War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession ( 1733 – 1738 ) was a major European war for princes ' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II , King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests . France and Spain , the two Bourbon powers , attempted to check the power of the Austrian Habsburgs in western Europe , as did the Kingdom of Prussia ; whilst Saxony and Russia mobilized to support the eventual Polish victor . The slight amount of fighting in Poland resulted in the accession of Augustus III , who in addition to Russia and Saxony , was politically supported by the Habsburgs . The war ' s major military campaigns occurred outside Poland . The Bourbons , supported by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia , moved against isolated Habsburg territories . In the Rhineland France successfully took the Duchy of Lorraine , and in Italy Spain regained control over the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily ( lost in the War of the Spanish Succession ) , while territorial gains in northern Italy were limited despite bloody campaigning . Great Britain ' s unwillingness to support Habsburg Austria demonstrated major cracks in the Anglo - Austrian Alliance and may have contributed to Austria ' s military failures . Although a preliminary peace was reached in 1735 , the war was formally ended with the Treaty of Vienna ( 1738 ) in which Augustus III was confirmed as king of Poland and his opponent Stanisław Leszczyński ( who had received virtually no foreign military support ) was awarded the Duchy of Lorraine . Francis Stephen , the duke of Lorraine , was given the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in compensation for the loss of Lorraine . The Duchy of Parma went to Austria whereas Charles of Parma took the crowns of Naples and Sicily , resulting in territorial gains for the Bourbons . Poland also gave up claims to Livonia and direct control over the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia , which , although remaining a Polish fief , was not integrated into Poland proper , and came under strong Russian influence . Background . Ever since the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572 , Polish kings were elected by Polish nobility . The process gave the nobility a great deal of power over the king , but the sejms ( meetings of delegates ) to elect kings and conduct other business were in later years paralyzed by the institution of the Liberum Veto , which gave any individual in the sejm the power to negate its decisions . As a result , Poland ' s powerful neighbors were able to exert significant influence on the decision - making process , and by the early 18th century the system was in decline . Former Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński hoped to be elected king once again upon the death of his old adversary , Augustus II of Saxony , who had failed in his attempts to make the Polish crown hereditary within his family . Thirty years earlier , Stanisław had been installed as king of Poland by King Charles XII of Sweden during his period of dominance in the early part of the Great Northern War , and was ousted following the Battle of Poltava by the victorious Russians . Stanisław was supported in his bid to regain the throne by his son - in - law , King Louis XV of France , who hoped to renew France ' s traditional alliance with Poland as a way to balance Russian and Austrian power in central , northern and eastern Europe . In 1732 Empress Anna of Russia , Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and King Frederick William I of Prussia , irritated with Augustus but unwilling to allow Stanisław to become king , secretly signed Löwenwolde ' s Treaty , in which they agreed to jointly back the candidacy of Infante Manuel of Portugal for the Polish throne . France ' s prime minister , Cardinal Fleury , saw the Polish struggle as a chance to strike at Austrian power in the west without seeming to be the aggressor . While he cared little for who should become King of Poland , the cause of protecting the King ' s father - in - law was a sympathetic one , and he hoped to use the war as a means of humbling the Austrians , and perhaps securing the long - desired Duchy of Lorraine from its duke , Francis Stephen , who was expected to marry Emperor Charles ' s daughter Maria Theresa , which would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border . Fleury ' s diplomatic moves would bring additional powers into the war that had no interest in Polish affairs , most notably Spain and the Charles Emmanuel , the King of Sardinia who was also the Duke of Savoy . Death of Augustus II . Augustus II died on February 1 , 1733 . Throughout the spring and summer of 1733 , France began building up forces along its northern and eastern frontiers , while the emperor massed troops on Polish borders , reducing garrisons in the Duchy of Milan for the purpose . While the aging Prince Eugene of Savoy had recommended to the emperor a more warlike posture against potential actions by France in the Rhine valley and northern Italy , only minimal steps were taken to improve imperial defenses on the Rhine . The