Editing Partitions of Poland (section)

=== First Partition ===
{{Main|First Partition of Poland}}
[[File:Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1773-1789.PNG|thumb|right|upright=1.4|The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after the First Partition, as a protectorate of the Russian Empire (1773–1789)]]

In February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in [[Vienna]]. Early in August, Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. However, fighting continued as Bar confederation troops and French volunteers refused to lay down their arms (most notably, in [[Tyniec]], [[Częstochowa]] and [[Kraków]]). On August 5, 1772, the occupation manifesto was issued, to the dismay of the weak and exhausted Polish state;<ref name="Brit">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466910/Partitions-of-Poland |title=Partitions of Poland |year=2008 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online |access-date=8 June 2011}}</ref> the partition treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22, 1772.

Frederick II of Prussia was elated with his success; Prussia took most of [[Royal Prussia]] (except [[Gdańsk]]) that stood between its possessions in [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]], as well as Ermland ([[Warmia]]), northern areas of [[Greater Poland]] along the [[Noteć]] River (the [[Netze District]]), and parts of [[Kujawy|Kuyavia]] (but not the city of [[Toruń]]).<ref name="Brit" />

Despite token criticism of the partition from Empress [[Maria Theresa]], Austrian statesman [[Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg]], was proud of wresting as large a share as he did, with the rich salt mines of [[Bochnia]] and [[Wieliczka]]. To Austria fell [[Zator, Lesser Poland Voivodeship|Zator]] and Auschwitz ([[Oświęcim]]), part of [[Lesser Poland]] embracing parts of the counties of [[Kraków]] and [[Sandomierz|Sandomir]] and the whole of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], less the city of [[Kraków]].

Empress [[Catherine II of Russia]] was also satisfied despite the loss of Galicia to the Habsburg monarchy. By this "diplomatic document" Russia gained [[Inflanty Voivodeship|Polish Livonia]], and lands in eastern [[Belarus]] embracing the counties of [[Vitebsk]], [[Polotsk]] and [[Mstsislaw|Mstislavl]].<ref name="Brit" />

[[File:Jan_Matejko_-_Upadek_Polski_(Reytan).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[Rejtan (painting)|Rejtan at Sejm 1773]]'', oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1866, {{convert|282|x|487|cm|0|abbr=on}}, [[Royal Castle, Warsaw|Royal Castle in Warsaw]]]]
By this partition, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 30% of its territory and half of its population<ref name="Brit" /> (four million people), of which a large portion had not been ethnically Polish. By seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly gained control over 80% of the Commonwealth's total foreign trade. Through levying enormous customs duties, Prussia accelerated the collapse of the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite book|last=von Guttner|first=Darius|title=The French Revolution|year=2015|publisher=Nelson Cengage|pages=139}}</ref>

After having occupied their respective territories, the three partitioning powers demanded that King [[Stanisław August Poniatowski|Stanisław]] and the [[Sejm]] approve their action. When no help was forthcoming and the armies of the combined nations occupied Warsaw to compel by force of arms the calling of the assembly, the only alternative was passive submission to their will. The so-called [[Partition Sejm]], with Russian military forces threatening the opposition, on September 18, 1773, signed the treaty of cession, renouncing all claims of the Commonwealth to the occupied territories.

In 1772, [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] was invited to present recommendations for a new constitution for the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], resulting in the ''[[Considerations on the Government of Poland]]'' (1782), which was to be his last major political work.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last = Gourevitch |editor-first = Victor |title = Rousseau: 'The Social Contract' and Other Later Political Writings |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kcvseZCgQKMC |year = 1997 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |page = ix |isbn = 978-0-521-42446-2 |access-date = 8 February 2017 |archive-date = 16 February 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170216213853/https://books.google.com/books?id=kcvseZCgQKMC |url-status = live }}</ref>