The 3rd of May Constitution and the Second Partition of Poland-Lithuania

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Only a few people outside of Poland know that the first modern European Constitution was written in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the humiliation suffered in the First Partition of Poland, reformist thinkers became ever more prominent in Polish political life and began to formulate their plans for the future of the Polish state. Due to an advantageous international situation, the constitution could finally be passed on the 3rd of May 1791. But the reforms which the constitution brought with it wouldn't last long. Some Polish nobles were everything but happy with the abolishing of many of their old privileges and they began to form a conspiracy with the help of the Russian Empire. This would lead to a war in which Poland-Lithuania was once again subjugated by Russian forces and forced to undo everything it had achieved. In this video, we are going to take a closer look at the passing of the constitution, its meaning for the world and why Poland's neighbouring powers were so hell-bent on destroying it.

Literature:
Broszat, Martin: Zweihundert Jahre deutsche Polenpolitik, 4th Edition, Frankfurt am Main 1986.
Davies, Norman: God's Playground. A History of Poland, Volume I, The Origins to 1795, Revised Edition, New York 2005.
Hagen, William W.: The Partitions of Poland and the Crisis of the Old Regime in Prussia 1772-1806, in: Central European History 9 (1976), Nr. 2, pp. 115-128.
Lukowski, Jerzy: The Partitions of Poland 1772-1793-1795, London & New York 1999.
Michalski, Jerzy: The Meaning of the Constitution of 3 May, in: Fiszman, Samuel (Ed.): Constitution and Reform in Eighteenth Century Poland. The Constitution of 3 May 1791, Bloomington & Indianapolis 1997 [Online-Version], Chapter Eleven, https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/r... (accessed on 13.10.2025).
Müller, Michael G.: Die Teilungen Polens 1772-1793-1795, München 1984.

Chapters:
0:00 A Painting by Jan Matejko
2:39 The First Partition of Poland
4:33 The Return of Russian Domination
7:58 Tensions among the Partitioning Powers
12:39 Spread of the Enlightenment
14:27 The Drafting of the Constitution
18:44 3 May 1791
20:24 Reactions Abroad
24:22 The Targowica-Confederation
26:49 Second Partition of Poland
30:47 The Grodno Sejm
35:17 Outro