Tarnogród Confederation

The Confederacy of Tarnogród was formed by the Polish nobility Confederacy in Tarnogród of 1715 and 1716. It was directed against the Polish King August II, his reforms and his Saxon army stationed in Poland.

Background

The Great Northern War hit the Kingdom of Poland - Lithuania, especially hard as part of the personal union of Saxony- Poland. Large parts of the kingdom succumbed to immense devastation and Swedish contribution. In many parts of the country the administration collapsed, especially on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, there was simply anarchy. In order to meet this gentleman, the king took his Saxon troops to Poland in 1713. To financing and maintenance of the Saxon troops were lifted from new taxes that were squeezed off the local nobility. One method that the hated Swedish few years before possible. This was a clear breach of the nobility Republican Cardinal rights, in which only the nobility had the right to vote for new taxes. The Polish nobility began to fight back. In the provinces Malopolska emerged in 1714, the first Confederate resistance groups that a little later extended to the whole country, also denied the Polish senators to the king their support.

Course

On November 26, 1715 formed in Tarnogród the " General Confederation" led by Stanislaw Ledochowski. As a target the Confederate chosen as the defense of " nobility republican freedom " ( the own privileges ) and the removal of the Saxon troops and officials from the territory of the Kingdom. Parts of the Polish Crown and the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ran over to the rebels, while their leader, Hetman of the Crown Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski and the Great Hetman of Lithuania Ludwik Pociej, more neutral behaved.

In winter, the king began an offensive led by Field Marshal Jacob Heinrich von Flemming, but there was no decisive battle, only one took a Zamość. In January 1716, a truce mediated by the Polish senators in the Galician town of Rawa Ruska was closed, with the aim to resolve the conflict in a Sejmtagung. The truce, however, was short-lived, it created new confederations, especially in the area of Great Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Russian Tsar Peter I, who wanted to prevent a strengthened position of King August II in Poland - Lithuania, promised the Confederate support in the expulsion of the Saxon troops from Poland and even the overthrow of the Saxon King.

In February 1716 the Confederates asked to give the Russian Tsars between them and King August. The agreed to the Polish monarch and traveled in April 1716 to negotiate with the Tsar to Gdansk. Peace talks began in July 1716 in Lublin, but were due to the ingestion of Posen interrupted by the Confederates. However, the internal political situation of the Confederate deteriorated rapidly during the year, they were also disappointed by the Russian agent, so they did the experiment with the king to negotiate directly, but this failed. In this situation, the king asked the Russian Tsar middle of the month August 1716 personally for military assistance, which the invasion of 18,000 men strong Russian troops in Poland ( under Prince Dolgoruky ) had the consequence.

In October 1716 we again took in Warsaw starting the conflict by peaceful means to solve. The discussions were very difficult, but in the end they found a compromise and a peace treaty concluded on 3 November 1716 which was confirmed in Quiet Sejm of 1717.