page_title: History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795)
section_title: Destruction of Poland-Lithuania
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) / Destruction of Poland-Lithuania
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: Passage of the constitution alarmed many nobles, some of whom would lose considerable stature under the new order. In autocratic states such as Russia, the democratic ideals of the new constitution also threatened the existing order, and the prospect of Polish recovery threatened to end domination of Polish affairs by Poland's neighbors. In 1792, Polish conservative factions formed the Confederation of Targowica and appealed for Russian assistance in restoring the status quo. Empress Catherine was happy to use this opportunity; enlisting Prussian support, she invaded Poland under the pretext of defending Poland's ancient liberties. A defensive war against powerful Russian armies was fought in 1792 with some measure of success, but the irresolute Stanislaw August, who did not believe in the possibility of defeating the Russian Empire, capitulated, defecting to the Targowica Confederation.  Arguing that Poland had fallen prey to radical Jacobinism, then at high tide in France, Russia and Prussia abrogated the Constitution of May 3, carried out the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, and placed the remainder of the country under occupation by Russian troops.
  The Second Partition was far more injurious than the first. Russia received a vast area of eastern Poland, extending southward nearly to the Black Sea. To the west, Prussia received an area that became known as South Prussia, nearly twice the size of its First Partition gains along the Baltic, as well as the port of Danzig (Gdańsk). Poland's neighbors thus reduced the Commonwealth to a rump state and signaled their intention to abolish it altogether at their convenience.
  The Kościuszko Uprising, a great Polish revolt, broke out in 1794 under the leadership of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a military officer who had rendered notable service in the American Revolution. Kościuszko's ragtag insurgent armies won some initial successes, but they eventually fell before the superior forces of Russian General Alexander Suvorov. In the wake of the insurrection of 1794, Russia, Prussia, and Austria carried out the third and final partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1795, erasing the Commonwealth of Two Nations from the map and pledging to never allow its return.
  Much of Europe condemned the dismemberment as an international crime without historical parallel. Amid the distractions of the French Revolution and its attendant wars however, no state actively opposed the final annexations. In the long term, the dissolution of Poland-Lithuania upset the traditional European balance of power, dramatically magnifying the influence of Russia and paving the way for the powerful Germany that would emerge in the nineteenth century with Prussia at its core.  For the Poles, the Third Partition began a period of continuous foreign rule that would endure for well over a century.
caption: Battle of Racławice, 4 April 1794, during the Kościuszko Uprising, the final military attempt to preserve the Polish-Lithuanian state
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