Latest / The Story of Poland: A Nation That Refused to Disappear — Fexingo History / Poland's 1791 Constitution: Europe's First and a Nation's Last Hope
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked about the Union of Lublin, the Golden Liberty, even the partitions. But I think there's one moment that really shows what Poland could have been — the Constitution of 3 May 1791. It was Europe's first modern written constitution, second only to the American one, and it was adopted right in the middle of the Commonwealth's death spiral. Luna: Wait, I thought the partitions happened later — the first one was 1772, right? Lucas: Right, the First Partition was 1772. So by 1788, the Commonwealth had already lost a third of its territory and population. But instead of giving up, the reformers in the Great Sejm — the Sejm Wielki — saw that as a wake-up call. They convened in Warsaw in 1788 and sat for four years, debating how to save the country. Lucas: The king at the time was Stanisław August Poniatowski — we've covered him before, the last king, the one who went to the Thursday Dinners with artists and intellectuals. He was deeply involved in this. His great project was the Constitution. Luna: But wasn't he a Russian puppet? Catherine the Great put him on the throne. Lucas: She did, yes, in 1764. And for a long time he played along. But by the late 1780s, with Russia distracted by war with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, Stanisław August saw a window. He allied with the patriotic party — men like Hugo Kołłątaj, a Catholic priest and political thinker, and Stanisław Małachowski, who was the marshal of the Sejm. Together they drafted a document that would radically transform the Commonwealth. Luna: What did it actually say? Lucas: Well, first it abolished the liberum veto — that insane rule that let any single nobleman shut down the entire Sejm. That alone was revolutionary. Then it replaced the elective monarchy with a hereditary one — after Stanisław August died, the throne would pass to the Saxon House of Wettin. It also gave the bourgeoisie — the burghers — the right to own land, hold military commissions, and send representatives to the Sejm. And it placed the peasantry under the protection of the law, though it didn't abolish serfdom outright. Lucas: It also created a government with ministries — something the Commonwealth never really had. A police ministry, a treasury, a war commission. It was modeled partly on the American system but adapted to Polish realities. Luna: And this passed? How? The magnates must have hated it. Lucas: They did. But the reformers used a trick. Traditionally, the Sejm met in public. But the Constitution was drafted in secret, by a small group including the king, Kołłątaj, and Małachowski. On 3 May 1791, they engineered a coup within the Sejm. They arranged for most of the known opposition to be absent — some were tricked into staying home, others were simply not told the date. Then, when a majority was present, they read the bill and called for a vote. It passed overwhelmingly. Luna: That's brilliant — and risky. Lucas: It was a gamble. And it worked — for a while. The Constitution was celebrated across the country. Festivals, coins, medals. But the opposition didn't give up. A year later, a group of magnates formed the Targowica Confederation — named after a town in Ukraine — and openly asked Catherine the Great to restore the old order. She did. Russia invaded in 1792, and the Polish army, despite some victories, was overwhelmed. Stanisław August capitulated and joined Targowica, hoping to salvage something. It didn't work. Luna: So the constitution was repealed? Lucas: At the Grodno Sejm in 1793, under Russian bayonets, the Constitution was annulled. And then came the Second Partition — Poland lost even more territory. But the Constitution of 3 May lived on as a symbol. It inspired the Kościuszko Insurrection in 1794, and later, generations of Poles would celebrate 3 May as a day of hope. Luna: It's interesting — you mentioned the Knight's School earlier, the School of Chivalry. Stanisław August founded that. Did its graduates play a role in the Constitution? Lucas: Absolutely. The Knight's School, Szkoła Rycerska, was founded in 1765. It was a military academy, but it also taught modern political ideas. Many of its graduates became officers in the army that fought for the Constitution in 1792. One of them, Jakub Jasiński, later led the Vilnius uprising in 1794. So the school was a breeding ground for reformers. Luna: Honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, listener support really keeps this going, and it helps us keep the show ad-free. So if you can, it's much appreciated. Luna: So back to the constitution — it only lasted 19 months, but what was the long-term impact? Lucas: It became a national myth. Every Polish uprising in the 19th century — 1830, 1863 — invoked the Constitution of 3 May. It was a proof that Poles could govern themselves, that they had a tradition of liberty and reform. And when Poland regained independence in 1918, 3 May was made a national holiday. The interwar constitution of 1921 was directly modeled on it. Lucas: Even today, 3 May is a public holiday in Poland. It's a reminder that reform is possible even in the darkest times. Luna: It's almost tragic — this brilliant document created by a king who started as a Russian pawn, only to be crushed by the very power that made him king. Lucas: Exactly. Stanisław August is one of the most complicated figures in Polish history. He was intelligent, cultured, genuinely wanted reform. But he was also weak, indecisive, and ultimately betrayed his own constitution. He died in exile in St. Petersburg, a broken man. But the Constitution remains his greatest legacy. Luna: I've also read that the Constitution included a provision for a standing army of 100,000 men. That must have scared Russia and Prussia. Lucas: It did. The army was a key part of the reforms. Before the Constitution, the Commonwealth had a tiny army — maybe 20,000 — while Russia had hundreds of thousands. The Constitution called for a much larger force, financed by new taxes on the nobility and the church. That was a direct threat to the partitioning powers. Lucas: But the tax reform also showed something else: the nobility was willing to sacrifice some of its privileges for the common good. That was unprecedented. The Constitution abolished most internal customs duties, created a unified currency, and tried to integrate the economy. Luna: So it wasn't just political — it was economic too. Lucas: Right. The reformers understood that liberty without economic strength was hollow. They were reading Adam Smith, the French Physiocrats. Kołłątaj wrote a treatise called 'The Political Law of the Polish Nation' that laid out the principles. It was a fully modern program. Luna: What about the church? The Constitution said Catholicism was the dominant religion, but it also guaranteed tolerance for others, didn't it? Lucas: Yes, it reaffirmed the Warsaw Confederation of 1573, which guaranteed religious freedom to all nobles. But now it extended some protections to burghers and peasants too. However, it kept Catholicism as the state religion, and conversion away from Catholicism was still a crime. So it wasn't fully secular, but it was a step forward. Lucas: One of the most poignant moments came during the debate over the Constitution. One deputy, a certain Jan Suchorzewski, opposed the abolition of the liberum veto so strongly that he threatened to kill his own son rather than see him live under a 'tyranny'. He actually brought his son to the Sejm floor. The reformers were horrified, but they carried the vote anyway. Luna: That's insane. And also shows how deeply the nobility clung to those 'golden liberties' even when they were destroying the country. Lucas: Exactly. The liberum veto was a perversion of liberty. It turned the Sejm into a farce, where any single corrupt deputy could be bribed to block reform. The Constitution ended that, and for that alone, it was a miracle it passed. Lucas: The American ambassador to France at the time, Gouverneur Morris, actually praised the Polish Constitution. Thomas Jefferson called it 'the best hope for Europe'. There was real international interest. Luna: Did any other countries adopt similar reforms around then? Lucas: France was in the middle of its revolution, but the French Constitution of 1791 was different — it created a constitutional monarchy but with a unicameral legislature and a weaker executive. The Polish one was more like the American system, with a strong executive and a bicameral parliament. It was also more conservative about social hierarchy. But both were products of the Enlightenment. Luna: It's amazing that in the face of annihilation, they still managed to produce something so thoughtful and forward-looking. Lucas: That's what makes it so compelling. The Constitution of 3 May is a testament to the idea that even under the shadow of destruction, people can imagine a better future. And that's a lesson that resonates far beyond Poland.