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 p187  Chapter XIX
The Final Partitions

(The numbers link directly to the sections.)

The guarantee issued by the three partitioning powers — to prevent any violation of the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic — implied that they had assumed the right to control the internal affairs of the Commonwealth. Russia's right had been further emphasized by a separate agreement extorted from the Diet of Ratification. And consequently, Russia alone really exercised these so‑called prerogatives. Neither the King nor the Permanent National Council were free to place any act, unless they first obtained the approval of Catherine's ambassador, Stackelberg. The latter's consent was also necessary, when higher offices were to be bestowed upon any particular individual. As a result, the nobles of the Republic, seeking to advance themselves, either catered to Stackelberg himself or journeyed to St. Petersburg to win Catherine's intercession. Although Stanislas Poniatowski gained the confidence of the Russian ambassador to such an extent that he was gradually able to increase his authority in the eyes of the Permanent Council, yet, the constant presence of the Russians remained a most serious obstacle on the road to political recovery for the Polish-Lithuanian Republic.

1. The Four Years Diet

Temporarily, however, prospects for the future appeared to brighten. Frederick William II, successor of Frederick the Great,  p188 had abandoned the Prussian alliance with Russia. In 1787, Turkey declared war on the Tsarina, who soon engaged the assistance of Austria under Joseph II. The following year, Sweden also opened war against Russia.

And in October, 1788, the General Diet of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic assembled at Warsaw. Stanislas proposed a military alliance with Russia against Turkey. This had been the request made by Catherine to Poniatowski during the previous year on the occasion of their meeting at Kaniow⁠a on the Polish-Russian border in the Ukraine. In return for this favor the Tsarina promised to permit an extension of the King's powers and allow the Republic to increase its armed forces. But the Diet, spurred on by the favorable attitude of Prussia as manifested by the envoy Buchholz, and tired of the incessant intervention of the Russian state which at the time, was exposed to two wars, and undoubtedly influenced greatly by the tendencies and ideas emanating from revolutionary France, absolutely rejected the King's proposal. And under the leader­ship and direction of Ignatius Potocki,⁠1 Stanislas Malachowski, and Hugo Kollontay, the Diet launched upon an amazing series of administrative and social reforms, receiving finally even the whole-hearted support of Stanislas himself. Its deliberations continued for the unusual period of four years, and therefore, today, the diet of 1788 is generally known as the Four Years Diet.

The first official act of this assembly was to counteract the baneful effects of the liberum veto (the principle of unanimity). It formed itself into a Confederation and thereby allowed the settlement of all issues by a majority ballot. In 1790, when the ordinary two year term of the Diet was about to expire, and since the work of the Diet had not been completed, new elections of deputies were held, who then sat side by side with the original delegates. Previously, in March of the same year, a mutual assistance pact had been concluded between Prussia and the Polish-Lithuanian Republic, without the cession of the Polish territories sought by Prussia; namely, Danzig and Thorn. And when the new constitution was accepted on May 3, 1791, it seemed that the  p189 Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had gloriously survived the difficulties that had beset it.

Many indeed were the reforms introduced and ratified by this new Constitution. It decreed upon the organization of an army of 100,000 (one‑third in Lithuania, remaining two‑thirds in Poland). The Permanent National Council was suppressed and replaced by a Cabinet of Ministers,⁠2 who were to receive their appointments from the King, but remain responsible to the Diet and function both in Lithuania and Poland. The free election of kings was abolished; and Frederick Augustus I of Saxony was chosen as the successor of Stanislas with hereditary privileges. The Republic of Poland-Lithuania was converted into an hereditary monarchy. The principle of unanimity (as expressed by the liberum veto and practiced at Diets and district dietines) and the right of the gentry to form confederations were suppressed. The Diet remained the legislative organ of the state, but was acknowledged no power to cede territory. Furthermore, it was clearly defined as to who may participate in the district dietines from which deputies for the Diet were drawn: only those members of the gentry who either owned or leased land. Again, it was decided that a two‑thirds majority was necessary before taxes could be levied, while three-fourths would be required before war could be declared, treaties signed and laws of political significance enacted. The townspeople or burghers were accorded administrative and judicial autonomy and representation in the Diet. As a matter of fact, a number of the wealthier townsfolk were elevated to the rank of the gentry, and some became eligible candidates for office. Little, however, was done for the peasant-serfs. Contacts between landlord and peasant were encouraged; and serfs, already released, were guaranteed protection against the loss of their freedom.