Marquis de Monti , France ' s ambassador in Warsaw , convinced the rival Potocki and Czartoryski families to unite behind Stanisław . Teodor Potocki , Primate of Poland and interrex following the death of Augustus , called a convocation sejm in March 1733 . Delegates to this sejm passed a resolution forbidding the candidacy of foreigners ; this would explicitly exclude both Emmanuel of Portugal and Augustus II ' s son , Frederick August II , the Elector of Saxony . Frederick August negotiated agreements with Austria and Russia in July 1733 . In exchange for Russian support , he agreed to give up any remaining Polish claims to Livonia , and promised to Anna of Russia her choice of successor to the Duchy of Courland , a Polish fief ( of which she had been duchess prior to her ascension to the Russian throne ) which would have otherwise come under direct Polish rule on the death of the current duke , Ferdinand Kettler , who had no heirs . To the Austrian emperor he promised recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 , a document designed to guarantee inheritance of the Austrian throne to Maria Theresa , Charles ' oldest child . In August , Polish nobles gathered for the election sejm . On August 11 , 30 , 000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Peter Lascy entered Poland in a bid to influence the sejm ' s decision . On September 4 , France openly declared its support for Leszczyński , who was elected king by a sejm of 12 , 000 delegates on September 12 . A group of nobles , led by Lithuanian magnates including Duke Michael Wiśniowiecki ( the former Lithuanian grand chancellor nominated by Augustus II ) , crossed the Vistula River to Praga and the protection of Russian troops . This group , numbering about 3 , 000 , elected Frederick August II King of Poland as Augustus III on October 5 . Despite the fact that this group was a minority , Russia and Austria , intent on maintaining their influence within Poland , recognised Augustus as king . On October 10 , France declared war on Austria and Saxony . Louis XV was later joined by his uncle , King Philip V of Spain , who hoped to secure territories in Italy for his sons by his second marriage to Elizabeth Farnese . Specifically , he hoped to secure Mantua for the elder son , Don Carlos , who was already Duke of Parma and had the expectation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany , and the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily for the younger son , Don Felipe . The two Bourbon monarchs were also joined by Charles Emmanuel of Savoy , who hoped to secure gains from the Austrian Duchies of Milan and Mantua . Austrian isolation . When hostilities finally broke out , the Austrians had hoped for aid from the maritime powers , Great Britain and the Dutch Republic . They were disappointed in this , since both the Dutch and the British chose to pursue a policy of neutrality . The British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole justified Britain ' s non - intervention by insisting that the Anglo - Austrian Alliance agreed at the 1731 Treaty of Vienna was a purely defensive agreement , while Austria was in this instance the aggressor . This position was attacked by English Austrophiles who wanted to aid the Austrians against France , but Walpole ' s dominant position ensured that Britain stayed out of the conflict . The French , not wishing to provoke Britain , carefully chose not to campaign in the Austrian Netherlands and avoided campaigning in parts of the Holy Roman Empire that might draw either power into the conflict . On Austria ' s southern border , France in November 1733 negotiated the secret Treaty of Turin with Charles Emmanuel and prepared for military operations in northern Italy . It concluded the ( also secret ) Treaty of the Escorial with Spain , which included promises of French assistance in the Spanish conquest of Naples and Sicily . France also made diplomatic overtures to Sweden and the Ottoman Empire in a fruitless attempt to draw them into the conflict in support of Stanisław . The Austrians were thus left largely without effective external allies on their southern and western frontiers . Their Russian and Saxon allies were occupied with the Polish campaign , and the Emperor distrusted Frederick William I of Prussia , who was willing to provide some aid . Divisions within the empire also had an impact on the raising of troops in 1733 , as Charles - Albert of Bavaria , who harbored ambitions to become the next Holy Roman Emperor , signed a secret agreement with France in November 1733 , and tried , with limited success , to dissuade other rulers within the empire from the Wittelsbach family from providing troops to the emperor under their treaty obligations . While Britain itself did not provide support , the Electorate of Hanover , where George II also ruled as an Imperial Elector , proved willing to help . War . Poland . The Russians , led by Lascy , quickly took Warsaw and installed Augustus , forcing Stanisław to flee to Danzig ( present - day Gdańsk ) , where he was besieged for some time by a Russian - Saxon army that came under the overall command of Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich . Danzig capitulated in June 1734 , and Stanisław fled , first to Königsberg , and eventually to France . This ended major military activity in Poland itself , although it continued to be occupied by foreign troops as Augustus dealt with partisan supporters of Stanisław . A group of nobles supporting Stanisław formed the Confederation of Dzikow late in 1734 , and under their commander , Adam Tarło , tried to fight the Russians and Saxons , but their efforts were ineffective . In what became known as the Pacification Sejm , held June – July 1736 , Augustus was confirmed as king . Rhineland . Following France ' s October 10 declaration of war , it began military operations three days later , invading the Duchy of Lorraine and besieging the imperial fortress at Kehl , across the Rhine River from Strasbourg , gaining control of both objectives in a few weeks . Unable to attack Austria directly , and unwilling to invade the intervening German states for fear of drawing Great Britain and the Dutch into the conflict , France consolidated its position in Lorraine , and withdrew its troops across the Rhine for the winter . The emperor mobilized his active forces in response to the French attacks , and began the process of calling up troops from the states of the empire , establishing a defensive line at Ettlingen , near Karlsruhe . In the spring of 1734 French maneuvers successfully flanked this line , and Prince Eugene of Savoy ( who , despite being born in Paris , fought on the Austrian side ) was forced to withdraw these forces to the imperial encampment at Heilbronn . This cleared the way for the French army under the Duke of Berwick to besiege the imperial fort at Philippsburg , which fell after a siege of two months in July 1734 . Eugene , who was accompanied by Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia , made some attempts to relieve the siege , but never made any decisive attacks against the besieging army owing to its size and relatively poor quality of the troops under his command . Berwick was killed by a shell at Philippsburg . French armies continued to advance along the Rhine , reaching as far as Mainz , but the growing imperial army , which came to include troops from Russia that had assisted with the capture of Danzig , was able to prevent France from establishing a siege there , and Eugene went on the offensive . A force of 30 , 000 under Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff crossed the Rhine and began pushing the French back toward Trier , defeating them at Clausen in October 1735 , in one of the last battles before preliminary peace terms were reached . Italy . French and Savoyard troops numbering over 50 , 000 , under the command of Charles Emmanuel , entered Milanese territory as early as October 24 , against minimal resistance , as the Austrian forces in the duchy numbered only about 12 , 000 . By November 3 , the city of Milan itself had surrendered , although the Austrian governor , Count Wirich Philipp von Daun , still held the fortress . France ' s great general , the Duke de Villars , joined Charles Emmanuel in Milan on November 11 . While Villars wanted to immediately move to secure the Alpine passes against Austrian reinforcements by moving against Mantua , Charles Emmanuel , mistrustful of his French allies and their dealings with Spain , sought to secure Milan . The army spent the next three months eliminating Austrian opposition from the remaining fortified towns in the duchy . Villars attempted to interest Don Carlos of Parma in joining the expedition against Mantua , but Carlos was focused on the campaign into Naples . Villars began to move against Mantua , but Charles Emmanuel resisted , and the army made little progress . In early May , an Austrian army of 40 , 000 under Count Claude Florimond de Mercy crossed the Alps and threatened to close in on the French army ' s rear by a flanking maneuver . Villars responded by retreating from Mantua and attempted without success to interrupt the Austrian army ' s crossing of the Po River . Villars , frustrated by Charles Emmanuel ' s delaying tactics , quit the army on May 27 . He fell ill on the way back to France and died in Turin on June 17 . Mercy ' s forces made repeated attempts to cross the Parma River in June , but it was not until late in that month that they were able to cross the river and approach the city of Parma , where the allied forces , now under the command of French marshals de Broglie and Coigny , were entrenched . In a bloody battle near the village of Crocetta on June 29 , the Austrians were beaten back , Mercy was killed , and Frederick of Württemberg , his second , was wounded . Charles Emmanuel returned the next day to retake command , and resumed his delaying tactics by failing to immediately pursue the retreating Austrians . The Austrians retreated to the Po , where they were reinforced by additional troops and placed under the command of Field Marshal Königsegg . After two months of inaction , during which the armies faced each other across the Secchia River , Königsegg on September 15 took advantage of lax security and executed a raid on Coigny ' s headquarters at Quistello , very nearly capturing Coigny and taking among other prizes Charles Emmanuel ' s china . Two days later the French withdrew to a position near Guastalla in response to Austrian maneuvers , but one detachment of nearly 3 , 000 men was surrounded and captured by the advancing Austrians . On September 19 , Königsegg attacked the allied position at Guastalla , and in another bloody encounter , was beaten back , losing among others Frederick of Württemberg . Königsegg retreated across the Po , adopting a defensive position between the Po and the Oglio while Charles Emmanuel again did not capitalize on his victory . When he finally withdrew most of the allied army to Cremona , the Austrians advanced on the north bank of the Po as far as the Adda before both armies entered winter quarters in December 1734 . In southern Italy , the Austrians , choosing a strategy of defending a large number of fortresses , were soundly defeated . Don Carlos assembled an army composed primarily of Spaniards , but also including some troops from France and Savoy . Moving south through the Papal States , his army flanked the frontline Austrian defense at Mignano , forcing them to retreat into the fortress at Capua . He was then practically welcomed into Naples by the city fathers , as the Austrian viceroy had fled toward Bari , and the fortresses held by the Austrians in the city were quickly captured . While maintaining a blockade of the largest Austrian holdings at Capua and Gaeta , a large portion of the allied army gave chase to the remaining Austrian forces . These finally attempted a stand in late May , and were defeated at Bitonto . Capua and Gaeta were then properly besieged while Austrian fortresses in Sicily were quickly subdued . Gaeta surrendered in August , and Capua held out until November when its commander , Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun , finally negotiated surrender terms when he ran out of ammunition . The Jacobite pretender to the thrones of United Kingdom and France , Charles Edward Stuart , who was under 14 then , also participated in the French and Spanish siege of Gaeta , making his first exposure to battle . The armies in northern Italy suffered significantly over the winter , with significant losses to disease and desertion . For the 1735 campaign the allied forces in northern Italy came under the command of the Duke de Noailles , elevated to Marshal after his successful contributions to the Rhine campaign . They were also joined by Spanish forces in May , now available after the successes in the south . In response to this threat , Königsegg retreated into the Bishopric of Trent , but leaving the fortress city of Mantua well - defended . At this point divisions between the allies became clear , as Spain laid claim to Mantua , and also refused to guarantee Milan to Charles Emmanuel . In response , Charles Emmanuel refused to allow his siege equipment to be used against Mantua . As a result , the Franco - Spanish army was unable to do more than blockade the city . When Charles Emmanuel withdrew his forces from the area , the allies were forced to retreat , and the beleaguered Austrians capitalized , eventually recovering most of Milan against little opposition in November . Peace settlement . As early as February 1734 the British and Dutch had offered to mediate peace talks between the various parties . By early 1735 , proposals were being circulated . As 1735 progressed with the Austrians being in no real position to continue the fight , and the French concerned by the possible arrival of Russian reinforcements on the Rhine ( which did eventually occur ) , negotiations continued through the summer of 1735 . A preliminary peace was finally concluded in October 1735 and ratified in the Treaty of Vienna in November 1738 . Augustus was confirmed as king of Poland , Stanisław was compensated with Lorraine ( which would pass on his death , through his daughter , to the French ) , while the former Duke of Lorraine , Francis Stephen , was made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . Charles of Parma gave up Parma , which came under direct Austrian rule , but he was richly compensated by being confirmed instead as king of Naples and Sicily . Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace in 1735 , the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany , Gian Gastone in 1737 , to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect . The French ( and their allies ) , hoping for détente and good relations with the Austrians , now also recognized the Pragmatic Sanction that would allow Emperor Charles ' s daughter Maria Theresa to succeed him . This proved a hollow guarantee , however , as the French decided to intervene to partition the Habsburg Monarchy after all following the death of Charles in 1740 . The acquisition of Lorraine for the former Polish king , however , proved of lasting benefit to France , as it passed under direct French rule with Stanisław ' s death in 1766 . Stanisław signed the act of abdication in 1736 , while Augustus III pronounced a general amnesty . Wiśniowiecki was rewarded : the king made him the Grand Hetman ( commander - in - chief ) of Lithuania .