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The Partitions of Poland (Polish Rozbiór or Rozbiory Polski, Lithuanian Padalijimas) happened in the 18th century and ended the existence of a sovereign state of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They involved Prussia, Russia and Austria dividing up the Polish-Lithuanian lands between themselves. The three partitions occurred in:

• February 17, 1772
• January 21, 1793
• October 1795.

The term "Fourth Partition of Poland" may refer to any of subsequent divisions of the Polish lands, specifically:

• After the end of the Napoleonic Era, the division of Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna (1815)
• The incorporation of the so-called Congress Kingdom into Russia in 1832 and the subsequent incorporation of the Republic of Kraków into Austria (1846)
• The division of Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.

History

Prelude

One could characterise Poland-Lithuania before the partitions as already not a completely sovereign state: in modern terms it would be a Russian satellite state, with Russian Emperors effectively choosing the Polish kings. During the reign of Władysław IV (1632-48), the liberum veto had evolved. This policy of parliamentary procedure was based on the assumption of the political equality of every "gentleman", with the corollary that unanimous consent was required for all measures. A single MP's belief that a measure was injurious to his own constituency (usually simply his own estate), even after the act had already been approved, became sufficient to strike the act. Needless to say, it became increasingly impossible to get much of anything done. The liberum veto also provided openings for foreign diplomats to get their ways through bribing nobles to exercise it.

Poland had remained neutral in the Seven Years' War, though sympathizing with the alliance of France, Austria, and Russia while allowing Russian troops access to its western lands as bases against Prussia. Frederick II of Prussia retaliated by ordering enough Polish currency counterfeited to severely affect the Polish economy. Through the Polish nobles that Russia controlled and Russian Minister to Warsaw Prince Nikolai Repnin, Empress Catherine the Great forced a constitution, which undid the reforms of 1764 under Stanislaw II, on Poland in 1767. The liberum veto and all the old abuses of the last 1 1/4 centuries were guaranteed as unalterable parts of this new constitution. Poland had been forced to rely on Russia for protection against the rising Prussian tide, while Brandenburg-Prussia was demanding a slice of the northwest in order to unite its Western and Eastern portions and make itself contiguous, although this would only leave Poland with a Baltic coast in Latvia and NW Lithuania.

Repnin had been able to demand religious freedom for the Protestant and Orthodox Christians, and the resulting reaction among Poland's Roman Catholic leadership, as well as the deep resentment of Russia's meddling in Poland's domestic affairs, led to the War of the Confederation of Bar with Russia from 1768 to 1772. Poland could never be liquidated unless its longtime ally, Austria, allowed it, and first Catherine had to use diplomacy to win Austria to her side.

The neighbours of Poland, namely Prussia, Austria and Russia, signed a secret agreement in order to maintain the status quo: specifically, to ensure that Polish laws would not change. Their alliance later became known in Poland as the "Alliance of the Three Black Eagles", because all three states used a black eagle as a state symbol (in contrast to the white eagle, a symbol of Poland).

The Poles tried to expel foreign forces in an uprising (the Confederation of Bar, 1768–1772), but the irregular and poorly commanded forces had no chance in face of the regular Russian army and suffered crushing defeat.

First Partition

On February 19, 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in Vienna. A previous agreement between Prussia and Russia had been made in St. Petersburg on February 6, 1772. Early in August the Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously entered Poland and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. On August 5, 1772, the occupation manifesto was issued; much to the consternation of a country too exhausted by the endeavours of the Confederation of Bar to offer further resistance.

The regiments of the Confederation, whose executive board had been forced to leave Austria after that country joined the Prusso-Russian alliance, did not lay down their arms. Every fortress in their command held out as long as possible. Famous was the defence of Tyniec, which lasted until the end of March 1773, and also that of Czestochowa commanded by Pulaski. Kraków fell on April 28th, captured by the Russian general Suvorov who exiled the garrison to Siberia. Neither France nor Britain, upon whom hopes had been based, helped in a sufficient measure or protested when the partition was executed. So came to an end the ill-organized attempt of Poland to repulse the foreign aggression. It had cost about a hundred thousand men and once more laid the country waste, it was the first demonstration of the reviving national consciousness.

The partition treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22, 1772. Frederick of Prussia was elated with his success; Kaunitz of Austria was proud of wresting as large a share as he did, with the rich salt mines of Bochnia and Wieliczka; and Catherine of Russia was also very satisfied. By this "diplomatic document" Russia came into possession of that section of Livonia which had still remained in Polish hands, and of Belarus embracing the counties of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mstislavl; Prussia took Ermland (Warmia) and West Prussia as far as the Netze and embracing the county of Pomerania, without the city of Danzig (Gdansk), the counties of Marienburg (Malbork), Kulm (Chełmno), without the City of Thorn (Toruń), and some districts in Greater Poland; and to Austria fell Zator and Auschwitz (Oswiecim), part of Little Poland embracing parts of the counties of Kraków and Sandomir and the whole of Galicia, less the City of Kraków. By this partition the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 30% of its territory, amounting at that time to about 484,000 square miles, and about four million people. The largest share of the spoils, as far as population and revenue were concerned, went to Austria.

