The first partition of Poland happened more or less with the approval of the last monarch of Poland, Stanisław Poniatowski who received from the treasury of the Russia, Prussia and Austria more than 6000 ducats to cover his debts (they were artificially inflated by the king, but even then, it was a small price to pay for the received land, so the partitioning powers did not mind) what ensured his complicity, although the king still appealed to other monarchs, asking for help with little to no success. In 1773 a session of the Polish parliament was called to ratify the territorial cessions. The preparations were, as one could imagine, marked by turmoil and strife, and many local parliaments, especially from Lithuania, refused to send representatives for what they considered a completely unfair and illegal session. As a result, the session has been held with an extremely low number of representatives, but as the Polish parliament did not use the quorum principle, this did not prevent the session to begin.Before the negotiations began, 60 out of total 110 representatives and 9 out of 16 senators, to large extent bribed by the three foreign powers created a confederation to ensure the favourable outcome. This was necessary, as the confederations (derived from the laws allowing royal subjects to organize against the authority as the precaution against absolutism and tyranny) operated on the principle of the majority vote, instead of an acclamation mandated by the liberum veto principle used in regular parliament sessions.

Now, it seems necessary to note that although the patriotic tendencies were strong among burghers and part of the lower and middle nobility (in terms of wealth, as all nobles were equal to one another in the eyes of the law), they were very low among the peasants due to the fact that the economy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was largely feudal in nature, with right of the peasants being heavily restricted in comparison to the Middle Ages with vast majority of peasants being serfs. For them, it was inconsequential what country they were living in. Additionally, wealthy nobles were afraid of republican movements that were slowly emerging and eventually culminated in the formation or United States and the French Revolution. Such trends were endangering their position, so they were eager to support foreign, absolutist governments that would secure status quo (due to their wealth and connections, wealthiest noble families could have easily manipulate and corrupt members of parliament, what future partitioners, especially Russia, used to large extent).

The first partition acted, to some extent, as a wake-up call showing the threat posed by the foreign powers, especially Russia that has been considering Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as its de facto protectorate since mid-18th century. Incidentally, the changes in the organization of the state structures introduced by the parliament sessions of 1773-1775 contributed to more efficient governance. This strengthened the reform movements that, utilizing the fact that Russia, Prussia and Austria became involved in wars, led to the drawing and adoption of the Constitution of 1791, introducing the constitutional monarchy, reforming many elements of the political life and officially renouncing any pretenses of Russian monarchs to the Polish-Lithuanian territory. This, as one could have surmised, caused the Catherine II to react, quickly ending the ongoing war with Ottoman Turkey and directing 97 thousand strong army to quell the opposition. Polish-Lithuanian forces, less numerous (roughly 70 thousand) and lacking military experience suffered numerous defeats, exacerbated by the lack of support initially declared by Prussia. After two months of war and numerous defeats of the Polish-Lithuanian side, king asked the army to lay down the arms. Prussia and Russia, used the fact that the Polish army was in disarray and while the latter remained in the Polish-Lithuanian territory, the former entered the Western Poland. Polish forces, already weakened by the war and called to lay down the arms by the king, was unable to stop the occupation. In March of 1793, the parliament session started in Grodno, although the occupying forces prevented any political opponents from participation and secured favourable outcome by bribing the others.

This however, did not mean that the opposition was non-existent. Immediately after the short Polish-Russian war of 1792, political activists who took refuge in Saxony, where they planned an insurrection against occupying forces in alliance with revolutionary France. Tadeusz Kościuszko, future leader of the insurrection contacted general Charles Dumouriez and presented the plans of alliance, unaware of the fact that Dumouriez was colluding with Habsburg court and disclosed the plans to Austrians and Prussians who informed Russians about the possible Polish resistance. In February 1794, Russian envoy informed Polish government that the required financial loan can be rendered under the condition that Poland reduces the size of its army and Perpetual Council (an executive body of Polish government created after the First Partition) ordered such reduction followed by transfer of the reduced soldiers to Russian and Prussian army. Even though the the conspirators were aware that this is most likely a thinly-veiled provocation, they decided to go forth with the uprising. On 24th of March 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko, invested with the powers of the Supreme Commander of National Military Forces officially proclaimed in Kraków the beginning of the military resistance against the foreign occupants. The main problem insurgents had to face was the scarcity of troops that even after conscription of the loyal, patriotically-inclined commoners into local militias did not exceed 10.000 men, largely poorly trained and inadequately equipped in comparison to Prussian and Russian regulars. After the victory of the insurgents over the Russian forces at Racławice, on 4th of April, the morale soared and similar uprisings soon broke out in major cities of the Commonwealth, e.g. Warsaw, Vilinus and Saule, marked Polish and Lithuanian forces victories and the ranks of militias and army rose, peaking at 150.000 men in large part thanks to the promises of larger enfranchisement of peasants on Kościuszko's part. On 20th August a general uprising broke out in Greater Poland against Prussian occupants. Even though the insurgents managed to secure important strategic locations and achieved numerous victories in September and October, Prussians and Russians soon sent the substantial reinforcements, and Austrians joined the war. Numerical disparity quickly turned the tide or war and until mid-November, insurgents in Masovia and Lesser Poland were forced to surrender, while the fights in Greater Poland lasted until mid-December, but Polish forces were also ultimately defeated.

Facing the significant troubles caused by the uprising, Catherine II proposed total dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian country by annexation of the remaining territory and its division among Prussia, Russian Empire and Habsburg Monarchy. On 24th October 1795 all three monarchs agreed upon the treaty enforcing the final partition of Poland. On 25th of November that year, king Stanisław Poniatowski abdicated in favour of Russia, making Catherine II a de iure depositary of the Polish crown. He died two years later in St. Petersburg.

In the wake of repressions following the uprisings of 1794, many military officers and political activists were either imprisoned, exiled to Siberia or forced to take refuge abroad, predominantly in France. Dissolution of Polish and Lithuanian government and annexation of the land also made if far more difficult to form an effective resistance that would have any real chance of success. From this moment on, Polish politicians realized that Poland won't be able to regain independence without external help. The first opportunity manifested itself a decade later, in the wake of Napoleonic Wars that eventually helped to organize successful uprising in Greater Poland in 1806 and proclamation of the Duchy of Warsaw in the following year. The defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812 and final blow France was dealt at Waterloo in 1815 meant the end of that plan. Poles and Lithuanians made several attempts at uprisings, with the War with Russia of 1830-1831 and the Uprising of 1863 being the best known, although both eventually ended with defeat.