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The first section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century. Reasons for the division of the country

Atomic physics
08.03.2022

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    The established principles of religious tolerance, as well as the very fact of interference in the internal affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian state, led to the creation of the Roman Catholic Bar Confederation on February 29, 1768 and to the subsequent war in which the forces of the confederation fought against the troops of Russia, the Polish king and the rebellious Orthodox population of Ukraine (-) . The Confederation also turned to France and Turkey for support, promising Turkey Podolia and Volhynia and a protectorate over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Flattered by these acquisitions and counting on significant military assistance from France, Austria and the Bar Confederation itself, Turkey and Crimea declared war on Russia. However, the Turks were defeated by Russian troops, French assistance was insignificant, Austria did not help at all, and the confederation forces were defeated by the Russian troops of Krechetnikov and the Polish royal troops of Bronitsky.

    Simultaneously with the war in Poland, Russia successfully waged a war with Turkey. A situation was being created in which Moldavia and Wallachia would be in the sphere of Russian influence. Not wanting such an outcome, King Frederick II the Great invited Russia to abandon Moldavia and Wallachia, and as compensation to Russia for military expenses, he proposed the division of Poland between Prussia and Russia. Catherine II resisted this plan for some time, but Frederick won over Austria (which also did not want the strengthening of Russia), to which he opened up the prospects for territorial acquisitions in Poland instead of lost Silesia. Prussia, Austria and Russia signed a secret agreement to preserve the immutability of the laws of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This alliance later became known in Poland as the “Union of the Three Black Eagles” (the coats of arms of all three states featured a black eagle, as opposed to the white eagle, the symbol of Poland).

    Chapter

    Catherine II initially resisted the partition plan, since she already owned the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but Frederick won Austria over to his side, opening up the possibility of territorial acquisitions in Poland instead of lost Silesia. Russia, exhausted by the war with Turkey, crop failures and famine, could not fight against Austria, Prussia, France, Turkey and the Bar Confederation at the same time. On February 19, 1772, a partition convention was signed in Vienna with the condition that the parts acquired by the three powers be equal. Before this, on February 6 (17), an agreement was concluded between Prussia and Russia in St. Petersburg. Since the agreements were secret, the Poles, not knowing about them, were unable to unite and take action. The forces of the Bar Confederation, whose executive body was forced to leave Austria after it joined the Prussian-Russian alliance, did not lay down their arms. Each fortress where its military units were located held out for as long as possible. Thus, the defense of Tyniec is known, which lasted until the end of March 1772, as well as the defense of Czestochowa, led by Kazimierz Pułaski. On April 28, 1772, Russian and Polish troops and Krakow militia under the command of General Suvorov occupied Krakow Castle, the French garrison of which capitulated. On June 24 of the same year, Austrian units camped near Lvov and occupied the city on September 15, after Lviv was abandoned by Russian troops. France and England, on whom the Confederates pinned their hopes, remained on the sidelines and expressed their position after the fact, after the division took place.

    The Partition Convention was ratified on September 22, 1772. In accordance with this document, Russia took possession of part of the Baltic states (Livonia, Duchy of Transdvina), previously under Polish rule, and Belarus up to the Dvina, Druta and Dnieper, including the areas of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mstislavl. Territories with an area of ​​92 thousand km² with a population of 1 million 300 thousand people came under the authority of the Russian crown.

    Having occupied the territories due to the parties to the treaty, the occupying forces demanded ratification of their actions by the king and the Diet. The king turned to Western European states for help, but no help came. The combined forces occupied Warsaw in order to force the convening of a meeting of the Sejm by force of arms. Senators who opposed this were arrested. Local assemblies (sejmiks) refused to elect deputies to the Sejm. With great difficulty, it was possible to assemble less than half of the regular composition of the Sejm, led by Marshal of the Sejm Adam Poniatowski, a military leader from the Order of Malta. In order to prevent the dissolution of the Sejm and provide the invaders with a guaranteed opportunity to achieve their goals, he undertook to transform the ordinary Sejm into a confederal one, where the principle of the majority operated. Despite the efforts of Tadeusz Rejtan, Samuel Korsak and Stanisław Boguszewicz to prevent this, the goals were achieved with the help of Michal Radziwill and Bishops Andrzej Młodziewski, Ignacy Massalski and Anthony Kazimierz Ostrowski (Primate of Poland), who took high positions in the Polish Senate. The "Divided Diet" elected a committee of thirty to consider the issues presented. On September 18, 1773, the Committee officially signed an agreement on the transfer of lands, renouncing all claims of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the occupied territories.

