Polish–Prussian alliance
By the early 17th century, the magnates of Poland and Lithuania controlled the state or rather managed to ensure that no reforms would be carried out that might weaken their privileged status (the so-called "Golden Freedoms").
[5] All of those powers had already annexed about a third of the Commonwealth territory and population (211,000 square kilometers (81,000 sq mi) and four to five million people) in the First Partition of Poland in 1772–1773.
[11] Spurned by Russia, Poland turned to another potential ally, the Triple Alliance, represented on the Polish diplomatic scene primarily by the Kingdom of Prussia.
[12] That line of reasoning gained support from Polish politicians such as Ignacy Potocki and Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski.
[13] Within the Triple Alliance, Prussia was hoping for some territorial gains in the Baltic region through war (with Russia), diplomacy (from the Commonwealth) or a combination.
[15] Prussia tried to take the opportunity of the Russia's wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden to move the weak Commonwealth into its sphere of influence.
[20] One of the Prussian requests to play for time to the Patriotic Party was that before the treaty was signed, more reforms within the Commonwealth government had to be seen.
In October 1789, the changing international situation, primarily the military defeats of the Ottoman Empire, suddenly and temporarily increased the value of an alliance with Poland for Prussia.
[27] The passing of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, although officially applauded by Frederick Wilhelm II, who sent a congratulatory note to Warsaw, caused further worry in Prussia.
[28] The Prussian statesman Ewald von Hertzberg expressed the fears of European conservatives: "The Poles have given the coup de grâce to the Prussian monarchy by voting a constitution", elaborating that a strong Commonwealth would likely demand the return of the lands that Prussia acquired in the First Partition.
[28] Prussian Foreign Minister Friedrich Wilhelm von Schulenburg-Kehnert clearly and with rare candor told Potocki that Prussia did not support the constitution but could not say so initially to avoid any Polish-Russian reconciliation and would not help even as a mediator, as it is not in Prussian's interest of the state to see Poland so strengthened that it could later threaten Prussia.
[33] By 1795, Commonwealth would cease to exist, with Prussia acquiring Gdańsk, Toruń and other territories that it had desired (see Prussian partition).
