Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth (in Polish also known as unia troista — "triple union") was a never-formed state based on a personal union between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovite Russia. These nations did in fact come to be ruled by the same sovereign in the 19th century, when, after the partitions of Poland, Tsar Alexander I of Russia was crowned king of Poland. This realization was, however, quite different from the original Polish idea of an entity in which all three states would have equal status.

The idea was first broached in the 16th century after the death of the last Polish king of the Jagiellon dynasty, Zygmunt II August. Russia's Tsar Ivan IV ("the Terrible") became a contender for king of Poland. He had a substantial amount of supporters in Poland,^{[citation needed]} although the success of his candidacy, even hypothetically, was doubtful from the start since the Polish nobility would likely have required Ivan's conversion to Catholicism, an absolutely unthinkable event. Union of Brest of 1596 was a further argument for the Orthodox oppenents of the closer ties between Muscovy and the Commonwealth, who argued that it was the prelude to Catholicization of Muscovy.

The proposal was revived in the early 17th century, initially by influential secular thinkers among the Polish nobility such as Jan Zamoyski and Lew Sapieha. Proponents of such a union among the Polish nobility listed several arguments: peace on the turbulent eastern border, a powerfull military ally and relatively sparsely populated (compared to Polish Crown) territories for colonization and serfdom. The idea was also supported by the Jesuits and other papal emissaries who never ceased entertaining the idea of converting Orthodox Russia to Catholicism. Some Russian boyars found the proposal attractive^{[dubious – discuss]} due to the fact that Golden Freedoms of the Commonwealth, if applied in Muscovy, would weaken tsar power and thus grant them a much higher status then that enjoyed previoysly.

This mixed circle of idea proponents saw an opportunity in Russia after Ivan the Terrible, the last Russian ruler of that time whose legitimacy was never questioned, died without issue. With the legitimacy issues clouding the entire period of the rule of Boris Godunov, Russia submerged into even a greater chaos upon his death, the Russian Time of Troubles, which was accompanied by a decisive Polish armed intervention, or the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618), commonly referred to in Russia as the Polish intervention in the end-17th century.

The proposals of that time revolved around introducing a personal union between the Commonwelth and Muscovy, and various economic and political agreements (elimination of trade barriers, free movement of people, etc.), up to the creation of one country, using the framework of that led to the creation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the first place (Union of Lublin of 1569). However all proposals presented by the Polish side (like that of 1600) were rejected by the Russian tsar. Although Muscovy side was willing to agree to some parts of the proposed treaties (like extradiction of the crime suspects), it was strictly opposed to points about religious tolerance (non-Orthodox religions, especially Catholicism, were persecuted in Muscovy, unlike in Commonwealth, which allowed all faith to be preached) and free movement of people (according to Polish scholars^[1]. many Muscovites were afraid of polonization, as was already happening with Lithuanian nobility, and a growing danger stemming from the increasing number of peasant and even noble refugees escaping Muscovy^[2].

In the course of the Polish-Muscovite War, the Polish prince (later king) Władysław IV Waza was briefly elected a Russian Tsar among other such strange developments like enthronement and short reighn of False Dmitry I, an impostor of tsar Ivan's son. However, Wladyslaw was never officially enthroned and his quirk election remained in history as one of the fluke events of Russia's Time of Troubles.

The idea also resurfaced in 1650s, after the death of Władysław and in 18th century, when the last Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski attempted to save the Polish state by proposing a marriage between himself and Russian Empress, Catherine the Great.

The very possibility that such an idea could have been seriously considered by the Polish side early on was likely based on the spirit of the 1573 Warsaw Convention (Warsaw Compact), that guaranteed, at least formally, an equality for non-Catholic nobles in the Commonwealth. However, while the adopted convention was an unprecedentedly liberal act for its time, such full equality was never achieved in reality even within the Commonwealth itself. Taking into account that the most divisions of that time, if not dynastic, were the religious divisions and the relationship between the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox branches of Christianities were strained at best, it remains surprising that such an idea was seriously considered at all. It remains equally unlikely, that such an idea could have been accepted by the Russian side because the view towards Catholicism in the Muscovite Russia was highly negative.

Thus, while supported at the early stage by some progressive and secular Polish diplomats, in the end, the efforts of the few could not overcome the Muscovy resistance to Catholicism, and fear that if the union would ever come to fruition, Catholicism would overcome the Orthodox religion.

Notes and references

^ Jerzy Malec, Szkice z dziejów federalizmu i myśli federalistycznych w czasach nowożytnych, Wydawnictwo UJ, 1999, Kraków, ISBN 8323312788
^ Jerzy Czajewski, "Zbiegostwo ludności Rosji w granice Rzeczypospolitej" (Russian population exodus into the Rzeczpospolita), Promemoria journal, October 2004 nr. (5/15), ISSN 15099091, Table of Content online, Polish language

Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth

See also

Notes and references

Further reading