Background
As noted in the previous section, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to decline in the second half of the 17th century. Political conflict and corruption, wars with the Russian, Swedish, and Ottoman empires, internal rebellions, and manipulation by foreign interests took their toll, leading to political instability, social unrest, as well as economic, population, and territorial losses.
With Jan III Sobieski’s death in 1696, the situation declined considerably, as the royal houses of various European powers meddled in the selection of the next kings, bribing corrupt nobles to vote for the candidate they most desired. August II Mocny (Augustus II the Strong; 1620-1733), backed by Russia and Austria, would initially take the throne. However, during the Great Northern War (1700-1721) between Russia and Sweden, a civil war erupted in Poland, with the Swedish-backed Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanislaus I; 1677-1766) taking control and becoming king for a short time. August II would eventually regain the throne, but he became increasingly more dependent on the Russian Empire to retain control. After his death, the War of Polish Succession (1733-1735) occurred, as European powers fiercely jockeyed to have their preferred candidate made king. It was readily apparent at this point that the Commonwealth’s affairs were completely controlled by others, most notably the Russian, Austrian (also known as the Hapsburg and then Austrian-Hungarian), and Prussian (later known as the German) empires.
First Partition
Stanisław August Poniatowski would eventually be elected as king, taking as his name Stanisław II August (Stanislaus II Augustus; 1732-1798, r. 1764-1795). Although a puppet of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Poniatowski did try to reform and strengthen the ailing Commonwealth, much to the chagrin of foreign powers and some privileged Polish nobles. He even attempted to place restrictions on the liberum veto mechanism. This reform and others, opposed by the Russian Empire, which bribed, intimidated, and coerced members of parliament, failed to pass.
In 1768, a number of dissenters, opposed to increasing Russian interference and Poniatowski’s politics (which many viewed as dictated by Russia), formed a military group, the Bar Confederation, with the goal of rebelling against the government and Russian rule. It declared war on the Russian Empire and the War of the Bar Confederation (1768-1772) erupted, the Commonwealth once again thrown into a civil conflict. The perceived anarchy of the Commonwealth gave neighboring powers their “in”—arguing that they had to step in and save the country, and taking full advantage of the chaotic circumstances in place, Prussia, Austria, and Russia entered the Commonwealth and occupied various border regions. In 1772, the three powers, without consulting Poniatowski, had reached an agreement amongst themselves to take over Polish territory to maintain a balance of power in the area and prevent conflict amongst themselves. The weak Polish state had no choice but to agree to the partition agreement and concede chunks of its own territory.
The Bar Confederation was officially defeated by the end of 1772, its members either imprisoned and deported to Siberia by Russia or forced to flee abroad and live a life of exile. Kazimierz Pułaski (Casimir Pulaski; 1745-1779), a key military leader of the rebellion, was of the latter camp. Finding refuge in France, he would eventually be recruited by the Marquis de Lafayette and Benjamin Franklin to fight in the American Revolutionary War, during which he became a general in the Continental Army, the leader of the Pulaski Calvary Legion, and even saved George Washington’s life. Mortally wounded by French forces, Pułaski would be hailed an American and Polish hero.
Portrait of Kazimierz Puławski. From the collection of the National Museum in Kraków.
The Second Partition
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was greatly diminished, but not yet lost. The Sejm convened in 1773, not only to begrudgingly ratify the partition agreement, but also to implement various reforms. While much legislation failed to really materialize, the Commission of National Education, Europe’s first ministry of education, was created at this point. This also marked the beginning of a growing awareness among various political factions that changes to how the Commonwealth was governed would have to take place if it had any chance to survive. Political infighting meant that many reform proposals failed to be implemented in the following years, but the hunger for effective change grew stronger, influenced by Enlightenment thought and its ideals of liberty, fraternity, and equality. This culminated in the Selm Wielki, or Great Sejm, of 1788-1792 (also known as the Four-Year Sejm), during which the Constitution of 3 May 1791, Europe’s first modern constitution, was drafted (by Poniatowski and others) and eventually adopted. The constitution introduced a number of pivotal reforms, including putting an end to the liberum veto, introducing political equality between the nobility and townspeople, and recognizing peasants as citizens worthy of legal protections.
