1. Nation and Memory
Polish History
Week 4 1

2. 2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
Outline
Origins
2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
4. From the Deluge to the Partitions of Poland
5. Conclusion 2

3. 1000

4. 966 Mieszko I (Piast dynasty) was baptised – Latin Church
997 Bishop Adalbert (Wojciech) dies – first national saint Polands
1000 Act of Gniezno, Otto III and Bolesław the Brave
1025 Bolesław crowned as first Polish King
1050 Polish court to Cracow
1126 Mazovian Prince Conrad invited the Order of Teutonic Knights to Northern Poland
1241 Mongol invasion, stopped in Silesia 4

5. 2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
Outline
Origins
2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
4. From the Deluge to the Partitions of Poland
5. Conclusion 5

6. 6

7. 1364 Cracow (Kraków) University founded
1333 Casimir the Great (III) crowned – golden era of Polish Middle ages, new towns, conquest of Southwest Rus
1364 Cracow (Kraków) University founded
1386 Personal Union between Grand Principality of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland, Polish heiress Jadwiga marries Grandprince Jogaila (Jagiełło) of Lithuania (baptism of Lithuanians) 7

8. Grand Principality of Lithuania
Lithuanians: pagan, baltic tribe (princes and knights: war lords of Medieval Europe)
Elite: Lithuanian and Ruthenian knights
Majority of population: Orthodox Ruthenians (Belarussians, Ukrainians)
Peasants: Ruthenians and Lithuanians
Court language: Court Slavonic
Questions: why Latin Church and not Orthodox Church, why Poland and not Vladimir/Muscovy?

9. Conflict with Teutonic Order
1410 Battle of Grunwald (in German history: Tannenberg), Polish-Lithuanian troops defeat Teutonic Order
1466 Treaty of Toruń between Poland and Teutonic Order, Gdańsk to Poland, control of West Prussia
1525 Teutonic Order was secularized and became vassal of Poland

10. Battle of Grunwald 1410 (Jan Matejko, 1878)

11. 11

12. 12

13. 2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
Outline
Origins
2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
4. From the Deluge to the Partitions of Poland
5. Conclusion 13

14. Common Parliament (Sejm) Common Foreign Policy and Currency
Union of Lublin 1569
United Kingdom of Poland and Grand Principality of Lithuania in one single state – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The monarch (King of Poland and Grand Prince of Lithuania) was elected by the Polish and Lithuanian nobility and crowned in Cracow
Common Parliament (Sejm)
Common Foreign Policy and Currency
But separate administrations, judicial systems, finances, armies 14

15. An old Latin proverb proclaimed that the Polish Commonwealth was "heaven for the nobles, purgatory for the townsfolk, hell for the peasants, and paradise for the Jews."

16. 16

17. 17

18. From: Norman Davies: God‘s Playground. A History of Poland. Vol 1
From: Norman Davies: God‘s Playground. A History of Poland. Vol 1. New York 1982
Wappen „Jelita“ 18

19. Prerogatives of the King (ca. 1600)
Commands the Army
Calls the banns of the nobility together, but needs the approval of the Sejm
Is not responsible to the Sejm, but has to obey the Articuli Henriciani and the Pacta Conventa
Supreme power off sessions of the Sejm
Appoints ambassadors, but his right to give them directives is restricted
Appoints high officials and commanders of the Army, but cannot easily dismiss them
Appoints bishops
Controls crownland and can give land as a feud no noblemen 19

20. Zerrissener Reichstag
Liberum Veto
Right of Resistance
Confederation
Zerrissener Reichstag
Liberum Veto (Latin "free veto") was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth that allowed any deputy of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify all legislation already passed during the session. The first time used in 1652.
If the king violates ‚natural law‘, the Articuli Henriciani or the Pacta Conventa (de non praestanda-obedienta) does the nobility have the right to organise resistance against the king
An alliance of noblemen, to act for national interests but also to act for particular interests, the King can be part of such a confederation
Parliament, which finishes a session period without having made any decisions, without a law having passed – because of use of Liberum Veto 20

