page_title: History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795)
section_title: Russian protectorate and First Partition
hierarchical_section_title: History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795) / Reforms and partitions during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764–1795) / Russian protectorate and First Partition
context_page_description: The early modern era of Polish history follows the late Middle Ages. Historians use the term early modern to refer to the period beginning in approximately 1500 AD and lasting until around 1800.
  The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish diet in 1505 transferred legislative power from the king to the diet. This event marked the beginning of the period known as the "Nobles' Democracy" or "Nobles' Commonwealth". The state was ruled by the "free and equal" Polish nobility or szlachta, albeit in intense, and at times destabilizing, competition with the Jagiellon and then elective kings.
  The Union of Lublin of 1569 constituted the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely merged continuation of the already existing personal union of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The beginning of the Commonwealth coincided with the period of Poland's greatest territorial expansion, power, civilizational advancement and prosperity. The Polish–Lithuanian state had become an influential player in Europe and a vital cultural entity, spreading Western culture eastward.
context_section_description: More enlightened Poles realized by now that reforms were necessary. One faction, led by the Czartoryski family, sought to abolish the fatal liberum veto and promoted a broad reform program; their main rivals were the Potocki family faction. The Czartoryskis entered into collaboration with the Russians, and in 1764 Empress Catherine II of Russia dictated the election of a member of the Czartoryski clan, her former favorite and lover, Stanisław August Poniatowski, as king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Partially confounding expectations that he would be an obedient servant of his former mistress, Stanislaw August encouraged a modernization of his realm's dysfunctional political system and achieved a temporary moratorium on use of the liberum veto in sejm (1764–1766). This threatened to increase the strength of central government and brought displeasure in the foreign capitals that preferred an inert, pliable Poland. Displeased Catherine encouraged religious dissension in Poland-Lithuania's substantial Eastern Orthodox population, which had lost the rights guaranteed to them in the 16th century.
  Under heavy Russian pressure, the unhappy sejm introduced religious toleration and  Orthodox and Protestant equality with Catholics in 1767. Through the Polish nobles that Russia controlled (the Confederation of Radom) and Russian Minister to Warsaw Prince Nicholas Repnin, Catherine forced a sejm constitution (comprehensive legislation), which undid Poniatowski's reforms of 1764. The liberum veto and other old abuses of szlachta power were guaranteed as unalterable parts of this new constitution.
  Poland was however also compelled to sign a treaty of guarantee with Russia, where Catherine was imposed as protector (guarantor) of the Polish political system. The system could not be changed without Russia's approval, and thus the Commonwealth became de facto a Russian protectorate. The real power in Poland lay with the Russian ambassadors, and the Polish king became to a significant degree an executor of their will.
  This situation provoked in 1768 a Catholic uprising and civil war known as the Confederation of Bar. The Confederation was a league of Polish nobles that fought against the King and Russian forces until 1772, to revoke the Empress' mandate. The Confederation's warfare and defeat provoked in part a partition of the Commonwealth (seizure of its outer territories) by its neighbors. Although Catherine initially opposed partition, King Frederick II of Prussia, interested in territorial gains and in neutralizing Austria's threatening military position, promoted a partition scheme that would be favorable to the interests of all three partitioning states. Emperor Joseph II of the Habsburg Monarchy and then Empress Catherine agreed, and in 1772 Russia, Prussia, and Austria forced the terms of partition upon the helpless Commonwealth, under the pretext of quelling anarchy and restoring order.
caption: Rejtan - The Fall of Poland. In September 1773 Tadeusz Rejtan dramatically tried to prevent the legalization of the First Partition of Poland in the Polish Sejm.
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