Polish question ( or ) is the issue , in international politics , of the existence of Poland as an independent state . Raised soon after the partitions of Poland in the late 18th century , it became a question current in European and American diplomacy throughout the 19th and parts of the 20th centuries . Historian Norman Davies notes that the Polish question is the primary lens through which most histories of Europe discuss the history of Poland , and was one of the most common topics of European politics for close to two centuries . The Polish question was a major topic at all major European peace conferences : at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , at the Versailles Conference in 1919 , and at the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference in 1945 . As Piotr Wandycz notes , " What to the Poles was the Polish cause , to the outside world was the Polish question . " After late-18th-century partitions of Poland , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist , divided between the Austrian Empire , the Prussian Kingdom and the Russian Empire . The erasure of Poland from the map of Europe became a key to maintaining the European balance of power over the next century . The term " Polish question " came into use shortly afterwards , as some Great Powers took interest in upsetting this '' status quo '' , hoping to benefit from the recreation of the Polish state , starting with France under Napoleon Bonaparte , who considered the Poles useful recruits in his wars with Poland 's occupying powers . The term " Polish question " was heard again after the failed November Uprising of 1831 , during the " Spring of Nations " in 1848 – 49 , and again after the unsuccessful January Uprising of 1863 , in which Poles and Lithuanians rebelled against the Russian Empire , trying to restore their country 's independence . In the era of rising nationalism , the question of whether an independent Poland should be restored , and also what it meant to be a Pole , gained increasing notoriety . In the decades that followed , the term became less used , as no new major uprisings occurred in Poland to draw the world 's attention . The issue was further assuaged by the fact that the three partitioning powers were common allies for over a century ( cf. League of the Three Emperors ) , and their diplomacy successfully kept the issue suppressed so that no serious solution appeared in sight . Out of the three partitioning powers , for Prussia the Polish question was one of fundamental importance , as Prussia 's existence was connected to the Polish state being vanquished
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
Polish question