Jan Matejko’s Konstytucja 3 Maja 1791 roku (The Constitution of 3 May 1791). From the collection of the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
However, while neighboring powers may have been too distracted by wars and other world events to stop the work of the Great Sejm, they would soon become more focused on developments in the Commonwealth. In 1792, another association of Polish and Lithuanian nobles, the Targowica Confederation, was formed in opposition to the new constitution’s limitations on noble privileges. It was heavily backed by the Russian Empire, which wanted to keep the Commonwealth weak. Russian armies invaded in support of the Confederation, starting the Polish-Russian War of 1792 (also known as the War in Defense of the Constitution). While the Commonwealth had signed a defense alliance with Prussia in 1790, the Prussians, seeing the constitution and a stronger Polish-Lithuanian state as a potential threat to their own empire, didn’t follow through and left the pro-constitution forces to fend for themselves. They were soon overwhelmed. Poniatowski, his back to the wall, eventually joined the Targowica Confederation and surrendered to Russia, assured by Russian officials that the Commonwealth would be preserved if he did so. Russia reneged, however, and in 1793 implemented the Second Partition, claiming Polish-Lithuanian territories for itself and for Prussia, which was compensated for, among other things, abandoning its alliance with the Commonwealth.
The Third Partition
In response to events, pro-reformers banded together in what was left of the Commonwealth and organized a national insurrection against foreign powers, choosing to fight back to try to regain what had been taken. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko (Thaddeus Kosciuszko; 1746-1817), a general who had fought in the American Revolutionary War and had led pro-constitution forces in the Polish-Russian War of 1792, issued a proclamation in Kraków, taking command of the armed forces and calling on all Poles to join him in the uprising. In an attempt to mobilize as may troops as he could, he emancipated peasants (eventually completely abolishing serfdom), many of whom volunteered to join his army as kosynierzy, or scythemen.
Jan Matejko’s Kościuszko pod Racławicami (Kościuszko at Racławice). From the collection of the National Museum in Kraków.
While Kościuszko’s forces had some victories, most notably against the Russians at the Battle of Racławice (thanks in large part to his peasant scythe-bearers), they were ultimately unable to defeat the Russian Empire or other foreign powers on their own. Other European nations failed to come to their aid. Polish forces would eventually capitulate, and, in response, a third partition agreement was signed by Austria, Prussia, and Russia in 1795, erasing the Commonwealth from the map of Europe.
A map showing the three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The lands occupied by the Russian Empire are in shades of tan; those by the Austrian Empire in blue; and those by the Prussian Empire in pink. By Maurice Fallex. From the collections of the National Library of France.
The Great Emigration and the Spirit of Revolution
To ensure that no further rebellions would take place on occupied territories, many leading cultural figures, military leaders, politicians, and intellectuals were either arrested or forced to flee to Western Europe, particularly to France as well as parts of Italy under French rule at the time. The individuals of this so-called Great Emigration, however, never fully abandoned the idea of seeing Poland restored and made sure to keep Polish identity alive in various ways.
One way was continued military activity in support of the Polish cause. Given that France was enemies with the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian empires, many Polish soldiers joined Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army, forming Polish military units, or legions, and fighting alongside the French in the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The hope was that Napoleon would prevail and reward Poles by establishing an independent Poland. And Napoleon did indeed establish the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, a semi-autonomous Polish state closely allied with France. After Napoleon’s defeat, however, the Duchy was ceded to the Russian Empire and became the Congress Kingdom of Poland (also known as Congress Poland).
