18th-century forced partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
This article is about the partitions starting in the late 18th century. For the fragmentation of Poland from 1138 to the 13/14th century, seeBolesław III Wrymouth.
"Fourth Partition" redirects here. For the 2013 documentary film, seeFourth Partition (film).
ThePartitions of Poland[a] were threepartitions of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereignPoland andLithuania for 123 years. The partitions were conducted by theHabsburg monarchy, theKingdom of Prussia, and theRussian Empire, which divided up the Commonwealth lands among themselves progressively in the process of territorial seizures and annexations.[1][2][3][4]
In English, the term "Partitions of Poland" is sometimes used geographically astoponymy, to mean the three parts that the partitioning powers divided the Commonwealth into, namely: theAustrian Partition, thePrussian Partition and theRussian Partition. In Polish, there are two separate words for the two meanings. The consecutive acts of dividing andannexation of Poland are referred to asrozbiór (plural:rozbiory), while the termzabór (plural:zabory) refers to parts of the Commonwealth that were annexed in 1772–1795 and which became part of Imperial Russia, Prussia, or Austria. Following theCongress of Vienna in 1815, the borders of the three partitioned sectors were redrawn; the Austrians establishedGalicia in the Austrian partition, whereas the Russians gainedWarsaw from Prussia and formed an autonomouspolity known asCongress Poland in the Russian partition.
In Polish historiography, the term"Fourth Partition of Poland" has also been used, in reference to any subsequent annexation of Polish lands by foreign invaders. Depending on source and historical period, this could mean the events of1815, or1832 and1846, or1939. The term "Fourth Partition" in a temporal sense can also mean the diaspora communities that played an important political role in re-establishing the Polish sovereign state after 1918.
During the reign ofWładysław IV (1632–1648), theliberum veto was developed, a policy of parliamentary procedure based on the assumption of the political equality of every "gentleman/Polish nobleman", with the corollary that unanimous consent was needed for all measures.[1] A single member of parliament's belief that a measure was injurious to his own constituency (usually simply his own estate), even after the act had been approved, became enough to strike the act. Thus it became increasingly difficult to undertake action. Theliberum veto also provided openings for foreign diplomats to get their ways, through bribing nobles to exercise it.[1] Thus, one could characterise Poland–Lithuania in its final period (mid-18th century) before the partitions as already in a state of disorder and not a completely sovereign state, and almost as avassal state,[5] with Polish kings effectively chosen in diplomatic maneuvers between the great powers Prussia, Austria, Russia, and France.[6] This applies particularly to the last Commonwealth KingStanisław August Poniatowski, who for some time had been a lover of Russian EmpressCatherine the Great.
In 1730, the neighbors of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita), namely Prussia, Austria and Russia, signed a secret agreement to maintain thestatus quo: specifically, to ensure that the Commonwealth laws would not change. Their alliance later became known in Poland as the "Alliance of the Three Black Eagles" (orLöwenwolde's Treaty), because all three states used a black eagle as a state symbol (in contrast to thewhite eagle, a symbol of Poland). The Commonwealth had been forced to rely on Russia for protection against the risingKingdom of Prussia, which demanded a slice of the northwest in order to unite its Western and Eastern portions; this would leave the Commonwealth with aBaltic coast only inLatvia andLithuania.[1] Catherine had to use diplomacy to win Austria to her side.
