Political Discourses of the Polish Revolution, 1788–92
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9798720 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard Butterwick (0000-0001-8737-2277, University College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 120 |
| Issue | 487 |
| Pages | 695-731 |
| Publication date | 2005-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The English Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ehr/cei126 |
| OpenAlex | W2051937093 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The Polish Revolution, usually known as the Four Years Sejm (Diet or Parliament), was not a violent insurrection. Instead it was a parliamentary seizure of power within a political system that was formally ‘republican’, but in practice controlled until 1788 from St Petersburg. It yielded a series of far-reaching reforms, notably the Constitution of 3 May 1791. This article emphasizes the role of shifts in political discourse in bringing about constitutional change, employing a methodological mélange of Quentin Skinner, Paul Ricoeur, Maurice Cowling, and Lewis Namier. It introduces the extraordinary phenomenon of the Revolution in Polish-Lithuanian political culture, before sketching the dominant and minority discourses at the beginning and end of the Revolution, and explaining the decisive shift that took place in 1790. In 1788-1789, the chief political polarity was between an opposition led by aristocrats, whose discourse was republican and violently (if not always sincerely) Russophobic, and a court party, whose discourse, realist in respect to Russia and moderately enlightened, with an anti-aristocratic emphasis on order, with regard to internal affairs, was intended to appeal to middling noblemen. In 1791-1792, the principal division was between a reduced aristocratic opposition that looked to Russia for support, whose discourse appealed to traditional noble republican emotions, and a broadly Russophobic and enlightened ‘patriot’ party. Such ‘enlightened republicans’ added a more socially inclusive discourse of the nation and an activist discourse of national independence to the enlightened monarchist discourse of ordered government, under the guidance of a wise and benevolent king and the favour of Divine Providence. It is contended that this triumphant merged discourse, with its condemnation of ‘aristocratic anarchy’, continues even today to influence negative assessments of the unreformed Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This article is based to a greater extent than previous research on the manuscripts of the parliamentary diary, and upon the instructions of the local assemblies of the nobility (the sejmiks)
Appeal · Constitution · Elite · Independence (probability theory · Opposition (politics · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Law · Polish Historical and Cultural Studies
The Concept of Constitution in the History of Political Thought
The Political Discourse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
A Polish Sattelzeit? New Concepts in the Political Language at the Twilight of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commemorative Architecture, Periclean Athens and the Polish Revolution of 1791
Politics of popularity in the November Uprising (1830–31)
| Citations per year | 0.56 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2024 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |