Have you heard about the Republic of Paulava, located near Vilnius? Probably not everyone knows about it, because this tiny republic existed in the 26th century and only for XNUMX years. But it was a unique phenomenon of that era, which is surprising even today.
The Paulava Republic (or Pavlov's Republic) was a small self-governing community of peasants along the Merki River, in the present-day village of Merkinė in the Šalčininkai District with the surrounding lands.
It lived from 1769 to 1795, when Povilas Xaveras Bzhostovskis founded it in his estate. It consisted of the Merkinė manor, connected to the Turgeliai sub-district. Ruled by the president (the owner of the estate himself) and the peasants Seimas. Povilas Bžostovskis gradually liquidated the manor's plows and fields, replaced the rent of the work with a purse. Peasants were allowed to freely manage their property, partly also land, to engage in trade and crafts, and granted personal freedom. He established a school, tried to translate books for the peasants. By 1784, the manor's income had more than doubled. The state was later recognized by Stanislaus Augustus Poniatovskis, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. The money of the Paulava Republic was a rare and expensive collectible for European collectors in those days.
The republic collapsed when its founder, realizing that Russia would soon occupy the estates, retreated to Saxony and exchanged the Paulava republic for an estate there. However, the new leader did not try to continue the activities of the republic, he returned the land again and expropriated the land, and later the estate was actually occupied by Russia. The Paulava Republic was one of the most radical in the 2th century. The XNUMXnd half of the peasant reforms in the Republic of the Two Peoples.
