The following is the declaration which the minister plenipotentiary
of Russia communicated in the name of her Imperial Majesty Catharine II,
to the king and republic of Poland on September 18, 1772, announcing the
first partition of that country.
The States bordering upon Poland have so often been involved in the disorders
which have arisen during interregnums in that kingdom, that the experience
of the past would in any case have led the neighboring powers to occupy
themselves seriously with the affairs of that State the moment that the
throne became vacant by the death of King Augustus 111. This consideration
and the obvious necessity of preventing the fatal effects of dissensions
which threatened to arise with this last vacancy of the throne, led the
Court of St. Petersburg to endeavor to bring about a union in favor of a
candidate who should be at once the most worthy of the throne, and the most
suitable to the interests of his fellow-citizens and of the neighboring
States. It endeavored at the same time to rectify certain abuses in the
constitution of the Polish State.
The Court of Berlin seconded the measures of its ally, while the Court of
Vienna, although anxious to co6perate in assuring the success of these praiseworthy
measures, believed it best on account of the embarrassments which might
arise from increasing the number of those interfering directly in the domestic
affairs of Poland, to remain neutral in this matter as well as in the war
which sprang from it between Russia and the Ottoman Port.
As a result of these measures, the powers had the satisfaction of seeing
the free and legal election of King Stanislas, who is now reigning, as well
as other useful results. Everything seemed to promise a firm peace for both
Poland and her neighbors, but unhappily the spirit of discord took possession
of a portion of the nation, and destroyed in an instant all these hopes.
Citizens armed themselves against one another, factions usurped the legitimate
authority, which they abused in utter contempt of law, good order, and public
security. justice, the police, commerce, yes, agriculture itself, all were
destroyed.
The natural connection between Poland and her neighbors led them to feel
most keenly the sad effects of these disorders. They have been forced for
a long time to take the most costly measures in order to assure the tranquillity
of their own frontiers, and they are exposed, owing to uncertainty of what
may result from the destruction of this kingdom, to the danger of the decline
of the friendship and harmony which now exists among them. Nothing is consequently
more urgent than a prompt remedy for these ills, which are producing the
most vexatious effects in the neighboring states, and which, if no measures
of prevention are taken, will probably entail modifications of the political
system of this part of Europe.
Reasons of such weight forbid his Majesty the King of Prussia, her Majesty
the Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her Imperial Majesty of all
the Russias longer to defer taking a decisive stand in so critical a situation.
These powers have agreed accordingly to attempt to reach without loss of
time a common understanding, in order to restore peace and good order in
Poland, and establish the ancient constitution of this State and the liberties
of the nation upon a sound basis.
But while they have been able to prevent for the moment the ruin and the
arbitrary destruction of this kingdom, owing to the friendship and good
intelligence which now exists among them, they have had no assurance that
they would meet with equal success in the future. They all had considerable
claims
upon various possessions of the republic. They could not allow these to
be abandoned to the course of events; they consequently determined to enforce
their ancient rights and legitimate claims on the possessions of the republic,
- claims which each is ready to justify in due time and in the proper place.
Consequently his Majesty the King of Prussia, her Majesty the Empress, Queen
of Hungary and Bohemia, and her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, having
mutually set forth their rights and claims, and having come to an agreement,
will each take an equivalent of the district to which they lay claim, and
will put themselves in effective possession of those portions of Poland
which are calculated to serve hereafter as the most natural and secure boundary
between them. Each of the three powers reserves the privilege of issuing
a statement in due time, by which their Majesties will renounce hereafter
all rights, claims, and pretensions for damages or interest which they may
have upon the possessions and subjects of the Republic.
His Majesty the King of Prussia, her Majesty the Empress, Queen of Hungary
and Bohemia, and her Majesty the Empress of all the Russias believe it their
duty to announce their intentions to the whole Polish nation, requesting
them to banish, or at least suppress, the spirit of disorder, so that the
nation, coming together legally, can concert in the diet with the three
courts in regard to the means for re6stablishing order and tranquillity,
as well as to confirm by formal acts the exchange of titles and claims of
each of the powers to those regions of which they have just taken possession.