Vilnius General Confederation of 1764

This article investigates the atmosphere of the last Polish-Lithuanian State interregnum and the work of the Lithuanian General Confederation in it. The Polish Noble Confederation of XVI—XVIII centuries has been well enough discussed in the Polish historiography. This can not be said, however, about the history of confederations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The confederation under discussion operated in Vilnius from 1764 till 1766. At that time there were a lot of intrigues for the election of a new king, and there was a fight between two dignitary groups: the so-called „republicans“ and Czartoryscy in the Polish-Lithuanian State. On April 16, 1764, Vilnius General Confederation started as non constitutional means to solve the collision between the two contradictory noble groups. It ended as a constitutional means of the Convocation Seym. The Confederation was organized by Czartoryscy who was supported by Russia, and it was against the „republican“ party, especially its leader Radziwill. This Seym made quite a lot of reforms concerning the ruling of the State. It worked in the limits of the Lithuanian General Confederation and it was confederate. The analysis of the content of the accepted confederate acts shows that this confederation, as well as the other forms of parliament, was a partial state representation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This confederation was a more effective institution than the Seym, because they solved the questions by a majority of votes, but not by using the liberum veto principle. The confederation of the Grand Duchy was solving ail affairs independently from Poland, until they united in September 1764. A common confederation of the two nations when the king Poniatowski was elected, continued its work until the Seym of 1766. The Confederations of XVI—XVIII centuries of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are white spots in the Lithuanian historiography. The research of the noble confederation, to be investigated as a legislative institution and not as a military' organization, can be taken into account as one of the possible variants of the analysis