AUGUSTUS II. , "the Strong," king of Poland, second son of John George III., elector of Saxony, was born at Dresden May 12 167o. Upon the death of his brother, John George IV., in 1694, he became elector of Saxony as Frederick Augustus I., and in 1695 and 1696 led the imperial troops against the Turks, but without much success. When John Sobieski died in 1696, Augustus was a candidate for the Polish throne, and in order to further his chances became a Roman Catholic, a step which was strongly resented in Saxony. He secured his election and coronation in Sept. 1697, and his principal rival, F. L. de Bourbon, prince of Conti, abandoned the contest and returned to France.
Augustus continued the war against the Turks for a time, and made an alliance in 1699 with Russia and Denmark against Charles XII. of Sweden. The Poles would not assist, and at the head of the Saxons Augustus invaded Livonia, but he was de feated by Charles at Klissow in July 1702. Augustus was then deposed in Poland, and fled to Saxony. The alliance with Russia was renewed, and in reply Charles invaded Saxony in 1706, and compelled the elector to sign the Treaty of Altranstaedt in September of that year, to recognize Stanislaus Leszczynski as his successor in Poland, and to abandon the Russian alliance. During the War. of the Spanish Succession, Augustus fought with the imperialists in the Netherlands, but after the defeat of Charles XII. at Poltowa in July 1709, he turned his attention to the recovery of Poland. Declaring the Treaty of Altranstaedt void and renewing his alliance with Russia and Denmark, be recovered the Polish Crown. He then attacked Swedish Pomerania. He was handicapped by the mutual jealousy of the Saxons and the Poles, and was compelled to promise to limit the number of his army in that country to 18,000 men.
Peace was made with Sweden in Dec. 1719 at Stockholm after the death of Charles XII., and Augustus was recognized as king of Poland. He spent his remaining years in futile plans to make Poland an hereditary monarchy, to weaken the power of the Saxon nobles, and to gain territory for his sons in various parts of Europe. He was a man of extravagant and luxurious tastes, and, although he greatly improved the city of Dresden, he cannot be called a good ruler. He sought to govern Saxony in an absolute fashion, and, in spite of his declaration that his conversion to Roman Catholicism was personal only, assisted the spread of the teachings of Rome. His wife was Christine Eberhardine, a member of the Hohenzollern family, who left him when he be came a Roman Catholic, and died in i 727. Augustus died in Warsaw on Feb. i 1733, leaving a son Frederick Augustus, who succeeded him in Poland and Saxony, and many illegitimate children, among whom was the famous general, Maurice of Saxony, known as Marshal Saxe (q.v.) .