A large early modern state (1569–1795) in which the nobility elected the king, a Sejm with a Senate and deputies shared legislative power, and the liberum veto could block legislation. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 tried to reform it before the partitions ended it.
The Union of Lublin (1569) joined the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in one Commonwealth. After the Jagiellonian line ended in 1572, the nobility (szlachta) elected kings, and the Henrician Articles of 1573 obliged each king to respect noble rights, summon the Sejm at least every two years and confirm religious freedom. Local assemblies (sejmiki) sent deputies to the Sejm. From the 17th century the liberum veto let a single deputy block a measure or end a session. Magnates and foreign powers increasingly shaped politics. The 1791 Constitution created a hereditary monarchy with separated powers; Russian intervention overturned it, and partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795 ended the state.
Sustained a parliamentary system with elective kingship and wide noble participation for over two centuries, and adopted the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which the Polish History Museum calls the first written constitution in Europe.
Weak central authority, magnate power and foreign intervention led to three partitions by Russia, Prussia and Austria (1772, 1793, 1795); the 1791 reforms were overturned in 1792–93. Historians debate how much the liberum veto, rather than external pressure, caused the collapse.
Kings of the Commonwealth were chosen by the nobility, and the Henrician Articles (1573) obliged each king to respect noble rights, convene the Sejm at least every two years and confirm religious freedom, with the nobility released from allegiance if he broke them.[1]
The liberum veto, which in practice required unanimity in the Sejm, was first used to end a session in 1652 and was later used often to block legislation, until the Constitution of 3 May 1791 abolished it.[1][2][3]
The liberum veto was the principal cause of the Commonwealth's decline and fall.[1][2][3]
The Constitution of 3 May 1791 replaced the elective monarchy with a hereditary one, separated legislative, executive and judicial powers, and was overturned in 1792–93 after the Targowica Confederation and Russian intervention.[1]