St. A. Poniatowski (2 jan 1764 ano – 1 jan 1795 ano)

Descrição:

Stanisław August Poniatowski

Came from the Familia, a party in favour of Russian patronage over the Commonwealth. A lover to Catherine the Great before she became the empress of Russia.

Elected king as a protege of Russia, he turned out to be a surprisingly active reformer. As a propagator of ideas of Enlightenment, he introduced far-reaching reforms of the education system, founded a first national theatre and a new magazine, "Monitor".

As soon as his reforms started touching the governmental foundations, however, he met with a strong opposition of both the nobles as well as Russia with other foreign neighbours.

During the proceedings of Sejm in 1766, in response to attempts to abolish liberum veto, Repnin, a Russian ambassador, demanded that non-Catholics are granted political rights again. This would allow the Russian party to increase their numbers in the parliament. Incompliant, the king pushed for the priority of his proposals, which sparked an armed opposition from all stakeholders. Afterwards, the king practically gave up the throne to Repnin.

Adicionado na linha do tempo:

Data: