Opposition and Failure
The opponents to the Patriotic Party were mostly grouped in the Hetmans' Party (Stronnictwo hetmańskie), and included Hetmans Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, Franciszek Ksawery Branicki and Seweryn Rzewuski. They formed the Targowica Confederation in defense of the traditional Golden Liberties and the Cardinal Laws, and called on the Russian Empire for assistance. Empress Catherine II of Russia readily obliged, as she saw the Constitution as a threat to Russian influence in the Commonwealth, and a possible long-term danger to absolute monarchy in Russia itself.
After the War in Defense of the Constitution, which was won by the Confederates and their Russian allies, the Patriotic Party's principal leaders – Kołłątaj, Potocki, Małachowski – emigrated abroad, where they prepared the ground for the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. The subsequent failure of that Uprising in turn led to the Third Partition of Poland, ending the existence of the Commonwealth. The Patriotic Party's attempts to reform the Commonwealth thus ultimately brought about its total demise.
Read more about this topic: Patriotic Party
Famous quotes containing the words opposition and/or failure:
“One may disavow and disclaim vices that surprise us, and whereto our passions transport us; but those which by long habits are rooted in a strong and ... powerful will are not subject to contradiction. Repentance is but a denying of our will, and an opposition of our fantasies.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
It is not the effort nor the failure tires.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.”
—William Empson (1906–1984)