    Under pressure from Prussia, Austria and Russia, Poniatowski had to assemble the Sejm (1772-1775) to approve the act of partition and the new structure of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The authorized delegation of the Sejm approved the partition and established the “cardinal rights” of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included the electivity of the throne, and the liberum veto. Among the innovations was the establishment of a “permanent council” (“Rada Nieustająca”), chaired by the king, consisting of 18 senators and 18 gentry (chosen by the Sejm). The council was divided into 5 departments and exercised executive power in the country. The king ceded to the council the right to lease the lands of the “royalty”. The council presented three candidates for positions to the king for approval of one of them.

    Consequences

    The Sejm, which continued its work until 1775, carried out administrative and financial reforms and created a Commission National Education, reorganized and reduced the army to 30 thousand soldiers, established indirect taxes and salaries for officials.

    By capturing northwestern Poland, Prussia took control of 80% of the turnover foreign trade of this country. Through the introduction of huge customs duties, Prussia accelerated the inevitable collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

    In the 18th century The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was experiencing economic and political decline. It was torn apart by the struggle of parties, which was facilitated by the outdated state system: elections and limited royal power, the right of liberum veto, when any member of the Sejm (the highest representative body of government) could block the adoption of a decision supported by the majority. Neighboring powers - Russia, Austria, Prussia - increasingly interfered in its internal affairs: acting as defenders of the Polish constitution, they hindered political reforms aimed at strengthening the monarchical system; they also demanded a settlement of the dissident issue - granting the Orthodox and Lutheran population of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the same rights as the Catholic population.

    First partition of Poland (1772).

    In 1764, Russia sent its troops into Poland and forced the Convocation Diet to recognize the equal rights of dissidents and abandon plans to abolish the liberum veto. In 1768, with the support of the Catholic powers of Austria and France, part of the magnates and gentry formed in Bar (Podolia), led by the Kamenets bishop A.-S. Krasinski's confederation (armed alliance) against Russia and its protégé King Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764–1795); its goal was to defend the Catholic religion and the Polish constitution. Under pressure from the Russian envoy N.V. Repnin, the Polish Senate turned to Catherine II for help. Russian troops entered Poland and during the campaigns of 1768–1772 inflicted a number of defeats on the Confederate army. At the suggestion of Austria and Prussia, who feared Russia’s seizure of all Polish-Lithuanian lands, on February 17, 1772, the First Division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carried out, as a result of which it lost a number of important border territories: Southern Livonia with Dinaburg, eastern Belarus with Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev and the eastern part of Black Rus' (the right bank of the Western Dvina and the left bank of the Berezina); to Prussia - West Prussia (Polish Pomerania) without Gdansk and Torun and not most of Kuyavia and Greater Poland (district of the Netsy River); to Austria - most of Chervonnaya Rus with Lvov and Galich and the southern part of Lesser Poland (Western Ukraine). The partition was approved by the Sejm in 1773.

    Second partition of Poland (1792).

    The events of 1768–1772 led to the growth of patriotic sentiments in Polish society, which especially intensified after the outbreak of the revolution in France (1789). The party of “patriots”, led by T. Kosciuszko, I. Potocki and G. Kollontai, achieved the creation of a Permanent Council, replacing the discredited Senate, reforming legislation and the tax system. At the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792), the “patriots” defeated the pro-Russian “hetman” party; Catherine II, busy with the war with Ottoman Empire, could not provide effective assistance to its supporters. On May 3, 1791, the Sejm approved a new constitution, which expanded the powers of the king, secured the throne to the House of Saxony, prohibited the creation of confederations, eliminated the autonomy of Lithuania, abolished the liberum veto and approved the principle of making Sejm decisions based on the majority principle. The political reform was supported by Prussia, Sweden and Great Britain, who sought to prevent Russia from becoming too strong.

    On May 18, 1792, after the end of the Russian-Turkish War, Catherine II protested against the new constitution and called on the Poles to civil disobedience. On the same day, her troops invaded Poland, and supporters of Russia, led by F. Pototsky and F. K. Branitsky, formed the Targowitz Confederation and declared all decisions of the Four-Year Sejm invalid. The “patriots’” hopes for Prussia were not justified: the Prussian government entered into negotiations with Catherine II on a new division of Polish lands. In July 1792, King Stanislaus Augustus joined the Confederation and issued a decree disbanding his army. Russian troops defeated the Lithuanian militia and occupied Warsaw. On January 13, 1793, Russia and Prussia signed a secret agreement on the Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; its terms were announced to the Poles on March 27 in the Volyn town of Polonnoye: Russia received Western Belarus with Minsk, the central part of Black Rus', Eastern Polesie with Pinsk, Right Bank Ukraine with Zhitomir, Eastern Volyn and most of Podolia with Kamenets and Bratslav; Prussia - Greater Poland with Gniezno and Poznan, Kuyavia, Torun and Gdansk. The partition was approved by the Silent Sejm in Grodno in the summer of 1793, which also decided to reduce the Polish armed forces to 15 thousand. The territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was halved.

