In the 17th century, Poland was in a very troubled time, they ruled Ukraine, then they rebelled, and Russia joined them. When the war ended in 1660-1667 they left Poland devastated, and a lot of their population was killed. In the late 17th hundreds, the Polish scored great military points, then later they were weakened by the lack of effective central government. In the 18th century, Poland continued its political and military decline, Then the Russians worked with Prussia to take over of Poland while it was weak, So a man named Frederick Augustus of Saxony became king and ruled over Poland. When he died, the Russian army came and made sure his son became king. After the Polish king died, Catherine the Great Empress of Russia elected her former lover, Stanislaw Poniatowski, to be the King, but he refused to be a Russian pawn. In 1767, the Russians forced Poland to accept a treaty that guaranteed the borders of Poland to the Russians, and the rights of Orthodox Christians.
