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The War of the Polish Succession ( 1733- 1738) was a European war and a Polish civil war, with considerable interference from other countries, to determine the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland.

Former Polish king Stanislas I, installed thirty years before by Charles XII of Sweden and ousted during the Great Northern War, sought to return to power and had behind him France, Spain, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1732 empress Anna of Russia, emperor Charles VI of Austria and king Friderick William of Prussia declared, that they will try to put their own candidate on polish-lithuanian throne. French wanted also to put their own candidate on polish throne to made Poland-Lithuania her client-state in order to balance the power of Russia and Austria. In 1725 king Louis XV of France married Maria Leszczynska, dougther of king Stanislaus I (Leszczynski). In 1733 king Augustus II of Poland, Lithuania and Saxony died. Polish nobles, led by primate Teodor Potocki, gathered for election (in polish 'nobles democracy' the primate was the traditional interrex). They choose Leszczynski. Then Russian army under field marshal Peter Lascy entered polish territory. A group of nobles, mainly lithuanian magnates led by duke Michael Wisniowiecki (former lithuanian grand chancellor nominated by Augustus II), left the place of election to join Russians. This group elected Friderick Augustus II Wettin, elector of Saxony and son of Augustus II, to be king of Poland as Augustus III. Despite the fact that this group was a minority, Russians recognised this election as the legal one.

The war was a typical 18th century war with a limited object, in which no one but the cabinets and the professional armies were concerned. Aside from the war in Poland itself, it was fought on two theatres, the Rhine and ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer. The war opened in 1733 with an invasion of Poland by Russia, which quickly took Warsaw. The Rhine campaigns were entirely unimportant, and are remembered only for the last appearance in the field of Prince EugeneFrancois-Eugene, Prince of Savoy-Carignan known as Prinz Eugen in German ( October 16, 1663- April 24, 1736) was a noted general. Born in Paris, and a prince of the House of Savoy, Eugene was the son of the Comte de Soissons, a French nobleman. It was rum and Marshal BerwickJames FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed ( August 21, 1670- June 12, 1734) was a French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England and VII of Scotland by Arabella Churchill. FitzJames was born at Moulins in France before his fath--the latter was killed at the siege of PhilippsburgPhilippsburg is a small town in Germany, in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Wurttemberg. Note the spelling: one L, two P's. Before 1632 it was known as "Udenheim". The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371 1718, one of whom was Philip--and the baptism of fire of the young crown prince of Prussia, afterwards Frederick the Great. In Italy, however, there were three hard-fought though indecisive battles, ParmaParma is a medieval city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with splendid architecture and a fine countryside around it. The city was most probably founded and named by the Etruscans, for a parma (circular shield) was a Latin borrowing, as were many (June 29, 1734), Luzzara (September 19, 1734) and Bitonto (May 25, 1735), the first and last won by the Austrians, the second by the French and their allies. In Poland itself, Stanislaus was soon expelled by a Russian army and was afterwards besieged in GdanskFor alternative meanings of Gdansk and Danzig, see Gdansk (disambiguation) and Danzig (disambiguation Gdansk (pronounced: Media:Gdansk. ogg|[gdask]]]) is the 6th largest city in Poland, its principal seaport, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodship. by the Russians and Saxons (Feb-June 1733).

In Poland a group of nobles who opt for Stanislaus I, fromed the confederation of Dzikow (1734) and under their commander, Adam Tarly, tried to fight against Russians, but their acting was ineffective. Outside the country the French occupied Lorraine, Austria fought France and Sardinia in northern ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer, while also, along with Saxony and a few other German states holding on grimly against the French in the Rhineland. Spanis marched from Tuscany to Naples and in May 1734 defeated Austria'sat the Battle of Bitonto . The Kingdom of Naples was opened to Spanish conquest.

A preliminary peace was concluded in October 1735 and ratified in the Treaty of Vienna (November 1738). Augustus was confirmed as king of Poland, Stanislas being compensated with the Duchy of Lorraine for the duration of his lifetime, while the former duke of Lorraine was made heir to the dukedom of Tuscany. The Infant Charles of Spain was confirmed as king of Naples and Sicily, with the Austrians being compensated by the acquisition of Charles's Duchy of Parma, and by the other powers' recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction that would allow Emperor Charles's daughter Maria Theresa to succeed him. France was the most successful of the extra-Polish combatants in the long run - Lorraine, lost to France after the War of the Grand Alliance, was now to returned to the French crown upon Stanislas' death, which occurred in 1766. In Poland, in 1736 Stanislaus signed the act of abdication, while Augustus III pronouced a general amnesty. Duke Wisniowiecki was awarded: king made him the grand hetman (chief-in-commander) of Lithuania.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica