Historical calendar: an anniversary of the establishment before the nobility against the regulation of August II, an armed confederation, supported by King Charles XII of Sweden.
Today in our calendar we will look at the circumstances accompanying this event.
After the defeat of Kliszowska in 1702, August II failed to master the situation in the country. He must have passed before the victorious Charles XII to his native Saxony. They besides started leaving him as allies. In the uniform attitude of the nobility, the ambiguous position of Swedes towards occupied Polish lands did not help.
Charles XII occupied another cities and castles, e.g. Poznań and Toruń, but at the same time consciously and deliberately kept his soldiers in check, not allowing them to rape, plunder and execution as it was during the memorable Flood decades ago. On the contrary, he portrayed himself as the liberator of the illegal king, who, without the approval of the Polish authorities, dragged the country into a lost war with the undefeated Swedish power.
Under specified conditions, a silent civilian war began between supporters of the Swedes and the king and his allies—the Russians. Bridging flourished to unimaginable sizes. Both Swedes and Moskals bribed influential dignitaries to turn them on their side. In this way almost the full leadership class of the Crown was destroyed for decades.
Eventually, the Swedes began to take advantage, for whom the military power spoke. On 9 July 1703 a confederation against August II was established in Greater Poland, under the protection of Charles XII. Its authoritative leaders were zealous supporters of the Swedish option: Poznan Voivodeship Stanisław Leszczyński and popular seismic activist, Peter, you're defending.
In Lithuania, the situation was reversed. Due to Russia's proximity and the continuing hatred of the Sapiezhyn camp (supporting the Swedes), the majority of crucial politicians supported the conclusion of an agreement with Russia, committing in it to support the unfortunate August II. At the same time, a large stream of tsar coins sailed to Lithuania.
On 14 February 1704, under further force from Charles XII, who was represented by General Arvid Horn, the local Wielkopolska Confederacy was converted into a general confederacy, called Warsaw. She, among the cheers, took the royal crown from August II. On July 12, 1704, the fresh king was elected dissmocratically, with voices of supporters of the pro-Swedish option, a pet of Karolus, Stanisław Leszczyński. The same signed the Polish-Swedish alliance, under which he practically subjugated the Republic of Stockholm, giving it additionally Polish Infinity and Kurlandia.
The answer of supporters of Moscow and Augustus was to establish on 20 May 1704 in Sandomierz a counter-general confederation under the wire of August II and Stanisław Ernest Denhoff. On August 30, 1704, her representatives signed an authoritative alliance with Russia in Narva. A very crucial argument in their hand was the conflict for territorial integrity of the Republic of Poland, which Peter I in a declarative manner supported.
Thus the country was divided into supporters of Sweden and Russia, abroad powers operating in our backyard by their representatives in the form of dismocratic rabbits Sasa and Lasa. In practice, this marked the outbreak of a fierce civilian war in which the brother murdered his brother and the neighbour plundered the neighbour’s property. It was this war – between the 2 general confederations, not the marches of abroad Russian and Swedish troops, that most destroyed the Republic of Poland.
The state of civilian war lasted as long as 3 years, until early 1706. Then there was a chance to break the deadlock. Charles XII decided to deal with the enemy erstwhile and for all, who took up so much time. On 13 February 1706 the Swedes defeated the fresh Saxon troops at the conflict of Wschowa, and in September they crossed Silesia to Saxony. On 24 September, trapped in his own nest, August signed a humiliating peace with Charles XII in Altranstädt. Under his power he renounced the Polish crown, recognized the laws of Leszinski and acted with an alliance with Russia.
As it turned out, until then.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
