Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Augustus II.

AUGUSTUS II. (also, and more accurately, designated Frederick Augustus II.), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, second son of John George III. of Saxony, was born at Dresden, 12th May 1670. His personal beauty was remarkable, and from his great physical strength he received the surname of The Strong, by which he is com monly distinguished. He was very carefully educated, and spent several years travelling in Europe, visiting most of the courts, and taking part in some campaigns against the French. In 1694 he succeeded his elder brother as elector of Saxony, and shortly after, having entered into alliance with Austria, was appointed to the chief command of the imperial forces against the Turks. In 1697, after having suffered a defeat at Olasch, he resigned this office, and proceeding to Vienna, entered into negotiations with regard to the throne of Poland, left vacant by the death of John Sobieski in 1696. As a preliminary step in his candidature, Augustus renounced the Protestant faith, and proclaimed himself a Catholic. Among his rivals the most formidable was the French prince of Conti. Both expended enormous sums in buying over the Polish nobles, and both claimed to be elected at the general diet. Conti, however, was not on the spot, and Augustus, marching into Poland with his Saxon forces, gained possession of the kingdom. Scarcely was he settled on the throne, when he entered into alliance with Russia and Denmark against the young king of Sweden, and with his Saxon troops (for the Poles would not unite with him) invaded Livonia. In the campaigns which followed (1700-1704), he was completely worsted by the extraordinary military genius of his opponent, the celebrated Charles XII. of Sweden ; he was driven from Poland, and Stanislaus Leszczinski was crowned in his place. The Swedes, following up their victories, invaded Saxony, and in 1706, at Altranstadt, Augustus was compelled to make peace, to repay the expenses of the Swedish army, to acknowledge Stanislaus as king of Poland, and to congratulate him on his accession. After these reverses he spent some time as a volunteer in the Netherlands, but the defeat of Charles at Pultowa (1709) again raised his hopes. He at once declared the Altraustadt treaty null and void, and having received promises of assistance from Russia, entered Poland, drove out Stanislaus, and was a second time proclaimed king. During the following years he continued to carry on the war with Sweden, while at the same time his kingdom was distracted by the jealousy with which the Poles regarded the Saxon troops, who were compelled to leave Poland in 1717. In 1718 Charles XII. was killed at Fredericshall, and from that time the reign of Augustus was marked by no important event. His court became celebrated as the most extravagant and luxurious in Europe, and he himself as the most dissolute and magnificent of princes. His lavish expenditure, though it enriched his capital with treasures of art, impoverished both Poland and Saxony, and laid the foundations for the future misfortunes of those countries. He died, 1st February 1733, from mortification of an old wound. Of his numerous natural children, the most famous was the distinguished general, Maurice of Saxony.