The Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735 was between two coalitions. On the one hand, Russia, Saxony and Austria acted, and on the other, Spain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The formal occasion was the election of the Polish king after the death of Augustus II. Russia and Austria supported the son of the late monarch Frederick Augustus II, and France supported the father-in-law of Louis XV Stanislav Leshchinsky, who had previously held the Polish throne for some time.
Reasons
The international situation in Europe, which led to the Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735, was due to long-standing contradictions between Russia, France and Prussia, which at that time had not been resolved.
At the same time, it was in Poland that all the conditions were in place to provoke a confrontation. Historians believe that there were several main causes of the Russo-Polish War1733-1735.
- The second largest state in Europe, Poland at that time was in a state of deep internal crisis, which many wanted to take advantage of.
- Russia and Austria, then in union, opposed the emergence of the Polish-Saxon kingdom, which August II and his supporters were going for.
- Besides this, it was in the interests of our country and Austria to prevent an alliance between France, the Commonwe alth, Sweden and Turkey.
- Finally, Russia intervened in the War of the Polish Succession because Poland expected to keep Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine within its borders, delayed the recognition of the imperial title for Russian tsars, and did not guarantee Russian conquests in the B altics.
After the death of August II, the situation escalated, since from the end of the 17th century the principle of electing a king was in effect in the Commonwe alth. This constantly turned the Polish throne into an object of rivalry between foreign powers.
Siege of Danzig
Significant events in the framework of the Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735 unfolded on the territory of Poland itself. The commanders from the Russian side were Burchard Munnich, Peter Lassi, Thomas Gordon. The commander of the Holy Roman Empire, Eugene of Savoy, the Prussian commander Leopold of Anh alt-Dessau, acted in alliance with them.
French military leaders Claude de Villars, Duke of Berwick, Francois-Marie de Broglie, Spanish military Duke de Montemar opposed them.
The Russian army under the command of Lassi movedborder back in July, by the end of September was already under the walls of Warsaw. The Polish troops that supported Leshchinsky left the capital without a fight. At the same time, part of the gentry advocated the election of King Augustus III of Saxony under the name of Frederick II Augustus.
An important episode of the war was the siege of Danzig in 1734. By then Lassi had already occupied Thorn in northern Poland. 12,000 soldiers approached Danzig, which was a strategically important fortress, which was not enough for the assault.
In March, reinforcements arrived under the command of Field Marshal Munnich, who replaced Lassi. In mid-April, shelling of the city began from newly arrived guns. The French sent a squadron to help the besieged, but it failed to enter the city.
City taken
At the end of April Munnich decided to storm Fort Gagelsberg, but failed, losing about two thousand people. In mid-May, the French landed again, which attacked the Russian fortifications. In parallel, the besieged decided to sortie out of the city. Minich's army managed to repel both attacks.
In June, the Russian fleet and artillery arrived, in addition, Saxon troops approached Danzig. The French then retreated.
Having captured the artillery, Minich began to actively attack the city. At the end of June, Danzig surrendered. Leshchinsky, who was in it, fled, disguised as a peasant. This was a decisive victory in the Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735. After her, most of the Polish magnates went over to the side of Augustus III. In December, he was crowned in Krakow.
Truce
When Austria lost the chance to bring England into the conflict, in November 1734 a truce was concluded with France. Preconditions were agreed, but peace between the countries proved to be short-lived.
In France, they were unhappy that they had not received anything, besides, Spain refused to cede Piacenza and Parma. Moreover, it declared war on Portugal, using the insult of its envoy in Lisbon as a formal pretext. England began to arm, preparing to provide support if necessary. Sardinia entered into negotiations with Austria at that moment.
Caught in this position, Charles VI asked Russia for more troops. The government sent a corps of 13,000 under the command of Lassi. In the summer of 1735 he entered Silesia. In mid-August, Russian troops joined with the Austrian.
Austria got inspired. In addition, Saxony and Denmark promised help. Therefore, negotiations with France were interrupted. Instead, war has been declared again.
1735 Campaign
The new campaign started badly for Austria. In northern Italy, the Allies pressed the commander-in-chief, Count Koenigsek. He was forced to retreat to Tyrol, Mantua was under siege, and Syracuse and Messina were captured in southern Italy.
In Germany, the French army was held back by Eugene of Savoy with the last of his strength. Emperor Charles VI, realizing that hopes for a quick victory did not materialize, announced his desire to start peace negotiations. The situation was confused by the Spaniards, who lobbied their interests at the Vienna court. They were afraid of losing their estates in the event of the loss of Lombardy, so they persuaded Charles to enter into negotiations with Spain. The emperor, being frankly weak-willed, did not know what to decide on. As a result, he himself began secret negotiations with France.
Vector change
By this time the situation at the front began to change. The siege of Mantua dragged on too long due to the intractability of the allies, who did not want to give up this tidbit. Due to the atmosphere of mutual distrust and the threats of Charles VI to ally with Sardinia and Spain, France was forced to accept an offer of peace. The preliminary agreement was signed again.
Meanwhile, Count Koenigsek forced the Spaniards to leave from under Mantua, he was preparing to move to Naples. As a result, Spain decided to completely abandon further participation in the war.
The fighting was actually over, but the peace treaty itself was not signed for several more years. The agreement was concluded only after the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole and the French First Minister André-Hercule de Fleury did not force the Duke of Lorraine to cede his possessions to Louis XV for an annual income of three and a half million livres.
Signing a peace treaty
The results of the Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735 were officially secured by a peace treaty signed only at the end of 1738. Already in 1739, Spain, Sardinia and Naples joined him.
Stanislav Leshchinsky renounced the throne, but at the same time retained lifelong possession of Lorraine. After itdeath, the region was to go to France. Charles III received the title of King of the Two Sicilies, Austria retained Piacenza and Parma, and France pledged to fully recognize the Pragmatic Sanction.
Results of the war
The actual result of the Russian-Polish war of 1733-1735 was a significant strengthening of Russia's international positions while influencing Poland. This was the first and immediately successful participation of the empire in solving the problems of Western European politics. Let this be done indirectly.
France has achieved the weakening of Austria, regaining its status as a leading European power.
