Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Essay Example for Free

Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian community EssayThe modern republics of Poland and Lithuania had been once been a single, strong people k directlyn as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This commonwealth was established in 1569. Although there were other states in the commonwealth, none of them was as officeful as Poland. The nation was on the brink of success when the rest of Europe was ravaging in the famous thirty years war between 1618 and 1648. The Commonwealth noblemen had no desire to get snarled in these wars and they were adequate to(p) defend the country against external attacks from the Germans, Russians and the Ottoman Turks (TLK). However, the commonwealths supremacy and stableness did not last for long and there already were clear signs of decline by the mid s razeteenth century. The main cause of the decline was wars that were fought within and outside the commonwealth. Thus, the weakened state could not hold itself unitedly after these wars which ultimate ly led to its partition. The decline of Poland was basically evincible in the legislative body Sejm. The divergent systems of the parliament grew ineffective and inefficient at a time when the deputies went verbal asserting Liberum forwardstall which gave them excessive power over national resolutions.The countrys population had decreased by big proportions as a result of wars. This made it practically impossible for the nation to succeed in its wars against other nations, though they were able to defeat the Ottomans at Vienna. This was the last success realized by the commonwealth military (Davies 24). The Szlachta (noblemen) also superfluous in their ability to influence others and consequentially depreciated in military vigor. In a myriad of situations they became ineffectual and viewed veto as the only remaining legislative symbol within the commonwealth (25). The Decline of the CommonwealthIn 1648, the warlike Cossacks, with the support of Russia, upstaged a rebellion aga inst Poland. Thus the Russians began to influence the affairs of the country. Later in 1655, the Commonwealth was involved in another war with Sweden, provoked by the policies of Commonwealth fagots from the Swedish lofty House of Vasa. The Swedes installed Stanislaw Leszczynski as king. However, they were defeated by the Russians in 1709 and this resulted in the reinstatement of Augustus on the throne (TLK). Augustus was at dispute with parliament and this lead to a civil war in 1717.The Russians responded by reducing the powers of the Sejm, who by now were at the centre of running Poland, came to the rescue of Augustus. This resulted in Poland being forced to cut down the coat of her standing army. When Augustus died in 1733, Leszyski returned to the throne. This move was met with resistance from the Russians who forced him out and made Fredrick Augustus, a son to Augustus, king instead. Another blow to the commonwealth was the Saxon rule that lasted for sixty years. It drove the nation to the edges of lawlessness, devastating it even more.A powerful alliance between Russia, Prussia and Australia ensured that Polands efficacious system and maintain ace of send was paralyzed. The three nations formed the Alliance of the Three Black Eagles owing to the fact that all the three had eagles, cutting in color, on their coat-of-arms (Kjaergard 121). The Partitioning of the Commonwealth By the 18th century, the Commonwealth could not handle the galore(postnominal) internal problems that were plaguing it and this made the fragile nation more vulnerable to external influences. The political system was in shambles and this soon culminated to the schism of the commonwealth.The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian, Prussian, and Austrian powers (TLK) . The first partition was in 1772, when the Commonwealth lost 733, 000 square kilometers of land together with about four trillion people. Russia took most of the land while a majority of the population went to Austria. The Sejm ratified the partition agreement in spite of much resistance from the states deputies. After the first partition, there was a period of sexual relation stability that saw to the development of a better education sector in the country. There was a rise in the number of professionals in various fields.The king initialized a healing programme, which was executed by the Great Sejm. The Four Year or Great Sejm came up with a new shaping (Domar 56). Liberum Veto was abolished under the newly formed constitution, changing how the country was governed. people were guaranteed personal freedom and more emancipation was enhanced. England, France and the United States hailed the newly formed constitution. On the other hand, this step was viewed as a threat by the rulers of Austria and Russia. This led to a wide instigation of large numbers of magnate under the leadership of Branicki Ksawery, Potocki Szczesny and Rzewuski Seweryn.This was a betraya l of the commonwealth hence leading to the formation of the Targowica Confedaration in disrespect to the declarations of the newly formed constitution (Kjaergard 122) The second partition was as a result of Russian invation. The troops from Russia decided to cross the borders and right off war broke out. Joseph Poniatowski who was the Kings nephew together with Kosciuszko Tadeusz, a supporter of the American Independence War, erected a vehement resistance although all confidence was crushed after the Prussians joined the fighting. Many people, who would otherwise bewilder been citizens, ran away to other countries.In 1793, Prussia and Russia were obliged to sign the Second Partition Treaty. This led to about almost This led to holding in of more than half of the entire nation with a population of about four million people. Later, there was a meeting at Grodno composed mainly of the Sejm which deliberated on the legal processd to make legal the process of partitioning of the count ry. After the partitioning, there was widespread discontent within the common population (Kostrowicka 34). The final partition in 1795 was the most devastating. A lot of Poles were evicted from their country. The King was seized and taken to prison in St.Petersburg. Other people were sent to the harsh cold deserts of Siberia and thousands more fled to other lands. cultivation Although Polands history is one full of turmoil, a lot can be learnt from it. It is clear that strong governance policies should be in place for a country to run smoothly. The heads of state should at the fore front providing the much needed leadership to citizens of their countries. If the Polish constitution had had good policies, and if the leaders were competent enough, thusly maybe the history of the Poles would be much different and better than it is.