Rule of Poland
Born in Saint Petersburg, Prince Repnin served in the Imperial Army under his father, Prince Vasily Anikitovich Repnin, during the Rhenish campaign of 1748, and subsequently resided for some time abroad, where he acquired "a thoroughly sound German education." He also participated, in a subordinate capacity, in the Seven Years' War.
In 1763, Emperor Peter III sent him to Prussia as ambassador. The same year, Catherine transferred him to Poland as minister plenipotentiary; in Warsaw he was rumored to have had an affair with Izabela Fleming (and to have fathered Adam Jerzy Czartoryski).
Due to the level of Russian control of the Polish government, Repnin was the effective ruler of the country, with special instructions to form a pro-Russian faction from among the various Protestants, who were to receive equal rights with the Catholics. Repnin believed that the Protestants were not significant enough to benefit Russia; at the same time, the Protestant community itself petitioned Empress Catherine, requesting not to be involved.
In order to further Russian interests, he encouraged the creation of two Protestant confederations (of Sluck and Toruń) and later, a Catholic one (the Radom Confederation, led by Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł). According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Repnin's correspondence reveals that he disliked the type of politics he was required to engage in. Nevertheless he obeyed his instructions, and used various means to force the 1767–68 Sejm (the "Repnin Sejm") to concede all points in dispute. Before the Sejm, he ordered the capture and exile to Kaluga of some vocal opponents of his policies — Józef Andrzej Załuski and Wacław Rzewuski. The immediate result was the formation of the Bar Confederation, which practically demolished the ambassador's strategy.
Read more about this topic: Nicholas Repnin
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