Kurfürst Friedrich III. von Brandenburg, die Doppelwahl von 1697 und der Bürgerkrieg in Polen

Abstract

The article attempts to illustrate the policy of the Elector of Brandenburg and, at the same time, Duke of Prussia Frederick III towards the contested election for the Polish Lithuanian throne between the Elector of Saxony Frederick August I and Prince Louis Conti in June 1697. Covering the events of the brief civil war that lasted between the two candidates from September to November of that year. For the Hohenzollern family, events beyond the eastern border of their state were of utmost importance. The emergence of a strong and efficiently governed Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian state would have destroyed Brandenburg-Prussia’s pol-icy of ensuring territorial autonomy, Ducal Prussia but not Brandenburg was a member of the Commonwealth, through deepening the disintegration of the Polish state. Frederick III, although forced to recognize the final election and victory of the Wettin candidate very quickly, nevertheless presented himself as an able player, strengthening his position as a stabilizing force for internal relations within Poland, thanks to the mediation between the feuding parties conducted by his envoys. Although they were not successful, they laid a good foundation for establishing close relations with the victorious new Polish king. These rela-tions, in turn, provided the opportunity to realize further political goals in the next years of August II’s reign on the Vistula, including the most important one—the Hohenzollerns’ obtaining the royal crown in 1701.