XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

This article examines the alleged plan of Lithuanian Grand Hetman Ludwik Pociej (1664–1730) to remove the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Augustus II (1697–1733) from the throne and the appearance of the only evidence of this plan – instructions, stored in the Saxon State Archives. Until now historiographers believed that L. Pociej sent voivode of Trakai K. Ogiński to the Russian Tsar Peter I (1682–1725) with a proposal for dethronement, claiming that the King of Poland was secretly negotiating with anti-Russian forces and planning to carry out a coup of absolutism in the Republic. Peter I allegedly agreed to support the Lithuanian aspiration by promising 15 thousand Russian soldiers. However, the instruction is most likely a forgery. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the fact that the timing of the K. Ogiński's trip and the timing of the emergence of the instruction do not coincide. K. Ogiński was sent to St. Petersburg by L. Pociej, or travelled on his own initiative, in December of 1713, yet this alleged instruction the Saxon diplomats showed to the Russian diplomat only in the August of 1714, i.e. nine months later. Novoselsky, mentioned in this instruction, did not actually go to Russia with K. Ogiński, later solving some other problems, the purpose of his mission was actually to meet not with Peter I, but with Alexander Menshikov. Peter I could hardly satisfy the Lithuanian request for help because the dethronement of Augustus II in no way benefited him. A much more realistic scenario is that L. Pociej, through the mediation of K. Ogiński, appealed to the tsar to reserve the office of the Great Lithuanian Hetman for him and asked the tsar whether he supported the deployment of the Saxon army in the Republic. Perhaps a complaint could have been made that Augustus II was preparing for a coup of absolute monarchy. Who could have falsified this document? Most likely option is that the document could have been forged by L. Pociej's political opponents, of whom there were two at the time: Lithuanian Field Hetman, marshal of the Sandomierz Confederation Stanisław Denhoff and elder of Babruysk Jan Kazimierz Sapieha. It cannot be ruled out that the forgery may have been initiated by Augustus II himself.