The Polish masses, outraged with the further humiliation of Poland by her neighbors and the betrayal by the Polish nobility, and emboldened by the French Revolution unfolding in France, quickly turn against the occupying forces of Prussia and Russia.

Following a series of nationwide riots, on March 24, 1794, Polish patriot Tadeusz Kościuszko takes command of the Polish armed forces and declares a nationwide uprising against Poland’s foreign occupiers, marking the beginning of the Kościuszko Uprising.

Catherine II and Frederick William II are quick to respond and, despite initial successes by Kosciuszko’s forces, the uprising is crushed by November 1794.

According to legend, when Kosciuszko falls off of his horse at the Battle of Maciejowice, shortly before he is captured, he says "Finis Poloniae", meaning in Latin "[This is] the end of Poland."