    The third partition of Poland and the liquidation of the independent Polish-Lithuanian state (1795).

    As a result of the Second Partition, the country became completely dependent on Russia. Russian garrisons were stationed in Warsaw and a number of other Polish cities. Political power usurped by the leaders of the Targowica Confederation. The leaders of the “patriots” fled to Dresden and began to prepare a speech, hoping for help from revolutionary France. In March 1794, an uprising broke out in southwestern Poland, led by T. Kosciuszko and General A.I. Madalinsky. On March 16, in Krakow, T. Kosciuszko was proclaimed dictator. Residents of Warsaw and Vilna (modern Vilnius) expelled the Russian garrisons. In an effort to secure broad popular support national movement, T. Kosciuszko issued on May 7 the Polanets universal (decree), which abolished the personal dependence of the peasantry and significantly eased their duties. However, the forces turned out to be too unequal. In May, the Prussians invaded Poland, then the Austrians. In the late spring and summer of 1794, the rebels managed to successfully restrain the invaders, but in September, after the energetic A.V. Suvorov took charge of the Russian army, the situation changed not in their favor. On October 10, the tsarist troops defeated the Poles at Maciewice; T. Kosciuszko was captured; On November 5, A.V. Suvorov forced Warsaw to capitulate; the uprising was suppressed. In 1795, Russia, Austria and Prussia made the Third, final, division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Courland and Semigallia with Mitava and Libau (modern Southern Latvia), Lithuania with Vilno and Grodno, the western part of Black Rus', Western Polesie with Brest and Western Volyn with Lutsk; to Prussia - the main part of Podlasie and Mazovia with Warsaw; to Austria - Southern Mazovia, Southern Podlasie and the northern part of Lesser Poland with Krakow and Lublin (Western Galicia). Stanisław August Poniatowski abdicated the throne. The Polish-Lithuanian state ceased to exist.

    In historical science, the Fourth and Fifth Partitions of Poland are sometimes distinguished.

    Fourth partition of Poland (1815).

    In 1807, having defeated Prussia and concluded the Peace of Tilsit with Russia, Napoleon formed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, headed by the Saxon Elector, from the Polish lands taken from Prussia; in 1809, having won a victory over Austria, he included Western Galicia into the Grand Duchy ( see also NAPOLEONIC WARS). After the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, at the Congress of Vienna 1814–1815, the Fourth Partition (more precisely, the repartition) of Poland was carried out: Russia received the lands that went to Austria and Prussia as a result of the Third Partition (Mazovia, Podlasie, the northern part of Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia), with the exception of Krakow, declared a free city, as well as Kuyavia and the main part of Greater Poland; The Polish seaside and the western part of Greater Poland with Poznan were returned to Prussia, and the southern part of Lesser Poland and most of Red Ruthenia were returned to Austria. In 1846, Austria, with the consent of Russia and Prussia, annexed Krakow.

    Fifth partition of Poland (1939).

    As a result of the fall of the monarchy in Russia and the defeat of Germany in the First World War, the independent Polish state was restored in 1918 as part of the ancestral Polish lands, Galicia, Right Bank Ukraine and Western Belarus; Gdansk (Danzig) acquired the status of a free city. On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the USSR signed a secret agreement on a new division of Poland (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), which was implemented with the outbreak of World War II in September 1939: Germany occupied the lands to the west, and the USSR to the east of the Bug and San rivers. After the end of World War II, the Polish state was restored again: according to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945) and the Soviet-Polish Treaty of August 16, 1945, the German lands east of the Oder were annexed to it - West Prussia, Silesia, Eastern Pomerania and Eastern Brandenburg; at the same time, the USSR retained almost all the territories annexed in 1939, with the exception of the Bialystok district (Podlasie) returned to Poland and a small area on the right bank of the San River.

    Ivan Krivushin

    TO end of the XVIII century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest states in Europe. The full name sounded like “The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (from the late Latin respublica - republic) of two Nations”, referring to the peoples of the “Crown” (Kingdom of Poland) and the “Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhemoytka”, which formed a federation after the Union of Lublin in 1569, which existed until Section III.

