Tadeusz Rejtan was a deputy in the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1773, infamously known as the Partition Sejm. The Sejm convened to review the demands of the Commonwealth's three neighbours (the Russian Empire, Prussia and the Archduchy of Austria) in order to legalize their territorial demands, known as the First Partition of Poland. The Sejm operated under duress, with the immediate threat of foreign forces present in the Commonwealth, and with a significant number of deputies either bribed or threatened by foreign diplomats. The three powers officially justified their actions as a compensation for dealing with a troublesome neighbor and restoring order through military intervention in the civil war (the War of Bar Confederation); in fact all three were interested in territorial gains.