UWSPÓŁCZEŚNIENIE: THE CONTEMPORIZATION OF POLISH EDUCATION, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD examines the contemporization of educational, governmental, and societal structures that occurred in eighteenth-century Poland. Italian educational models and English governmental models influenced the development of Poland’s structures since the fourteenth century. The introduction and pervasiveness of Sarmatism in szlachta culture during the fifteenth century created the foundation for the szlachta democracy. Continued interference from neighboring rulers coupled with the erosion of educational standards inside Poland contributed to the szlachta’s susceptibility to corruption, which resulted in non-functioning government. Following the Partition of 1772, the Poles employed the assistance of French philosophes in developing revitalized educational and governmental structures. Stanisław Konarski, King Stanisław Poniatowski, Hugo Kołłątaj, Stanisław Staszic, and Michał Wiełhorski fought to thwart Catherine the Great’s attempts to subordinate Poland; the result was the Constitution of 3 May 1791 and the contemporization of Poland’s society during their enlightenment movement.