Augustus II "the Strong" (12 May 1670-1 February 1733) was Elector of Saxony from 27 April 1694 to 1 February 1733 (succeeding Johan Georg IV and preceding Friedrich Augustus II) and King of Poland-Lithuania from 15 September 1697 to 1706 (succeeding Jan Sobieski and preceding Stanislaw I) and from 1709 to 1 February 1733, interrupting Stanislaw's two reigns.
Biography[]
Born to Johan Georg III of Saxony and Anna Sophie of Denmark, August Mocny became the Elector of Saxony upon the death of his brother, Johan Georg in 1694. He became "Friedrich Augustus", and the title of Elector of Saxony would be one he would hold during and after his reigns as King of Poland-Lithuania.
Born a Lutheran, he converted to Catholicism so that he could succeed Jan Sobieski as King of Poland upon his death in 1697. He was elected as August II, and was backed by the Russian Empire and Austrian Empire for the succession. In the year after he was elected, August proved himself in battle after defeating the Crimean Khanate invasion of Moldavia in the Battle of Podhajce. The victory convinced the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, which effectively ended the Ottoman wars of conquest in Europe.
Later, August planned a war against Sweden, whose young monarch Charles XII of Sweden had only recently become King. In 1700, Sweden declared war on Russia, Denmark, and Poland-Lithuania, and proceeded to destroy the military might of Denmark by capturing Copenhagen, while Charles also defeated the Russians in the Battle of Narva. In 1701 August was besieged in Riga, and when no noble uprising against the Swedes took place, he was defeated by King Charles' army. A year later Sweden had its glittering moment in the Battle of Kliszow, where they defeated a combined Polish and Saxon army.
In 1704, having been all but defeated, August was forced to concede his throne to Stanislaw Leczynski. For two years he fought against the new Polish government with assistance from Russia, but was defeated in the Battle of Fraustadt in Saxony in 1706 and forced to resign his throne. However, after the defeat of the Swedes in the Battle of Narva in 1709, August was restored to the throne by the Russians. He reigned until 1733, and after his death Stanislaw attempted to reclaim the throne, triggering the War of the Polish Succession.