Permanent Council (Poland-Lithuania)
The Permanent Council (Polish Rada Nieustająca ) was the highest administrative authority in Poland-Lithuania from 1775 to 1789 and the first modern form of government in Europe. The Poles called him Zdrada Nieustająca - "Constant Treason".
history
The Permanent Council was established at the instigation of Catherine the Great , which ensured her influence on Poland. In contrast to the Sejm , no veto could be entered or dissolved. In addition, he was much less prone to the influence of the lower Polish nobility . Ultimately, both Katharina and her ambassador to Poland, Otto Magnus von Stackelberg , believed that the council was dominated by anti-royal magnates and that this would put an end to the Poles' desire for reforms.
The council consisted of King Stanislaus II August Poniatowski - who acted as a kind of modern prime minister and had two votes instead of one -, 18 members of the Senate and 18 members of the state parliament. The meetings were overseen by Marshal Ignacy Potocki . In reality, the entire staff of the Permanent Council was chosen in agreement with the Russian Ambassador Otto Magnus von Stackelberg to represent the Empress Catherine the Great, protector of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth since 1768. Soon after its inception, the council became an instrument of Russian oversight of Poland. The council was divided into 5 separate ministries, which were also called departments :
- Foreign interests
- Military
- police
- Treasurer / Ministry of Finance
- Judiciary
Although the council was heavily criticized, especially by the so-called Patriotic Party and the party known as the Family , it managed to initiate a phase of economic prosperity in Poland and significantly strengthen the power of the monarch in Poland.
It was replaced in 1789 by the four-year-old Sejm , only to be reintroduced shortly afterwards in 1793 by the last Polish Sejm from Grodno . It was there that the second partition of Poland was ratified, and this time it was chaired directly by the Russian ambassador. The majority of its members were bribed by the Russian embassy in Warsaw.