Targowica the Facts Countess Potocka

Memoirs of the Countess Potocka, by Casimir Stryienski (Editor), Lionel Strachey (Translator). 2004

Assessing Targowica, 1794 Russian Massacre of Warsaw’s Poles. Details on Czartoryski, Tsar Nicholas I, etc.

My review is based on the original 1900 edition. Most of this work deals with family matters and personages, as seen by the author, and not historical events per se. Nevertheless, I focus on the latter.

THE INFAMOUS TARGOWICA

The author takes pride in the fact that her father was one of the nobles who refused to sign what she calls the “iniquitous document” dictated to the Targowica Confederation by Russia. In retaliation, his fortune was sequestered. (p. 15). [This raises the question: To what extent were the signees traitors that had willingly betrayed Poland for the sake of their personal self-interest, and to what extent had they been forced by the Russians to do so.]

THE 1794 INSURRECTION, AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

Countess Potocka, as a little girl, was an eyewitness to the Russian massacre of Poles at Praga (eastern Warsaw) in November 1794. She puts the death toll at 9,000. (pp. 7-8). [Other sources say 20,000].

The author was always well-respected by Napoleon. (p. 85). She reveled in the valor of the Polish forces in Napoleon’s army, notably in its taking of Smolensk. (p. 196). However, it was not to be.

THE DUCHY OF WARSAW

Countess Potocka assessed the Duchy of Warsaw as follows, “The form of government instituted by Napoleon very closely resembled that of all the Rhenish countries. We had a council, composed of seven ministers and a president. This hierarchy, to all appearances entirely national, was in reality subject to the influence of the French resident, a veritable proconsul, who exercised an almost boundless power.” (p. 182).

Following the defeat of Napoleon, Kosciuszko wrote an 1815 letter (reproduced by Potocka: pp. 225-226) to Tsar Alexander I. In it, Kosciuszko requested unrestricted amnesty for the Poles, the establishment of schools for the peasants of Poland, and the abolition of serfdom (with rights to land ownership) in ten years. [Does her inclusion of this letter imply that Countess Potocka favored the abolition of serfdom right then and there?]

CZARTORYSKI

The author assesses Prince Czartoryski and his contacts with Tsar Alexander I. She characterizes Czartoryski as a man of great integrity and erudition, and one known for his civic virtues. (pp. 240-241). She opines that Czartoryski, though well-intentioned and zealous in his efforts on behalf of Poland (p. 231), had been blinded by illusion. (p. 230). Finally, she suspects that Tsar Nicholas I had never been sincerely friendly to Poland, and not that he had merely backed off in the face of Russian criticism of his apparent partiality to Poles. (p. 235).

Towards the end of this memoir, Countess Potocka testifies that she finds it difficult to write because of her sorrows over the misfortunes of Poland. (p. 252).