]] and the intervention of the Russian Empire. On 23 November 1793 the [[Grodno Sejm]] annulled all the enactments of the Great Sejm, including the Constitution of 3 May 1791.<ref name="volumina"/>

==See also==
* [[:Category:Members of the Great Sejm|List of deputies of the Great Sejm]]

==Notes==
'''a''' {{Note_label|a|a|none}} [http://www.sejm-wielki.pl/ A website] dedicated to the genealogy of the Great Sejm participants, maintained by [[Maria Minakowska]], lists 484 participants. Those include the king, members of the Senate, and deputies elected in 1788 and 1790.

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name="psb623">Jerzy Michalski, ''Stanisław August Poniatowski'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, T.41, 2011, p. 623</ref>

<ref name="Bauer55">{{cite book|author=Krzysztof Bauer|title=Uchwalenie i obrona Konstytucji 3 Maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNGAAAAIAAJ|access-date=2 January 2012|year=1991|publisher=Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne|isbn=978-83-02-04615-5|page=55}}</ref>

<ref name="BideleuxJeffries1998">{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&pg=PA160|access-date=September 11, 2011|date=January 28, 1998|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-16111-4|page=160}}</ref>

<ref name="Carsten1961">{{cite book|author=Francis Ludwig Carsten|title=The new Cambridge modern history: The ascendancy of France, 1648–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzQ9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA562|access-date=June 11, 2011|date=January 1, 1961|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-04544-5|pages=561–562}}</ref>

<ref name="Constitutions1">{{cite book|author=Joseph Kasparek-Obst|title=The constitutions of Poland and of the United States: kinships and genealogy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nu-CQgAACAAJ|access-date=July 6, 2011|date=June 1, 1980|publisher=American Institute of Polish Culture|isbn=978-1-881284-09-3|page=40}}</ref>

<ref name="Corwin1917">{{cite book|author=Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin|title=The political history of Poland|url=https://archive.org/details/politicalhistor00corwgoog|access-date=18 August 2011|year=1917|publisher=Polish Book Importing Co.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicalhistor00corwgoog/page/n362 342]–343}}</ref>

<ref name="Cranston">{{cite book|author=Maurice William Cranston|author-link=Maurice Cranston|title=The solitary self: Jean-Jacques Rousseau in exile and adversity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMYmGHEsD5MC&pg=PA177|access-date=July 5, 2011|year=1997|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-11865-9|page=177}}</ref>

<ref name="Davies1998">{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=Europe: a history|url=https://archive.org/details/europehistory00norm|url-access=registration|access-date=August 13, 2011|date=January 20, 1998|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-097468-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/europehistory00norm/page/659 659]}}</ref>

<ref name="Davies2005-274">{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=God's Playground: The origins to 1795|url=https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0|url-access=registration|access-date=August 13, 2011|date=March 30, 2005|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-12817-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/274 274]}}</ref>

<ref name="FedorowiczBogucka1982">{{cite book|author1=J. K. Fedorowicz|author2=Maria Bogucka|author3=Henryk Samsonowicz|title=A Republic of nobles: studies in Polish history to 1864|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7U8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA252|access-date=17 August 2011|year=1982|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-24093-2|pages=252–253}}</ref>

<ref name="Handelsman1907">{{cite book|author=Marceli Handelsman|title=Konstytucja trzeciego Maja r. 1791|language=pl|trans-title=Constitution of May 3|url=https://archive.org/details/konstytucjatrze00handgoog|access-date=August 18, 2011|year=1907|publisher=Druk. Narodowa|pages=[https://archive.org/details/konstytucjatrze00handgoog/page/n57 50]–52}}</ref>

<ref name="JPL">{{cite book|author=John P. LeDonne|title=The Russian empire and the world, 1700–1917: the geopolitics of expansion and containment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6ks6FSAMacC&pg=PA41|access-date=July 5, 2011|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-510927-6|pages=41–42}}</ref>

<ref name="Justyński1991">{{cite book|author=Janusz Justyński|title=The Origin of human rights: the constitution of 3 May 1791, the French declaration of rights, the Bill of Rights : proceedings at the seminar held at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, 3–5 May 1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcKFAAAAMAAJ|access-date=September 11, 2011|year=1991|publisher=Wydawn. Adam Marszałek|isbn=978-83-85263-24-1|page=171}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-151">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=151}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-153-154">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=153–154}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-164-165">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=164–165}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-166-167">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=166–167}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-169-171">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=169–171}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-172-173">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=172–173}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-173-174">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=173–174}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-175">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=175}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-176">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=176}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-177">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=177}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-178">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=178}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-179">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|page=179}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-184-185">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=184–185}}</ref>

<ref name="Jędruch1982-197-199">{{cite book|author=Jacek Jędruch|author-link=Jacek Jędruch|title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ|access-date=13 August 2011|year=1998|publisher=EJJ Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4|pages=197–199}}</ref>

<ref name="Kowecki">{{cite book|author1=Poland|author2=Jerzy Kowecki|title=Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791|language=pl|trans-title=Constitution of May 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M38lAQAAIAAJ|access-date=July 6, 2011|year=1991|publisher=Państwowe Wydawn. Nauk.|pages=105–107}}</ref>

<ref name="Kowecki51">Jerzy Kowecki (ed.), Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 (Warsaw: PWN, 4th edn 1991), p.51</ref>

<ref name="Luk9699">{{cite book|author1=Jerzy Lukowski|author2=Hubert Zawadzki|title=A concise history of Poland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpMxTvBuWHYC&pg=PA96|access-date=July 5, 2011|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-55917-1|pages=96–99}}</ref>

