American Ambassador Jones, seeing the two men preparing to leave with the pamphlets, suddenly remembered the instructions in the letter from the Crown Prince of France and hurriedly called out to them, saying solemnly, "I trust you have come to understand the current situation. The primary task is to preserve Poland and to counter the ambition of the Russians, so I hope you will support the King, after all, he can rally more Polish people to resist Russia."
"Oh, and you must temporarily set aside your religious demands... I don't mean to stop you from spreading Catholicism, but that should come after Poland's crisis is resolved."
"If the Bar Confederation can make an outstanding contribution to resisting the Russian invasion, I believe, the Polish public will come to favor Catholicism even more," he added.
The two men, upon hearing the word "Bar Confederation," instinctively shrank and looked around nervously.
Yes, they were among the few remaining members of the Bar Confederation in Poland. Seven years ago, some patriotic Polish nobility, in order to maintain the country's political and diplomatic independence and oppose Russia's infiltration into Poland, had formed the Bar Confederation.
At first, the Confederation raised an army and expelled Russian forces across Poland, seizing the opportunity of the Rebellion of Kreivaishenna, expanding into the territories of Lithuania and Ukraine[Note 1]. In addition, the Confederation actively incited the Ottoman Empire to wage war against Russia, which somewhat led to the Fifth Russo-Turkish War.
However, as the Confederation grew, its policies began to drift.
First, it declared opposition to the King of Poland—after all, Stanisław August Poniatowski was Catherine II's former lover, and his election as King of Poland[Note 2] had the factor of the Tsar of Russia bribing the Polish Congress. Therefore, the Bar Confederation was extremely averse to this King, declaring that they wanted to depose him, and at one point even briefly kidnapped Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Then, the Confederation fell into religious fervor, starting to aggressively promote Catholicism in Poland and persecute Protestant and Eastern Orthodox believers.
Thus, Catherine II, in alliance with Prussia and Austria, launched an invasion of Poland under the pretext of protecting the King of Poland and the Eastern Orthodox believers.
The Bar Confederation could not withstand the might of Russia's large army for long and was soon crushed, while the Prussian-Austrian forces did not stop there but occupied the Polish territories they desired.
That was the beginning and the end of the first partition of Poland.
After the war, most of the Confederation's leaders and their families were imprisoned in concentration camps built in Lithuania, and a small part was exiled to Siberia.
Although the Bar Confederation had failed, Joseph was aware that they were the most staunchly anti-Russian group in Poland and that as long as they did not engage in religious fanaticism, they had considerable support among the civilian population and the army.
There was no one more suitable than them to promote Polish national consciousness.
By cultivating national consciousness, it would be possible to greatly strengthen Poland's internal cohesion while shrinking the space where pro-Russian traitors could operate. After all, the ease with which Russia, Prussia, and Austria could partition Poland had a lot to do with Poland's internal divisions among Poles, Lithuanians, Slavs, and Germans, who had their own languages, policies, and would sabotage each other in the face of foreign invasion.
Given Poland's population and land area, if they truly came together, it would be very difficult for Russia, Prussia, and Austria to subdue it quickly.
Moreover, should Poland's situation one day become irrevocable, it would also be possible to leverage the influence of the Bar Confederation to raise resistance forces among the Polish civilians and engage in guerrilla warfare against Russia, Prussia, and Austria for years.
This was the residence of Prince Poniatowski, the nephew of the King of Poland.
At this time, Jones was strolling through the garden behind the house with several Polish nobles, much like a casual afternoon chat.
"In fact, what concerns the major families is that the abolition of the liberum veto would restrict the power of the Congress," a nobleman around sixty years old looked toward the American ambassador to Poland, "So, it might be best to first introduce a constitution with the separation of powers, while simultaneously addressing the liberum veto issue."
What he referred to as the "liberum veto" was the infamously pernicious Polish practice wherein any member of parliament could veto any legislation, effectively preventing any reform and progress within Poland.
"Yes, I am all too familiar with this kind of political wrangling," Jones nodded, speaking Polish, "It's really headache-inducing in the U.S. Congress as well."
"At such times, we need a leader of the highest political authority to unify the differing opinions," he said.
Prince Poniatowski sighed with a sense of resignation: "His Majesty the King, ah, as you know, is always so agreeable...," he said.
Jones turned to look at him: "Perhaps, Your Highness could represent His Majesty in rallying those Congress members."
The senior nobleman beside him immediately shook his head: "The Potocki family certainly won't listen to His Highness, oh, nor will the haughty Czartoryski family."
He was an elder of the Poniatowski family, obviously the King of Poland's family, yet not the largest family in Poland.
At present, Polish politics was essentially controlled by fewer than ten noble families, and getting anything through Congress without their cooperation was practically impossible.
Jones, recalling the letter from the Crown Prince of France, said gravely, "Poland is at a very dangerous edge, and perhaps at this moment, we need to resort to some less gentlemanly means. Currently, Your Highness is in charge of the recruitment and training of the army, and you must use that to your advantage."
"As for the Potocki family, perhaps they have done some deeds that would be despised by others. If other families learned about it, they would surely delight in dismantling their influence."