List of Wars Involving Poland - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The 17th century saw fierce rivalry between the then major Eastern European powers – Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. At its heyday, the Commonwealth comprised the territories of present-day Poland, and large parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia, and represented a major European power. However, by the end of the 18th century a series of internal conflicts and wars with foreign enemies led to the dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the partitioning of most of its dependent territories among other European powers. During the 18th century, European powers (most frequently consisting of Russia, Sweden, Prussia and Saxony) fought several wars for the control of the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the end of the 18th century, some Poles attempted to defend Poland from growing foreign influence in the country's internal affairs. These late attempts to preserve independence eventually failed, ultimately ending in Poland's partition and the final dissolution of the remains of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.