Editing Partitions of Poland (section)

=== Second Partition ===
{{Main|Second Partition of Poland}}
[[File:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 2.png|thumb|upright=1.4|right|The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Second Partition (1793)]]
[[File:Medal commemorating the reunification of Western Rus, reverse.jpeg|right|thumb|1793 Russian campaign medal]]
By 1790, the Commonwealth had been weakened to such a degree that it was forced into an unnatural and terminal alliance with its enemy, Prussia. The [[Polish–Prussian alliance|Polish–Prussian Pact]] of 1790 was signed. The conditions of the Pact contributed to the subsequent final two partitions of Poland–Lithuania.

The [[Constitution of May 3, 1791|May Constitution of 1791]] enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of the [[Repnin Sejm]]. Those reforms prompted aggressive actions on the part of its neighbours, wary of the potential renaissance of the Commonwealth. Arguing that Poland had fallen prey to the radical [[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobinism]] then at high tide in France, Russian forces invaded the Commonwealth in 1792.

In the [[Polish–Russian War of 1792|War in Defense of the Constitution]], pro-Russian conservative Polish [[magnate]]s, the [[Targowica Confederation|Confederation of Targowica]], fought against Polish forces supporting the constitution, believing that Russians would help them restore the [[Golden Liberty]]. Abandoned by their Prussian allies, Polish pro-constitution forces, faced with Targowica units and the regular Russian army, were defeated. Prussia signed a treaty with Russia, agreeing that Polish reforms would be revoked, and both countries would receive chunks of Commonwealth territory. In 1793, deputies to the [[Grodno Sejm]], last Sejm of the Commonwealth, in the presence of the Russian forces, agreed to Russian territorial demands. In the Second Partition, Russia and Prussia helped themselves to enough land so that only one-third of the 1772 population remained in Poland. Prussia named its newly gained province [[South Prussia]], with [[Poznań]] (and later Warsaw) as the capital of the new province.

Targowica confederates, who did not expect another partition, and the king, [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]], who joined them near the end, both lost much prestige and support. The reformers, on the other hand, were attracting increasing support, and in 1794 the [[Kościuszko Uprising]] began.