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![]() The Second Partition of Poland:1793
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To save the country, the Four-Year Seym was assembled in 1788. Its result, the Third of May Constitution passed in 1791, reformed the entire political system, including the rights and duties of the king, the army, and all social classes. The liberum veto was also abolished. [2] Unfortunately, the Constitution didn't, as was expected, help keep Poland an independent state. On the contrary, Russian troops entered the country forming the Confederation of Targowica and protesting against the Constitution. Prussia, violating all previous promises towards Poland, joined the Russian forces. They signed the second treaty of partition in 1793, marking the real end of Poland as an independent state. [3] As a result of the partition, Russia obtained all the eastern provinces extending from Livonia to Moldavia, and Prussia received Great Poland, Kujavia, Torun and Gdansk (Danzig). Poland was now reduced to less than one-third of its original dimensions. By that time the patriotic party had reached the end of its patience, and on 24 March 1794, in the Market Square of Cracow, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a hero of the American War of Independence, launched an armed insurrection, widely known as the Kosciuszko Insurrection, which quickly gained nationwide support. [4] He supplemented the provisions of the Constitution of 1791 by a manifesto in Polaniec giving the fighting peasants complete freedom. At first Kosciuszkos armies were successful and Warsaw and Wilno were liberated. However, overwhelming masses of Russian troops appeared, and Austria and Prussia were openly hostile. Despite their heroic sacrifices, the insurgents could not stand up against the combined forces of the invaders, and they suffered defeat in desperate battles. Kosciuszko was defeated at Maciejowice and taken prisoner by the Russians. [5] The third partition of Poland was effected in a treaty in 1795. Thus, the name of Poland was wiped from the map of Europe for more than a century.
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Researched by: Violetta Dziedzic, Von Steuben High School, Chicago, IL Written by: Gabriela Bosak, Von Steuben High School, Chicago, IL 13 October 1998
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