Free choice (1704)

1697 ←

July 12, 1704

→ 1733

Elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

candidate

Stanislaus I. Leszczyński

Before the election of
August II.

Elected
Stanislaus I. Leszczyński

Election of Stanislaus I. Leszczyński (1704)

Coronation of Stanislaus I. Leszczyński (1705)

The free election of 1704 was the ninth of its kind to determine the king and grand duke of the Royal Republic of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by the nobility as a whole.

history

At the beginning of 1700 August II. , King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony , started the Great Northern War by attacking Livonia . Despite Russian support, the Saxon army lost several battles, so that soon afterwards the confederation of Poland-Lithuania was largely controlled by the Swedish empire . In June 1703 August II convened a special Sejm meeting in Lublin , where he was confronted with widespread criticism. His opponents were the primate of Poland Michael Radziejowski and the sons Jakob and Konstanty Sobieski of the recently deceased King John III. Sobieski cited.

The opponents of August II formed the Confederation of Warsaw and on February 16, 1704 he was dethroned by them in Warsaw. In April of the same year, the young met Voivod of Posen Stanislaus Leszczyński with the Swedish King Karl XII. in Lidzbark Warmiński . The Swedish ruler was aware of Leszczyński's influence in Wielkopolska and declared that he would become the new king of Poland-Lithuania . In return, Leszczyński promised temporary control of the crown and handed it over to Jakob Sobieski . However, he did not keep his promise.

On July 12, 1704 a small group of nobles gathered in a Swedish army camp near Warsaw and declared Leszczyński the new king. The election was not confirmed by the Primate Radziejowski , but by the Bishop of Poznan Mikołaj Święcicki , which was against the rules. On October 4, 1704, Leszczyński was crowned by the Archbishop of Lwów , Konstanty Józef Zieliński . The coronation took place in St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw .

August II, however, did not give up the crown and accordingly did not abdicate. In May 1704 the anti-Swedish Confederation of Sandomir was formed , which saw a need for a noble army and signed the Narva Treaty on August 20 , which established a Polish-Russian alliance and an official war between the confederation and Sweden was declared. This decision led to a civil war in Poland-Lithuania between the supporters of Leszczyńskis and August II . First, August II managed to retake Warsaw and won the support of most of the senators during a session in Hrodno . On February 13, 1706, however, he lost the battle of Fraustadt and faced the Swedish occupation of Saxony . Finally he resigned his claim to the Polish crown at the Altranstädter Friede .

August II recaptured the Polish crown in 1709 after defeating Sweden in the Battle of Poltava . In revenge, the Russian Empire stationed troops in Poland, where they sacked and burned the city of Leszno . This was the property of the Leszczyński family .

swell

U. Augustyniak, Historia Polski 1572–1795 , Warszawa 2008.
M. Markiewicz, Historia Polski 1494–1795 , Kraków 2002.