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In depth
The Partitions (zabory) were the three divisions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795. After the Third Partition, Poland ceased to exist as a sovereign state for 123 years, until the establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918.
The Partitions created three distinct administrative regions: the Russian Partition (Warsaw, Lublin, Białystok), the Prussian Partition (Poznań, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk), and the Austrian Partition (Kraków, Lwów, Tarnów — also known as Galicia).
For CBD cases, the Partitions matter because: (1) records from each partition are in different languages (Russian, German, Latin) and held in different archives; (2) Polish citizenship did not exist during the partitions, so ancestors who emigrated before 1918 were not Polish citizens — they were Russian, Prussian, or Austrian subjects.
Related terms
Galicia was the region of partitioned Poland under Austrian rule (1772-1918), covering what is now southern Poland and western Ukraine.
AGAD (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych) is the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, holding Polish records from the Russian Partition and earlier periods.
Potwierdzenie posiadania obywatelstwa polskiego (confirmation of Polish citizenship) is the legal process by which the Polish government confirms that a person is a Polish citizen by descent.
A Wojewoda (voivode) is the Polish central government's representative in each province (województwo), who processes citizenship confirmation applications.
USC (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) is the Polish civil registry office that maintains records of births, marriages, and deaths, equivalent to the Italian anagrafe.
Haller's Army (Błękitna Armia, the Blue Army) was a Polish military force formed in France during WWI (1917-1919) that fought for Polish independence, and whose members are presumed to have been Polish citizens.