War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests. France and Spain, the two Bourbon powers, tested the power of the Austrian Habsburgs in Western Europe, as did the Kingdom of Prussia, whilst Saxony and Russia mobilized to support the eventual victor. The fighting in Poland–Lithuania resulted in the accession of Augustus III, who in addition to Russia and Saxony, was politically supported by the Habsburgs.
The war's major military campaigns and battles occurred outside the borders of Poland–Lithuania. The Bourbons, supported by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, moved against isolated Habsburg territories. In the Rhineland, France successfully took the Duchy of Lorraine, and in Italy, Spain regained control over the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily lost in the War of the Spanish Succession, while territorial gains in northern Italy were limited despite bloody campaigning. Great Britain's unwillingness to support Habsburg Austria demonstrated the infirmity of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance.
Although a preliminary peace was reached in 1735, the Treaty of Vienna ended the war formally, which confirmed Augustus III as king of Poland and his opponent Stanisław Leszczyński was awarded the Duchy of Lorraine and Duchy of Bar, then both fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire. Francis Stephen, the duke of Lorraine, was given the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in compensation for losing Lorraine. The Duchy of Parma went to Austria whereas Charles of Parma took the crowns of Naples and Sicily. The Bourbons won most territorial gains, as the Duchies of Lorraine and Bar went from being the Holy Roman Empire's fiefs to those of France, while the Spanish Bourbons gained two new kingdoms: Naples and Sicily. For their part, the Austrian Habsburgs received two Italian duchies in return, though Parma would soon revert to the Bourbons. Tuscany would be held by the Habsburgs until the Napoleonic era.
The war proved disastrous for Polish–Lithuanian independence, and re-affirmed that the affairs of the Poland–Lithuania, including the election of its ruler, were controlled by the other great powers of Europe. After August III, there would only be one more king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, himself a Russian puppet, and ultimately Poland–Lithuania would be divided up by its neighbors and cease to exist as a sovereign state by the end of the 18th century. Poland–Lithuania also surrendered claims to Livonia and direct control over the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, which, although remaining its fief, was not integrated into it and fell under strong Russian influence that only ended with the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917.
Background
After the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania was elected by the szlachta, a body composed of the Polish–Lithuanian nobility, in a specially called election sejm. The Sejm, the legislative body of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, increasingly restricted royal power. In turn, the Sejm was often paralyzed by the liberum veto, the right of any member to block its decisions. The Commonwealth's neighbors often influenced the Sejm, and by the early 18th century the democratic system was in decline. From this point, certain foreign powers, especially Russia, became increasingly involved in Polish affairs.In 1697, Augustus II became king due to Austrian and Russian backing. Deposed by Stanisław Leszczyński in 1705, he returned four years later and Stanisław fled to France, where his daughter Marie Leszczyńska against all odds married Louis XV in 1725. Augustus failed in an attempt to settle the Polish crown on his son, Augustus III, leading to a contest for the throne when he died in 1733. In the secret 1732 Treaty of the Three Black Eagles, Russia, Austria and Prussia agreed to oppose the election of either Stanislaus or Augustus III and to support Manuel of Portugal instead.
The dispute coincided with the breakdown of the Anglo-French Alliance that dominated Europe since 1714. The Peace of Utrecht ensured the separation of France and Spain despite the close relationship between Louis XV and his uncle Philip V of Spain and the two countries were opponents in the War of the Quadruple Alliance. When Cardinal Fleury became French chief minister in 1726, he sought a closer relationship with Spain, helped by the birth of Louis, Dauphin of France in 1729, which seemed to ensure that the countries would remain separate.
Fleury supported Stanisław, hoping to weaken Austria and secure the Duchy of Lorraine, a strategic possession occupied by France for large parts of the previous century. The current duke Francis Stephen was expected to marry Emperor Charles' heir Maria Theresa, bringing Austria dangerously close to France. Simultaneously, Philip wanted to regain the Italian territories ceded to Austria in 1714, which led to the Franco-Spanish Pacte de Famille in 1733.
Death of Augustus II
Augustus II died on 1 February 1733. Throughout the spring and summer of 1733, France built up its forces along its northern and eastern frontiers, while the emperor massed troops on the Commonwealth's borders, reducing garrisons in the Duchy of Milan for the purpose. While the aging Prince Eugene of Savoy had recommended a more warlike posture to the emperor against potential French actions in the Rhine valley and northern Italy, only minimal steps were taken to improve imperial defenses on the Rhine.The Marquis de Monti, France's ambassador in Warsaw, convinced the rival Potocki and Czartoryski families to unite behind Stanisław. Teodor Andrzej Potocki, Primate of Poland and interrex following Augustus' death, called a convocation sejm in March 1733. Delegates to this sejm passed a resolution forbidding the candidacy of foreigners; this would explicitly exclude both Emmanuel of Portugal and Augustus II's son, Frederick August II, the Elector of Saxony.
