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Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth
*** Shopping-Tip: Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth
{| class="infobox" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; float: right; width: 285px; border-collapse: collapse;"
|+
'''Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów'''
|-
| colspan="2" style="background: white; font-size: x-small; text-align: center;" |
Image:Herb_Obojga_Narodow.jpg 150pxCoat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, combining
Coat of Arms of Poland (white eagle) and
Coat of Arms of Lithuania (chasing knight)
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center; font-style: italic;" |
image:Location-Pol-Lith-Commonwealth.pngThe Commonwealth around
1619
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center; font-style: italic;" |
National mottos:
Si Deus Nobiscum quis contra nos
(
Latin: If God is with us, then who is against us)
Pro Fide, Lege et Rege
(
Latin: For Faith, Law and King - since
18th century)
|-
!
Official languages
|
Polish language Polish,
Latin and
Ruthenian language Ruthenian (the latter in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
[Timothy Shopen, ''Languages and Their Status'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987, ISBN 0812212495 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0812212495&id=zIJu4xAFcIwC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=Union+of+Lublin&sig=Od-TzcrFffNrZ500LCrW2fIWWXY Google Print, p.133]: ''Apart for the period before the Union of Lublin when Belarussian was used as the written language in the Lithuanian state, neither Belarussian nor Ukrainian had any official status before the Russian Revolution''.]
|-
!
Established church
|
Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic
|-
!
Capitals
|
Kraków (until
1596)
Warsaw (from 1596)
|-
! Largest City
|
Gdańsk, later
Warsaw
|-
!
Head of state
|
List of Polish monarchs King of Poland,
List of Lithuanian rulers Grand Duke of Lithuania
|-
!
Area
| about
1 E12 m² 1 million km²
|-
!
Population
| about 11 million
|-
!
List of extinct states Existed
|
1569–
1795
|}
The '''Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth''', actually called the "'''Republic of the Two Nations'''" or "'''Commonwealth of Both Nations'''" (
Polish language Polish: ''
Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów'';
Lithuanian language Lithuanian: ''ŽeÄ?pospolita'' or ''Abiejų tautų respublika'') was a
federation federal monarchy monarchic republic that was formed in
1569 by the
Jagiellon Poland Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and lasted until its final
Partitions of Poland partition in
1795. The state covered not only the territories of what is now
Poland and
Lithuania, but also the entire territory of
Belarus, a large part of
Ukraine and
Latvia and the most western part of today's
Russia (oblast of
Smolensk). Originally, the two official languages of the Commonwealth were Polish (in the Kingdom of Poland) and
Ruthenian language Ruthenian (in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, inhabited in majority by
Ruthenians). Later the only official language became Polish.
The Commonwealth was an extension of the
Polish-Lithuanian Union, a
personal union between those two states that had existed from
1386. The Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous
[[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode5/atlas/map3.html# Heritage: Interactive Atlas: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], last accessed on 19 March 2006 ''At its apogee, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth comprised some 400,000 square miles and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million.'' For population comparisons, see also those maps: [http://homepage.interaccess.com/%7Enetpol/POLISH/historia/MAPY/1618.jpg], [http://homepage.interaccess.com/%7Enetpol/POLISH/historia/MAPY/1717.jpg]. ] states in
Europe and for over two centuries successfully withstood wars with the
Teutonic Order, the
Muscovy Russians, the
Ottoman Empire Ottomans, and the
Swedes. The Commonwealth's
political system, often called the
Noble's democracy or
Golden Freedom, was characterized by the
Monarch sovereign's power being reduced by laws and the legislature (
Sejm) controlled by the nobility (
szlachta). This system was a precursor of the modern concepts of broader
democracy[Maciej Janowski, ''Polish Liberal Thought'', Central European University Press, 2001, ISBN 9639241180, Google Print: [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN9639241180&id=ieF7NYaEqQYC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Polish+Lithuanian+Commonwealth+federation&vq=4&sig=ePKU45u4CTs4btOI8KKxV4nwxA4 p.3], [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0887068332&id=8keIXDyF_EoC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=Polish+Lithuanian+Commonwealth+federation&sig=7scGhSOWNHxZm7xKeUimB9Cr4D0 p.12]], and
constitutional monarchy[Paul W. Schroeder, ''The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848'', Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0198206542, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0198206542&id=BS2z3iGPCigC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=Poland+%22constitutional+monarchy%22&sig=VDTkfWKi5PAqIlCIKlGa6tha6lw Google print p.84]] [Rett R. Ludwikowski, ''Constitution-Making in the Region of Former Soviet Dominance'', Duke University Press, 1997, ISBN 0822318024, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0822318024&id=qw8o0_c0m74C&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=Poland+%22constitutional+monarchy%22&sig=tFj2eSPXILPkUodrTTGxQtj7X4w Google Print, p.34]] [George Sanford, ''Democratic Government in Poland: Constitutional Politics Since 1989'', Palgrave, 2002, ISBN 0333774752, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0333774752&id=tOaXi0hX1RAC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Poland+%22constitutional+monarchy%22&sig=lnh18en73lGnEOdO0GkC-mh42z0 Google print p.11 - constitutional monarchy], [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0333774752&id=tOaXi0hX1RAC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Poland+anarchy&sig=wQoLBVyfoT7MaBQ_66fD0LS_Nf4 p.3 - anarchy]], as well as
federation[Aleksander Gella, ''Development of Class Structure in Eastern Europe: Poland and Her Southern Neighbors'', SUNY Press, 1998, ISBN 0887068332, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0887068332&id=8keIXDyF_EoC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth+%22federation%22+Gella&sig=7scGhSOWNHxZm7xKeUimB9Cr4D0 Google Print, p.13]]. The two comprising states of the Commonwealth's were formally equal, although in reality Poland was a dominant partner in the union.