    Three territorial divisions of the Polish state were carried out in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by the neighboring states of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Russia, Austria and Prussia. After the death of Augustus III (1763), two political camps formed in Poland: the Movement led by the Czartoryskis, which proposed a program of reforms to restore the glory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which assumed that Russia would become Poland's ally in the struggle for reforms, and the Republicans, whose program defended Golden Liberty and resistance to any changes political system. The Republicans were led by the Potocki family. The Republicans sought an alliance with Austria and France, and their ideas coincided with the interests of Poland's neighboring states. Already since 1732, there was an agreement (Treaty of Loewenwold) between the future states participating in the division to prevent changes in the state structure of the country.

    Initially, Catherine II wanted to personally rule Poland, but frequent internal unrest, especially lasting from 1768 to 1772 The Bar Confederation convinced the queen that she could not keep the Poles in subjection. Finally, on August 5, 1772, Russia, Prussia and Austria created a convention to dismantle large areas of Poland.

    I partition of Poland

    As a result of the division, Prussia received: Warmia (a region in Prussia) and the voivodeships of Pomerania, Malbor and Chelmin (without Gdansk and Torun), as well as the territories lying above Notetia and Hopl, including 36 thousand km 2 and 580 thousand inhabitants. Russia occupied the territories lying east of the Dvina, Druya ​​and Dnieper, which included 92 thousand km 2, and 1 million 300 thousand people. Austria - the southern part of the Krakow and Sandomierian voivodeships, the Auschwitz and Zatorsk principalities, the Russian voivodeship (Galicia) (without the Chełm lands), as well as parts of the Bielskie voivodeship, totaling 83 thousand km 2, and 2 million 600 thousand people.

    At the request of the countries participating in the partition, the partition agreement had to be approved by the Polish Sejm. Negotiations between Stanisław August Poniatowski and the European kings did not bring results, and the Sejm had to agree to this, as well as accept unfavorable economic and trade conditions. However, the Sejm managed to attempt state reform, created the National Education Commission, reduced the army to 30 thousand soldiers and carried out its reorganization. In addition, he carried out financial reform.

    II partition of Poland

    The immediate cause of the Second Partition of Poland was the lost Polish-Russian War of 1792, which was fought in defense of the Constitution of May 3. The king yielded to the wishes of Catherine II and in July 1792 joined the Targowitz confederation. Representatives of the Patriotic Reform Party were forced to leave the country. On January 23, 1793, Prussia and Russia signed a convention on the second partition of Poland, which was approved by the Grodno Sejm founded by the Targovichans (1793).

    As a result of the II partition of Poland, Prussia occupied: the voivodeship of Poznań, Kalisz, Gnieznin, Szczaradsko, Lechicke, Inowrocław, Brest-Kujaw, Płock, Dobryn lands, part of the Rawa and Masovian voivodeships, as well as Torun and Gdansk, a total of 58 thousand km 2 and almost 1 million population. Russian part included Belarusian and Ukrainian lands to the east of the Druya-Pinsk-Zbruch line, a total of 280 thousand km 2 and 3 million inhabitants.

    III partition of Poland

    The defeat of the Kosciuszko uprising (1794), directed against the partitions of the country, served as the reason for the final liquidation of the Polish state. After resolving controversial issues, on October 24, 1795, the states participating in the division established the boundaries of the remaining Polish lands. As a result of Partition III, Russia received the remaining Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands east of the Bug, and the Nemirov-Grodno line, with a total area of ​​120 thousand km 2 and 1.2 million people. Prussia - the remaining part of Podlasie and Mazovia with Warsaw, Samogitia (Western Lithuania) and Lesser Poland, with a total area of ​​55 thousand km 2 and 1 million population. Austria - Krakow and part of Lesser Poland between Pilica, Vistula and Bug, part of Podlasie and Mazovia, with a total area of ​​47 thousand km 2, and 1.2 million population.

    King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who was taken to Grodno, resigned on November 25, 1795. The empires participating in the partitions concluded the “St. Petersburg Convention” (1797), which included regulations on the debts of the state and the Polish king, as well as an obligation that the monarchs of the contracting parties the parties will never use the name "Kingdom of Poland" in their titles.

    I partition of Poland

    During the first partition of Poland, Russia occupied: Polish Inflants (south-eastern territories of Latvia), the northern part of the Polotsk voivodeship, as well as the Vitebsk and Mstislav voivodeship, and the south-eastern part of the Minsk (total about 92 thousand km 2).

    II partition of Poland

    In the second division - Ukrainian and Belarusian lands to the east of the Druya-Pinsk-Zbruch line, i.e. Kiev and Bratslav voivodeship, part of Podolsk, eastern part of Volyn and Brest-Litovsk, Minsk and part of Vilna (about 250 thousand km 2).

    III partition of Poland

    Under the III partition of Poland, Russia received: Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands east of the Bug and the Nemirov-Grodno line (about 120 thousand km 2). In 1807, Russia's possessions also included the Bialystok region received from Prussia. The final formation of the borders of Russian possessions was influenced by the creation of the Principality of Warsaw (1807-1814), and then the Kingdom of Poland (from 1815).

