What were the diplomatic relations between Poland Lithuania and Revolutionary France in the late 18th century ?

by IHateConspiracists

Both states were going through a period of turmoil and revolution resulting in the implementation of vast liberal reforms and the establishment of a constitution, they also had common enemies in the form of Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Considering the political alignment and geopolitical convenience of an alliance, why wasn't such alliance formed ? What was the relationship between these two states ? And how did the french revolutionaries see Poland and vice versa ?

Augenis

So, as a preface, the relationship between France and the Polish-Lithuanian republic was already very complex by that point and France had historically been one of the most important actors in its political affairs, near Russia and Austria in importance. Two of the Polish-Lithuanian royal elections elected French nobles (Henry Valois, later Henry III of France in 1573, and François Louis de Conti in 1697), and France historically backed other candidates to the Republic's throne - Stanisław Leszczyński was perhaps the most famous, and after two failed attempts to seize the throne, he eventually retired in France as duke of Lorraine.

So, Polish and Lithuanian nobles were well aware of the events happening in France, and indeed the philosophical underpinings behind the French revolutionaries also affected the reformist movements in the Republic, which had concentrated in the so-called Patriotic Party. Jean-Jacques Rousseau addressed the issue of government reforms in Poland specifically.

By the time the French Revolutionary Wars truly began, however, the Republic and France were far from preferable allies for one another. Poland-Lithuania had already suffered one Partition, in 1772, and by late 1791, when relations between France and Austria had deteriorated to the point of possible war, it was already gripped by civil conflict, deputies and sejmiks were refusing the Constitution of May 3rd and the roots for the Targowica Confederation, which was founded on April of next year, were already planted. In this situation, Polish-Lithuanian ministers were desperately seeking an alliance to prevent a second partition - and they were reaching out to Prussia, rather than France, which was distant, focused on its own problems, revolution and impending war, and could not provide significant forces. France had historically backed Polish uprisings such as Leszczyński's claim to the throne in the War of Polish Succession, and the Bar Confederation, but their forces on Polish soil were always meager in those interventions, nothing that could deter a likely Russian invasion (which eventually happened, and led to the short-lived Polish-Russian War of 1792).

For France, a weak Poland, surrounded by hostile powers and which was still seen as anarchic among the French elite due to long running stereotypes from the 18th century, would have been a liability than a useful ally, so there was no serious attempt to form a Polish-French alliance from that side during this period, either.