["Formally, Poland and Lithuania were to be distinct, equal components of the federation... But Poland, which retained possession of the Lithuanian lands it had seized, had greater representation in the Diet and became the dominant partner."{{Citeencyclopedia | ency=Encyclopædia Britannica| edition= | year=2006| article=Lublin, Union of|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9049222}}[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9049222]] The Commonwealth was also notable for the world's second-oldest
codex codified national
constitution in
Modern Times (history) modern history[John Markoff (professor) John Markoff describes the advent of modern codified national constitutions and states that "The first European country to follow the U.S. example was Poland in 1791." John Markoff, ''Waves of Democracy'', 1996, ISBN 0803990197, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0803990197&id=-EWi759F4PoC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Markoff+Waves+of+Democracy+Poland&vq=Poland&sig=WMYISRDHaXXLAeQg3RJNRccP7jc Google Print, p.121.]]; and, despite the influence of the
Catholic Church in the Commonwealth affairs, for the state's relative
religious tolerance[Halina Stephan, ''Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America'', Rodopi, 2003, ISBN 9042010169, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN9042010169&id=y6DiiTcheBsC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=%22Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth%22+%22religious+tolerance%22&sig=7jfUlvptDx-pgOMmctVSJPY7i9s Google Print p. 373]. Quoting from Sarmatian Review academic journal mission statement: ''Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was [...] characterized by religious tolerance unusual in premodern Europe], although the degree to which that varied with time
[Feliks Gross, ''Citizenship and Ethnicity: The Growth and Development of a Democratic Multiethnic Institution'', Greenwood Press, 1999, ISBN 0313309329, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0313309329&id=I6wM4X9UQ8QC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth+religious+tolerance&sig=4DfNp5W5HoFxS_dc6gt3Jo8B4NQ Google Print, p.122 (notes)]]. Its
economics economy was mainly based on
agriculture. While the Commonwealth's first decades were a
golden age[http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0813507995&id=LACpYP-g1y8C&dq=%22Polish+Golden+Age%22&lpg=PA302&pg=PA300&sig=CoBl3_FwIWUTHlT8Kaf_zK8bc1s][http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0231088531&id=yOhnpXB_gQcC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22Poland's+Golden+Age%22&sig=52Obkys3BZMGq0U96nN8RMGTQU0] for both Poland and Lithuania, the second century was marked by military defeats, a return to
serfdom for the peasants (the
second serfdom phenomena
[[http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2003_archives/001447.html The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis], discussion and full online text of Evsey Domar (1970) "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis," Economic History Review 30:1 (March), pp. 18-32]), and growing
anarchy (word) anarchy[Martin Van Gelderen, Quentin Skinner, ''Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage'', Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0521807565 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0521807565&id=sLO_aRQiDwgC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Polish+anarchy&sig=J0EJ6ZkLpycczRPDZ0brNKijzsM Google Print: p.54]]in political life.
The
Duchy of Warsaw, established in
1807, traced its origins to the Commonwealth. Other revival movements appeared during the
January Uprising (
1863–
1864) and in the
1920s, in
Józef Piłsudski's failed attempt to create a Polish-led
federation called
Międzymorze (translatable as "Between-the-Seas") with Lithuania and
Ukrainian People's Republic Ukraine. Today's
Poland Republic of Poland considers itself a successor to the Commonwealth
[As stated, for instance by the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997.], while pre-
Second World War Lithuania Republic of Lithuania has distanced itself from an association which it considers not to have been historically beneficial to its existence
[Alfonsas Eidintas, Vytautas Zalys, ''Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918-1940'', Palgrave, 1999, ISBN 0312224583. [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0312224583&id=0_i8yez8udgC&pg=RA11-PA78&lpg=RA11-PA78&dq=Polish+Lithuanian+Commonwealth+federation&vq=Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth+negative&sig=Gr5U9UK_F5oXgtXzIL_ZCYIcAt0 Google Print, p.78]].
History
{{main|History of Poland (1569-1795)}}
{{Template:Polish statehood}}
The creation of the Commonwealth by the
Union of Lublin in 1569 was one of the signal achievements of
Sigismund II Augustus, last king of the
Jagiellon dynasty. His death in
1572 was followed by a three-year
interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system that effectively increased the power of the
nobility (the ''
szlachta'') and established a truly
elective monarchy.
The Commonwealth reached its
Golden Age in the first half of the
17th century. Its powerful
parliament (the
Sejm) was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to get involved into the
Thirty Years' War, sparing the country from the ravages of this largely a religious conflict devastating most of contemporary Europe. The Commonwealth was able to hold its own against
Sweden,
Muscovy Russia, and vassals of the
Ottoman Empire and, at times launched succesfull
expansionism expansionist offensives against its neighbors. During
Russo-Polish War (1605-1618) several invasions of Russia, which was weakened in early-
17th century by the
Time of Troubles, the Commonwealth troops managed to take
Moscow and hold on to it from
27 September 1610 to
4 November 1612 until driven out by the
Russo-Polish War (1605-1618)#The war resumes .281611.29 Russian patriotic rising of the nation.
Commonwealth power waned after the double blow of
1648. The first blow was brought by the history's greatest
:category:Cossack uprisings Cossack rebellion (the
Khmelnytskyi Uprising, supported by
Crimean Khanate Tatars, in the eastern territories of ''
Kresy''), which resulted in Cossacks
Treaty of Pereyaslav asking for the protection of the Russian Tzar["In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Khmelnytsky asked the tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection."{{Citeencyclopedia | ency=Encyclopædia Britannica| edition= | year=2006| article=Pereyaslav Agreement| url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9059219}}[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9059219]] (1654) thus leading to Russian influence over Ukraine gradually supplantig the Polish one. The other blow to the Commonwealth was the Swedish invasion in 1655 (supported by troops of
Transylvanian duke George II
Rakoczy and
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Friedrich Wilhelm I,
Prince-elector Elector of
Brandenburg), known as
The Deluge (Polish history) The Deluge, provoked by the policies of Commonwealth kings from the Swedish royal
House of Vasa.
In the late 17th century, the weakened Commonwealth under King
John III of Poland John III Sobieski in alliance with the forces of
Holy Roman emperor Leopold I dealt the crushing defeats to the Ottoman Empire: in
1683, the
Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of
Christianity Christian Europe and the
Islamic Ottoman Empire. For it's centuries long stance against the Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of "''
Antemurale Christianitatis''" (forefront of Christianity)
. Over the next 16 years (in the "
Great Turkish War") the Turks would be permanently driven south of the
Danube River, never to threaten
central Europe again.
By the
18th century, the Commonwealth was facing many internal problems and was vulnerable to foreign influences. This destabilized its political system almost to the brink of
anarchism anarchy. Attempts at reform, such as those made by the
Four-Year Sejm of
1788–
1792, which culminated in the
May Constitution of Poland May 3rd Constitution of
1791, came too late, and the country was
partitions of Poland partitioned in three stages by the neighboring
Russian Empire,
Kingdom of Prussia, and
Austrian Empire. By
1795 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and
Lithuania re-established their independence, as separate countries, only in
1918.
How the Commonwealth disappeared from the map of Europe:
Image:Rzeczpospolita 1600.png|The Commonwealth at its greatest extent (ca. 1630)
Image:Rzeczpospolita.png|Losses in the effect of The Deluge (Polish history) the Deluge (1648)
Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 1.png|The First Partition (1772)
Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 2.png|The Second Partition (1793)
Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 3.png|The Third Partition (1795). Poland disappears for 123 years (or for 12 years — to Duchy of Warsaw).
State organization and politics
:''See also'':
Offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Golden Liberty
{{main|Golden Liberty}}
Image:Unia Lubelska.JPG Union_of Lublin.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|350px|''[[Union of Lublin of
1569'', by
Jan Matejko,
1869, oil on canvas, 298 × 512
centimetre cm., National Museum,
Warsaw..html" title="Meaning of thumb|350px|''[[Union of Lublin">right|thumb|350px|''[[Union of Lublin of
1569'', by
Jan Matejko,
1869, oil on canvas, 298 × 512
centimetre cm., National Museum,
Warsaw.">thumb|350px|''[[Union of Lublin">right|thumb|350px|''[[Union of Lublin of
1569'', by
Jan Matejko,
1869, oil on canvas, 298 × 512
centimetre cm., National Museum,
Warsaw.
The political doctrine of the Commonwealth of Both Nations was: ''our state is a republic under the presidency of the King''.
Kanclerz Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that ''"Rex regnat et non gubernat"'' ("The King reigns but does not govern"). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a ''
Senat'' and an elected king. The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in
King Henry's Articles as well as in ''
pacta conventa'' negotiated at the time of his election.
The monarch's power was limited, in favor of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to subscribe to King Henry's Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of
religious tolerance). Over time, King Henry's Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of
senators.
The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the "
Golden Liberty" (Polish ''Zlota Wolność'', a term used from 1573), included:
*
free election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate;
* Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
* ''
pacta conventa'' (
Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier
King Henry's Articles;
* ''
rokosz'' (
insurrection), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
* ''
liberum veto'' (
Latin), the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the
17th century, Polish nobles could also use the
liberum veto in provincial
sejmiks;
* ''
konfederacja'' (from the
Latin ''
confederatio''), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.
Image:Potega_Rzeczypospolitej_u_zenitu_Zlota_wolnosc_Elekcja_1573.JPG Golden Liberty.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|350px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty. The
Free election Royal Election of
1573'', by
Jan Matejko..html" title="Meaning of 350px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty">thumb|350px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty. The
Free election Royal Election of
1573'', by
Jan Matejko.">350px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty">thumb|350px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty. The
Free election Royal Election of
1573'', by
Jan Matejko.
The provinces of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of
autonomy[http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0313318786&id=wRbdAwtxVIAC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=Union+of+Lublin&vq=autonomy&sig=gX3YrDKVd16OrwDC8RHYcz8UyVE]. Each
voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of
poseł (
Chamber of Deputies deputy) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own army, treasury and other institutions.
Golden Liberty created a state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar
political systems existed in the contemporary
city-states like
Republic of Venice [Joanna Olkiewicz, ''Najaśniejsza Republika Wenecka'' (Most Serene Republic of Venice), Książka i Wiedza, 1972, Warszawa](interestingly both states were styled the "
Most Serene Republic."
[Joseph Conrad, ''Notes on Life and Letters: Notes on Life and Letters'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0521561639, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0521561639&id=x8oAq189BcwC&pg=PA422&lpg=PA422&dq=autonomy+Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth&sig=NamslH94ra0LUsjcr8FSOPMNmzo Google Print, p.422 (notes)]]) At a time when most European countries were headed toward
centralization,
absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with
decentralization,
confederation and
federation, democracy,
religious tolerance and even
pacifism. Since the Sejm usually vetoed a monarch's plans for war, this constitutes an notable argument for the
democratic peace theory[{{cite book|title=The northern wars : war, state and society in northeastern Europe, 1558-1721 |first=Robert I.|last= Frost|publisher=Longman's|location= Harlow, England;New York}} 2000. Especially Pp. 9-11, 114, 181, 323. ].
This unusual for its time political system stemmed from the victories of the szlachta (
nobility noble class over other social classes and over the
political system of
monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the
Nihil novi Act of
1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as a mixture of:
*
confederation and
federation, with regard to the broad
autonomy of its regions. It is however difficult to decisively call the Commonwealth either confederation of federation, as it had some qualities of both of them;
*
oligarchy, as only the szlachta—around 10% of the population—had political rights;
* democracy, since all the szlachta were equal in rights and privileges, and the Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including
legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). Also, the 10% of Commonwealth population who enjoyed those political rights (the szlachta) was a substantially larger percentage than in any other European country; note that in
1831 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote, and in
1867 in the United Kingdom, only about 3%;
*
elective monarchy, since the monarch, elected by the szlachta, was Head of State;
*
constitutional monarchy, since the monarch was bound by
pacta conventa and other laws, and szlachta could disobey any king's decrees they deemed illegal.
