Sprawa notyfikacji Konstytucji 3 maja na dworze berlińskim i wiedeńskim

Maciej Kucharski and Dariusz Nawrot made an attempt to analyse the efforts made by the Polish diplomacy to obtain the support the courts in Vienna and Berlin for the Polish Constitution of 3 May (1791). The authors conclude that Austria’s attitude towards the new constitution accepted by the Polish Diet was very cautious. Vienna was watching closely the actions of the governments in Berlin and St Petersburg, and took no steps that could be interpreted as an expression of Austria’s positive attitude towards the Constitution. Neither the Polish official moves, nor the secret missions entrusted to Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski, and Prince Stanislaus Poniatowski could change anything here. As regards the Polish striving to muster the support of Prussia for the Constitution, the authors are of the opinion that the Polish efforts in this respects were not energetic and determined enough. As a result, the authorities responsible for the Polish foreign policy discovered only during the Russian invasion in spring 1792 that Prussia was not going to honour her obligations as an ally of Poland’s.