Estates of Galicia
|
Sejm of the Estates Postulate Sejm Sejm stanowy Stany galicyjskie Sejm postulatowy |
|
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Seats | varied between 41 (1834) and 289 (1782) |
| Elections | |
|
Last election
|
1845 |
| Meeting place | |
| Lemberg (Lviv, Lwów) | |
The Sejm of the Estates (Polish: sejm stanowy) or Estates of Galicia (Polish: stany galicyjskie) were the parliament in the first half of the 19th century Galicia region in Austrian Empire. The body existed from 1775 to 1845. In the history of the Polish parliament, it succeeded the general sejm and local sejmik on the territories of the Austrian partition. The Estates were disbanded following the Kraków Uprising of 1846. In 1861 they were succeeded by the Sejm of the Land (Polish: sejm krajowy).
The estates in question were primarily clergy and nobility, with a token townsfolk representation. Peasantry was not represented.
Parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Lesser Poland territories were included in the Austrian partition as early as the First Partition of Poland in 1772. In order to reduce dissent, the Austrian Empire in 1775 allowed the Polish nobility (szlachta) of the newly acquired territories to continue their tradition of holding local parliament-like meetings, and gave the permission for an advisory body, the Postulate Sejm (Polish: sejm postulatowy), to be held every year. The implementation of the Postulate Sejm was delayed, and eventually it held only four sessions, all in Lviv (Lwów): in 1782, 1784, 1786 and 1788. The body had no real power; it could only write petitions to the monarch, who had no obligation to act on them. Polish legal scholar Stanisław Grodziski noted that while the Sejm, on the surface, continued the Polish parliamentary tradition, the real goal of the powerless body, as intended by the Austrian court, was to drive a wedge between the various groups of Polish nobility, reducing their unity and influence. The Postulate Sejm was composed of wealthy nobility and two deputies from the city of Lviv. The sessions lasted a few days each. The 1788 session was the last one; parts of the Austrian-held Commonwealth territories were briefly included in the Duchy of Warsaw following the Polish–Austrian War in 1806, and the populace represented at the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw, but this was short lived, as the territories in question were restored to Austria following the Duchy's occupation and the terms of the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
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