Sejm Czteroletni (1788–1792) – polska rewolucja?

Abstract

The Four-Year Sejm is one of the events of critical importance both in the history of parliamentarism and the eighteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This article attempts to present the events of 1788–92 from two perspectives: on the one hand, by placing them in the tradition of the functioning of the Sejm as the highest organ of power in the Commonwealth; on the other, by considering them as a kind of revolution, interwoven with the ‘revolutionary cycle’, which began with the rebellion of the American colonies and culminated with the groundbreaking eruption in France. Following and describing the course of the Sejm’s debates, the author divides them into stages that she describes as ‘destruction – discussion – creation’, seeing in them certain features typical of all events of this period that bear the hallmarks of revolution. She analyses both the play of political forces within the Sejm and the more fundamental changes in the political attitudes and political awareness of the nobility, as well as the revival of the townspeople. She also takes into account the changing international position of the Commonwealth. In this broad context, she presents the subsequent events and decisions of the Sejm up to the most important – the adoption of the Government Act on 3 May 1791.