How a Swedish-backed coup in 1704 plunged the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into civil war
Caught between the ambitions of Augustus the Strong and the Swedish-endorsed Stanisław I, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth fractured. This internal conflict, part of the broader Great Northern War, left a legacy of division so profound it was immortalized in a national proverb about the chaos of choosing between two kings.
The civil war, spanning 1704 to 1706, emerged from the geopolitical instability of the Great Northern War. Augustus II the Strong, who had been elected king in 1697, found his position precarious after forming alliances with Russia and Denmark-Norway. Following Swedish military successes, such as the Battle of Klissow, Polish-Lithuanian magnates began defecting. This shift led to the formation of the Warsaw Confederation on 16 February 1704, which eventually elected the voivode of Poznań, Stanisław I, as the new monarch on 12 July 1704.
Augustus maintained a loyal power base through the Sandomierz Confederation, established on 20 May 1704, and retained control over roughly 75% of the Polish army. Despite his efforts to coordinate with Russian forces and launch counter-offensives, his supporters suffered repeated setbacks. Notably, an allied force commanded by Otto Arnold von Paykull was defeated near Warsaw in July 1705, and a major army at Polotsk was blocked by Swedish forces under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt. By October 1705, Stanisław was crowned in Warsaw, subsequently formalizing an alliance with Sweden.
The conflict reached a turning point in 1706. After the defeat of Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg at the Battle of Fraustadt on 13 February 1706, and the tactical withdrawal of the army at Grodno, Charles XII of Sweden occupied Saxony. This forced Augustus to sign the Treaty of Altranstädt on 13 October 1706, renouncing his claims to the throne. However, this victory for Stanisław proved ephemeral. Following the Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Stanisław fled, and Augustus returned to power. The era of instability left such a mark on the national consciousness that the phrase 'Od Sasa do Lasa'—referencing the nicknames of the two rivals—became a lasting symbol of political anarchy.
Source: Civil war in Poland (1704–1706)