The Commonwealth had remained neutral in theSeven Years' War (1756–1763), yet it sympathized with the alliance of France,Austria, and Russia, and allowed Russian troops access to its western lands as bases against Prussia.Frederick II retaliated by ordering enough Polish currency counterfeited to severely affect the Polish economy. Through thePolish nobles whom Russia controlled and the Russian Minister to Warsaw, ambassador and PrinceNicholas Repnin, Empress Catherine the Great forced a constitution on the Commonwealth at the so-calledRepnin Sejm of 1767, named after ambassador Repnin, who effectively dictated the terms of that Sejm (and ordered the capture and exile toKaluga of some vocal opponents of his policies,[5][7][8] including bishopJózef Andrzej Załuski[9] and others). This new constitution undid the reforms made in 1764 underStanisław II. Theliberum veto and all the old abuses of the last one and a half centuries were guaranteed as unalterable parts of this new constitution (in the so-calledCardinal Laws[8][10]). Repnin also demanded the Russian protection of the rights of peasants in private estates of Polish and Lithuanian noblemen, religious freedom for the Protestant andOrthodox Christians and the political freedoms for Protestants, Orthodox Christians andEastern Catholics (Uniates), including their right to occupy all state positions, including a royal one. The next king could be a member of the Russian ruling dynasty now. The Sejm approved this. Resulting reaction among some of Poland's Roman Catholics, as well as the deep resentment of Russian intervention in the Commonwealth's domestic affairs including the exile to Russia of the top Roman Catholic bishops, the members of the Polish Senate, led to the War of theConfederation of Bar of 1768–1772, formed inBar, where the Poles tried to expel Russian forces from Commonwealth territory.[5][8] The irregular and poorly commanded Polish forces had little chance in the face of the regular Russian army and suffered a major defeat. Adding to the chaos was aUkrainianCossack and peasant rebellion in the east (Koliyivshchyna), which erupted in 1768 and resulted in massacres ofPolish noblemen (szlachta), Jews,Uniates, ethnic minorities and Catholic priests, before it was put down by Russian and governmental Polish troops. This uprising led to the intervention of the Ottoman Empire, supported by Roman Catholic France and Austria. Bar confederation and France promisedPodolia andVolhynia and the protectorate over the Commonwealth to theOttoman Empire for armed support.
In 1769, theHabsburg monarchy annexed a small territory ofSpisz and in 1770 it annexedNowy Sącz andNowy Targ. These territories had been a bone of contention between Poland andHungary, which was a part of the Monarchy. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Empire, the Bar confederation and its French and European volunteers were defeated by Russian forces and Polish governmental ones with the aid of Great Britain. As Russia moved into the Crimea and the Danubian Principalities (which the Habsburg monarchy long coveted), King Frederick II of Prussia and Maria Theresa were worried that the defeat of the Ottoman Empire would severely upset the balance of power in Eastern Europe. Frederick II began to construct the partition to rebalance the power in Eastern Europe.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after the First Partition, as a protectorate of the Russian Empire (1773–1789)
In February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed inVienna. Early in August, Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. However, fighting continued as Bar confederation troops and French volunteers refused to lay down their arms (most notably, inTyniec,Częstochowa andKraków). On August 5, 1772, the occupation manifesto was issued, to the dismay of the weak and exhausted Polish state;[1] the partition treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22, 1772.
By this partition, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 30% of its territory and half of its population[1] (four million people), of which a large portion had not been ethnically Polish. By seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly gained control over 80% of the Commonwealth's total foreign trade. Through levying enormous customs duties, Prussia accelerated the collapse of the Commonwealth.[11]
After having occupied their respective territories, the three partitioning powers demanded that KingStanisław and theSejm approve their action. 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, the only alternative was passive submission to their will. The so-calledPartition Sejm, with Russian military forces threatening the opposition, on September 18, 1773, signed the treaty of cession, renouncing all claims of the Commonwealth to the occupied territories.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Second Partition (1793)1793 Russian campaign medal
By 1790, the Commonwealth had been weakened to such a degree that it was forced into an unnatural and terminal alliance with its enemy, Prussia. ThePolish–Prussian Pact of 1790 was signed. The conditions of the Pact contributed to the subsequent final two partitions of Poland–Lithuania.
TheMay Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of theRepnin Sejm. Those reforms prompted aggressive actions on the part of its neighbours, wary of the potential renaissance of the Commonwealth. Arguing that Poland had fallen prey to the radicalJacobinism then at high tide in France, Russian forces invaded the Commonwealth in 1792.