The political players
Image:Jan Zamoyski.jpg Kanclerz.html"_title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|[[Kanclerz_
Jan Zamoyski in crimson
delia and blue
silk żupan. Holds
hetman's baton (
buława buława hetmańska).html" title="Meaning of right|[[Kanclerz">thumb|right|[[Kanclerz
Jan Zamoyski in crimson
delia and blue
silk żupan. Holds
hetman's baton (
buława buława hetmańska)">right|[[Kanclerz">thumb|right|[[Kanclerz
Jan Zamoyski in crimson
delia and blue
silk żupan. Holds
hetman's baton (
buława buława hetmańska)
{{See also|list of szlachta}}
The major players in the politics of the Commonwealth were:
*
monarchs, who struggled to expand their power and create an
absolute monarchy.
*
magnates, the wealthiest of the szlachta, who wanted to rule the country as a privileged
oligarchy, and to dominate both the monarch and the poorer nobles.
* szlachta, who desired a strengthening of the Sejm and rule of the country as a democracy of the szlachta.
The magnates and the szlachta were far from united, with many factions supporting either the monarch or various of the magnates.
Shortcomings of the Commonwealth
Image:Rejtan Upadek Polski Matejko.JPG Tadeusz_Rejtan thumb|right|350px|"[[Tadeusz Rejtan|Rejtan - The Fall of
Poland", oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1866, 282 x 487 cm,
Royal Castle in Warsaw. Tadeusz Rejtan (lower right) in September 1773 tried to prevent the legalization of the
Partitions of Poland first partition of Poland by preventing the members of Sejm from entering the chamber..html" title="Meaning of Rejtan.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|350px|"[[Tadeusz Rejtan|Rejtan">thumb|right|350px|"[[Tadeusz Rejtan|Rejtan - The Fall of
Poland", oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1866, 282 x 487 cm,
Royal Castle in Warsaw. Tadeusz Rejtan (lower right) in September 1773 tried to prevent the legalization of the
Partitions of Poland first partition of Poland by preventing the members of Sejm from entering the chamber.">Rejtan.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|350px|"[[Tadeusz Rejtan|Rejtan">thumb|right|350px|"[[Tadeusz Rejtan|Rejtan - The Fall of
Poland", oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1866, 282 x 487 cm,
Royal Castle in Warsaw. Tadeusz Rejtan (lower right) in September 1773 tried to prevent the legalization of the
Partitions of Poland first partition of Poland by preventing the members of Sejm from entering the chamber.
Once the
Jagiellon dynasty Jagiellons had disappeared from the scene in
1572, the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government began to shake. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility.
In their periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the ''szlachta'' exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not found another strong
dynasty. This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able
Transylvanian
Stefan Batory (
1576–
1586), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish
House of Vasa, whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with
Sweden, culminating in the war known as
The Deluge (Polish history) The Deluge (
1648), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline.
rokosz of Zebrzydowski Zebrzydowski's rokosz (
1606–
1607 7) marked a substantial increase in the power of the
magnates, and the transformation of ''szlachta democracy'' into ''magnate oligarchy''. The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm
deputies bribed
[William Bullitt, ''The Great Globe Itself: A Preface to World Affairs'', Transaction Publishers, 2005, ISBN 1412804906, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN1412804906&id=guYU3I5f2ZgC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=bribe+Polish+parliament&sig=9dk5sNNNWL-pfBwoOCP1CCKPW6c Google Print, p.42-43]] [John Adams, ''The Political Writings of John Adams'', Regnery Gateway, 2001, ISBN 0895262924, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0895262924&id=zwKs6Wf2NUEC&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=May+Constitution+reason+for+partitions+of+Poland&sig=MSPWv6t3GdmfHUFcblV6VLt_Vf0 Google Print, p.242]]by foreign powers might use their
liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over a century, from the mid-
17th century to the end of the
18th century 18th, while her neighbors stabilized their internal affairs and increased their military might.
Late reforms
Image:Konstytucja 3 Maja.jpg Polish_Constitution of May 3, 1791 thumb|right|350px|''[[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3rd Constitution'', by
Jan Matejko,
1891, oil on canvas, 227 × 446
centimetre cm..
Royal Castle (Warsaw) Royal Castle, Warsaw..html" title="Meaning of May 3rd Constitution.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|350px|''[[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3rd Constitution">thumb|right|350px|''[[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3rd Constitution'', by
Jan Matejko,
1891, oil on canvas, 227 × 446
centimetre cm..
Royal Castle (Warsaw) Royal Castle, Warsaw.">May 3rd Constitution.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|350px|''[[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3rd Constitution">thumb|right|350px|''[[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791|May 3rd Constitution'', by
Jan Matejko,
1891, oil on canvas, 227 × 446
centimetre cm..
Royal Castle (Warsaw) Royal Castle, Warsaw.
Eventually the Commonwealth did make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in
1791 the
May Constitution of Poland May 3rd Constitution, Europe's first
codified national constitution in the
Modern Times (history) Modern Times, and the world's second, after the
United States Constitution that came into being about two years earlier. The revolutionary Polish Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a
unitary state with a
hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution:
* abolished the
liberum veto and the
confederation;
* provided for a
separation of powers among
legislative,
executive (government) executive and
judicial branches of government;
* established "
popular sovereignty" and extended
political rights to include not only the
nobility but the
bourgeoisie;
* increased the rights of the
peasantry;
* preserved
religious tolerance (but with a condemnation of
apostasy from the Catholic faith).
