May 3 Constitution 226th anniversary. President, Gov't & the Nation to mark world's 2nd written law EVER
President Andrzej Duda will attend celebrations of May 3 Constitution - the Europe's first document of this sort, that predated the famous French Consitution and followed American one by only 4 years.
On May 3 Constitution Day, the president will award White Eagle Orders and deliver an address on Warsaw's Castle Square.
The May 3 Constitution was passed on May 3, 1791 by the Great Sejm (grand parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (see: NOTE) and was world's only second such document after 1787's U.S. Constitution.
Adopted as a government act, it aimed to repair the Commonwealth's political shortcomings. At the time the Commonwealth's Golden Freedoms system (to which it owed the by-name "Nobles' Democracy"), conferred disproportionate privileges on the nobility and had corrupted political life. The passage of Constitution was preceded by the gradual introduction of reforms, started by the Convocation Sejm of 1764 and election of Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the Commonwealth's (last) king.
The constitution, to have significantly advanced democratization in Europe, strove to install a constitutional monarchy in a bid to temper the anarchy fostered by the Commonwealth's magnates. It introduced partial political equality between townspeople and the nobility, and placed the country's vast peasant population under government protection, thus mitigating the worst effects of their feudal dependency on landlords. Most notably it abolished the so-called liberum veto privilege, which allowed a single Sejm deputy to revoke all legislation passed by the house by simply voting against it.
Among others, the Poland's National law document, that unlike the famous French Constitution was passed peacefully, with no bloodshed, acknowledged the Roman Catholic faith as the "dominant religion," it guaranteed tolerance, and freedom, to all religions.
The May 3rd Constitution evoked a hostile response from the Commonwealth's neighbours. Frederick William II of Prussia breaking his alliance with the country, and the Commonwealth itself subsequently attacked and defeated in the War in Defence of the Constitution by Catherine the Great's Imperial Russia aided by the Targowica Confederation (see: NOTE 2) of reform-hostile Polish magnates. The King, a principal co-author of the Constitution, eventually capitulated to the Confederates.
The May 3 Constitution remained in force for a mere 19 months before its 1793 annullment by the Grodno Sejm. The following Second and Third Partitions of Poland (see: NOTE 3)ultimately ended the existence of the sovereign Polish state in 1795. Over the following 123 years, during which Poland was partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary, the May 3 Constitution symbolised the eventual restoration of Poland's sovereignty. Edmund Burke, and Irish statesman and philospher described May 3 Constitution as "the noblest benefit received by any nation at any time". British historian Norman Davies called the act "the first constitution of its type in Europe". Others have described it as the world's second-oldest national constitution after the 1787 U.S. Constitution. American expert on constitutional law Albert Blaustein termed it the "world's second national constitution" (PAP)
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National observances of the National Day commemorating the 226th anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution of 1791 are to take place, on top with:
- Mass for the Homeland attending by President Andrzej Duda and state officials (0930 hrs, St. John Cathedral)
- President Andrzej Duda presenting state distinctions (1100 hrs, Royal Castle)
- President Andrzej Duda attending open-air May 3 observances, to address the gathering (1200 hrs, Zamkowy Sq.)
(PAP)
NOTE: Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth was the XVI - XVIII centrury Polish-Lithuanian state composed of the Crown - Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, considered a precursor to modern democratic system such as federation, constitutional monarchy.
NOTE 2: Targowica Confederation was sealed in Saint Petersburg on April 27, 1792 by Polish and Lithuanian magnates backed by Catherine II of Russia, the Targowica Confederation opposed the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 passed by the Polish Great Sejm (grand parliament), especially provisions curbing the privileges of the nobility.
Four days after the confederation's May 14, 1792 proclamation in the town of Targowica (now in Ukraine), Russian forces invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without formally declaring war.
The Confederation defeated the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1792 Polish–Russian War, in result of which Poland's King Stanislaw August Poniatowski joined it. The victory laid the ground for the Second Partition of Poland and, subsequently, the 1795 Third Partition and collapse of the Commonwealth (see: NOTE 3). This surprised most of the Confederates, who had wished only to restore what the May 3rd Constitution had changed and believed overthrowing the act would achieve that end.
NOTE 3: The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth towards the end of the 18th century which ended the existence of sovereign Poland for 123 years. The partitioning powers were the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which divided the country among themselves progressively.
On Sept. 18, 1772, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Austrian Empire notified Poland of the partition and demanded a Sejm (parliament) sitting to approve the cession. Opposition to the partition was broken by threats and the occupation of Poland by the troops of the three countries.
The 1772 partition of Poland led to further two partitions, in 1793 and 1795 ending the existence of a sovereign Poland for 123 years. Nevertheless, the nation itself did not cease to exist for over a century connecting the East with the West culturally, technologically and trade-wise. The partitioned Poland also remained a robust base to anti-invader conspiracy movements and freedom fight bouts with four insurrections including 1794's Kościuszko Uprising, November Uprising (1830), Krakow Uprising (1946) and January Uprising (1863).
In 2018, Poland will majestically mark throughout the world the 100th anniversary of regaining independence, on top with "Niepodlegla 2018" programme to be launched this year by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and span until 2019. Ministry of Culture-funded Adam Mickiewicz Institute is to co-ordinate the programme abroad. (PAP)
