Editing Age of Enlightenment (section)

===Poland and Lithuania===
{{Main|Polish Enlightenment}}
[[File:Manuscript of the Constitution of the 3rd May 1791.PNG|thumb|[[Constitution of 3 May 1791|Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 1791]], Europe's first modern constitution]]
Enlightenment ideas (''oświecenie'') emerged late in [[history of Poland|Poland]], as the Polish middle class was weaker and [[szlachta]] (nobility) culture ([[Sarmatism]]) together with the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] political system ([[Golden Liberty]]) were in deep crisis. The political system was built on aristocratic [[republicanism]], but was unable to defend itself against powerful neighbors Russia, Prussia, and Austria as they repeatedly sliced off regions until nothing was left of independent Poland. The Polish Enlightenment began in the 1730s–40s and especially in theatre and the arts peaked in the reign of King [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]] (second half of the 18th century).

Warsaw was a main centre after 1750, with an expansion of schools and educational institutions and the arts patronage held at the Royal Castle.<ref>Maciej Janowski, "Warsaw and Its Intelligentsia: Urban Space and Social Change, 1750–1831." ''Acta Poloniae Historica'' 100 (2009): 57–77. {{ISSN|0001-6829}}</ref> Leaders promoted tolerance and more education. They included King [[Stanisław August Poniatowski|Stanislaw II August]] and reformers Piotr Switkowski, [[Antoni Popławski|Antoni Poplawski]], Josef Niemcewicz, and Jósef Pawlinkowski, as well as Baudouin de Cortenay, a Polonized dramatist. Opponents included Florian Jaroszewicz, [[Gracjan Piotrkowski|Gracjan Piotrowski]], Karol Wyrwicz, and Wojciech Skarszewski.<ref>Richard Butterwick, "What is Enlightenment (oświecenie)? Some Polish Answers, 1765–1820." Central Europe 3.1 (2005): 19–37. [https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/31577077/Butterwick_What_is_Enlightenment_CE_05.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1505874099&Signature=UBisNjAzY5RdyAEsKG%2BbHWrJHJw%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DWhat_is_Enlightenment_Oswiecenie_Some_Po.pdf online]{{dead link|date=November 2017}}</ref> The movement went into decline with the [[Third Partition of Poland]] (1795) – a national tragedy inspiring a short period of sentimental writing – and ended in 1822, replaced by [[Romanticism in Poland|Romanticism]].<ref name="JS">Jerzy Snopek, [http://f.poland.pl/files/86/0/234/Literature_of_Enlightenment.pdf "The Polish Literature of the Enlightenment."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005232247/http://f.poland.pl/files/86/0/234/Literature_of_Enlightenment.pdf |date=5 October 2011}} (PDF 122 KB) ''Poland.pl.'' {{nowrap|Retrieved 7 October 2011.}}</ref>