These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors who content to live the weak Commonwealth alone as a buffer, reacted strongly to the king
Stanisław August Poniatowski's and other reformers attempts to strengthen the country[http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0313318786&id=wRbdAwtxVIAC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Union+of+Lublin&vq=attempts+to+revive&sig=CbO23mr2Lvj2HtsDuLB-GEuhpa4]. Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the
May 3rd Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European empire.
Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence
[Henry Eldridge Bourne, ''The Revolutionary Period in Europe 1763 to 1815'', Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1417934182, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN1417934182&id=dgYqPfGuNy8C&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=feared+the+Polish+May+Constitution&sig=ioOXFOCWjTK765FD8YKK0SbAmg4 Google Print p.161]], declared Polish constitution
Jacobinical
[Wolfgang Menzel, ''Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4'', Kessinger Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1419121715, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN1419121715&id=E6YFqBUYecoC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=feared+the+Polish+May+Constitution&sig=urESknTUAHC3AjxGW_iCaBCIVD0 Google Print, p.33]], and
Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the
Confederation of Targowica, referring to the constitution as the 'contaigon of democratic ideas'
[Isabel de Madariaga, ''Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great'', Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2002, ISBN 1842125117, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN1842125117&id=OA0yDoVBW0QC&vq=%223+May%22&dq=feared+the+Polish+May+Constitution&lpg=PA432&pg=PA431&sig=dFgzUbGba8mmMMgWzYGOz8tppYw Google Print p.431]]. Meanwhile Prussia and Austria, also afraid of the strengthened Poland, used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion
. Prussian minister
Ewald von Hertzberg called the consitition "a blow to the Prussian monarchy"
[Carl L. Bucki, [http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/constitution.html The Constitution of May 3, 1791], Text of a presentation made at the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo on the occasion of the celebrations of Poland's Constitution Day on May 3, 1996, last accessed on 20 March 2006], fearing that strengthened Poland may once again dominate Prussia
[Piotr Stefan Wandycz, ''The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present''m Routledge (UK), 2001, ISBN 0415254914, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0415254914&id=vdS_WBHGBcYC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=feared+the+Polish+May+Constitution&sig=5GVTwb6gx1v4BlMebzrAA91tMMQ Google Print p.131]] . In the end the May 3rd Constitution was never fully implemented, and the Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after the Constitution's adoption.
Commonwealth military
Image:Husarz.jpg hussar.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|Commonwealth [[hussars, by
Józef Brandt..html" title="Meaning of right|Commonwealth [[hussar">thumb|right|Commonwealth [[hussars, by
Józef Brandt.">right|Commonwealth [[hussar">thumb|right|Commonwealth [[hussars, by
Józef Brandt.
Polish Army Commonwealth armies were commanded by four
hetmans. The armies comprised:
*''
Wojsko kwarciane'': Regular units with wages paid from taxes (these units were later merged with the wojsko komputowe)
*''
Wojsko komputowe'': Semi-regular units created for times of war (in 1652 these units were merged with the wojsko kwarciane into a new permanent army)
*
Pospolite ruszenie: Szlachta
levée en masse
*
Piechota Å‚anowa and
piechota wybraniecka: Units based on peasant recruits
*
Registered Cossacks: Troops made up of
Cossacks, used mainly as infantry, less often as cavalry (with
tabor (formation) tabors) were recruited until
1699
*
Royal guard: A small unit whose primary purpose was to escort the monarch and members of his family
*
Mercenary Mercenaries: As with most other armies, hired to supplement regular units
*
Private army Private armies: In time of peace usually small regiments (few hundred men) were paid for and equipped by
magnates or cities. However, in times of war, they were greatly augmented (to even a few thousand men) and paid by state
Some units of the Commonwealth included:
*
Hussars: heavy cavalry armed with
lances; their
charges were extremely effective until advances in
firearms in the late
17th century substantially increased infantry firepower. Members were known as ''
towarzysz towarzysz husarski husarski'' and were supported by
pocztowy's.
*
Towarzysz pancerny Pancerni: medium cavalry, armed with sabers or axes, bows, later pistols. Second important cavalry branch of the Polish army.
*
Cossacks: general name for all Commonwealth units of light cavalry, even if they did not contain a single ethnic Cossack; fast and maneuverable like oriental cavalry units of Ottoman Empire vassals, but lacking the firepower of European cavalry such as the Swedish
pistol-armed
reiters.
*
Tabor (formation) Tabor: military horse-drawn
wagons, usually carrying army supplies. Their use for defensive formations was perfected by the Cossacks, and to a smaller extent by other Commonwealth units.
The
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth.
Economy
Image:Zboze Placi.jpg thumb|left|300px|Grain pays...
The
economics economy of the Commonwealth was dominated by
feudalism feudal agriculture based on
plantation economy exploitation of agricultural workforce (
serfs). Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a ''
folwark'', a large
farm worked by
serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes in the early era of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade[http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN086091710X&id=EhtMbM1Z8BkC&dq=Union+of+Lublin&lpg=PA284&pg=PA285&sig=Iz4vVbE7WIYY8AI-_UNKwB6C7wY]. However the country's situation worsened from the late 17th century on, when the landed szlachta sought to compensate for falling
cereal grain prices by increasing the peasants' workload, thus leading to the creation of
second serfdom, a phenomena common throughout contemporary Eastern Europe.
Image:Zboze Nie Placi.jpg thumb|right|300px|... and grain doesn't pay. The two pictures illustrate the notion that agriculture, once extremly profitable to the nobles (szlachta) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, became much less profitable from the second half of 17th century onwards
The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the szlachta's dominance over the
bourgeoisie, resulted in a fairly slow process of
urbanization and thus a fairly slow development of
industry industries. While similar conflicts among social classes may be found all over Europe, nowhere were the nobility as dominant at the time as in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. There is, however, much debate among historians as to which processes most affected those developments, since until the wars and crises of the mid-17th century the cities of the Commonwealth had not markedly lagged in size and wealth behind their western counterparts. The Commonwealth did have numerous
towns and
city cities, commonly founded on
Magdeburg rights. Some of the largest
trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at
Lublin. See the geography section, below, for a list of major cities in the Commonwealth (commonly capitals of
voivodships).
