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As a direct consequence of the three partitions of the Republic in 1772, 1793, and 1795, both the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania have been erased from the political map of Europe by the three European great powers – [[Russia]], the [[Habsburg Monarchy]], and [[Prussia]].
As a direct consequence of the three partitions of the Republic in 1772, 1793, and 1795, both the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania have been erased from the political map of Europe by the three European great powers – [[Russia]], the [[Habsburg Monarchy]], and [[Prussia]].
The three great European powers resolved the Polish-Lithuanian question in [[East Europe]] at the end of the 18th century. Such a solution was alive in practice until the end of [[World War I]]. In the interwar period, both Poland and Lithuania existed as separate [[nation state|national states]] quarreling over the [[Vilnius]] region. However, in 1939 the Fourth Partition of Poland occurred ([[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]]) in which four of Poland’s neighbors took participation: [[Germany]], [[USSR]], [[Slovakia]], and Lithuania.
==Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth==
==Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth==
The Republic of Two Nations from the 1720s became extremely weakened from all points of view – [[political]], [[military]], [[social]], [[geopolitical]], and [[financial]]. As a direct result, the Republic’s inner political life became gradually dependent on the powerful neighboring Russian Empire. It became obvious during and after the 1733−1735 War of the Polish Succession when the last Republic’s rulers Augustus III (1734−1763) and Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764−1795) became to all intents and purposes dependent on Russia. In order to gain more independence from [[St. Petersburg]], it was organized the Confederation of Bar in 1768 followed by the Polish revolt which was soon suppressed by the direct intervention of the Russian army.
The Republic of Two Nations from the 1720s became extremely weakened from all points of view – [[political]], [[military]], [[social]], [[geopolitical]], and [[financial]]. As a direct result, the Republic’s inner political life became gradually dependent on the powerful neighboring Russian Empire. It became obvious during and after the 1733−1735 War of the Polish Succession when the last Republic’s rulers Augustus III (1734−1763) and Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764−1795) became to all intents and purposes dependent on Russia. In order to gain more independence from [[St. Petersburg]], it was organized the Confederation of Bar in 1768 followed by the Polish revolt which was soon suppressed by the direct intervention of the Russian army.
In sum, the total territorial acquisitions by all these three neighbors of the Republic from 1772 to 1795 were as follows: the Russian Empire – 463,200 sq. kilometers (5,500,000 inhabitants); the Kingdom of Prussia – 141,400. sq. kilometers (2,600,000 inhabitants); and the Habsburg Monarchy – 128,900 sq. kilometers (4,150,000 inhabitants).
===First Partition (1772)===
===First Partition (1772)===
===Third Partition (1795)===
===Third Partition (1795)===
The Third Partition of the Republic in 1795 was an outcome of a last attempt to reverse the fortune of the Commonwealth which started in March 1794 with the beginning of the widespread uprising led by [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]] (a participant in the [[American War of Independence]] against [[Great Britain]]). However, the Polish-Lithuanian rebels finally were defeated by Russia in 1795. Consequently, the remains of the Republic of Two Nations were partitioned between victorious Russia and Prussia and the noncombatant Habsburg Monarchy for the sake to keep a geopolitical balance between these three European great powers. In other words, in 1795, Russia received the greatest portion of the Republic (120,000 sq. kilometers with 1,200,000 people) including Courland, Samogitia, [[Lithuania]] proper with Wilno/[[Vilnius]] and Troki/Trakai, and Volhynia. The Kingdom of Prussia annexed 48,000 sq. kilometers populated by 1,020,000 people (New [[East Prussia]] up to the Neman/Memel River including Mazovia and a small portion of land northwest of Cracow – New Silesia). The Habsburg Monarchy occupied [[West Galicia]] or the lands beyond the Vistula River up to the Western Bug with 1,500,000 inhabitants (18,200 square miles) including the rest of Cracow (on the right bank of Vistula).
The Third Partition of the Republic in 1795 was an outcome of a last attempt to reverse the fortune of the Commonwealth which started in March 1794 with the beginning of the widespread uprising led by [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]] (a participant in the [[American War of Independence]] against [[Great Britain]]). However, the Polish-Lithuanian rebels finally were defeated by Russia in 1795. Consequently, the remains of the Republic of Two Nations were partitioned between victorious Russia and Prussia and the noncombatant Habsburg Monarchy for the sake to keep a geopolitical balance between these three European great powers. In other words, in 1795, Russia received the greatest portion of the Republic (120,000 sq. kilometers with 1,200,000 people) including Courland, Samogitia, Lithuania proper with Wilno/Vilnius and Troki/Trakai, and Volhynia. The Kingdom of Prussia annexed 48,000 sq. kilometers populated by 1,020,000 people (New [[East Prussia]] up to the Neman/Memel River including Mazovia and a small portion of land northwest of Cracow – New Silesia). The Habsburg Monarchy occupied [[West Galicia]] or the lands beyond the Vistula River up to the Western Bug with 1,500,000 inhabitants (18,200 square miles) including the rest of Cracow (on the right bank of Vistula).
== Second Polish Republic ==
== Second Polish Republic ==