Poland’s first period of formal independence was brought to an end from 1773 to 1795. At that time, as would happen again, the country found itself at the mercy of the powerful empires that surrounded it. And again as would happen in the 20th century, the Germans and the Russians had a lot to do with it.
Poland in the mid-18th century was undergoing a great deal of reform under its leader, Stanislaw-August. The country was economically backward and mired in the traditions of the past centuries. Stanislaw-August made great strides in attempting to reform Poland’s democratic system, modernize the state and encourage the ideas of the Enlightenment that were taking hold in Western Europe and helped to launch the American Revolution. Unfortunately for Poland, a strong Polish state was not in her neighbors’ interests.
The Russian Empress, Catherine the Great, was more than willing to keep an economically, politically and militarily weak Poland on her western border. Much like during the Cold War, Poland would serve as a “buffer state” against the unfriendly nations to the west; in this case, they were the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. Russia couldn’t afford to have a nation of potential rebels on her border; a strong Poland would also upset the balance of power between the European states that was helping maintain a military balance and maintain peace in Europe. Catherine needed to stop Poland’s advance and modernization, but could not provoke a war against her neighbors in order to save a situation that was supposed to keep the peace. So Catherine struck a deal with her neighbors: Russia, Prussia and Austria would each take part of Poland, and war would be averted.
Russia wound up taking a sliver of territory in the northeast part of Poland. Austria took the region of Galicia in the south, and Prussia gained West Prussia. But Poland still possessed the bulk of its territory and population, and it continued on the path of reform that it had been on before the first partition. Sensing another threat to the international balance of power, the great empires struck again. In 1793, Prussia and Russia (but not Austria, which sat this one out), decided to act. Although the Poles resisted, by the end Prussia had all of western Poland and Russia had all of the east. By then the Poles, confined to the core of what had been a great state, realized that it was time to fight back. Tadeusz Kosciuszko led an uprising in 1794 that saw some success. But it was too late—the forces of the three empires subjugated what remained of Poland.
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