Although the Commonwealth was Europe's largest grain producer, the bulk of her grain was consumed domestically. Estimated grain consumption in the
Polish Crown (Poland proper) and
Prussia in
1560–
1570 70 was some 113,000
tons of
wheat (or 226,000
Å‚aszt (a Å‚aszt, or "
last," being a large bulk measure; in the case of grain, about half a ton). Average yearly production of grain in the Commonwealth in the
16th century was 120,000 tons, 6% of which was
exported, while cities consumed some 19% and the remainder was consumed by the villages. The exports probably satisfied about 2% of the demand for grain in
Western Europe, feeding 750,000 people there. Commonwealth grain achieved far more importance in poor crop years, as in the early
1590s and the
1620s, when governments throughout southern Europe arranged for large grain imports to cover shortfalls in their jurisdictions.
Image:Oboz_flisakow_nad_Wisla.jpg Vistula.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła ([[Vistula),"
1858, by
Wilhelm August Stryowski (
1834–
1917), 110×138 cm..html" title="Meaning of right|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła ([[Vistula">thumb|right|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła ([[Vistula),"
1858, by
Wilhelm August Stryowski (
1834–
1917), 110×138 cm.">right|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła ([[Vistula">thumb|right|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła ([[Vistula),"
1858, by
Wilhelm August Stryowski (
1834–
1917), 110×138 cm.
Still, grain was the largest export commodity of the Commonwealth. The owner of a
folwark usually signed a
contract with merchants of
Gdansk (
German language German Danzig), who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that
seaport on the
Baltic Sea. Many
rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes: the
Vistula,
Pilica,
Western Bug,
San River San,
Nida,
Wieprz,
Niemen. The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with
river ports and
granary granaries. Most of the river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber.
From Gdańsk, ships, mostly from the
Netherlands and
Flanders, carried the grain to ports such as
Antwerp and
Amsterdam. Gdańsk ships accounted for only 2–10% of this maritime trade. Besides grain, other seaborne exports included
lumber and wood-related products such as
tar and
wiktionary:ash ash.
By land routes, the Commonwealth exported
hides,
furs,
hemp,
cotton (mostly from
Wielkopolska) and
linen to the German lands of the
Holy Roman Empire, including cities like
Leipzig and
Nuremberg. Large
herds (of around 50,000 head) of
cattle were driven south through
Silesia.
The Commonwealth imported
spices,
luxury goods,
clothing,
fish,
beer and industrial products like
steel and
tools. A few riverboats carried south imports from Gdańsk like
wine,
fruit,
spices and
herring. Somewhere between the
16th century 16th and
17th century 17th centuries, the Commonwealth's
trade balance shifted from positive to negative.
Image:StefanBatory.jpg coin.html" title="Meaning of frame frame|left|Commonwealth [[coin minted during the reign of King
Stefan Batory.html" title="Meaning of left|Commonwealth [[coin">frame|left|Commonwealth [[coin minted during the reign of King
Stefan Batory">left|Commonwealth [[coin">frame|left|Commonwealth [[coin minted during the reign of King
Stefan Batory
Image:RegiaCivitatisGedanensis.jpg Gdańsk.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|200px|right|Royal City of [[Gdańsk coin of
1589 (
Sigismund III of Poland Sigismund III Vasa period).html" title="Meaning of 200px|right|Royal City of [[Gdańsk">thumb|200px|right|Royal City of [[Gdańsk coin of
1589 (
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1589 (
Sigismund III of Poland Sigismund III Vasa period)
With the advent of the
Age of Exploration, many old
trade route trading routes such as the
Amber Road lost importance as new ones were created. Poland's importance as a caravan route between Asia and Europe diminished, while new local trading routes were created between the Commonwealth and Russia. But even with improvements in shipping technology the Commonwealth remained an important link between
Occident and
Orient, as many goods and cultural artifacts passed from one region to another via the Commonwealth. For example,
Persian rug Persian carpets imported across the Commonwealth were actually known in the West as "Polish carpets". Also, the price of eastern spices in Poland was several times lower than in western ports, which led{{fact}} to the creation of a distinct
Polish cuisine, owing much both to the eastern and western influence.
Commonwealth
currency included the
złoty and the
grosz. The City of
Gdańsk had the privilege of minting its own coinage.
