Lietuvos kariuomenės reformos 1764-1776 metais

LTXVIII a. II pusė mūsų istorijoje žinoma kaip reformų laikotarpis. Bandymas gelbėti tai, ką dar buvo galima išgelbėti, tik dabar Lietuvos istoriografijoje susilaukia deramo dėmesio, todėl šis straipsnis nors šiek tiek užpildys tuštumą, susidariusią dėl politinių, kultūrinių ir istorinių XIX-XX a. problemų. Nedidelis, tik dvylika metų apimantis pradinis Čartoriskių reformų laikotarpis, buvo gana ženklus valstybės gyvenime. Darbe bus bandoma apžvelgti, kokie procesai vyko Europos valstybėse, kurie veiksniai skatino, o kurie stabdė reformų vykdymą, kokie ypatumai buvo būdingi LDK kariuomenės reformoms. Pabaigoje bus pateiktos išvados, apibūdinančios reformų politinę ir karinę reikšmę [p. 561].

ENAccording to the Constitution of 1717 the strength of the Lithuanian army, constituting a part of the armed forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was 6,000 men. However, at the end of the reign of Augustus III it had only 4,000 men, divided into two parts, called autoraments: the Autorament of Foreigners (infantry, dragoons and artillery) and the Polish (or National) Autorament (hussars, petihores and light cavalry, made up of Tartars and cossacks). That small army was under the control of two commanders: the great hetman and the field hetman, both of them being appointed to those posts for life by the sovereign. In 1764 the new ruler Stanislaw Augustus Poniatowski and his ‘Family’ party started a programme of reforms. At first the Commissions of War and Treasury were established. Afterwards four Guards regiments were placed at the disposal of the King. Then followed the founding of the Cadet Corps in Warsaw for the sons of the gentry. After the Diet of 1764 decisions on the increased financing of the army could be adopted by simple majority (previously - unanimous vote was required). Salaries of the military were raised and the Home of the Invalids was set up in the Diet of 1766. Prussia and Russia controlled all the processes in the Republic. In 1767 under Russia’s guidance the confederation of Radom was formed with Karolis Stanislovas Radvila at its head. That movement made theKing and his party relinquish some of the reforms in the Diet of 1768.The civil war, associated with the Confederation of Bar, took place in the Commonwealth in 1768-1772 and afterwards the Polish-Lithuanian state was divided for the first time. Three countries - Russia, Prussia and Austria - signed a treaty, establishing the government form of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Concilium Permanentis, the Permanent Council, consisting of four Departments (of War, Police, Treasury and International Relations) was set up. The three countries sanctioned the increase of the army in the Republic to 30,000 men. In 1775 this number was adopted by the Diet of 1773-1775. The powers of Stanislaw Augustus in military matters, strengthened in 1764, were reduced again - the Guards regiments were put back at the disposal of the hetmans. The legal rights of the Permanent Council as a new form of government were not adequately described and that caused new problems. Duke Bra- nitski, the great hetman of the Crown, began pursuing an independent separatist policy, thus raising the question of the competence of the War Department and the War Commission of the Grand Duchy. The Diet of 1776 again re-established the King’s rights in regard to the four Guards regiments, abolished the two War commissions, delegating their functions to the Permanent Commission of the War Department. A new military personnel structure was introduced. The army could be increased in case of extra collections in the Treasury.The army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was not the only armed force in the country - there were also private armies, comprising three to eight thousand men. The reforms solved the problem of the state and private armies, and new troops were established. The Czartoriskis (later - king’s) party was the driving force behind the reforms. Some of them were successful, however, due to the resistance of the gentry their implementation was not secured. Nevertheless, the effected changes (the formation of a single institution of the War Department, the replacement of the hetmans by a corporate board, the general restructuring of the army) contributed to the formation of a small, but well-organized army, capable of effective defense.