The Targowica Confederation (Konfederacja targowicka) was a konfederacja of Polish-Lithuanian magnates agreed upon on 27 April 1792 in Saint Petersburg with the backing of Empress Catherine II of Russia. The confederation opposed the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which had been adopted by the Great Sejm, especially the provisions limiting the privileges of the nobility. Text of founding act of confederation was written by Russian general Vasili Stepanovich Popov, chief of office of prince Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin. May 14 1792 it was announced in a small town Targowica in Ukraine by members of republican plot. Following this May 18 two Russian armies entered in Poland, starting new war without war proclamation.
The forces of the Targowica Confederation defeated the forces loyal to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski in the War in Defense of the Constitution. Their victory precipitated the Second Partition of Poland and set the stage for the Third Partition and the final dissolution of the Commonwealth in 1795. This outcome came as a surprise to most of the Confederates, who had wished only to restore the status quo ante and had expected that the overthrow of the May 3rd Constitution would achieve that end.