Culture
{{Further|
Renaissance in Poland,
Baroque in Poland and
Enlightenment in Poland}}
Image:Siemenowicz rocket.gif Kazimierz Siemienowicz.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz's ''Artis Magnæ Artilleriæ pars prima''.html" title="Meaning of left|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz">thumb|left|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz's ''Artis Magnæ Artilleriæ pars prima''">left|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz">thumb|left|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz's ''Artis Magnæ Artilleriæ pars prima''
Image:Palac Branickich3.jpg Branicki_Palace.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|[[Branicki Palace,
Białystok, built
1726.html" title="Meaning of right|[[Branicki Palace">thumb|right|[[Branicki Palace,
Białystok, built
1726">right|[[Branicki Palace">thumb|right|[[Branicki Palace,
Białystok, built
1726
Image:Alchemik_Sedziwoj_Matejko.JPG Jan Matejko.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|Alchemist Michal Sedziwoj|"The Alchemist Michał Sędziwój", oil on board by [[Jan Matejko, 73×130
centimetre cm, Museum of Arts (
Å?ódź).html" title="Meaning of right|Alchemist Michal Sedziwoj|"The Alchemist MichaÅ‚ SÄ™dziwój", oil on board by [[Jan Matejko">thumb|right|Alchemist Michal Sedziwoj|"The Alchemist MichaÅ‚ SÄ™dziwój", oil on board by [[Jan Matejko, 73×130
centimetre cm, Museum of Arts (
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centimetre cm, Museum of Arts (
Å?ódź)
Image:Palac Prezydencki.jpg Presidential_Palace, Warsaw thumb|right|[[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace (Warsaw), built
1643–
1645 and frequently remodeled. Foreground: equestrian
statue of Prince
Jozef Poniatowski by
Bertel Thorvaldsen.html" title="Meaning of Presidential Palace (Warsaw).html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|[[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace (Warsaw)">thumb|right|[[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace (Warsaw), built
1643–
1645 and frequently remodeled. Foreground: equestrian
statue of Prince
Jozef Poniatowski by
Bertel Thorvaldsen">Presidential Palace (Warsaw).html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|[[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace (Warsaw)">thumb|right|[[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace (Warsaw), built
1643–
1645 and frequently remodeled. Foreground: equestrian
statue of Prince
Jozef Poniatowski by
Bertel Thorvaldsen
The Commonwealth was one of the important European sites for the development of modern social and political ideas. It was famous for its rare quasi-democratic political system praised by
philosophy philosophers such as
Erasmus, was known for a near-unparallelled
religious tolerance during the
Counter-Reformation, hence the numerosity of peacefuly coexisting
Catholic,
Judaism Jewish,
Eastern Orthodox,
Protestant, and even
Muslim communities. It gave rise to the famous Christian
sect of
Polish Brethren, antecedents of the
United Kingdom British and
United States American Unitarianism Unitarians.
With its political system, the Commonwealth gave birth to
political philosophy political philosophers such as
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (
1503–
1572),
Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (
1530–
1607) and
Piotr Skarga (
1536–
1612). Later, works by
Stanisław Staszic (
1755–
1826) and
Hugo Kołłątaj (
1750–
1812) helped pave the way for
May Constitution of Poland the Commonwealth's Constitution of
May 3rd,
1791, the
Modern Times (history) modern history first
codex written national
constitution in Europe
, which enacted revolutionary principles of
political science for the first time in Europe.
The
Jagiellonian University in Kraków is one of the oldest
university universities in the world. The Commonwealth's
Commission for National Education (
Polish language Polish Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), formed in
1773, was the world's first national
ministry of education. Commonwealth scientists included:
*
Martin Kromer (
1512–
1589),
historian and
cartographer,
*
Michał Sędziwój (
1566–
1636),
alchemy alchemist and
chemist,
*
Kazimierz Siemienowicz (
1600–
1651), military
engineer,
artillery specialist and one of the founders of
rocketry,
*
Johannes Hevelius (
1611–
1687),
astronomer, founder of
Moon lunar topography.
The many classics of Commonwealth
literature include:
*
Jan Kochanowski, (
1530–
1584),
writer,
dramatist and
poet;
*
Wacław Potocki, (
1621–
1696), writer, poet;
*
Ignacy Krasicki, (
1735–
1801), writer, poet, fabulist, author of the first Polish novel;
*
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, (
1758–
1841), writer, dramatist and poet.
Many szlachta wrote
memoirs and
diary diaries; perhaps the most famous of those are the ''Memoirs of Polish History'' by
Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł (
1595–
1656) and the ''Memoirs'' of
Jan Chryzostom Pasek (ca.
1636 – ca.
1701).
Magnates often undertook construction projects as monuments to themselves:
churches,
cathedrals, and
palaces like the present-day
Presidential Palace, Warsaw Presidential Palace in Warsaw built by
Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. The largest projects involved entire towns, although in time many of them would lapse into obscurity or be totally abandoned. Usually they were named after the sponsoring magnate. Among the most famous is the town of
Zamość, founded by
Jan Zamoyski and designed by the
Italy Italian architect Bernardo Morando.
Szlachta and Sarmatism
Image:Zamosc.jpg City_hall.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|[[City hall,
Zamość.html" title="Meaning of right|[[City hall">thumb|right|[[City hall,
Zamość">right|[[City hall">thumb|right|[[City hall,
Zamość
The prevalent
ideology of the szlachta became "
Sarmatism", named after the
Sarmatians, alleged ancestors of the szlachta. This belief system was an important part of the szlachta's
culture, penetrating all aspects of its life.
Sarmatism enshrined equality among szlachta, horseback riding, tradition, provincial rural life, peace and
pacifism; championed
oriental-inspired attire (
żupan,
kontusz,
sukmana,
pas kontuszowy,
delia,
szabla); and served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility by creating an almost
nationalism nationalistic sense of unity and of pride in the szlachta's Golden Freedoms.
In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism represented a positive cultural movement: it supported religious belief, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. In time, however, it became distorted. Late extreme
Sarmatism turned belief into bigotry, honesty into political naïveté, pride into arrogance, courage into stubbornness and freedom into anarchy.
[Andrzej Wasko, Sarmatism or the Enlightenment:The Dilemma of Polish Culture, Sarmatian Review XVII.2, [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/497/wasko.html online]]
Demographics and religion
Image:Kolumna Zygmunta.jpg King_Zygmunt's Column.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|[[King Zygmunt's Column, erected
1644 in front of
Warsaw Castle.html" title="Meaning of right|[[King Zygmunt's Column">thumb|right|[[King Zygmunt's Column, erected
1644 in front of
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1644 in front of
Warsaw Castle
Image:Wesele Kozackie.jpg Cossack.html"_title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|200px|[[Cossack's_wedding. Painting by
Józef Brandt..html" title="Meaning of left|200px|[[Cossack">thumb|left|200px|[[Cossack's wedding. Painting by
Józef Brandt.">left|200px|[[Cossack">thumb|left|200px|[[Cossack's wedding. Painting by
Józef Brandt.