    Russian possessions covered 81% of the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, i.e. Lithuanian-Belarusian-Ukrainian lands, as well as the territory of central Poland with Warsaw. The Kingdom of Poland, created on territory that belonged to Russia, lost its autonomy as a result of popular uprisings in 1830 and 1863.

    After World War I and the Peace of Riga (1921), which ended in the Polish-Bolshevik War, a significant part of the former Russian possessions remained in the USSR, except for Lithuania and Latvia.

    In 1764, he actively supported the rise to power of Stanisław August Poniatowski, one of his former favorites, to power on the Polish throne. There is reason to believe that Catherine gave birth to her daughter Anna, who died at the age of two from smallpox, from Poniatovsky, although he recognized the girl as his own.

    At the Sejm of late 1767 and early 1768, called the “Repninsky Sejm” because of the noticeable influence that Catherine’s representative Nikolai Repnin had on its decisions, Orthodox and Protestants became equal in rights with those who professed Catholicism.

    Having thus received the opportunity to occupy all positions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Catholic hierarchs of Poland reacted to this innovation with indignation, some Polish gentry, dissatisfied with the decisions of the Repninsky Sejm, formed a confederation against the king and Russian interference.

    Sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

    Civil war begins in Poland. Russia, Austria and Prussia could not stand aside, and on February 19, 1772, a document on partition was signed in Vienna with the condition that each state participating in the partition of Poland would receive an equal part. Shortly before this, on February 6, 1772, Russia and Prussia entered into an agreement in St. Petersburg. At the beginning of August, troops of Russians, Prussians and Austrians crossed the border of Poland and occupied the areas assigned to them in accordance with the convention.
    The divisions of Poland came to an end. As a result of the division, Central Prussia united with East Prussia - previously Königsberg was separated from Berlin. Austria received the densely populated southern provinces with Krakow and Lvov. Eastern Belarus went to Russia: Polotsk, Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev.
    Twenty years after the first partition, the Polish state was preparing to fight back. Government reform, economic recovery, one of the world's first constitutions - not everyone is happy with this. A confederation is formed again against the king, now the opposition demands the intervention of Catherine and calls for Russian troops.
    The division of the second Poland took place in 1793 between Russia and Prussia. Poland loses two-thirds of its territory. Prussia receives the largest port - Gdansk, as well as Torun and Poznan. Russia - right bank Ukraine with Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and further advances to Belarus: Minsk, Slutsk.

    Uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko during the Partition of Poland

    An uprising breaks out. Its initiator was Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Belarusian nobleman and a skilled general, a graduate of the Paris Academy and a participant in the War of Independence in the United States. The center of the uprising, the ancient capital of Krakow, is located in the Austrian zone of occupation, but the Poles consider the Russians to be their main enemies.

    The first defeat to the Russians is inflicted by Kosciuszko's cosiners - Polish peasants armed with scythes. The rebels win in Warsaw and Vilna. Catherine sends Suvorov to pacify the Poles. He takes Vilna, Kosciuszko is defeated near Warsaw, arrested and placed in the famous Peter and Paul prison. And after the Warsaw suburb of Prague was taken by storm, the Polish capital surrendered. Suvorov’s report was summed up in one phrase: “Hurray, Warsaw is ours.” The third partition of Poland follows in 1795, after which the country ceased to exist as an independent state for 125 years.
    Warsaw, taken by the Russians under the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, went to Prussia and remained a Prussian city until 1807, when Napoleon, having defeated Prussia, restored the Duchy of Warsaw. After 1815, Warsaw passes to Russia. German neighbors probably would not allow Russia to solve problems with Poland one on one. But gifts to them from Russian diplomacy are not at all justified.
    freed Kosciuszko from the Peter and Paul Fortress on the ninth day after the death of Catherine. As a result of the division, a huge number of Catholics became citizens.

    Did you know that...

