Central Europe Yearbook

With Fire and Sword

Military Factors in the Disintegration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Mikolaj Dueholm

University of Minnesota

Keywords: Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth, military history

Abstract

This article discusses seventeenth- and eighteenth-century circumstances that adversely affected the armed forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It identifies lack of a professional army, overreliance on cavalry, failed attempts at reform, funding problems, and unrestricted power of the magnates as the primary military factors leading to the eventual partition of the Commonwealth. These factors have been relatively unexplored in previous literature and serve to highlight the importance of synthesizing diverse perspectives and experiences in understanding the fraught history of Eastern Europe.