Although allied with the Russian Empire, Congress Poland did enjoy some autonomy for a while. But with time, Russia began to interfere more and more in the Kingdom’s affairs. And the desire for a fully independent Polish state, free from foreign influence and control, was constantly simmering among the Polish populace, both at home and abroad, fueled by the nationalist rhetoric of the 19th century Polish Romantic movement. Eventually, plans for an armed insurrection began to manifest and in November of 1830 a full-scale uprising against the Russian Empire erupted, first in Warsaw and then throughout Russian-occupied lands. Although Congress Poland supported the rebellion, France ignored calls for assistance. Dwindling resources and the inability to get the full support of the peasantry (whose enthusiasm for the cause waned when Congress Poland refused to implement land reform and abolish serfdom) meant that the insurrectionists had little chance of success. The November Uprising was quelled in October 1831, Congress Poland losing much of its autonomy. Even more of the cultural, political, and military elite of Poland and Lithuania emigrated to Western Europe.
Despite the failure of the November Uprising, the spirit of insurrection still prevailed. The following decade would see a number of uprisings, or planned uprisings that never fully materialized, throughout partitioned Poland, including the Kraków Uprising of 1846 (directed largely against the Austrian Empire) and the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 (against the Prussian Empire). This would culminate in the January Uprising of 1863, directed again at the Russian Empire. And once again, a lack of foreign aid and inability to mobilize the peasantry meant that the rebellion was short-lived, ending in August 1864.
Artur Grotgger’s The Battle. From the collection of the National Museum in Kraków.
The failure of the January Uprising would prove to be a turning point. The complete erasure of autonomy and the repressive policies that emerged as a result of these insurrections, particularly in the Russian and Prussian partitions which pursued aggressive measures of Russification and Germanization respectively, meant that most Poles shifted from pursuing armed insurrection to preserving and strengthening Polish national identity in more subtle ways. Working towards educating the masses, promoting religious and class equality, and developing the economy, the goal was to improve Polish society from the ground up, so that it would be better prepared when the opportunity for independence arose once again.
World War I
And arise it did. Poles both at home and abroad never gave up hope that an independent Polish nation would be reestablished, forming political parties and independence movements that continuously lobbied for this goal. When World War I broke out in 1914 and the three partitioning powers found themselves embroiled in a massive conflict and in need of as many armed recruits as possible, they suddenly began making concessions to the Polish cause, promising autonomy in exchange for help.
Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935), who had become a leading military and political figure advocating for an autonomous Polish state, formed the Polish Legions, a Polish armed force that fought alongside the armies of the Central Powers, i.e. Austria-Hungary and Germany, against Russia. This was less out of loyalty to the cause of the Central Powers and more out of the belief that Russia needed to be defeated if a Polish state would ever be formed. After a series of victories in Russian-occupied territory, in 1916 the Central Powers established the Kingdom of Poland, also known as the Regency Kingdom of Poland, in what was formerly the Congress Poland, hoping to increase the number of Polish troops on the Eastern front. Piłsudski became Minister of War of the new Kingdom and continued to lobby for further Polish independence. He was eventually arrested and imprisoned for refusing to allow his troops to swear loyalty to Germany—choosing to distance himself from the Central Powers at this point of the war, he insisted that his army be seen as independent and as Polish. In the meantime, other political leaders, including Roman Dmowski (1864-1939) and Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) continued to campaign for an independent Poland with Western leaders.
Portrait of Józef Piłsudski by Wojciech Kossak. From the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
In 1917, as the revolution gripped Russia, it eventually withdrew from the war, formally ceding all Polish lands it had been in control of to the Central Powers. The United States entered the war in 1917 as well. A victory for the Central Powers began to look less likely and with Russia out of the war and no longer allied with the U.S. and other Western powers, an autonomous Polish state was no longer just a vague hope. In fact, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, in his vision of a post-war Europe (his so-called Fourteen Points), included granting independence to Poles and other peoples subjugated by the German and Austrian-Hungarian empires as a key provision of peace. And when the Central Powers capitulated, these once mighty empires disintegrating, an independent Poland was indeed established. The next years wouldn’t be easy—uprisings, border conflicts, war, and disagreement among political factions regarding what the new Polish state should look like and be like would cause a massive amount of instability. But, after 123 years, Poland was finally restored to the map of Europe.
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