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Augustus II becomes King of Poland

When
1697
Where
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Episodes
1

In 1697, Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony converted to Catholicism to secure the Polish throne. Backed by Russia and Austria, he was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, taking the name Augustus II.

Episodes

  1. 1697 · Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthElection as King of Poland

    Augustus was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1697 after converting to Catholicism and securing backing from Russia and Austria.

Background and detail

Political Context. Following the death of King John III Sobieski, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth sought a new monarch. Augustus, already Elector of Saxony since 1694, pursued the throne with the financial and political backing of Russia and Austria.

Securing the Crown. Augustus secured his election through significant expenditure to bribe the Polish nobility and clergy. His contemporaries derisively labeled these royal ambitions his "Polish adventure," reflecting the controversial nature of his acquisition of the crown.

People involved

Sources

  1. Augustus II the Strong Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-09

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.