    Dates of the three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. SECTION OF POLAND. August 5, 1772 January 23, 1793 October 24, 1795 As a result Napoleonic Wars Napoleon Bonaparte on a short time restored the Polish state in the form of the Duchy of Warsaw under the crown of the Saxon king. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Russia, Prussia and Austria again divided Poland and created autonomous regions in the territories they conquered: the Grand Duchy of Poznan (went to Prussia) Free City of Krakow (incorporated into the Austrian Empire in 1846) Kingdom of Poland (went to Russia) As a result of the Great Oktyabrskaya socialist revolution 1917 in Russia, the defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary in the World War of 1914-1918, the Polish state was restored in the form of an independent republic. During Civil War in Russia, the territory of independent Poland was significantly expanded by it as a result of the aggressive wars of 1919-1921. with the Western Ukrainian Republic, the Ukrainian People's Republic and Soviet Russia. History Prehistory Prehistory of the lands that became part of Russia A significant part of the territory that became part of the Russian Empire was part of the Kievan Rus, and after the collapse of the united ancient Russian state belonged to various Russian principalities: Galician, Volyn, Kyiv, Polotsk, Lutsk, Terebovl, Turovo-Pinsk and so on. Some of these lands suffered terrible devastation during the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Some lands in the Dnieper region lose their Slavic settled population for many years and become a “Wild Field,” such as the territory of the Pereyaslav Principality. Since the 13th century, this territory became the object of expansion of the Polish kingdom and Principality of Lithuania. In the first half of the 14th century, Kyiv, the Dnieper region, and the area between the Pripyat and Western Dvina rivers were captured by Lithuania, and in 1352 the lands of the Galician-Volyn principality were divided between Poland and Lithuania. In 1569, in connection with the Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania, most of the Russian lands, which had hitherto belonged to the possessions of Lithuania, came under the authority of the Polish crown. On these lands it spreads serfdom, Catholicism is being planted. The local aristocracy for the most part is becoming Polonized, and a cultural, linguistic and religious gap arises between the higher and lower strata of society. The combination of social oppression with linguistic, religious and cultural disunity led to the devastating popular uprisings of the mid-17th century and the bloody uprisings of the 1760s. (see Koliivshchyna), from which the Polish-Lithuanian state was never able to recover. The situation on the eve of the partitions Map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before the partitions In the middle of the 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian state was no longer fully independent. It was actually dependent on Russian Empire. Russian emperors had a direct influence on the election of Polish kings. This practice is especially clearly visible in the example of election the last king Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Stanislaw August Poniatowski, who was a favorite of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. During the reign of Vladislav IV (1632-1648), the rule of liberum veto began to be used increasingly. This parliamentary procedure was based on the idea of ​​equality of all gentry-deputies of the Sejm. Every decision required unanimous consent. The opinion of any deputy that any decision would harm the interests of his voivodeship (often his own interests were implied), even if this decision was approved by all other deputies, was sufficient for this decision to be voted out. The decision-making process became increasingly difficult. Liberum veto also provided opportunities for pressure and direct influence and bribery of deputies by foreign diplomats. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth maintained neutrality during Seven Years' War, at the same time, she showed sympathy for the alliance of France, Austria and Russia, allowing Russian troops through her territory to the border with Prussia. Frederick II retaliated by ordering the production large quantity counterfeit Polish money, which should have seriously affected the economy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1767, through the pro-Russian Polish nobility and the Russian ambassador in Warsaw, Prince Nikolai Repnin, Catherine II initiated the adoption of the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which eliminated the results of the reforms of Stanislaw II Poniatowski in 1764. The so-called Repninsky Diet was also convened, working under actual control and on terms dictated by Repnin. Repnin also ordered the arrest and exile to Kaluga of some active opponents of his policies, such as Józef Andrzej Załuski and Wacław Rzewuski. The new constitution enshrined in law all the evil practices of the past, including the liberum veto (in the part called cardinal laws). The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was forced to rely on the support of Russia to protect itself from the increasing pressure from Prussia, which wanted to annex the northwestern regions of Poland in order to connect its western and eastern parts. In this case, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would retain access to the Baltic Sea only in Latvia and northwestern Lithuania. Repnin demanded freedom of religion for Orthodox and Protestants, and in 1768 non-Catholics were given equal rights with Catholics, which caused indignation among the Catholic hierarchs of Poland. The very fact of interference in the internal affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian state caused the same reaction, which led to a war in which the forces of the Bar Confederation fought against the troops of Russia, the Polish king, and the rebellious Orthodox population of Ukraine (1768-1772). The Confederation also turned