August II the Strong: Encyclopedia - August II the Strong

August II the Strong

August II the Strong (Polish: August II Mocny; German: August II der Starke; May 12, 1670 – February 1, 1733) was Elector of Saxony (where he was known as Frederick Augustus I) 1694-1733, and King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1697-1706 and again 1709-1733. He embroiled the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the disastrous Great Northern War. His attempts at internal reforms and at bolstering the royal power came to naught, while his mistakes allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence over the Commonwealth.

August II the Strong - Royal titles

• In the Latin: Augustus Secundus, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russie, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Livoniae, Kijoviae, Volhyniae, Podoliae, Smolensciae, Severiae, Czerniechoviaeque, necnon haereditarius dux Saxoniae et princeps elector etc.
• English translation: August II, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernihiv, and hereditary Duke Prince-Elector of Saxony, etc.

August II the Strong - Biography

August was born in Dresden, Saxony, the son of John George III and of Princess Anne Sophie of Denmark. In 1694, upon the death of his elder brother John George IV, August became Elector of Saxony as Frederick Augustus I. Following the death of Polish King Jan III Sobieski, August converted to Catholicism and in 1697 was elected King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the backing of Russia and Austria, which financed him through the Jewish banker, Berend Lehmann.

It is sometimes incorrectly stated that August defeated the other leading candidates, Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, son of the previous king, and the French candidate, François Louis, Prince of Conti. August actually received fewer votes than Conti (despite a massive bribery campaign), but he rushed to Poland and had himself crowned before the less-than-eager French candidate could set foot in the Commonwealth. Some Poles questioned the legality of August's elevation.

An ambitious ruler, August hoped to make the Polish throne hereditary within his family, and to use his resources as Elector of Saxony to impose some order on the chaotic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was, however, soon distracted from his internal-reform projects by the possibility of external conquest. He formed an alliance with Denmark's Frederick IV and Russia's Peter I to strip Sweden's young King Charles XII of his possessions. Poland's reward from this Great Northern War was to have been the Swedish territory of Livonia. Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at Narva, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with August. Charles' decision ultimately proved as disastrous to Sweden as to Poland.

Charles defeated August at Riga June 17, 1701, forcing the Polish-Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia, and followed this up with an invasion of Poland. He captured Warsaw May 14, 1702, defeated the Polish-Saxon army again at Kliszów, and took Kraków. He defeated another of August's armies at Pułtusk in spring 1703, and besieged and captured Toruń.

By this time, August was certainly ready for peace, but Charles felt that he would be more secure if he could establish someone more pliable on the Polish throne. In 1704 the Swedes installed Stanisław Leszczyński, and on September 1, 1706, Charles invaded Saxony, forcing August to yield up the Polish throne to Leszczyński by the Treaty of Altranstadt.

Meanwhile Russia's Tsar Peter the Great had reformed his army, and dealt a crippling defeat to the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava. This spelled the end of the Swedish Empire and the rise of the Russian Empire.

The weakened Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth soon came to be regarded almost a protectorate of Russia. In 1709 August II returned to the Polish throne under Russian auspices. Once again he attempted to establish an absolute monarchy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but was faced with opposition from the nobility (szlachta). Peter the Great seized on this opportunity to pose as mediator, threatened the Commonwealth militarily, and in 1717 forced August and the nobility to sign an accommodation, favorable to Russian interests, at the Silent Sejm (Sejm Niemy).

For the remainder of his reign, in an uneasy relationship, August was more or less dependent on Russia (and to a lesser extent, on Austria) to maintain his throne. After the Silent Sejm, he gave up his ambitions and finally settled on attempts to strengthen the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Faced with both internal and foreign opposition, however, he achieved little.

August died in 1733. Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house, his eldest son, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, did succeed him to the Polish throne as August III — although he had to be installed there by a Russian army in the War of the Polish Succession.

August II was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring. He is alleged by some to have sired either 365 or 382 children. The number is extremely difficult to verify; August officially recognized only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards (the mothers of these "chosen ones," with the possible exception of Fatima, were all aristocratic ladies) and he had only one legitimate child.

In spite of his extraordinary physical strength, August was of rather medium height and did not look very big. In his final years he became fat, at his death weighing some 110 kg. His son, August III the Saxon, would apparently become the fattest man ever to sit on the Polish throne.

August II successfully set out to discover the secret of "white gold," as the porcelain that he produced at Dresden and Meissen was described. He also gathered together in Dresden many of the best architects and painters from all over Europe, and his reign marked the beginning of Dresden's development as a leading center of technology and art.

August II's body was interred in Poland — all but his heart, which rests at Dresden's castle.

House of Wettin Image:WettinArms.png

See also

• History of Poland (1569-1795)

Categories: 1670 births | 1733 deaths | Polish monarchs | Lithuanian rulers | Saxony | German nobility | Electors of Saxony

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "August II the Strong", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki