Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791

The Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 (Polish: Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja) was Europe's first modern codified national constitution, and the world's second after the United States Constitution (which was written in 1787 and came into force in 1789). It was instituted by the Government Act (Polish: Ustawa rz?dowa) adopted on that date by the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 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 (szlachta) and placed the peasants under the protection of the government,{{ref|Chlopi}} 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.

Related Topics:
Polish - Europe - Codified - Constitution - United States Constitution - 1787 - 1789 - Government Act - Sejm - Parliament - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Federative - Golden Liberty - Townspeople - Nobility - Szlachta - Peasant - Serfdom - Liberum veto - Deputy - Bribed - Legislation - Anarchy - Reactionary - Magnate - Egalitarian - Democratic - Constitutional monarchy

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The adoption of the May 3rd Constitution provoked the active hostility of the Polish Commonwealth's neighbors. In the War in Defense of the Constitution, Poland was betrayed by its Prussian ally Frederick William II and defeated by the Imperial Russia of Catherine the Great, allied with the Targowica Confederation, a cabal of Polish magnates who opposed reforms that might weaken their influence. Despite the defeat, and the subsequent Second Partition of Poland, the May 3rd Constitution influenced later democratic movements in the world. It remained, after the demise of the Polish Republic in 1795, over the next 123 years of Polish partitions, a beacon in the struggle to restore Polish sovereignty. In the words of two of its co-authors, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Ko???taj, it was "the last will and testament of the expiring Fatherland."

Related Topics:
War in Defense of the Constitution - Prussia - Frederick William II - Imperial Russia - Catherine the Great - Targowica Confederation - Second Partition of Poland - Democratic movement - 1795 - Polish partitions - Ignacy Potocki - Hugo Ko???taj

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