Frederick August negotiated agreements with Austria and Russia in July 1733. In exchange for Russian support, he agreed to give up any remaining Polish claims to Livonia, and promised to Anna of Russia her choice of successor to the Duchy of Courland, a Polish fief which would have otherwise come under direct Polish rule on the death of the current duke, Ferdinand Kettler, who had no heirs. To the Austrian emperor he promised recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, a document designed to guarantee inheritance of the Austrian throne to Maria Theresa, Charles' oldest child.
In August, Polish nobles gathered for the election sejm. On 11 August, 30,000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Peter Lacy entered Poland in a bid to influence the sejm's decision. On September 4, France openly declared its support for Leszczyński, who was elected king by a sejm of 12,000 delegates on September 12. A group of nobles, led by Lithuanian magnates including Duke Michael Wiśniowiecki, crossed the Vistula river and the protection of Russian troops. This group, numbering about 3,000, elected Frederick August II King of Poland as Augustus III on October 5. Despite the fact that this group was a minority, Russia and Austria, intent on maintaining their influence within Poland, recognised Augustus as king.
On 10 October, France declared war on Austria and Saxony. Louis XV was later joined by his uncle, King Philip V of Spain, who hoped to secure territories in Italy for his sons by his second marriage to Elizabeth Farnese. Specifically, he hoped to secure Mantua for the elder son, Don Carlos, who was already Duke of Parma and had the expectation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily for the younger son, Don Felipe. The two Bourbon monarchs were also joined by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, who hoped to secure gains from the Austrian duchies of Milan and Mantua.
Austrian isolation
When hostilities finally broke out, the Austrians had hoped for aid from Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. Such expectations quickly dissipated as both the Dutch and the British chose to pursue a policy of neutrality. British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole justified British neutrality in the conflict by noting that the Anglo-Austrian Alliance agreed at the 1731 Treaty of Vienna was a purely defensive agreement, while Austria was in this instance the aggressor. This position was attacked by British Austrophiles who wanted to aid the Austrians against France, but Walpole's dominant position ensured that Britain stayed out of the conflict.The Dutch under the leadership of Grand Pensionary Simon van Slingelandt mediated between the parties, but were anxious themselves to not have war on their doorstep again. The heavy toll of the previous wars against France on the Dutch economy was still in fresh memory. In early 1733, it appeared that the Dutch Republic was on the verge of war with Prussia. Emperor Charles VI exerted pressure on Prussia, aiming to align the Republic with Austria. However, this attempt proved unsuccessful as the Dutch chose to remain neutral. The threat of war still forced the Dutch Republic to increase the size of its army, just at a time the Dutch had hoped to be able to reduce it appreciably. The French had no wish to provoke Britain and the Dutch Republic and carefully chose not to campaign in the Austrian Netherlands, where Dutch States Army troops garrisoned several fortresses, while also avoiding the parts of the Holy Roman Empire that might draw either power into the conflict.
On Austria's southern border, France in November 1733 negotiated the secret Treaty of Turin with Charles Emmanuel and prepared for military operations in northern Italy. It concluded the Treaty of the Escorial with Spain, which included promises of French assistance in the Spanish conquest of Naples and Sicily. France also made diplomatic overtures to Sweden and the Ottoman Empire in a fruitless attempt to draw them into the conflict in support of Stanisław.
The Austrians were thus left largely without effective external allies on their southern and western frontiers. Their Russian and Saxon allies were occupied with the Polish campaign, and the Emperor distrusted Frederick William I of Prussia, who was willing to provide some aid. Divisions within the empire also affected the raising of troops in 1733, as Charles-Albert of Bavaria, who harbored ambitions to become the next Holy Roman Emperor, signed a secret agreement with France in November 1733, and tried, with limited success, to dissuade other rulers within the empire from the Wittelsbach family from providing troops to the emperor under their treaty obligations. While Britain itself did not provide support, the Electorate of Hanover, where George II also ruled as an Imperial Elector, proved willing to help. On 9 April 1734, a Reichskrieg was declared against France, obliging all imperial states to participate.