In theWar in Defense of the Constitution, pro-Russian conservative Polishmagnates, theConfederation of Targowica, fought against Polish forces supporting the constitution, believing that Russians would help them restore theGolden Liberty. Abandoned by their Prussian allies, Polish pro-constitution forces, faced with Targowica units and the regular Russian army, were defeated. Prussia signed a treaty with Russia, agreeing that Polish reforms would be revoked, and both countries would receive chunks of Commonwealth territory. In 1793, deputies to theGrodno Sejm, last Sejm of the Commonwealth, in the presence of the Russian forces, agreed to Russian territorial demands. In the Second Partition, Russia and Prussia helped themselves to enough land so that only one-third of the 1772 population remained in Poland. Prussia named its newly gained provinceSouth Prussia, withPoznań (and later Warsaw) as the capital of the new province.
Targowica confederates, who did not expect another partition, and the king,Stanisław August Poniatowski, who joined them near the end, both lost much prestige and support. The reformers, on the other hand, were attracting increasing support, and in 1794 theKościuszko Uprising began.
Kosciuszko's ragtag insurgent armies won some initial successes, but they eventually fell before the superior forces of the Russian Empire. The partitioning powers, seeing the increasing unrest in the remaining Commonwealth, decided to solve the problem by erasing any independent Polish state from the map. On October 24, 1795, their representatives signed a treaty, dividing the remaining territories of the Commonwealth between their three countries. One of Russia's chief foreign policy authors,Alexander Bezborodko, advisedCatherine II on the Second and Third Partitions of Poland.[13]
The Russian part included 120,000 km2 (46,332 sq mi) and 1.2 million people withVilnius, the Prussian part (new provinces ofNew East Prussia andNew Silesia) 55,000 km2 (21,236 sq mi) and 1 million people with Warsaw, and the Austrian 47,000 km2 (18,147 sq mi) with 1.2 million andLublin and Kraków.
TheKing of Poland,Stanisław August Poniatowski, under Russian military escort left forGrodno where heabdicated on November 25, 1795; next he left forSaint Petersburg, Russia, where he would spend his remaining days. This act ensured that Russia would be seen as the most important of the partitioning powers.
With regard to population, in the First Partition, Poland lost over four to five million citizens (about a third of its population of 14 million before the partitions).[14] Only about 4 million people remained in Poland after the Second Partition which makes for a loss of another third of its original population, about a half of the remaining population.[15] By the Third Partition, Prussia ended up with about 23% of the Commonwealth's population, Austria with 32%, and Russia with 45%.[16]
Cumulative division of the Commonwealth territory[17]
Partition
To Austria
To Prussia
To Russia
Total annexed
Total remaining
Area
%
Area
%
Area
%
Area
%
Area
%
1772
81,900 km2 (31,600 sq mi)
11.17%
36,300 km2 (14,000 sq mi)
4.95%
93,000 km2 (36,000 sq mi)
12.68%
211,200 km2 (81,500 sq mi)
28.79%
522,300 km2 (201,700 sq mi)
71.21%
1793
—
—
57,100 km2 (22,000 sq mi)
7.78%
250,200 km2 (96,600 sq mi)
34.11%
307,300 km2 (118,600 sq mi)
41.90%
215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi)
29.31%
1795
47,000 km2 (18,000 sq mi)
6.41%
48,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi)
6.54%
120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi)
16.36%
215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi)
29.31%
None
0%
Total
128,900 km2 (49,800 sq mi)
17.57%
141,400 km2 (54,600 sq mi)
19.28%
463,200 km2 (178,800 sq mi)
63.15%
733,500 km2 (283,200 sq mi)
100%
(Wandycz also offers slightly different total annexed territory estimates, with 18% for Austria, 20% for Prussia and 62% for Russia.)[16]
"A map of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania including Samogitia and Curland divided according to their dismemberments with the Kingdom of Prussia" from 1799
During theNapoleonic Wars and in their immediate aftermath the borders between partitioning powers shifted several times, changing the numbers seen in the preceding table. Ultimately, Russia ended up with most of the Polish core at the expense of Prussia and Austria. Following theCongress of Vienna, Russia controlled 82% of the pre-1772 Commonwealth's territory (this includes itspuppet state ofCongress Poland), Austria 11%, and Prussia 7%.[18]
