Partitions of Poland

During the late eighteenth century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth faced severe external pressure and internal political weakness. Russia, Prussia and Austria carried out the First Partition in 1772, annexing large areas while leaving a reduced Commonwealth in existence.

Reform efforts culminated in the Constitution of 3 May 1791, but neighbouring powers opposed the strengthened state. A Second Partition followed in 1793, and after the defeat of the Kościuszko Uprising the Third Partition of 1795 eliminated the Commonwealth completely.

Adam Zamoyski’s The Last King of Poland and Izabela the Valiant both treat the partitions as central events in the lives of their subjects, while Poland: A History places them within the longer history of the Polish state.