Augustus II

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Augustus II ( the Strong) (1670–1733) King of Poland (1697–1704, 1709–33) and, as Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony (1694–1733). He was elected by the Polish nobles in order to secure an alliance with Saxony, but the result was to draw Poland into the Great Northern War on the side of Russia. In 1704 Augustus surrendered his crown to Stanislas I Leszcyński. Civil war (1704–09) and invasion by Charles XII of Sweden weakened the Polish state. Augustus regained the throne after Tsar Peter I (the Great) defeated Sweden at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, but at the cost of growing Russian dominance in Polish affairs

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