Poland would be briefly resurrected—if in a smaller frame—in 1807, when Napoleon set up theDuchy of Warsaw. After his defeat and the implementation of theCongress of Vienna treaty in 1815, the Russian-dominatedCongress Kingdom of Poland was created in its place. After the Congress, Russia gained a larger share of Poland (withWarsaw) and, after crushingan insurrection in 1831, the Congress Kingdom's autonomy was abolished and Poles faced confiscation of property, deportation, forced military service, and the closure of their own universities. After theuprising of 1863,Russification of Polish secondary schools was imposed and the literacy rate dropped dramatically. In the Austrian sector which now was calledGalicia, Poles fared better and were allowed to have representation in Parliament and to form their own universities, and Kraków withLemberg (Lwów/Lviv) became centers of Polish culture and education. Meanwhile, PrussiaGermanized the entire school system of its Polish subjects, and had no more respect for Polish culture and institutions than the Russian Empire. In 1915 aclient state of theGerman Empire andAustria-Hungary was proposed and accepted by theCentral Powers of World War I: theRegency Kingdom of Poland. After the end of World War I, the Central Powers' surrender to theWestern Allies, the chaos of theRussian Revolution and theTreaty of Versailles finally allowed and helped the restoration of Poland's full independence after 123 years.
The partition of the Duchy of Warsaw according to theCongress of Vienna; division of Polish territories in 1815The partition of Poland according tothe German–Soviet Pact; division of Polish territories in 1939–1941
The term "Fourth Partition of Poland" may refer to any subsequent division of Polish lands, including:
If one accepts more than one of those events as partitions, fifth, sixth, and even seventh partitions can be counted, but these terms are very rare. (For example,Norman Davies inGod's Playground refers to the 1807 creation of theDuchy of Warsaw as the fourth partition, the 1815Treaty of Vienna as the fifth, the 1918Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as the sixth, and the 1939division of Poland between Nazi Germany and the USSR as the seventh.)[28] However, in recent times, the 1815 division of the Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna and the 1939 division of Poland have been sometimes called the fourth and fifth partitions, respectively.
The term "Fourth Partition" was also used in the 19th and 20th centuries to refer to diaspora communities who maintained a close interest in the project of regaining Polish independence.[29] Sometimes termedPolonia, these expatriate communities often contributed funding and military support to the project of regaining the Polish nation-state. Diaspora politics were deeply affected by developments in and around the homeland, and vice versa, for many decades.[30]
More recent studies claim that partitions happened when the Commonwealth had been showing the beginning signs of a slow recovery and see the last two partitions as an answer to strengthening reforms in the Commonwealth and the potential threat they represented to its power-hungry neighbours.[20][31][32][33][34][35][36]
As historianNorman Davies stated, because thebalance of power equilibrium was observed, many contemporary observers accepted explanations of the "enlightened apologists" of the partitioning state.[37][31] 19th-century historians from countries that carried out the partitions, such as 19th-century Russian scholarSergey Solovyov, and their 20th century followers, argued that partitions were justified, as thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had degenerated to the point of being partitioned because the counterproductive principle ofliberum veto made decision-making on divisive issues, such as a wide-scale social reform, virtually impossible. Solovyov specified the cultural, language and religious break between the supreme and lowest layers of the society in the east regions of the Commonwealth, where theBelarusian andUkrainianserf peasantry was Orthodox. Russian authors emphasized the historical connections between Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, as former parts of the medieval old Russian state where dynasty ofRurikids reigned (Kievan Rus').[38] Thus,Nikolay Karamzin wrote: "Let the foreigners denounce the partition of Poland: we took what was ours."[39] Russian historians often stressed that Russia annexed primarily Ukrainian and Belarusian provinces with Eastern Slavic inhabitants,[40] although manyRuthenians were no more enthusiastic about Russia than about Poland, and ignoring ethnically Polish and Lithuanian territories also being annexed later. A new justification for partitions arose with theRussian Enlightenment, as Russian writers such asGavrila Derzhavin,Denis Fonvizin, andAlexander Pushkin stressed degeneration of Catholic Poland and the need to "civilize" it by its neighbors.[32]
