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The Targowica Confederation

Traitors being hung
Source: Jan Piotr Norblin, domena publiczna.

Link to the lesson

You will learn
  • to explain the circumstances for the establishment of the Targowica Confederation;

  • to characterize the most important figures of the so‑called malcontentsMalcontentsmalcontents;

  • to describe the consequences of the Targowica confederation and the relevant decisions of King Stanisław August Poniatowski.

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Nagranie abstraktu

Opponents of the reforms and the Constitution of the 3rd of May: Szczęsny Potocki, Ksawery Branicki and Seweryn Rzewuski decided to turn to Catherine II with a proposal to set up a confederation which would oppose the reforms. The Confederation set up in St. Petersburg and officially proclaimed in 1792 in TargowicaTargowicaTargowica led to a war between the proponents and opponents of the constitution. The imbalance in strength was evident, as Russian troops arrived to assist the supporters of Targowica. The King, aiming to preserve any small elements of reform, decided to seek an agreement with Catherine. She immediately demanded to be admitted to the Targowica Confederation, which Poniatowski consented to on July 23rd, 1792. The monarch's hopes of saving the last remnants of progress proved to be an illusion and Catherine, together with King Frederick II of Prussia, carried out the Second Partition of Poland.

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Exercise 1
Wysłuchaj nagrania abstraktu, wyodrębnij jego części i nadaj im tytuły.
Task 1
W dostępnych Ci źródłach (np. w internecie, encyklopedii lub specjalistycznych publikacjach) poszukaj informacji na temat jednej z wybranych osób. Do wyboru następujące postaci: Hugo Kołłątaj, Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, Adam Naruszewicz, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, książę Józef Poniatowski.
W dostępnych Ci źródłach (np. w internecie, encyklopedii lub specjalistycznych publikacjach) poszukaj informacji na temat jednej z wybranych osób. Do wyboru następujące postaci: Hugo Kołłątaj, Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, Adam Naruszewicz, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, książę Józef Poniatowski.
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Exercise 2
Point out the members of the "Friends of the Fiat Lux Constitution" who were the co-authors of the Constitution of the 3rd of May. Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. Ksawery Działyński, 2. Joachim Chreptowicz, 3. Hugo Kołłątaj, 4. Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, 5. Scipione Piattoli, 6. Prince Józef Poniatowski, 7. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, 8. Adam Naruszewicz
Task 2

Listen to the recording. Discover the circumstances by which Tadeusz Kosciusko saved the Polish army and earned Poland's highest military decoration: order „Virtuti Militari”„Virtuti Militari”order „Virtuti Militari”, in 1792.

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Nagranie lektorskie
Andrzej Zahorski Chief in a tunic

„Katherine, determined to intervene in Poland, announced not a war against the Commonwealth, but friendly assistance aimed against the despotic parliamentary leaders who had destroyed the freedom of the nobility by the introduction of tyranny and absolutism. She also ordered the leaders of the Targowica Confederation to come to her with a request for assistance, which they willingly did. [...] The work to eradicate the reforms and progress in Poland, the Russians crossed the border into the Commonwealth on May 22nd, 1792, heading for the Ukrainian front so as to encircle and quickly destroy the Polish army. Kosciuszko cleverly avoided the encirclement, concentrated his division and on May 29th, united with Poniatowski at Janow. [...]

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Following the Battle of Zieleńce, Kościuszko, together with Fr. Jozef, receive a parade of Polish troops with prisoners, following the defeat of Russian troops. Painting by Wojciech Kossak
Source: Wojciech Kossak, domena publiczna.

When the Russians again tried to surround the Poles, Prince Jozef directed the Kosciuszko division to join Czartoryski's to prevent the army from being encircled to the north. Kosciuszko did his job well: he rebuilt the bridge at Słucza and, threatening the rear of General Levinadov's army, which was attempting to outflank the Poles, he decided on a maneuvre which assisted Poniatowski and allowed him to retreat to Połonny. [...] But when he had retreated there, it turned out that the enemy was approaching, and faced with an overwhelming opponent, the fortification of the district was barely commenced. This is why Poniatowski decided to retreat again, this time to Ostrog, where he was protected by the Horyń River. Kosciuszko's division, as the rear guard, was to delay the advance of Levanidov.

The Poles march was in good order, although Levanidov's corps pursued the Poles, the determined attitude of Kosciuszko prevented him from unsettling the Polish troops. It was in this way that, by denying Levanidow, that Poniatowski was able to be victorious at the village of Zieleńce near Szepetówka (18 June). On the battlefield, Kosciuszko arrived after the main Polish forces, led by Prince Jozef, had retreated. General Markov tried to cut him off on the way, but on the night of 18/19 June, with the Russians surrounding the forests, he reached Zasław, where he again joined Poniatowski's army. Kosciuszko, as commander of the rear guard, made it impossible for the army to be encircled and made a significant contribution to Poland's military success. He had turned out a talented, brave and full of initiative. For his outstanding achievements he was awarded the gold medal of the Virtuti Militari, a medal he was amongst the first to ever receive.”

zahorski Source: Andrzej Zahorski, Chief in a tunic, Kraków 1990, s. 16.
Task 3

In the People's Republic of Poland, we had to work with a system imposed by the USSR and its allies. Explain why the USSR, which originated from old Russia, did not tolerate the below verse.

Piotr Szczepanik Polonez kościuszkowców

Kto powiedział, że Moskale
Są to bracia nas, Lechitów,
Temu pierwszy w łeb wypalę
Przed kościołem Karmelitów.

zwrotka Source: Piotr Szczepanik, Polonez kościuszkowców.
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Exercise 3
Wybierz jedno nowe słowo poznane podczas dzisiejszej lekcji i ułóż z nim zdanie.

Keywords

auctionauctionauction, guildguildguild, Malcontents, „Fiat Lux”„Fiat Lux”„Fiat Lux”

Glossary

„Fiat Lux”
„Fiat Lux”
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Nagranie słówka: "Fiat Lux"

„Fiat Lux” – łacińska sentencja „niech się stanie światłość”

auction
auction
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Nagranie słówka: auction

aukcja – w Rzeczypospolitej szlacheckiej podniesienie liczebności wojsk.

guild
guild
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Nagranie słówka: guild

gildia – zgromadzenia kupców, którzy razem organizowali i zbierali się na przewozy swoich towarów przez miasta

Malcontents
Malcontents
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Nagranie słówka: Malcontents

Malkontenci – negatywne, potoczne określenie środowisk opozycyjnych w stosunku do dworu królewskiego, używane w XVII–XVIII w.; dosłownie: niezadowoleni

„Virtuti Militari”
„Virtuti Militari”
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Nagranie słówka: "Virtuti Militari"

order „Virtuti Militari” – najwyższe i jedyne polskie odznaczenie militarne, przyznawane od początku jego ustanowienia do dzisiaj.

Targowica
Targowica
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Nagranie słówka: Targowica

Targowica – potoczne określenie konfederacji zawiązanej w Petersburgu, a ogłoszonej oficjalnie w Targowicy w 1792; w polskim słowniku politycznym synonim zdrady.