Siege of Danzig (1734)

Siege of Danzig
Part of the War of the Polish Succession
Depiction of the siege
Date 22 February – 30 June 1734 Location Danzig, Poland 54°22′N 18°38′E / 54.367°N 18.633°E / 54.367; 18.633Coordinates: 54°22′N 18°38′E / 54.367°N 18.633°E / 54.367; 18.633 Result Russian-Saxon victory
Belligerents
Augustus III  Russia  Electorate of Saxony	Stanisław I  France  Sweden
Commanders and leaders
Peter Lacy Burkhard Christoph von Münnich Thomas Gordon Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels	Stanisław I General von Bittinghofen Rochon de la Pérouse, Comte de la Motte (POW) Jean André, Marquis de Barailh Count Plélo † Baron von Stackelberg
Strength
12,000(initially)-37,000 or 60,000 regulars(total)	4,500(initially)-7,000 Polish army(total) 7,500-8,500 Polish militia and volunteers 1,200-2,400 French 130 Swedish volunteers
Casualties and losses
8,000	Unknown

The Siege of Danzig of 1734 was the Russian encirclement (February 22 – June 30) and capture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth city of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk) during the War of Polish Succession. It was the first time that troops of France and Russia had met as foes in the field.

Augustus II of Saxony, who had also ruled as King of Poland for most of the years since 1697, died on February 1, 1733, sparking a struggle over his successor to the Polish throne. Stanisław I Leszczyński, who had briefly ruled as king during the Great Northern War (his reign was from 1705 to 1709), was elected king by an election sejm held on September 10, 1733, with broad support from the Polish nobility and population, as well as support from France (where his daughter was married to Louis XV), and Sweden (where Charles XII had supported him during his earlier reign). Russia, the Habsburgs, and Saxony, desiring a monarch over whom they would have more influence, opposed his election. Russia sent troops into Poland in August 1733, at first in an attempt to influence the election, but then forcing Stanisław, who had only 2,000 troops in Warsaw, to retreat to Danzig, where he entrenched with his partisans (including the Primate of Poland and the French and Swedish ministers) to await support that had been promised by France. On September 30 a Russian army of 20,000 under Peter Lacy arrived in Warsaw, and on October 6 a second sejm (composed of a smaller number of electors who had dissented from the previous election) proclaimed Augustus III king.

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