movement, and has been said to have acted as the party's political agitators. The Forge's proposals were highly refined; Kołłątaj's "Political Law", which included a proposal for a new constitution, became a major inspiration for the debated new constitution. In 1790 the party acquired royal support, as the King joined the reformers. During the Four-Year Sejm, the Party secured various reforms such as improvement of the territorial administration, abolishment of the Permanent Council, increase of the army to 100,000 soldiers, and improved and increased taxation, with an income tax on Church and nobles. In its most important achievement, the Party secured adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The constitution further reformed the executive and legislature, notably abolishing the liberum veto and reintroducing hereditary monarchy to the Commonwealth. The Constitution has been described as one of the first modern constitutions, and one of the first attempts, outside France, to bring the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment to life. After the Constitution was passed, the Party formed the Society of Friends of the Government Ordinance (Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej), a political club, to defend the reforms already enacted and to promote further, including economic, ones. The Party and the Society are often referred to as the first Polish political party. In 1791–1792 the Party was supported by a newspaper, Gazeta Narodowa i Obca (National and Foreign Gazette), which functioned as the Party's informal press outlet. Opposition and failure The opponents to the Patriotic Party were mostly grouped in the Hetmans' Party (Stronnictwo hetmańskie), and included Hetmans Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, Franciszek Ksawery Branicki and Seweryn Rzewuski. They formed the Targowica Confederation in defense of the traditional Golden Liberties and the Cardinal Laws, and called on the Russian Empire for assistance. Empress Catherine II of Russia readily obliged, as she saw the Constitution as a threat to Russian influence in the Commonwealth, and a possible long-term danger to absolute monarchy in Russia itself. After the War in Defense of the Constitution, which was won by the Confederates and their Russian allies, the Patriotic Party's principal leaders – Kołłątaj, Potocki, Małachowski – emigrated abroad, where they prepared the ground for the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. The subsequent failure of that Uprising in turn led to the Third Partition of Poland, ending the existence of the Commonwealth. The Patriotic Party's attempts to reform the Commonwealth thus ultimately brought about its total demise. Main