Zjazd drezdeński w 1793 roku
The Dresden Congress of 1793

Summary/Abstract: This article examines one of the most significant stages, arguably even a turning point, in the preparations for the Kościuszko Uprising: the congress of Polish émigrés held in Dresden in early September 1793. In the historiography of the years 1792–1794, and particularly in studies of the activities of Polish patriots in Saxony during this period, this event has received little attention. The neglect results primarily from the scarcity of sources and the difficulties involved in accessing the surviving materials. The analysis presented here is based chiefly on the correspondence of Pierre Parandier, a French secret agent who, together with Ignacy Potocki, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Hugo Kołłątaj, and other émigrés, had resided in Leipzig since 1792, working to secure political support for the planned uprising. After several months of relative inaction, the émigrés reached a number of crucial decisions in September 1793 concerning both the preparations for the insurrection and their attempts to establish foreign alliances. Among the outcomes of the congress were a plan for the uprising itself, several accompanying documents, and an agreement on military desertion, previously misattributed to Wojciech Turski. Above all, from the time of the Dresden meeting, Parandier actively lobbied the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a declaration of support for the projected insurrection. This article therefore offers a comprehensive account of the event by presenting both established and newly uncovered findings. It reconstructs the circumstances, course, and consequences of the previously overlooked congress of Polish patriots in Dresden.

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