for support to France and Turkey, with which Russia was at war at that time. However, the Turks were defeated by Russian troops, French assistance turned out to be insignificant and the confederation forces were defeated by the Russian troops of Krechetnikov and the Polish royal troops of Bronitsky. Poland's neighbors, namely Prussia, Austria and Russia, signed a secret agreement to keep the laws of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth unchanged. This alliance later became known in Poland as the "Union of the Three Black Eagles" (the coats of arms of all three states featured a black eagle, as opposed to the white eagle, the symbol of Poland). First partition First partition (1772) On February 19, 1772, a partition convention was signed in Vienna. Before this, on February 6, 1772, an agreement was concluded between Prussia and Russia in St. Petersburg. At the beginning of August, Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously entered Poland and occupied the areas distributed between them by agreement. The forces of the Confederation, whose executive body was forced to leave Austria after it joined the Prussian-Russian alliance, did not lay down their arms. Each fortress where its military units were located held out for as long as possible. Thus, the defense of Tyniec is known, which lasted until the end of March 1773, as well as the defense of Częstochowa, led by Kazimierz Pułaski. On April 28, 1773, Russian troops under the command of General Suvorov took Krakow. France and England, on whom the Confederates pinned their hopes, remained on the sidelines and expressed their position after the fact, after the division took place. The Partition Convention was ratified on September 22, 1772. In accordance with this document, Russia took possession of part of the Baltic states (Livonia, Inflyant), previously under Polish rule, and Belarus to the Dvina, Druch and Dnieper, including the areas of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mstislavl. Territories with an area of ​​92 thousand km² with a population of 1 million 300 thousand people came under the authority of the Russian crown. Prussia received Ermland (Warmia) and Royal Prussia (Polish: Prusy Królewskie) (later becoming a new province called West Prussia) up to the Notesch River (German: Netze), the territory of the Duchy of Pomerania without the city of Gdansk (Danzig), the district and voivodeship of Pomerania, Malborsk (Marienburg) and Chelminskie (Kulm) without the city of Thorn (Torun), as well as some areas in Greater Poland. Prussian acquisitions amounted to 36 thousand km² and 580 thousand inhabitants. Zator and Auschwitz, part of Lesser Poland, including the southern part of the Krakow and Sandomierz voivodeships, as well as parts of the Bielskie voivodeship and all of Galicia (Chervonnaya Rus), without the city of Krakow, went to Austria. Austria received, in particular, rich salt mines in Bochnia and Wieliczka. In total, Austrian acquisitions amounted to 83 thousand km², and 2 million 600 thousand people. “Reitan - The Fall of Poland”, painting by Jan Matejko. Oil on canvas, 1866, 282 x 487 cm Having occupied the territories due to the parties to the treaty, the occupying forces demanded ratification of their actions by the king and the Diet. Under pressure from Prussia, Austria and Russia, Poniatowski had to assemble a Sejm (1772-1775) to approve the act of partition and the new structure of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The authorized delegation of the Sejm approved the partition and established the “cardinal rights” of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included the electivity of the throne, and the liberum veto. Among the innovations was the establishment of a “permanent council” (“Rada Nieustająca”), chaired by the king, consisting of 18 senators and 18 gentry (chosen by the Sejm). The council was divided into 5 departments and exercised executive power in the country. The king ceded to the council the right to lease the lands of the “royalty”. The council presented three candidates for positions to the king for approval of one of them. The Sejm, which continued its work until 1775, carried out administrative and financial reforms, created the National Education Commission, reorganized and reduced the army to 30 thousand soldiers, established indirect taxes and salaries for officials. Having captured northwestern Poland, Prussia took control of 80% of that country's foreign trade turnover. Through the introduction of huge customs duties, Prussia accelerated the inevitable collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Second Partition Second Partition (1793) After the First Partition, important reforms took place in Poland, particularly in the field of education. The Educational Commission, which operated in 1773-1794 (Primate Poniatowski, Chreptowicz, Ignacy Potocki, Zamoyski, Piramovich, Kollontai, Sniadecki), with the help of funds confiscated from the Jesuits, reformed the universities, to which secondary schools were subordinated. The “Permanent Council” significantly improved management in the military, as well as in the financial, industrial and agricultural fields, which had a beneficial effect on the state of the economy. At the same time, a “patriotic” party arose (Malakhovsky, Ignacy and Stanislav Potocki, Adam Czartorysky, etc.), which wanted a break with Russia. She was opposed by the “royal” and “hetman” (Branitsky, Felix Pototsky) parties, which were committed to an alliance with Russia. At the “four-year diet” (1788-1792), the “patriotic” party prevailed. At this time, the Russian Empire entered into a war with the Ottoman Empire (1787) and Prussia provoked the Diet to break with Russia. By 1790 the Polish Republic had been reduced to such a helpless state that it was forced to enter into an unnatural and ultimately disastrous alliance with Prussia, its enemy. The terms of the Polish-Prussian Treaty of 1790 were such that the subsequent two divisions of Poland were inevitable. The Constitution of May 3, 1791 expanded the rights of the bourgeoisie, changed the principle of separation of