<ref name="Lukowski2010">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Lukowski|title=Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAgRHvulnnUC&pg=PA124|access-date=September 5, 2011|date=August 3, 2010|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4411-4812-4|pages=123–124}}</ref>

<ref name="Lukowski2010-226">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Lukowski|title=Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAgRHvulnnUC&pg=PA226|access-date=September 23, 2011|date=August 3, 2010|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4411-4812-4|page=226}}</ref>

<ref name="Ostrowski1873">{{cite book|author=Antoni Jan Ostrowski|title=Żywot Tomasza Ostrowskiego, ministra rzeczypospolitej póżniej,prezesa senatu xięstwa warszawskiego i królestwa polskiego: obejmujacy rys wypadḱow krajowych od 1765 roku do 1817|language=pl|trans-title=The Life of Tomasz Ostrowski&nbsp;... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2wRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73|access-date=July 4, 2011|year=1873|publisher=Nakł. K. Ostrowskiego|page=73}}</ref>

<ref name="RomanielloLipp2011">{{cite book|author1=Matthew P. Romaniello|author2=Charles Lipp|title=Contested spaces of nobility in early modern Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCgx4S51uQwC&pg=PA238|access-date=September 5, 2011|date=March 1, 2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-0551-1|page=238}}</ref>

<ref name="Sanford">{{cite book|author=George Sanford|author-link=George Sanford (political scientist)|title=Democratic government in Poland: constitutional politics since 1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOaXi0hX1RAC&pg=PA11|access-date=July 5, 2011|year=2002|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-77475-5|pages=11–12}}</ref>

<ref name="WIEM">{{in lang|pl}} ''[http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/56204,,,,stronnictwo_patriotyczne,haslo.html Stronnictwo Patriotyczne] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415141841/http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/56204,,,,stronnictwo_patriotyczne,haslo.html |date=2016-04-15 }}'', [[Encyklopedia WIEM]]</ref>

<ref name="Wandycz">{{cite book|author=Piotr Stefan Wandycz|author-link=Piotr Stefan Wandycz|title=The price of freedom: a history of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5plR3x6jLAC&pg=PA128|access-date=July 5, 2011|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-25491-5|page=128}}</ref>

<ref name="Wandycz2001-66">{{cite book|author=Piotr Stefan Wandycz|title=The price of freedom: a history of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5plR3x6jLAC&pg=PA66|access-date=August 13, 2011|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-25491-5|page=66}}</ref>

<ref name="Williams2007">{{cite book|author=David Lay Williams|title=Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nsRrONAvdnYC&pg=PA202|access-date=September 5, 2011|date=August 1, 2007|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-02997-9|page=202}}</ref>

<ref name="bardach304-305">Juliusz Bardach, Bogusław Leśnodorski and Michał Pietrzak, ''Historia państwa i prawa polskiego'' (History of the Polish State and Law), Warsaw, [[Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe]], 1987, pp. 304–5.</ref>

<ref name="bardach309">Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.309</ref>

<ref name="mkw">{{cite web|url=http://free.art.pl/podkowa.magazyn/archiwum/my_litwa.htm |title=My, Litwa |language=pl |trans-title=We, Lithuania |author=Maria Konopka-Wichrowska |publisher=Podkowiański Magazyn Kulturalny |date=August 13, 2003 |access-date=September 12, 2011 |quote="Ostatnim było Zaręczenie Wzajemne Obojga Narodów przy Konstytucji 3 Maja, stanowiące część nowych paktów konwentów – zdaniem historyka prawa Bogusława Leśnodorskiego: "zacieśniające unię, ale utrzymujące nadal federacyjny charakter Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów"" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013125715/http://free.art.pl/podkowa.magazyn/archiwum/my_litwa.htm |archive-date=October 13, 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="psb-ip7-8">Zofia Zielińska, ''Potocki Ignacy'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXVIII, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1983, {{ISBN|0-900661-24-0}}, p.&nbsp;8–7</ref>

<ref name="rzeczpospolita">{{in lang|pl}} Zbigniew Anusik, ''Rzeczpospolita wobec wojny wschodniej (1787–1792) i wojny szwedzko-rosyjskiej (1788–1790)'', in: ''Polska wobec wielkich konfliktów w Europie nowożytnej, z dziejów dyplomacji i stosunków międzynarodowych w XV-XVII wieku,'' Kraków 2009, p.&nbsp;171–179.</ref>

<ref name="volumina">Volumina Legum, t. X, Poznań 1952, p. 326.</ref>

<ref name="Łojek1986-24">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Łojek|title=Geneza i obalenie Konstytucji 3 maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpFAAAAIAAJ|access-date=17 December 2011|year=1986|publisher=Wydawn. Lubelskie|isbn=978-83-222-0313-2|page=24}}</ref>

<ref name="Łojek1986-26-31">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Łojek|title=Geneza i obalenie Konstytucji 3 maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpFAAAAIAAJ|access-date=17 December 2011|year=1986|publisher=Wydawn. Lubelskie|isbn=978-83-222-0313-2|pages=26–31}}</ref>

<ref name="Łojek1986-31-32">{{cite book|author=Jerzy Łojek|title=Geneza i obalenie Konstytucji 3 maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpFAAAAIAAJ|access-date=17 December 2011|year=1986|publisher=Wydawn. Lubelskie|isbn=978-83-222-0313-2|pages=31–32}}</ref>

}}

{{Seimas of Lithuania}}
{{Sejms}}
{{Good article}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Great Sejm| ]]
[[Category:Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:1788 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:1789 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:1790 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:1791 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:1792 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]