EVENTS OF 3 MAY 1791 IN WARSAW IN CONTEMPORARY BRITISH SOURCES

• Authors: Janik W.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The main source for this study were a series of despatches sent from Warsaw in 1791 by the British envoy Daniel Hailes to the Foreign Office in London. Additional valuable information could be gleaned from contemporary British news magazines and Polish diplomatic correspondence. Hailes's reports contain a detailed account of the events culminating in the adoption of the Poland's first modern constitution on 3 May 1791. He summarizes the speeches of a number of deputies (among them Suchorzewski's and Zabiello's), the King's speech, describes the ceremony in which the Seym members swore an oath of allegiance to the Constitiution, and keeps a watchful eye on the doings of the pro-Russian party (Hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki, Count Aleksander Sapieha and Chancellor Jacek Malachowski). He also analyzes the preparations for the crucial vote. In his opinion, the success of the reform party was chiefly due to a careful orchestration of measures intended to create an atmosphere of an emergency. After publicizing alarming reports about the security of the state, they brought the mob out into the streets, moved a few hundred armed soldiers to positions near the Seym buildings, and put the army, commanded by Count Józef Poniatowski, in a state of high alert. Hailes believes that it was the Speaker of the House ('Marszalek') Ignacy Potocki who masterminded that plot. Potocki apparently was able to gain the assistance of a number of other key players, among them the King. Hailes, it is worth noting, is hardly impressed by Stanislaw August Poniatowski's character and conduct. Instead, he prefers to dwell on the reactions to the events in Warsaw in Berlin and London.

Keywords

EN

CONSTITUTION 1791(BRITISH OPINIONS); POLAND (18TH C.)

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Księgarnia Akademicka
• Journal: Studia Historyczne
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 1(197)
• Pages: 31-44
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Janik W.

• W. Janik,

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

07PLAAAA02715545