powers and abolished the main provisions of Repnin's constitution. Poland again gained the right to carry out internal reforms without Russian sanction. The “Four-Year Sejm,” which assumed executive power, increased the army to 100 thousand people, abolished the “permanent council,” and reformed “cardinal rights.” In particular, a resolution was adopted “on sejmiks,” which excluded the landless gentry from the decision-making process, and a resolution “on the bourgeoisie,” which equalized the rights of the big bourgeoisie with the gentry. The adoption of the May Constitution entailed intervention from Russia's neighbors, who feared the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within the borders of 1772. The pro-Russian “hetman” party created the Targowica Confederation, gained Austrian support and opposed the Polish “patriotic” party that supported the Constitution. Russian troops under the command of Kochovsky also took part in military operations against the “patriotic” party that controlled the Sejm. The Lithuanian army of the Sejm was defeated, and the Polish, under the command of Joseph Poniatowski, Kosciuszka and Zajonczko, having suffered defeats at Polon, Zelentsy and Dubenka, retreated to the Bug. Betrayed by their Prussian allies, supporters of the Constitution left the country, and in July 1792 the king joined the Targowitz Confederation. On January 23, 1793, Prussia and Russia signed a convention on the second partition of Poland, which was approved at the Grodno Sejm convened by the Targovichans (1793). According to this agreement, Russia received Belarusian lands up to the Dinaburg-Pinsk-Zbruch line, the eastern part of Polesie, the Ukrainian regions of Podolia and Volyn. Territories inhabited by ethnic Poles came under Prussian rule: Danzig, Thorn, Greater Poland, Kuyavia and Mazovia, with the exception of the Masovian Voivodeship. See also Russian-Polish War of 1792, Kosciuszko Uprising, Grodno Sejm Third section Three sections of the union of Poland and Lithuania on one map The defeat of the Kosciuszko Uprising (1794), directed against the partitions of the country, served as the reason for the final liquidation of the Polish-Lithuanian state. On October 24, 1795, the states participating in the partition determined their new boundaries. As a result of the Third Partition, Russia received Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands east of the Bug and the Nemirov-Grodno line, with a total area of ​​120 thousand km² and a population of 1.2 million people. Prussia acquired territories inhabited by ethnic Poles west of pp. Pilica, Vistula, Bug and Neman, together with Warsaw (referred to as South Prussia), as well as lands in Western Lithuania (Zemaitija), with a total area of ​​55 thousand km² and a population of 1 million people. Krakow and part of Lesser Poland between Pilica, Vistula and Bug, part of Podlasie and Mazovia, with a total area of ​​47 thousand km² and a population of 1.2 million people, came under Austrian rule. King Stanislaw August Poniatowski, who was taken to Grodno, resigned on November 25, 1795. The states participating in the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded the “St. Petersburg Convention” (1797), which included regulations on issues of Polish debts and the Polish king, as well as an obligation that the monarchs of the contracting parties will never use the name "Kingdom of Poland" in their titles. The territory that came under the rule of the Russian Empire was divided into provinces (Courland, Vilna and Grodno). The former legal system (Lithuanian Statute), the election of judges and marshals at sejmiks, as well as serfdom were preserved here. In Prussia, three provinces were created from former Polish lands: West Prussia, South Prussia and New East Prussia. Official language became German, Prussian land law was introduced and German school, the lands of the “royalty” and spiritual estates were selected for the treasury. The lands that came under the rule of the Austrian crown were called Galicia and Lodomeria; they were divided into 12 districts. The German school and Austrian law were also introduced here. As a result of the three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lithuanian, Belarusian (except for the part with the city of Bialystok, which went to Prussia) and Ukrainian lands (except for the part of Ukraine captured by Austria) passed to Russia, and the indigenous Polish lands inhabited by ethnic Poles were divided between Prussia and Austria. The fourth and fifth sections The subsequent digital designations of the divisions of Polish territories are not as widespread as the previous three and are used mainly in Polish historiography. The Fourth Section The Fourth Section usually refers to the partition of the Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, although sometimes (but much less frequently) the same term can refer to the incorporation of the Kingdom of Poland into the Russian Empire in 1832 and the incorporation of the Free City of Krakow into the Austrian Empire in 1846 . Section Five Section Five usually refers to the secret protocol to the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (August 23, 1939) and the subsequent invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany (September 1, 1939) and Soviet Union(September 17, 1939). On September 3, Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany and thus this division of Poland coincided with the beginning of World War II. German invasion - Polish campaign Wehrmacht in 1939 - ended with the inclusion of the western part of Poland directly into Germany and the allocation of the remaining occupied part to the General Government. The invasion of the USSR - the Polish campaign of the Red Army of 1939 (official name - Liberation campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus in 1939) - ended with the annexation of Western Ukraine to the Ukrainian SSR, Western Belarus to the Belarusian SSR, Vilna region to Lithuania (under the "Transfer Agreement" Republic of Lithuania the city of Vilna and the Vilna region and about mutual assistance" dated October 10, 1939).