The population of the Commonwealth of Both Nations was never overwhelmingly either
Roman Catholic or Polish. The Commonwealth comprised primarily four nations:
Lithuanians,
Poles,
Ukrainians and
Belarusians (the latter two referred usually as the
Ruthenians). This circumstance resulted from Poland's possession of
Ukraine and
federation with Lithuania, in both of which countries ethnic Poles were a distinct minority. To be ''Polish'', in the non-Polish lands of the Commonwealth, was then much less an index of
ethnicity than of religion and
Hierarchy rank; it was a designation largely reserved for the
landed noble class (szlachta), which included Poles but also many members of non-Polish origin who
Religious conversion converted to catholicism in increasing numbers with each following generation. For the non-Polish
noble such conversion meant a final step of
Polonization that followed the adoption of the
Polish language and
Polish culture culture.
[Linda Gordon, ''Cossack Rebellions: Social Turmoil in the Sixteenth Century Ukraine'', SUNY Press, 1983, ISBN 0873956540, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0873956540&id=qq0c9viLrB4C&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth+religious+tolerance&sig=3v4uvh1FEUBxZm3RAlxuvOtfmPA Google Print, p.51]] Poland, as the culturally most advanced part of the Commonwealth, with the royal court, the capital, the largest cities, the second-oldest university in Europe (after
Prague), and the more liberal and democractic
social institutions has proven an irrestable magnet for the non-Polish nobility in the Commonwealth
.
As a result, in the eastern territories a Polish (or Polonized) aristocracy dominated a peasantry whose great majority was neither Polish nor Roman Catholic. Moreover, the decades of peace brought huge
colonization efforts to
Ukraine, heightening the tensions among
nobles,
Jews,
Cossacks (traditionally Orthodox), Polish and Ruthenian peasants. The latter, deprived of their native protectors among the Ruthenian nobility, turned for protection to
cossacks that facilitated violence that in the end broke the Commonwealth. The tensions were aggravated by conflicts between
Eastern Orthodoxy and the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church following the
Union of Brest, overall discrimination of Orthodox religions by dominant Catholicism
["Poland, history of" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9108559] [Accessed February 10, 2006]. and "Ukraine" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=30063] [Accessed February 14, 2006].], and several
Cossack uprisings. In the west and north, many cities had sizable
German people German minorities, often belonging to
Reformed churches. The Commonwealth had also one of the largest
Jewish diasporas in the world.
Until the
Reformation, the szlachta were mostly
Catholic or
Eastern Orthodox. However, many families quickly adopted the
Reformed religion. After the
Counter-Reformation, when the
Roman Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the szlachta became almost exclusively Roman Catholic, despite the fact that
Roman Catholicism was not a majority religion (the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches counted approximately 40% of the population each, while the remaining 20% were
Jews and members of various
Protestant churches). It should be noted that the
Counter-Reformation in Poland, influenced by the Commonwealth tradition of
religious tolerance, was based mostly on
Jesuit propaganda, and was very peaceful when compared to excesses such as the
Thirty Years' War elsewhere in
Europe.
Provinces and geography
{{details|Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth}}
Image:Pol-lith commonwealth map.jpg 1619.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|400px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of [[1619 superimposed on present-day national borders.html" title="Meaning of right|400px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of [[1619">thumb|right|400px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of [[1619 superimposed on present-day national borders">right|400px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of [[1619">thumb|right|400px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of [[1619 superimposed on present-day national borders
The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several
Central European Central and
Eastern Europe East European countries: Poland, Lithuania,
Latvia,
Ukraine,
Belarus and
Russia, with smaller pieces in
Estonia,
Slovakia,
Romania and
Moldova.
While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole — the Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts:
*the
Crown of the Polish Kingdom (Poland proper), colloquially "the Crown"; and
*the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, colloquially "Lithuania."
The Crown in turn comprised two "
provinces":
Greater Poland and
Lesser Poland. These and a third province, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were the only three regions that were properly termed "provinces." The Commonwealth was further divided into smaller administrative units known as
voivodships (''województwa''). Each voivodship was governed by a
voivod (governor). Voivodships were further divided into ''
starostwo starostwa'', each ''starostwo'' being governed by a ''
starosta''. Cities were governed by
castellans. There were frequent exceptions to these rules: for details on the administrative structure of the Commonwealth, see the article on
offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Other notable regions of the Commonwealth often referred to, without respect to province or voivodship divisions, include:
*
Lesser Poland (
Polish language Polish: Małopolska), southern Poland, with its capital at
Kraków;
*
Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska), west–central Poland, including much of the area drained by the
Warta River and its tributaries;
*
Masovia (Polish: Mazowsze), central Poland, with its capital at
Warsaw;
*
Duchy of Livonia (Polish: Inflanty), a northern
fief of the Commonwealth from
1561, lost to Sweden in the
1620s and in
1660;
*
Duchy of Courland Courland (Polish: Kurlandia), a northern
fief of the Commonwealth. It established a
colony in
Tobago in
1637 and on
St. Andrews Island at the
Gambia River in
1651 (see
Courland colonization);
*
Prussia (Polish: Prusy), parts of which belonged to the Commonwealth:
**
Royal Prussia (Polish:
Prusy Królewskie), incorporated into the Crown in
1569, at the time of the Commonwealth's formation;
**
Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief until
1660;
*
Kresy, the southeastern "Borderlands" of the
Crown of the Polish Kingdom Crown;
*
Ruthenia (
Polish language Polish: RuÅ›), the eastern Commonwealth, adjoining Russia;
*
Samogitia (Polish: Żmudź), western Lithuania.
*
Silesia (Polish: ÅšlÄ…sk) was not part of the Commonwealth, but small parts belonged to various Commonwealth kings; in particular, the
Vasa kings were
dukes of
Opole from
1645 to
1666.
*
Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze) is the term for the southern shore of the
Baltic Sea, partially outside the Commonwealth and/or in Prussia.
*
Galicia (Central Europe) Galicia (Polish: Galicja) was a term not widely used until the
18th century.
Commonwealth borders shifted with wars and treatie
