Yesterdays Useful Idiots - parallels and a warning to todays EU?

 

Tadeusz Olszowski and the Great Sejm: The Tragedy of the "Useful Fools"

During the pivotal Great Sejm (1788–1792), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth faced a looming existential threat from neighboring empires. The nation split into two fierce ideological camps over how to save the state, and Tadeusz Olszowski (belonging to the older Prus II Wilczekosy branch) stood firmly on the conservative, anti-reform side of this historical divide.

The Defense of "Golden Liberties"

While progressive reformers pushed for a modernized, centralized state, Tadeusz and his political allies operated within the Hetman Party (Stronnictwo Hetmańskie). They believed that Poland’s true strength lay in its ancient system of noble democracy, known as the "Golden Liberties" (Złota Wolność).

When the landmark Constitution of May 3, 1791 was passed, Tadeusz actively opposed it. He and his faction viewed its core reforms—specifically the abolition of the liberum veto (the right of any single noble to block legislation) and the strengthening of the royal government—as a dangerous step toward tyranny that would strip the nobility of their historic privileges.

The Geopolitical Trap

Driven by a blind obsession with stopping these centralizing reforms, the conservative leadership made a catastrophic geopolitical miscalculation. In 1792, they formed the infamous Targowica Confederation (Konfederacja Targowicka) and formally appealed to Russian Empress Catherine the Great for military intervention to overthrow the new Constitution.

• The "Useful Idiots" of St. Petersburg: While mid-tier noblemen like Tadeusz likely believed they were genuinely defending traditional freedom, they acted as classic "useful fools" for foreign powers.

• The Cost of Division: The Russian Empire did not care about noble democracy; it simply used the internal chaos and the conservatives' invitation as the perfect excuse to march imperial troops into Poland.

Instead of saving traditional liberties, the conservative opposition paralyzed the Commonwealth's unified defense. Their actions broke the state from within and paved the way directly for the Second and Third Partitions, which erased Poland from the map for 123 years.

Source: Gemini, Google and ChatGTP - may require review