Finis Poloniae, finis Lituaniae, finis Reipublicae?

Finis Poloniae. The words attributed to Tadeusz Kościuszko at the battle of Maciejowice invite a reflection on the place of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Commonwealth of the Two Nations, Polish and Lithuanian, and the meaning of concepts such as „nation” and „Fatherland” in the consciousness of Lithuanian nobles during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764-1795). Traditionally the final decades of the Commonwealth have been viewed as the culmination of the integration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within an ever more „Polish” Commonwealth. However perceptions of the period have changed considerably in recent years. This paper explores these problems via examples of noble discourse. Two are exchanges between Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha, the marshal of the Lithuanian confederacy during the Four Years’ Diet (1788-1792), and King Stanisław August. Others are drawn from the instructions issued by Lithuanian dietines to their envoys in November 1790. On the basis of these examples and earlier research, the author cautiously concludes that in this period, while Lithuanian nobles did indeed speak of „the Lithuanian province” and „the Crown provinces”, they did not necessarily accept that the Commonwealth was constituted by three equal provinces. Likewise, while Lithuanian citizens tended to refer to identify „the nation” or „the Fatherland” with the Commonwealth as a whole, and even with „Poland” (which was almost never used in relation to the Corona Regni Poloniae), they continued also to speak of the „Lithuanian nation”. At this time, these concepts were not considered mutually exclusive.