Nonetheless, other 19th century contemporaries were much more skeptical; for example, British jurist SirRobert Phillimore discussed the partition as a violation ofinternational law;[41] German juristHeinrich Bernhard Oppenheim presented similar views.[42] Other older historians who challenged such justifications for the Partitions included French historianJules Michelet, British historian and politicianThomas Babington Macaulay, andEdmund Burke, who criticized the immorality of the partitions.[31][43] Nonetheless, most governments accepted the event as afait acompli. TheOttoman Empire was either the only,[44][45] or one of only two countries in the world that refused to accept the partitions,[46] (the other being thePersian Empire),[47] and reserved a place in its diplomatic corps for an Ambassador ofLehistan (Poland).
Several scholars focused on the economic motivations of the partitioning powers.Hajo Holborn noted that Prussia aimed to take control of the lucrative Balticgrain trade throughGdańsk.[48] In the 18th century the Russian peasants were escaping from Russia to thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (where theonce dire conditions had improved,unlike in Russia[49]) in significant enough numbers to become a major concern for the Russian Government sufficient to play a role in its decision to partition the Commonwealth (one of the reasonsCatherine II gave for thepartition of Poland was that thousands of peasants escaped from Russia to Poland to seek a better fate").[50][51] Jerzy Czajewski and Piotr Kimla assert that in the 18th century until the partitions solved this problem, Russian armies increasingly raided territories of the Commonwealth, officially to recover the escapees, but in fact kidnapping many locals;[50] Piotr Kimla noted that the Russian government spread international propaganda, mainly in France, which falsely exaggerated serfdom conditions in Poland, while ignoring worse conditions in Russia, as one of the justification for the partitions.[51]
^Although the full name of the partitioned state was thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, while referring to the partitions, virtually all sources use the term Partitions of Poland, not Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as Poland is the common short name for the state in question. The term Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is effectively not used in literature on this subject.
^Davies, Norman (2005).God's Playground. A History of Poland. The Origins to 1795. Vol. I (revised ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 394.ISBN978-0-19-925339-5.
^"Po przyłączeniu do obwodu białostockiego w 1807 roku do cesartwa i utworzeniu osiem lat później Królestwa Polskiego wnuk Katarzyny zjednoczył pod swoim berłem około 82% przedrozbiorowego terytorium Rzeczypospolitej (dla porównania – Austria 11%, Prusy 7%). "[in:] Basil Kerski, Andrzej Stanisław Kowalczyk. Realiści z wyobraźnią.Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej. 2007 page. 318ISBN978-83-227-2620-4
^abDowe, Dieter (2001).Europe in 1848: Revolution and Reform. Berghahn. p. 180.ISBN1-57181-164-8.While it is often and quite justifiably remarked that there was hardly a barricade or battlefield in Europe between 1830 and 1870 where no Poles were fighting, this is especially true for the revolution of 1848/1849.
^Pachonski, Jan; Wilson, Reuel K. (1986).Poland's Caribbean Tragedy: A Study of Polish Legions in the Haitian War of Independence 1802–1803. East European Monographs/Columbia University Press.ISBN0-88033-093-7.
^Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. (1952). "Old Russia, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe".American Slavic and East European Review.11 (3):171–188.doi:10.2307/2491975.JSTOR2491975.
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