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The Constitution of 3 May 1791 and the mutual Pledge of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations laid the foundations for the civic political identity in Lithuania and Poland. The ideas and the spirit of the Constitution continue to inspire our countries up to this day.

The Four-Year Great Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (PLC), convened in 1788, passed its Constitution on 3 May 1791. It is boldly said that this was first written Constitution in Europe and, after the U.S. Constitution, only the second in the world.

The Constitution ensured that townspeople enjoyed close to equal rights with the landlords. It mentioned for the first time possible state protection of peasants in their relations with landlords. Thus, the term ‘nation’ in the Constitution no longer signified only the landlords, but also the populace of the cities. Even peasants were considered to be part of the nation. The Constitution completed the idea of the nation’s integrity and sovereignty. It was not a monarch with his army who had to defend the freedom of the nation, rather, all citizens of the state. The main law of the land was in line with the principles of civil society. It transformed the country into a constitutional monarchy.

The question Can the Constitution of 3 May be considered the Constitution of Lithuania? is occasionally posed. Despite the unitary nature of the Constitution, Articles III and IV clearly refer to ‘the States of the Republic’, that is, Poland and Lithuania. Not only were the common rulers referred to in the text of the Constitution, but reference is made to the Grand Duke of Lithuania - Vytautas the Great - and to the privileges granted by him to the Lithuanian landlords.

On 20 October 1791, in the sitting of the Four-Year Sejm, the Lithuanian delegation demanded that an amendment be added to the Constitution. This amendment was called the ‘Mutual Pledge of the Two Nations’. Pursuant to the Pledge, the main institutions in the executive branch established by the Constitution of 3 May - the military and treasury commissions (ministries) - were required to have equal numbers of members from Poland and the Lithuania, while Polish and Lithuanian chairmen (ministers) were to preside over them in turn. Although there is written reference to: ‘a common Homeland - the Republic of Poland’, ‘both nations’ and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were mentioned repeatedly in the text of the Pledge. Thus, the Constitution of 3 May reintroduced the concept of a dual state.

As a result, the Constitution of 3 May was seen as an act of revival of Lithuania. The reforms promoted social and political developments in Lithuanian society. They also paved the way for new opportunities for Lithuanian language and culture.

It was no coincidence that at that time, the Constitution was translated into the Lithuanian language. It is the first political and legal document in the Lithuanian language. Until then, only religious texts and works of fiction were available in Lithuanian.

Find out the historical context and causes that led to the birth of the Constitution of 3 May: Part I and Part II.