Why did Maria Theresa participate reluctantly in the First Partition of Poland?

Maria Theresa participated in the First Partition of Poland in 1772 with great reluctance because she viewed the act as fundamentally immoral.123

Her opposition was rooted in her own experiences early in her reign, when the refusal of European powers to respect territorial integrity caused her significant grief and hardship. She believed that by agreeing to the partition, she was endorsing the same type of cynical, parasitical policy that she had previously condemned as heinous.13

However, she ultimately yielded to the counsel of her advisor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz. Kaunitz warned that refusing to participate would not only fail to prevent the threat of war but would also leave the Habsburg monarchy at a strategic disadvantage. While Prussia and Russia were prepared to expand their territories and tax bases, Austria would have received nothing, thereby weakening its position relative to its powerful neighbors. Consequently, she participated to protect the interests of her state, despite her strong ethical objections to the violation of Polish sovereignty.13