The fundamental motive which urged the creation of this Constitution of May 3, 1791, was the desire of the greater part of the ruling class, the gentry, to liberate the Republic from the influence of Russia. To attain this goal, centralization of authority, which  p190 called for concessions from all parties concerned, was necessary. To the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the acceptance of this Constitution spelled the virtual loss of the sovereignty and the separate administrative, financial and military organs which she had retained even after the Union of Lublin. The Lithuanian deputies protested against this proposed merging of the two distinct political entities of the Republic. Consequently, it proved impossible to forsake completely the dualism of the Polish-Lithuanian state. It was agreed that every third regular Diet would be summoned at Gardinas in Lithuania; that the number of Lithuanians and Poles would be equal in all organs of the state common to both Lithuania and Poland; that troops could be recruited in Lithuania only for the Lithuanian army, and vice versa in Poland. It was in this way that the Union formed at Lublin, which had endured 222 years, entered the final stages of its evolution.

2. The Second Partitions

In July, 1791, two months after the Polish-Lithuanian Republic had adopted the new Constitution, Austria and Prussia entered into an agreement to safeguard its inviolability. Quite clearly this act was not inspired by any altruistic motives, but rather by the desire of each party to strengthen its position against Russia. In the meanwhile, a small group of discontented Polish nobles had left for St. Petersburg to seek Tsarina Catherine's assistance against the new order. The occasion very soon became propitious for such action. The Russian war with Sweden had come to an end in 1790. In January, 1792, Russia concluded peace with the Turks and was, therefore, again free to deal with the Polish-Lithuanian state, which had acted contrary to the Tsarina's wishes by thoroughly revising the Constitution guaranteed by her in 1775. Frederick William II of Prussia indicated by a new treaty with Austria (February, 1792) that his intentions to protect the integrity of Poland-Lithuania were no longer sincere. Finally, after Leopold II had died, France declared war on Austria in April, 1792. That same month, the Elector of Saxony virtually refused to accept the offer of the  p191 Polish-Lithuanian throne as proposed by the Constitution of May 3, 1791.

At this point, the several Polish nobles, who had journeyed to St. Petersburg, returned to Poland. And in May, at the town of Targowica, they created a Confederation, which demanded the immediate restoration of the old Constitution and the abolition of the previous year's innovations. Furthermore, they made a formal petition for Russian aid. Soon afterwards, a similar Confederation, which allied itself with the rebels of Targowica, was formed at Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, under the direction of Joseph Kasakauskas. The Diet, which was still sitting, was notified of Catherine's willingness and readiness to side with the cause of the Confederates. And then Russian forces invaded both Lithuania and Poland. Having empowered the King as commander-in‑chief with practically absolute authority, the Diet retired.

But the Polish-Lithuanian resistance had little hope of success from the very beginning. All opposition in Lithuania was speedily overcome by the Russians. Remnants of the Lithuanian army retreated into Poland. Prussia simply refused to adhere to the terms of the mutual assistance pact of 1790. Under the leader­ship of the King's nephew, Joseph Poniatowski, and the Lithuanian, Thaddeus Kosciusko,⁠3 veteran of the American Revolutionary War, the forces of the Republic heroically resisted the Russian invaders for a period of two months. But in July, Stanislas Poniatowski, in order to appease Catherine, joined the Confederates and the struggle came to an abrupt end. Kosciuszko, Poniatowski and other supporters of the Constitution of 1791 abandoned their posts in utter disgust, and fled abroad, chiefly to Leipzig. Russian arms occupied most of the territorial domains of Poland-Lithuania.

