Od pochwały „demokracji szlacheckiej” do krytyki „rządu monarchiczno‑demokratycznego”

Abstract

From the Apology of a ‘Noble Democracy’ to the Criticism of a ‘Monarchical-Democratic’ Form of Government: The Confederacy of Targowica and the New Trends in the Development of Noble Republicanism The article presents main doctrinal trends within the tradition of noble republicanism at the end of the Four Year Seym, affected especially by the Confederacy of Targowica (1792). Acknowledging different attitudes of earlier exponents of noble republicanism towards social issues (especially in the works of Adam Rzewuski and Wojciech Turski), it suggests that this tradition, taken as a whole, willingly identifying with the notion of ‘democracy’, was still in the position to work out a more modern stance. But significantly enough, such a doctrinal development was no longer possible after the announcement of the Confederacy of Targowica. Now, eagerly connoting the extremes of the French Revolution with democracy per se, the exponents of a new political rhetoric not only defended a traditional form of a republic but also the social status quo. The author suggests that this changes indicates a shift from a more ‘democratic’ characteristic of noble republicanism to a strongly class-oriented defence of social privileges, leaving, eventually, less and less room for a more promising and challenging republican stance. Although most of these traits can be already discerned in the narratives of such conservative representatives of noble republicanism as Seweryn Rzewuski, Leonard Olizar and Szczęsny Potocki, it was especially Józef Kossakowski, analyzed in the concluding parts of the article, who was the best exponent of this phenomenon.

Keywords

• noble republicanism
• Confederacy of Targowica
• Seweryn Rzewuski
• Szczęsny Potocki
• Józef Kossakowski