Stanisław II August Poniatowski

Stanisław II August Poniatowski
orig. Stanisław Poniatowski

born Jan. 17, 1732, Wołczyn, Pol.
died Feb. 12, 1798, St. Petersburg, Russia

King of Poland (1764–95).

Son of a Polish noble, he was sent in 1757 to Russia to win support for Polish interests and became the lover of the future Empress Catherine II. In 1764 Catherine used Russian troops and influence to ensure Stanisław's election as king. He tried to introduce administrative reforms, but opposition from Polish nobles and from Catherine forced him to continue his rule as a pawn of Russia. He attempted to pass a new constitution but could not stop the partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), after which he abdicated.

* * *

▪ king of Poland
original name  StanisŁaw Poniatowski  
born Jan. 17, 1732, Wołczyn, Pol.
died Feb. 12, 1798, St. Petersburg, Russia
 last king of an independent Poland (1764–95). He was unable to act effectively while Russia, Austria, and Prussia dismembered his nation.

      He was born the sixth child of Stanisław Poniatowski, a Polish noble, and his wife, Princess Konstancja Czartoryska. After a careful education he traveled in western Europe as a young man. In 1757 he was sent by his mother's enormously powerful family to St. Petersburg to obtain Russian support for their plan to dethrone the Polish king Augustus III. While at the Russian court, he apparently did little for the family's interests but succeeded in becoming the lover of the future empress, Catherine II.

      Poland at this time was in a period of steady decline, and, following the death of Augustus III in 1763, Catherine sought to ensure that the situation continued. Seeing the young Poniatowski as a convenient pawn, she used Russian troops and Russian influence to ensure his election as Stanisław II on Sept. 7, 1764. After coming to the throne Stanisław sought to bolster his royal power, improve the administration of government, and strengthen the parliamentary system. These reforms were opposed by some Polish nobles and by Catherine, who threatened to have him deposed. The reforms were dropped, and Catherine then interfered in Poland even further by pressing for full rights for non-Catholic religious dissenters. A revolt by Roman Catholics followed in 1768 and was not fully suppressed for four years. Its effect was to make Stanisław even more dependent on Russian support.

      In 1772 Russia, Prussia, and Austria each annexed portions of Polish territory, despite Stanisław's appeals to the Western powers. In the years following this partition, Stanisław saw his own personal power cut away and limited by the manipulations of the partitioning powers. Fighting back, he succeeded in strengthening his position and achieved a full reform of Polish education. A more basic requirement to prevent further national decay was constitutional reform; after long and arduous debate, the Sejm (Diet) finally approved a new constitution on May 3, 1791. To oppose this constitution, the Confederation of Targowica was formed by a group of Polish nobles with Russian backing. In a subsequent invasion by Russia, despite valiant efforts by a small Polish army, the Russians succeeded in crushing the movement for a new constitution.

      Stanisław was then forced to participate in the Russian-controlled Sejm at Grodno in 1793, which agreed to the second partitioning of Poland, this time between Russia and Prussia. The response was a Polish insurrection in 1794, during which Tadeusz Kościuszko overrode all royal authority. After the Russians had crushed the uprising, Stanisław abdicated on Nov. 25, 1795, as Poland was being partitioned again by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, the three countries this time annexing its entire territory. He died in semicaptivity at St. Petersburg. His two-volume Mémoires was published by S.M. Goryaninov (1914–24).

Additional Reading
Samuel Fiszman (ed.), Constitution and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Poland: The Constitution of 3 May 1791 (1997).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stanisław August Poniatowski — Infobox Polish monarch name=Stanisław August Poniatowski image caption= birthdate=birth date|1732|1|17|mf=y birthplace=Wołczyn, modern Belarus deathdate=death date and age|1798|2|12|1732|1|17|mf=y deathplace=Saint Petersburg, Russia burial… …   Wikipedia

  • Stanisław August Poniatowski — Stanislaus II. August im Krönungsornat (Gemälde von Marcello Bacciarelli) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Stanislaw August Poniatowski — Stanislas II de Pologne Stanislas II de Pologne Stanislas Auguste Poniatowski Naissance 17 janvier 1732 Wolczyn (actuelle Biélorussie) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Stanislaus II. August Poniatowski — Stanislaus II. August im Krönungsornat (Gemälde von Marcello Bacciarelli) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Stanislaus August Poniatowski — Stanislaus II. August im Krönungsornat (Gemälde von Marcello Bacciarelli) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Stanislaw II — Stanislaw II. August Poniatowski (s. d.). geb. 1732 zu Wolczyn, gewann als Gesandter zu Petersburg die Gunst Katharinas II., die ihn 1764 zum König von Polen machte. Die erste Theilung von Polen (1772) vermochte er nicht zu verhindern; 1794… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Stanisław Poniatowski (1676–1762) — Count Stanisław (or Stanislas) Poniatowski (Chojnik or Dereczyn, September 15/16, 1676ndash Ryki, August 2/30, 1762) was a Polish–Lithuanian noble, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle since 1726.He was a Swedish General, General of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Poniatowski, Stanisław — ▪ Polish statesman born Sept. 15, 1676 died Aug. 3, 1762, Ryki, Pol.       Polish soldier, state official, and nobleman who supported the Swedes against the Poles in the Great Northern War (Northern War, Second) (1700–21) and was later a… …   Universalium

  • Stanislaw — (as used in expressions) Lesniewski Stanislaw Stanislaw Leshniewski Mikolajczyk Stanislaw Reymont Wladyslaw Stanislaw Wladyslaw Stanislaw Rejment Stanislaw I Stanislaw Leszczynski Stanislaw II August Poniatowski Stanislaw Poniatowski Ulam… …   Universalium

  • Poniatowski, Józef Antoni — ▪ Polish patriot born May 7, 1763, Vienna died Oct. 19, 1813, Leipzig  Polish patriot and military hero, who became a marshal of France.       Initially an officer in the Austrian army, Poniatowski was transferred to the Polish army in 1789 at… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”