A half-year elapsed before, at the suggestion of Prussia, the treaty arranging the details for the second partitioning of Poland-Lithuania was completed (January 23, 1793). Austria, who was quite anxious to retain Prussian support in its struggle against France, was gracefully eliminated from participating in the division of Polish-Lithuanian territory by the political maneuvers of the  p192 Prussian representative, Haugwitz. And as a result, Russia annexed the eastern areas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Minsk and Pinsk as well as the eastern sections of Poland, including Western Ukraine, parts of Podolia and Volhynia. Prussia acquired Danzig, Thorn, Great Poland and part of Masovia.

3. The Diet of Gardinas

Shortly afterwards, the partitioning powers ordered the Confederation to summon a General Diet of Poland-Lithuania to ratify the seizures of Russia and Prussia. The revolutionists, seeing that they had been deceived and misguided by the "noble" intentions of Tsarina Catherine, flatly refused. However, the defunct Permanent National Council, consisting of Russian-appointed officers, was resurrected, and a Diet was convoked in June for Gardinas, Lithuania. Strange indeed it was that just as the earliest foundations of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic (established in 1569) had been held by a Lithuanian Grand Duke (Jogaila at Kreva), so also, that the Commonwealth should approach its complete dissolution by holding its last General Diet on Lithuanian soil, and that, a little later, another Lithuanian, Thaddeus Kosciusko,⁠b should lead the last revolt of the Republic in an effort to restore its integrity and preserve its honor.

Only those territories which had not been annexed in January were represented by deputies at this Diet. Nevertheless, Russian arms and Russian influence were extended to the utmost in an effort to dominate even the elections of these delegates at the district dietines, in order to insure the choice of individuals favorable to the Russian-Prussian cause. Catherine's ambassador, Sievers, assumed the role of the leading and the most power­ful figure of the Diet. Buchholz espoused the Prussian interests, but depended a great deal upon the support of Sievers.

Only after the sessions of the Diet had continued for more than three months, only after actual violence was employed on the persons and the properties of several deputies, and only after threats to expose the entire mutilated Republic to the depredation of  p193 Russian troops and completely obliterate its remaining nominal sovereignty — only then — was Sievers able to extort from the Diet, surrounded by Russian soldiers, the treaties which "ratified" the second partitions. The first of these, with Russia, was concluded on July 23rd, and the second, with Prussia, on September 25th. In the latter case, the silence of the Diet, really a repetition of the Dumb Diet of 1717, was interpreted as an expression of consent, in order to bring the issue to a close.

During the subsequent two months, all previous reforms enacted by the Four Years Diet were abolished. The Permanent National Council, the Commissions of War and Finance for Lithuania and Poland, were restored to their former status. Furthermore, the Commission of National Education was divided into two separate branches — one for Lithuania, another for Poland. The military strength of Lithuania was restricted to 5,000 men and that of Poland, to 10,000. A mutual assistance pact was also signed between the Republic of Poland-Lithuania and Russia.

