A bari konföderáció és a Rzeczpospolita első területi megcsonkítása
The Confederation of Bar and the First Territorial Mutilation of the Rzeczpospolita

Summary/Abstract: The Confederation that was formed on 29 February 1768 in the Podolian town of Bar has been judged controversially in both public opinion and the scholarly literature. The aim of the present study is to call attention to some hitherto unknown factors that contributed to the formation and working of the Confederation. Its initial hypothesis is that the formation of the Confederation of Bar actually played little role in the decision taken by the three great powers in 1772, but rather contributed to its rapid and aggressive implementation. The article first describes the background to the formation of the Confederation of Bar, then the history of the Confederation, and finally the diplomatic negotiations that took place in the background. Instead of seeking to identify those who were responsible for the unfavourable turn of events for Poland, the author offers new perspectives. With the first mutilation of the Polish–Lithuanian state, great power expansion reached a new level. Previously, borders had been changed only in the event of war; now, in peacetime, Austria, Russia and Prussia have jointly shortened the borders of a fourth state, wrapping their ambitions in an international treaty.

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