The War of the Polish Succession was a "cabinet war" fought between a Franco-Spanish-Italian alliance backing Stanislaw Leszczynski's claim to the Polish-Lithuanian throne and an Austrian-German-Russian alliance backing Augustus of Saxony's claim. Most of the fighting in the war occurred outside of Poland, on the Rhineland and in Italy. The war ended with Augustus becoming king of Poland-Lithuania, Stanislaw becoming Duke of Lorraine (on the condition that the Duchy of Lorraine return to France on his death), the Duchy of Parma going to Austria in exchange for Duke Carlo I of Parma acquiring Naples and Sicily (Parma soon reverted to the Bourbons), Austria acquiring Tuscany, the duchies of Lorraine and Bar being ceded from the Habsburg monarchy to France, and Poland losing direct control over the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.
Background[]
In 1697, Austria and Russia secured the election of Elector Friedrich Augustus of Saxony to the throne of Poland-Lithuania. He was briefly deposed by the Swedish-backed Stanislaw Leszczynski in 1705 during the Great Northern War before returning four years later, forcing Stanislaw to flee to France. King Louis XV of France married a daughter of Stanislaw, forming an alliance between Stanislaw and the powerful Kingdom of France, and, on Augustus II's death in 1733, Stanislaw staked his claim to the throne with Bourbon support. However, Russia, Austria, and Prussia had secretly agreed to support Infante Manuel, Count of Ourem as a candidate for the throne instead of Stanislaw or Augustus' son Augustus III. The succession dispute gave the French regent Cardinal Fleury the chance to provoke a war to secure Lorraine for France, while King Felipe V of Spain sought to reconquer the Italian territories lost to Austria during the War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1720.
By the time of Augustus' death, France had massed forces on its northern and eastern borders, while Imperial armies had formed up on Polish borders. Prince Eugene of Savoy's advice to the Emperor to keep a watchful eye on the Rhine and northern Italy went unheeded, and Austria reduced its garrisons in the Duchy of Milan to prepare for an invasion of Poland. France persuaded the rival Potocki and Czartoryski families to unite behind Stanislaw, and, in March 1733, the Polish Sejm forbade the nomination of foreigners for the throne, thus excluding both the Portuguese prince and the Saxon Augustus. In July, Augustus responded by promising Russia control over Courland's next ruler and an end to Polish claims on Livonia in exchange for Russian support, while he promised Austria the recognition of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa as a valid heir in exchange for Imperial support.
In August 1733, as the Sejm met to formally elect the next king, 30,000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Peter Lacy invaded Poland-Lithuania in a bid to influence the election. After the delegates elected Stanislaw, a group of Lithuanian magnates such as Michal Serwacy Wisniowiecki sought the protection of Russian troops at Praga, and these 3,000 nobles elected Augustus as king in an assembly of their own. Russia and Austria, intent on maintaining their influence in Poland, recognized Augustus as king, resulting in France declaring war on Austria and Saxony on 10 October. King Louis XV of France was joined by his uncle King Felipe V of Spain, who was intent on securing lands in Italy (namely Tuscany and the Two Sicilies) for the Spanish Bourbons; Savoy, seeking to gain the Duchy of Milan and the Duchy of Mantua from the Austrians, joined the Franco-Spanish alliance, as did Spain's vassal, the Duchy of Parma. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic opted to remain neutral, as Sir Robert Walpole declared that the 1731 Anglo-Austrian Alliance was purely a defensive pact, while the Dutch kept economic considerations in mind and did not wish for war to once again be at their doorstep. Disunity among the Holy Roman Empire's constituent states, as in the case of pro-French Bavaria, meant that the whole of the empire would not declare war on France until 1734, when a declaration of Reichskrieg obliged all Imperial states to join the war.
War[]
Lacy's Russian army quickly captured Warsaw and installed Augustus as King, forcing Stanislaw to flee to Gdansk, which was then besieged by a Russian-Saxon army. Gdansk fell in June 1734, forcing Stanislaw to flee to Konigsberg and from there to France. Foreign troops thus occupied Poland and dealt with partisan supporters of Stanislaw and Adam Tarlo's Dzikow Confederation over the next few years, ending the major fighting in Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, on 13 October 1733, France invaded Lorraine and captured the Imperial fortress at Kehl and the city of Strassburg. France consolidated its positions in Lorraine rather than invade Germany and risk war with the smaller German states, which had yet to join the war. The Emperor responded by mobilizing his forces and establishing a defensive line near Karlsruhe. In the spring of 1734, the French flanked this line and forced Prince Eugene of Savoy to withdraw his forces towards Heilbronn. The French proceeded to besiege and capture Philippsburg after two months, but the veteran French general James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick was killed by a shell during the siege.
French armies continued to advance along the Rhine and reached Mainz, but the arrival of Russian reinforcements in the Imperial camp prevented France from besieging the city. In October 1735, this allied army defeated the French at the Battle of Clausen in one of the last significant battles of the war.
In Italy, 50,000 French and Savoyard troops invaded Milan, facing only 12,000 Austrian troops. Milan surrendered on 3 November 1733, but the Austrian fortress within the city held out. The French and Savoyard armies picked off the remaining fortified towns in the duchy, but the French, Savoyards, and Spanish each had diverging goals; the Savoyards sought Milan for themselves, the French desired a push on Mantua, and the Spanish focused their attention on Naples. In the 1734 Battle of Colorno, the Austrian general Claude Florimond de Mercy was killed while attempting to storm Parma, and the Austrians were forced to retreat to the Po River. At the September 1734 Battle of Guastalla, the Austrians were beaten again, losing their commander Frederick Louis of Wurttemberg-Winnental. The Austrian general Dominik von Konigsegg-Rothenfels was once more forced to retreat across the Po, but the Savoyards failed to take advantage of their victory.
In southern Italy, Austrian forces found themselves divided among the garrisons of several fortresses, and Don Carlos of Parma assembled a Spanish army - with small French and Savoyard contingents - before moving south through the Papal States and blockading the Austrian bases of Gaeta and Capua. The city fathers of Naples welcomed Carlos into the city, and Carlos defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto in May 1734 and quickly subdued the Austrian fortresses in Sicily. Gaeta surrendered in August and Capua in November. By 1735, however, the divisions between the French, Spanish, and Savoyard forces resulted in a breakdown of the alliance, as Spain claimed Mantua and refused to grant Milan to Savoy; Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia refused to allow the Franco-Spanish army to use his siege equipment against Mantua as a result, and he later withdrew his army, allowing the Austrians to reclaim much of Milan.
By the summer of 1735, the threat of Russian reinforcements arriving on the Rhine led to France and its allies agreeing to partake in British and Dutch-mediated peace talks. In October 1735, the Treaty of Vienna saw August accepted as King of Poland-Lithuania, Stanislaw received the Duchy of Lorraine in compensation (under the condition that it pass into France on his death), the Duke of Lorraine Francis became Duke of Tuscany to make up for the loss of his home territory, Charles of Parma gave up Parma to the Habsburgs in exchange for the Two Sicilies, Savoy acquired Novara and Tortona in the Duchy of Milan, and France recognized the right of Princess Maria Theresa to succeed to the Austrian throne.