Free election, 1764
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Election of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania |
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| Turnout | 5,584 electors | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Seven Years' War, which ended in 1763, established a new pattern of political alliances in Europe. The Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Russian Empire emerged as great powers, while the position of Austria, France, Spain, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire was weakened. As a result of the war, the Russian Empress, Catherine the Great, was in almost complete control of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Catherine was supported by the Prussian monarch, Frederick the Great, who hoped to eventually annex Polish provinces of Royal Prussia and Greater Poland.
After the death of Augustus III of Poland, two dominant political camps of Poland expressed their interest in the Polish throne. The promoted Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki, while the Czartoryski family backed its leader, Duke Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski. Under pressure of Catherine, the Czartoryskis, however, withdrew candidacy of Adam Kazimierz, and replaced him with Stolnik from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Stanisław August Poniatowski, who had been one of Catherine’s lovers. Russian support however, did not mean that Poniatowski would automatically become new monarch of the Commonwealth. Polish–Lithuanian szlachta was at that time strongly anti-Russian, and in case of a free election, Branicki’s victory was secure.
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Wikipedia