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W obronie ojczyzny i we własnym interesie. Poselstwo Kazimierza Jana Sapiehy do Moskwy w 1678 r

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From the beginning of King Jan III Sobieskis reign, one of the main objectives of his foreign policy was to regain the Duchy of Prussia. It was to be supported by alliances and foreign treaties, and against this background it is possible to observe the rivalries between the political parties in Lithuania. To achieve his plan, the king had to make peace with Turkey and normalize relations with Moscow, hence the start of a mission which included the Voivode of Połock (now Polotsk, Belarus), Kazimierz Jan Sapieha, and the Voivode of Volhynia, Michał Jerzy Czartoryski. They made an unusually ceremonious entry into Moscow on 17 May 1678 but the negotiations were extremely difficult sińce neither side was willing to compromise. The terms of the agreement were not signed until 17 August 1678. The mission—despite serious difficulties—was not a complete diplomatic disaster, although the conditions which had been negotiated could not be considered a success, either. On the other hand, Kazimierz Jan Sapieha acąuired the necessary diplomatic experience which he began using in his contact with Versailles, Berlin and Vienna from the early 1680s onwards.