The Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (Michał Rozbicki, ''European and American Constitutionalism in the Eighteenth Century'', Uniwersytet Warszawski Ośrodek Studiów Amerykańskich, 1990, p.109–110Kenneth W. Thompson, Rett R. Ludwikowski, White Burkett Miller, ''Constitutionalism and Human Rights: America, Poland, and France'', University of Virginia, 1991), also Reciprocal Warranty of Two Nations,Harry E. Dembkowski, ''The Union of Lublin, Polish Federalism in the Golden Age'', 1982, Columbia University Press, , p.199 Mutual Pledge of the Two Nations () and Mutual Assurance of the Two Nations, was an addendum, adopted on 20 October 1791 by the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish language, Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

, to the Polish-Lithuanian

Constitution of 3 May 1791 The Constitution of 3 May 1791, titled the Government Act, was a written constitution for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was adopted by the Great Sejm that met between 1788 and 1792. The Commonwealth was a dual monarchy comprising th ...

. In the

preamble A preamble () is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the su ...

of this guarantee the dualistic form of the state was confirmed and it had equal status to the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

(1569). The Mutual Assurance of the Two Nations stated implementing principles that had not been spelled out in the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. The document specified the nature of the

Polish–Lithuanian union Polish–Lithuanian can refer to: * Polish–Lithuanian union (1385–1569) * Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) * Polish-Lithuanian identity as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish–Lithuania ...

and affirmed "the unity and indivisibility", within a single state, of the

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the Pat ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

Terms

The document was to be an integral part of the ''

pacta conventa ''Pacta conventa'' (Latin for "articles of agreement") was a contractual agreement entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly elected king upon his "free electi ...

'' and thus binding on King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

and all subsequent monarchs of the Polish-Lithuanian state. The document defined the federal character of the state and asserted the equal representation within the bodies of state governance of its two constituents (the

and the

). The document declared that the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

(now to be known as '' Rzeczpospolita Polska'', the Polish Republic, or Polish Commonwealth) remained a union of the

and the

. It specified that they shared a common government, military and treasury, but Lithuanian tax revenues were to be spent only within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The military and treasury commissions were to have equal numbers of Polish and Lithuanian members and were to be presided over by Polish and Lithuanian officials on an alternating basis. The membership of the Police Commission was to be two-thirds Polish-Crown and one-third Lithuanian. Poland and Lithuania were to have the same numbers of principal officials. In the view of historians

Stanisław Kutrzeba Stanisław Marian Kutrzeba (1876–1946) was a Polish historian and politician who was Professor of the Jagiellonian University from 1908, and then until the end of his life the Chair of Studies in Polish law. He was chair of the Law Department ( ...

Oskar Halecki Oskar Halecki (26 May 1891 – 17 September 1973) was a Polish historian, social and Catholic activist. Doctor Honoris Causa of the Polish University Abroad (1973). Life and career Halecki, whose first name is sometimes spelled Oscar in English ...

and Bogusław Leśnodorski, the legislation adopted by the Four-Year Sejm, including the Mutual Pledge of the Two Nations, replaced the erstwhile union of the

and the

, which had existed since the

(1569), with a unitary Polish Commonwealth, or Polish Republic.Another view of historians Juliusz Bardach or Jerzy Malec
''Zaręczenie Wzajemne Obojga Narodów – w 220 rocznicę uchwalenia''
.

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External links

Text of the document
{{Polish-Lithuanian Union 1791 in law Krev Great Sejm Documents

Terms

References

Further reading

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