After having occupied their respective territories, the three partitioning powers demanded that King Stanislaus and the Sejm approve their action. The King appealed to the nations of Western Europe for help and tarried with the convocation of the Sejm. When no help was forthcoming and the armies of the combined nations occupied Warsaw to compel by force of arms the calling of the assembly, no alternative could be chosen save passive submission to their will. Those of the senators who advised against this step were arrested and exiled to Siberia by the representatives of Catherine. The local land assemblies refused to elect Deputies to the Sejm, and after great difficulties less than half of the regular number of representatives came to attend the session led by Adam Lodzia Poninski, the commander of the Malta Order, a cynic and notorious gambler. In order to prevent the disruption of the Sejm and the defeat of the purpose of the invaders he undertook to turn the regular Sejm into a Sejm of a Confederacy, where majority rule prevailed. In spite of the dramatic efforts of Tadeusz Reytan, Samuel Korsak and others to prevent it, the deed was accomplished with the aid of Michael Radziwill and the Bishops Mlodzieyowski, Massalski, and Ostrowski, who occupied high positions of State. The Sejm elected a committee of thirty to deal with the various matters presented. On September 18, 1773, the Committee formally signed the treaty of cession, renouncing all claims of Poland to the occupied territories.

By seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly gained control over 80% of Poland's total foreign trade. Through levying enormous custom duties on Polish trade using this route, Prussia accelerated the inevitable collapse of Poland (EB.)

Second Partition

By 1790, on the political front, the First Polish Republic had deteriorated into such a helpless condition that it was successfully forced into an unnatural and ultimately deadly alliance with its mortal enemy, Prussia. The Polish-Prussian Pact of 1790 was signed. Its chief architect, Ignacy Potocki, was Grand Master of Polish Masonry, and the conditions of the Pact were such that the succeeding and final two partitionings of Poland were inevitable, in the circumstances . The Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of Repnin's constitution. Once again Poland dared to reform and improve itself without Russia's permission, and once again the Empress was angered and invaded it in 1792 (EB.)

The adoption by the Commonwealth of the May Constitution of Poland prompted aggressive actions on the part of its neighbours, wary of the potential renaissance of the Commonwealth. In the War in Defense of the Constitution, pro-Russian Polish magnates, the Confederation of Targowica, with neutral support from Austria fought against the Polish forces supporting the constitution. Betrayed by their Prussian allies, pro-constitution forces were defeated and the 2nd and 3rd partitions happened over the next few years, effectively terminating the existence of Commonwealth. In the 2nd partition, Russia and Prussia helped themselves to enough more land so that only one-third of the 1772 population remained in Poland.

• See also Kosciuszko Uprising, Grodno Sejm

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Third Partition

Main article: Partitioned Poland (1795–1914)

Russian part included 120,000 km² and 1.2 million people with Vilnius, Prussian part 55,000 km² and 1 million people with Warsaw, Austrian 47,000km² with 1.2 million and Lublin and Kraków.

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Aftermath

Napoleon set up the Duchy of Warsaw in a smaller area of Poland, but after his defeat and the implementation of the Congress of Vienna programme, things became even worse for Poles than before. The internationally agreed aim, as recorded in the sentiments of the Congress of Vienna, was to inculcate the persuasion that "nothing good can come out of Poland," and "nothing good and acceptable must be ascribed to Poland and its Poles ." Russia gained a larger share of Poland and, after crushing an insurrection in 1831, the Congress Kingdom of Poland's autonomy was abolished and Poles faced confiscation of property, deportation, forced military service, and the closure of their own universities. After the rising of 1863, Russification of Polish secondary schools was imposed and literacy rate dropped dramatically. In the Austrian portion, Poles became the second nationality and were allowed representation in Parliament and to form their own universities, and Krakow and Lvov became centers of Polish education. Meanwhile, Prussia Germanized the entire school system of its Polish subjects and had no more respect for Polish culture and institutions than Russia had. It would take the Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles to restore Poland's independence after 123 years.

Assessment

Reading mainstream historians, one finds the claim that the regional powers partitioned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth because of the degeneration of the state and because of the inability of the Poles to rule themselves at the time. Nevertheless the darkest period of Polish history and the nadir in the degeneration of the state occurred in the first half of the 18th century, whereas the partitions happened when Poland had been showing the beginning signs of a slow recovery — in fact many Polish historians see the last two partitions as an answer to strengthening reforms in the Commonwealth and the potential threat they represented to its neighbours.

See also

• Great Emigration
• Hotel Lambert

References

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• History of Lithuania
• History of Poland
• History of Russia
• History of Belarus