The Torun Confederation ( Polish: Konfederacja toruńska ) is an association of the Orthodox , Calvinist and Lutheran nobility of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , formed in Torun on March 20, 1767 . Lieutenant General Jerzy Wilhelm von Goltz was elected Marshal of the Confederation.
The confederation was initiated by the Russian government to achieve a turning point in the dissident issue to achieve the equality of religious communities in the Polish state, the equation of the rights of non-Catholics with Catholics .
In 1766, the Russian government raised the issue of equality of religion and the preservation of liberum veto , when every deputy of the Sejm or Sejm could disagree with any resolution of the Sejm, which meant the termination of the meeting and the cancellation of all decisions taken. The work of the association took place under the protection of Russian troops.
The Confederation supported the proposed by the Russian Empress Catherine II draft equation of rights and political freedoms of the Gentiles in Poland, religious freedom.
As a result of the Torun Confederation, on June 23, 1767, under the “imperial patronage” and at the suggestion of the Russian ambassador Nikolai Repnin , the Radom Confederation was convened, the purpose of which was to realize the equality of the Gentiles, the return of the former gentry freedoms and the imposition of Russian guarantee.
As a result, the 1764 Convocation Diet decided on widespread reforms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and paved the way for the election of Stanislav Augustus Poniatowski as King of the Commonwealth.
Links
- Konfederacja toruńska (Polish)