1792: War in Defense of the Constitution

On May 3, 1791 Poland, which had made efforts to strengthen itself through internal reforms, adopted a new, liberal constitution. This action, resulted in the formation of the conservative Confederation of Targowica (May 14, 1792), which asked Russia to intervene to restore the former Polish constitution. Not only did Russia accept the confederates' invitation but Prussia also sent troops into Poland, and on Jan. 23, 1793, the two powers agreed upon the Second Partition of Poland.

1794: Kościuszko's Uprising

In 1794 general Tadeusz Kosciuszko, raised the banner of insurrection in the rump Commonwealth. It may have been a hopeless undertaking, but the Poles could not see their state destroyed without making a last stand. Kosciuszko, assuming the title of chief (naczelnik), ignored the king, but crowds in Warsaw, inspired by the example of revolutionary France, summarily executed a number of Targowica leaders. Offering emancipation measures to the peasants, Kosciuszko brought a large number of them under his banner. After winning the battle of Raclawice and capturing Warsaw and Wilno, the insurrectionists were defeated by Russian and Prussian forces.

1794-1807: The Legions

Beginning with the Kosciuszko Insurrection the Poles staged uprisings in 1806, 1830, 1846, 1848, and 1863 and a revolution in 1905. Politically conscious Poles did not reconcile themselves to the loss of independence. Conspiracies and attempts to exploit the differences between the partitioning powers arose. Émigrés looked up to revolutionary France for assistance, and General Jan Henryk Dabrowski succeeded in 1797 in persuading Napoleon Bonaparte, then waging his Italian campaign, to create auxiliary Polish legions. In their headquarters the future Polish national anthem—“Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła” (“Poland Has Not Yet Perished”)—was sung for the first time.

1807–1815: Duchy of Warsaw

Księstwo Warszawskie (1807–15) independent Polish state created by Napoleon. It became a focal point of efforts to restore the Polish nation, which had been destroyed by the partitions of Poland made by Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795.

1830-1831: The November Uprising

When a revolution broke out in Paris (July 1830) and the Russian emperor Nicholas I indicated his intention of using the Polish Army to suppress it, a Polish secret society of infantry cadets staged an uprising in Warsaw (Nov. 29, 1830). Although the cadets and their civilian supporters failed to assassinate the Emperor's brother Grand Duke Constantine (who was commander in chief of the armed forces in Poland) or to capture the barracks of the Russian cavalry, they did manage to seize weapons from the arsenal, arm the city's civilian population, and gain control of the northern section of Warsaw.

1863-1865: January Uprising

The January Uprising was the longest Polish uprising against Tsarist Russia: it began January 22, 1863, and the last insurgents were not captured until 1865. It started as a spontaneous protest by young Poles against conscription into the Russian Army. The insurrectionists, severely outnumbered and lacking any serious outside support, were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare tactics. They failed to win a major military victory, although they succeded in some local battles. On the other hand the uprising did, however, succeed in blunting the effect of the Tsar's abolition of serfdom in the Russian partition, which had been designed to win Polish peasants away from supporting the rest of the Polish nation. In the aftermath of the uprising, severe reprisals against the Poles, such as public executions or deportations to Siberia, led many Poles to abandon armed struggle and turn instead to the idea of "organic work" - the economic and cultural self-improvement. Yet the legend survived and grandsons of the insurgents rised again to regain independence for Poland in 1918.