21. Social structure of Poland-Lithuania, 1600
Norman Davies: God‘s Playground. A History of Poland. Vol 1. New York 1982 21

22. 2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
Outline
Origins
2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
4. From the Deluge to the Partitions of Poland
5. Conclusion 22

23. Wars 1576-1699 1576-1582 War against Moscow
War against Sweden
(Zebrzydowski-Rebellion 1606/7)
War against Moscow
1582 Victory: Gain of Livland and Polock
Polish victories, but no changes
Victory, Peace of Deulina, Gain of Smolensk and Chernigov
War against Ottoman Empire
War against Sweden
War against Moscow, Conflict with Sweden
No changes
Defeat: Peace of Altmark, Sweden gains some coastal cities
Victory: Renewal of Deulina
Sweden gives coastal cities back, confirmation of Polish rule in Livland
Cossack Uprising
War against Moscow
War against Sweden (Potop – Deluge)
War against Moscow
Lubomirski Uprising
, Wars against Ottoman Empire
Mostly defeats, some victories
Stopped
1660 Peace of Oliva: Status quo, Loss of Livland
Defeat: Peace of Andrusovo: Loss of leftbank Ukraine with Kiev
Defeat and Victory: Loss and Regain of Podolia and part of rightbank Ukraine 23

24. 24

25. August the Strong, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony
King Jan III Sobieski 25

26. 26

27. Peter the Great, painting by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856)
Charles XII of Sweden
Peter the Great, painting by Paul Delaroche ( ) 27

28. 28

29. 1657 Treaty of Wehlau: Independence of Duchy of Prussia
Great Northern War
1717 Silent Sejm: Start of Russian Protectorate
1730 Russia, Prussia, Austria agree to uphold status quo in Poland
War of succession
1764 Stanislaw August Poniatowski
Confederation of Bar against Russia (and King)
1772 First Partition of Poland

30. Catherine II (the Great) of Russia
Painting by Johann Baptist Lampi, 1794
Friedrich II, der Große (Frederik the Great) of Prussia
Painting by Antoine Pesne, 1745
Maria Theresia of Austria
Ölgemälde von Martin van Meytens, 30

31. Rejtan or Poland‘s Fall (1772), Jan Matejko 186631

32. 1772-1791 Reform efforts culminating in Great or Four- Year-Sejm (1788-1791)32

33. Constitution of May 3rd, 1791
Catholic confession – state religion, other confessions/religions tolerated
Nobility: liberties and rights confirmed
Towns and burghers: habeas corpus, right to buy land, access to many offices, not represented in Parliament (Sejm)
Peasants: legal protection, rights and possessions guaranteed, new foreign settlers completely free
Division of power: Executive (King and government), Legislation (Sejm), independent judicial system
King from House Wettin (Saxony) – new ruling family
Army: Polish people/nation has to defend herself – people‘s army 33

34. Confederation of Targowica (against reforms, appealing to Catherine II for help Second Partition of Poland 34

35. 1795 Third Partition of Poland
1794 Kosciuszko uprising
1795 Third Partition of Poland
After the Battle of Racławice (1794), painting by Jan Matejko (end of 19th c.) 35

36. 2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
Outline
Origins
2. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
3. The Nobleman‘s Heaven
4. From the Deluge to the Partitions of Poland
5. Conclusion 36

37. Why was Poland partitioned and what can be done to regain independence?
God’s Punishment – Sins
Evilness of Prussia, Austria, Russia – Break of international law
Weakness of old Polish Constitution – Anarchy, not Liberty
Guilt of noble factions - treason
Oppression of peasants
Polish Backwardness
Back to Catholic values, support Catholic Church, pray and live virtuous life
Uprisings, waiting for international crisis, European war
Restitution of May Constitution 1791, liberal Constitution, stronger government
Fight against traitors, replacement of nobility in national leadership
Liberation of peasants, (National) Education of Peasants
Modernisation, Polish Middle Class, Organic Work

38. Suchodolski: The death of Józef Poniatowskis at Leipzig