Celebrating Constitution of May 3, 1791 in Polish Center of Wisconsin

2022 POLISH CONSTITUTION DAY
in Polish Center of Wisconsin

The 1791 Constitution was celebrated this year through Words, Music and Imagery. A series of five posters featuring the most iconic images related to the May 3rd Constitution provided a spectacular backdrop for the performance of Chopin’s music and remarks explaining the critical importance of this remarkable document.

The Hon. Francis T. Wasielewski was the pianist of the evening. A Judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court for Milwaukee County for 28 years, he also pursues his life long love for music (studies at the University of Indiana School of Music and Wisconsin Conservatory of Music). He was President of the Polish Heritage Alliance of Wisconsin (2004 to 2009) and now sits on the Board of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Chopin’s compositions played at the event:
Mazurka opus 6, No.3 in E major
Prelude opus 24, No. 4 in E minor
Prelude opus 24 No. 19 in E flat major
Grande Waltz Brilliante in E flat major opus 18
Etude opus 10 No. 3 in E major
Polonaise opus 40 No. 1 in A major

► event program ◄

2022 celebration
photo gallery

On the Significance of the Constitution and the Poster Exhibit

Remarks by Donald E. Pienkos
Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Tonight we celebrate an event that took place 231 years ago tomorrow, an event of great significance for Poland and for the cause of representative self government. It is the anniversary of the vote in Poland’s parliament that approved a new Constitution for the country. This Constitution, Europe’s first modern Constitution, is strikingly similar to our own Constitution that was ratified in 1789, just two years before.

Poland’s Constitution was indeed both remarkable – and critical to Poland’s very survival. It provided for a properly functioning parliament, an independent judiciary, and a strong executive. It created a permanent standing army to defend the country. At the same time the ‘May Third Constitution’ reaffirmed Poland’s tradition of religious toleration, respect for individual rights and the rule of law while declaring – for the very first time – that the country’s vast peasant population was part of the nation and under the government’s protection.

When the news of the Constitution came out, it won praise from freedom-loving people everywhere.

The Constitution reflected a concerted effort by patriotic Poles, including its reform-minded King, Stanislaus Poniatowski, to do away with the profound defects in its government that had left a once great country “in a perpetual state of near anarchy.” In doing so, they aimed at regaining Poland’s full independence in its dealings with the three giant powers on its borders – imperial Russia to the east, Habsburg Austria to the south, and German Prussia to the west.

From left to right in the front row: Professor Donald Pienkos and Hon. Francis T. Wasielewski

Indeed, less than twenty years before in 1772, those three superpowers, led by Empress Catherine II of Russia, had seized 30 percent of the country – a shocking act of aggression that our history books far too politely call “the first partition of Poland”.

But the new Constitution would last just 14 months. Some nobles, who in one historian’s words, held “views that epitomized the worst vices of the old Poland,” opposed its passage. Here, Catherine II took full advantage of their complaints by sending in a massive 100,000 man army to restore the old disorder.

Despite the heroic efforts by Poland’s vastly outnumbered forces, Russia and its Prussian ally prevailed in the war that followed. In 1793 they seized three-fifths of the country. Catherine then ordered a counterfeit Parliament to nullify the Constitution.

But only months later, Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who had served with distinction in our own War for Independence, led an insurrection to save Poland. But his last ditch effort was crushed. The three partitioners then divided up what little remained of the country. Poland would not regain its independence for 123 years – in 1918.

However, the memory of the Constitution did not die. As Mark Brzezinski, our new U.S. Ambassador to Poland, wrote in his book,The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland, its ideals inspired future generations of patriots. He cites one observer who declared, “The miracle of the Constitution did not save the Polish state. But it did save the Polish nation.” Indeed, after 1918 and again after 1989, the May Third Constitution has been celebrated as a great national day in independent Poland.

In closing let me note that in every country, there are moments that help define what its people stand for and aspire to be. For example, in our own America we have the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of 1863. In England there are Winston Churchill’s stirring words to rally the nation following the calamity of Dunkirk in 1940. In Poland there is the amazing election of June 4, 1989 that led to the collapse of communist rule and paved the way for the end of the Cold War. And there is the Constitution of May Third 1791.

Despite the heroic efforts by Poland’s vastly outnumbered forces, Russia and its Prussian ally prevailed in the war that followed. In 1793 they seized three-fifths of the country. Catherine then ordered a counterfeit Parliament to nullify the Constitution.

Now let me turn briefly to the Posters displayed tonite. The work of the Polish Center, they vividly tell the story of the Constitution and in various art forms.

The first shows what Poland looked like before and after the first partition of 1772. Poland’s king and the Empress of Russia, who were once young lovers, are pictured as they were in 1791 when they were much older.

The painting in the second panel is based on an eye witness drawing and shows the parliament at the moment of the vote to approve the Constitution. One of its authors is also shown.

The fourth panel portrays the joyous procession that followed the passage of the Constitution as conceived by the great Painter Jan Matejko. The king is at the left. Two of its authors are shown as well.

The final panel includes a fragment of Jan Styka’s painting of Kosciuszko’s victory over a large Russian army at Raclawice in April 1794. Together, nobles, townspeople, and peasants won that day – a high point in the fight for Poland. The monumental Raclawice Panorama is on permanent display today, inshrined in the city of Wroclaw.



This event was sponsored by The Milwaukee Society of the Polish National Alliance, in Cooperation with the Polish Center of Wisconsin and support from the Wisconsin Division of the Polish American Congress. Special Thanks for creating the Poster Exhibit go to Mr Jeff Kuderski, Executive Director of the Polish Center and Polish Fest, and Mr Jim Gaffney.

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