In the sixth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the eighteenth-century decline and fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, covering the period between 1697 and 1795. He examines the Saxon kings, the descent into political disorder, the Enlightenment and reform, Hasidic Judaism, the Constitution of the Third of May, and the three partitions that wiped the Commonwealth from the map of Europe.

The Brief History of Poland series covers over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today.

Check out the previous episode in our Brief History of Poland series.

Producer: Sebastian Leśniewski

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