Friedrich August II, King of
Poland, Elector of Saxony (1696-1763)
son of Friedrich August "the Strong", Elector of Saxony, King
of Poland and Markgraefin Eberhardine von Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Born 17 October 1696 Dresden
Died 5 October 1763 Dresden
Married 20 August 1719 Wien
Archduchess Maria Josefa of Austria
Born 8 December 1699 Wien
Died 17 November 1757 Dresden
In 1712, while in Rome, he converted to Catholicism. His father groomed
him for the Polish throne, but only Russian military support in 1733 allowed
him to make good his claim against his rival, Stanislaus Leszczynski.
After Frederick the Great's attack on Silesia in 1740, he hoped to
share in a partition of the Habsburg Empire on the basis of the claim of
his wife, Archduchess Maria Josefa of Austria. She was a daughter of Emperor
Joseph I and cousin of the besieged Empress Maria Theresa.
However, after Frederick the Great's ill-treatment of Saxony in 1745,
he chose the side of Austria and Russia, partly in the hope of securing
their support for the succession of one of his own sons in Poland.
As he was also Elector of Saxony, he visited Poland as little as possible,
eventhough, during the Prussian occupation of Saxony from 1756 to 1763,
he was forced to make Warsaw his residence. Instead of real political reform,
with his chief minister, Heinrich Bruehl, he was content to manoeuvre between
the Polish political factions.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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