Today, Poland and Poles around the world celebrate a holiday commemorating the adoption of the Constitution in 1791. It was then that the Four-Year Sejm adopted the government law, which went down in history as the Constitution of May 3. The Government Act was the first modern constitution in Europe and the second in the world, which introduced a constitutional monarchy in Poland, which most European countries did not experience until the following century. Adoption of the Constitution after long debates
and disputes at the Great Sejm was considered an important event in the European press and among the political elites of the time. It was an example of peaceful political transformation, especially against the background of events in revolutionary France.
The original document is in the State Archives
Three unique original copies of the Constitution of May 3 are kept in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Text from the so-called Lithuanian Record with signatures of the speakers of the Sejm, was saved from destruction by the Russians in the Royal Library. The copy from the Potocki Public Archives was kept secret by representatives of this family. The third copy of the Constitution is part of an extensive 25-volume work Archive of the Four-Year Sejm. This collection, secured by one of the Sejm secretaries, Antoni Siarczyński, was sent to the Society of Friends of Sciences in Warsaw in 1808,
and after the dissolution of this institution in 1832, it was taken to Russia, from where it returned to Poland as part of the recovery of archives only in 1964. Moreover, AGAD has preserved an official print of the text of the Government Act with the formula for entry into the Warsaw municipal records, confirmed by the seal and signature of the writer city.
Today is a national holiday
Even though this document was signed 233 years ago, it undoubtedly still carries many universal messages. It is also a model of consensus between the conflicting political parties. Its creators showed imagination and long-term thinking and action for the good of the country. Constitution 3 Maja was a strong impulse stimulating public awareness of the need for changes in the functioning of the state, and also gave hope for reforms. was a civilizational achievement of the citizens of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, an important page of the common history of Poland and Lithuania. It also became a model for other countries.
This document enabled the smooth operation of the Sejm, from which the "liberum veto" was removed. Majority voting was also introduced, and the decisions of the Sejm could no longer be questioned by the assemblies.
CONSTITUTION OF MAY 3 – THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES IN THE LAW
The constitution introduced:
- tripartite division of power into legislative, executive and judicial,
- it limited the legal immunities and privileges of the household nobility, which was intended to prevent the possibility of bribery of a poor nobleman by agents of a foreign state.
Source: gov.pl, Photo: Chancellery of the Prime Minister
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