Everything about War Of Polish Succession totally explained
» This article is about the 18th century war. For the 16th century war, see War of the Polish Succession (1587-1588).
The
War of the Polish Succession (
1733-
1738) was sparked by a Polish
civil war over the succession to
Augustus II, King of
Poland that widened as the two
Bourbon powers attempted to check the power of the
Habsburgs in western Europe. The war resulted in the transfer of the
Kingdom of Naples from the Habsburgs to a junior branch of the House of Bourbon.
Causes
Polish Succession
Former Polish King
Stanisław Leszczyński, hoped to be elected king once again upon the death of his old adversary,
Augustus II of Saxony, who hadn't succeeded in making the Polish crown hereditary within his family. Thirty years before,
Stanisław Leszczyński had been installed as king of Poland by King
Charles XII of Sweden during his period of dominance in the early part of the
Great Northern War, and ousted following
Poltava by the victorious
Russians. Stanisław was supported by his son-in-law, King
Louis XV of
France, who hoped to renew France's traditional alliance with Poland as a way to balance Russian and Austrian power in Northern and Eastern Europe.
In 1732 Empress
Anna of Russia,
Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and King
Frederick William I of
Prussia, irritated with Augustus but unwilling to allow Stanisław to become king, decided to jointly back the candidacy of
Emmanuel of Portugal for the Polish throne.
French Aims
France's prime minister,
Cardinal Fleury, saw the Polish struggle as a chance to strike at Austrian power in the west without seeming to be the aggressor. While he cared little for who should become King of Poland, the cause of protecting the King's father-in-law was a sympathetic one, and he hoped to use the war as a means of humbling the Austrians, and perhaps securing the long-desired
Duchy of Lorraine from its duke,
Francis Stephen, who was expected to marry Emperor Charles's daughter
Maria Theresa, which would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border.
Louis XV was 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
Savoy, who hoped to secure gains from the Austrian
Duchy of Milan.
Although the Austrians had hoped for aid from the maritimes powers,
Great Britain and the
Dutch Republic, they were disappointed, as both the Dutch and the British chose to pursue a policy of neutrality. The French, not wishing to provoke them, chose not to campaign in the
Austrian Netherlands. The Austrians were thus left largely without effective allies. Their Russian and Saxon allies were still largely occupied with finishing the Polish campaign. The Emperor distrusted
Frederick William I of Prussia, who was willing to provide aid but provided only nominal support. The
Bavarians and other medium-sized German states were committed to neutrality by an alliance with France, leaving only a few small German states - and the
Electorate of Hanover, where
George II proved willing to help in his role as an Imperial Elector - to support the Emperor.
War
Poland
Augustus II died on
February 1,
1733, and the Polish nobles, led by primate
Teodor Potocki, gathered for the election. The Russians and Austrians, seeing the strong support for Leszczyński, gave up their support of Emmanuel of Portugal and turned to
Frederick Augustus of Saxony, the previous king's son and the only plausible alternative candidate. The Russian and Austrian armies were mobilized to intimidate the diet, but it chose Leszczyński anyway.
The Russian army under Field Marshal
Peter Lascy entered Polish territory in order to support the claims of Frederick Augustus of Saxony. A group of nobles, mainly Lithuanian magnates led by Duke
Michael Wiśniowiecki (the former Lithuanian grand chancellor nominated by Augustus II), left the place of election to join the Russians. This group elected Frederick Augustus King of Poland as
Augustus III. Despite the fact that this group was a minority, the Russians and Austrians, intent on maintaining their influence within Poland, recognised Augustus as king.
The Russians, led by
Munnich, quickly took
Warsaw and installed Augustus, forcing Stanisław to flee to
Gdańsk, where he was
besieged for some time by a Russian-Saxon army. Gdańsk fell in June
1734, and Stanisław fled to his son-in-law in France.
The war in Poland was largely over, and was an unambiguous victory for the Russians and their candidate. A group of nobles supporting Stanisław formed the
Confederation of Dzikow (1734) and under their commander,
Adam Tarło, tried to fight the Russians and Saxons, but their efforts were ineffective.
Rhinelands
In spite of the quick Russian victory, the war didn't end, however. The war proved a disaster for the Austrians. Due to the neutrality of the Netherlands, it was fought largely on two fronts - on the Rhine and in Italy. The Rhine campaigns saw the last appearance in the field of two great generals of the previous generation,
Prince Eugene of Savoy and the
Duke of Berwick — the latter was killed at the siege of
Philippsburg — and the baptism of fire of the young crown prince of Prussia, the later
Frederick the Great. The French were largely successful - they overran Lorraine and captured the important fortress of
Philippsburg on the right bank of the Rhine.
Italy
In Italy, the Austrian situation was even worse. In the north, there were two hard-fought though indecisive battles: the Austrians won the
Battle of Parma (or San Pietro) (June 29, 1734) and the French and their allies won the
Battle of Luzzara (or Guastalla) (September 19, 1734). But in the south, the Austrians lost disastrously, with the Spanish easily defeating them at
Bitonto and conquering Naples and Sicily by May
1734.
Peace settlement
With the Austrians being in no real position to continue the fight, and the French concerned by the possible arrival of Russian reinforcements, which did indeed arrive on the Rhine for the first time in this campaign, peace negotiations soon began.
A preliminary peace was concluded in October
1735 and ratified in the
Treaty of Vienna (November
1738). Augustus was confirmed as king of Poland, Stanisław being compensated with the
Duchy of Lorraine (which would thus pass, on his death, through his daughter to the French), while the former
Duke of Lorraine,
Francis Stephen, was made heir to the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which he inherited in
1737.
Charles III of Spain was forced to give up not only his rights to Tuscany but also his previous Duchy of Parma, which came under direct Austrian rule, but he was richly compensated by being confirmed instead as king of Naples and Sicily.
Philip of Parma was abandoned, receiving nothing. Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace in 1735, the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of the last
Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany,
Gian Gastone in
1737, to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect.
The French (and their allies), hoping for détente and good relations with the Austrians, now recognized the
Pragmatic Sanction that would allow
Emperor Charles's daughter
Maria Theresa to succeed him. This proved a hollow guarantee, however, as the French decided to intervene to partition the Habsburg Monarchy after all following Charles's death in
1740. The acquisition of Lorraine for the former Polish king, however, proved of lasting benefit to France, as it passed under direct French rule with Stanisław's death in
1766.
In Poland in 1736 Stanisław signed the act of abdication, while Augustus III pronounced a general amnesty. Wiśniowiecki was rewarded: the king made him the
Grand Hetman (commander-in-chief) of Lithuania.
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