4. The Revolt of 1794

Four months had barely elapsed from the Diet of Gardinas, when the Polish-Lithuanian Republic rose in rebellion against its oppressors in March, 1794. Meanwhile, Poniatowski and the Permanent Council had returned to Warsaw; Igelstrom had replaced Sievers as Catherine's ambassador; conspiracies and secret organizations appeared and multiplied; Kosciuszko and other exiles sought in vain to enlist the assistance of France, Turkey and Sweden. Finally, when Igelstrom had decreed to carry out the humiliating terms of the Diet of Gardinas and reduce the Polish-Lithuanian forces to the number of 15,000, thereby pla­cing the Republic in a most helpless situation, armed resistance broke out. Madalinski refused to disband and succeeded in driving the Russian garrisons out of Cracow. On March 24th, Kosciuszko, having arrived at Cracow from Leipzig, formally proclaimed war on Russia and Prussia and assumed the powers of commander-in‑chief. A provisional government was created. And within a month, Kosciuszko  p194 had defeated the Muscovites at Raclawice; the Polish capital, Warsaw, had been freed from Russian troops, and the Lithuanians had expelled the Russian forces from the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, under the leader­ship of Jasinskis. At Vilnius, the Hetman of Lithuania, appointed by the Russians, Simon Kasakauskas, was put to death. Similar executions of traitors took place in Warsaw. Seeking to gain the support of the entire population of the Republic, Kosciuszko, on May 7th, proclaimed the liberation of all serfs, both Lithuanians and Poles, who took up arms in the insurrection.

These heroic triumphs of Poland-Lithuania against the aggression of foreign powers were short-lived. In June, the Prussians captured Cracow. In August, the Russians seized Vilnius and overran all of Lithuania, while the Austrians proceeded to occupy Southern Poland. In October, Kosciuszko was defeated and taken prisoner at Maciejowice⁠4 by Fersen. In November, Warsaw surrendered to Suvorov. And the entire revolt had been completely subdued.

5. The Final Partitions

After various diplomatic activities and intense wrangling, especially between Prussia and Austria, the Republic of Poland-Lithuania was subjected to the humiliation of the third and final partition at the hands of its conquers. By the treaty of October 24, 1795, Russia annexed the Polish-Lithuanian fief of Courland, and all that remained of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy at the time east of the Nemunas River up to Brest, as well as Polish Volhynia. Prussia acquired the Suvalkai area of Lithuania, west of the Nemunas, together with Polish Western Masovia and Warsaw. Austria gained Polish Southern Masovia and Western Galicia and a strip of Lithuanian territory, southwest of Brest. A month later Stanislas Poniatowski formally abdicated.⁠5

Tsarina Catherine died a little less than a year afterwards  p195 (November, 1796). And when various incidentals had been settled and agreed upon by the three partitioning powers, the final treaty was signed on January 26, 1797, during the early months of the reign of Catherine's son, Paul I (1796‑1801). And thus the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of nations, formed at Lublin in 1569, in circumstances that were not too propitious, was dissolved in the face of still more unpleasant future prospects.

There were many causes that contributed towards the doom of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic. Its elective monarchy, its restriction of royal prerogatives, its principle of unanimity, its exaltation of the rights of the gentry, were grossly exaggerated notions of liberty and freedom. These ideas and practices, combined with the mutual distrust and almost continuous lack of harmony between the two partners, Lithuania and Poland, gradually weakened the Republic. Nevertheless, it was rather the aggression of Russia and her two later associates, Austria and Prussia, that prevented the introduction of necessary reforms and the regeneration and reorganization of the Commonwealth and its ancient Constitution. It is this foreign intervention that ultimately destroyed the political existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic in 1795.

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The Author's Notes:

1 Potocki was a senator from Lithuania occupying the post of Lithuanian Marshal.

2 Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finance, War and Police. The last three ministries were supplemented by special commissions.

3 Kosciuszko was born in the palatinate of Naugardukas, Lithuania, and studied at the famed military academy of Warsaw.

4 He and other political prisoners were released by Paul, Catherine's successor.

5 After Catherine's death, Stanislas transferred his residence from Gardinas, Lithuania, to St. Petersburg, where he died two years later (1798).

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Thayer's Notes:

a Kaniv in modern Ukraine.

b American readers may be surprised to see Kościuszko characterized here as Lithuanian; but his uncertain national identity is emblematic of the history of Poland-Lithuania. He was born in what is now Belarus; his father was an officer in the army of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and seems best described as Polonized Lithuanian lesser gentry. His mother, as far as I can tell, was Polish.

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