BAR, CONFEDERATION OF, a famous confederation of the Polish nobles and gentry formed at the little fortress of Bar in Podolia in 1768 to defend the internal and external inde pendence of Poland against the aggressions of the Russian Gov ernment as represented by her representative at Warsaw, Prince Nicholas Repnin. The originators of this confederation were Adam Krasinski, bishop of Kamenets, Osip Pulawski and Michael Krasinski. The confederates, being attacked by the king, Stanis laus, appealed for help abroad and contributed to bring about a war between Russia and Turkey. Their bands under Ignaty Malchewsky, Michael Pac and Prince Charles Radziwill ravaged the land in every direction, won several engagements with the Russians, and at last, utterly ignoring the king, sent envoys on their own account to the principal European powers.
In 17 7o the council of the confederation was transferred from its original seat in Silesia to Hungary, from whence it conducted diplomatic negotiations with France, Austria and Turkey with the view to forming a league against Russia. The court of Ver sailles sent Dumouriez to act as commander-in-chief of the con federates, and their army, thoroughly reorganized by him, gal lantly maintained the hopeless struggle for some years. It was not till 1776 that the last traces of it disappeared.
See Alexander Kraushar, Prince Repnin in Poland (Pol.), (Warsaw, 'goo) ; F. A. Thesby de Belcour, The Confederates of Bar (Pol.) (Cracow, 1895) ; Charles Francois Dumouriez, Memoires et corre spondance (Paris, 1834) .