Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – three partitions which took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Lithuanian: Abiejų Tautų Respublika), resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years. The partitions were perpetrated by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which divided up the Commonwealth lands among themselves progressively in the process of territorial seizures.

The First Partition of Poland, which the Poles proved incapable of resisting, was decided on August 5, 1772. Two decades later, Russian and Prussian troops entered Poland again and the Second Partition was signed on January 23, 1793. Austria did not participate in the Second Partition. The Third Partition of Poland took place on October 24, 1795, as soon as the Polish Kościuszko Uprising was defeated. With this partition, the independent Polish state ceased to exist.

In English, the term "Partitions of Poland" is sometimes used geographically as toponymy, to mean the three parts (sectors, or provinces) that the partitioning powers divided Poland into, i.e.: the Austrian partition, the Prussian partition and the Russian partition. In Polish, on the other hand, there are two separate words for the two meanings. The consecutive acts of dividing or partitioning of Poland are referred to as rozbiór (plural: rozbiory), while the term zabór (pl. zabory) means each part of the Commonwealth seized in 1772–1795 and turned into a new province of either Imperial Russia, Prussia or Austria. In Polish historiography, the term "Fourth Partition of Poland" has also been used, in reference to any subsequent annexation of Polish lands by foreign invaders. The term "Fourth Partition" in a temporal sense can also mean the diaspora communities that played important political role in reestablishing the Polish sovereign state after 1918.