Download or read book The Constitution of 3 May 1791 written by Richard Butterwick and published by Muzeum Historii Polski. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book by an eminent researcher of the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth familiarises the readers with the most important events of the epoch, analyses the circumstances of passing the Law on Government in May 1791, as well as the document itself. The Constitution of 3 May did not mark the final stage of the process of the fall of the Great Commonwealth. First and foremost, it was an attempt at salvaging the country and renewing it through reforms, which thanks to their boldness and modernity could have turned united Poland and Lithuania into a power. It was only in one aspect that the Constitution could have accelerated the final partition of the Commonwealth: i.e. strengthening the country posed a threat to the partitioners, primarily Russia. This is one of the premises that emerges from the concise but richly detailed book by Richard Butterwick, Professor of History at the University of London awarded a PhD title by the University of Oxford, a scholar specialising in 18th-century Polish history.