The Russian Approach to the Negotiations between Augustus II and Sweden (1720)

• Authors: Kosinska U.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

A continuation of reflections about the course of the Polish–Swedish negotiations conducted in 1719-1720 (published in 'Kwartalnik Historyczny' 111, 2004, 3, pp. 23–44). The author examined the attitude represented by Russia towards the fact that Augustus II, her heretofore ally, had inaugurated independent peace talks with Sweden. Emphasis has been placed upon the negative reaction of Peter I, caused by an unwillingness to permit the Commonwealth to withdraw from the range of his influence and, at the same time, to realise earlier treaty promises, such as the return of Livonia or the payment of reparations for the Northern War. As a result, St. Petersburg deployed a whole arsenal of diplomatic measures in order to torpedo Saxon-Polish attempts at ending the war independently. The article discusses, i. a. the mechanisms of spreading false information, applied by the Russian embassy in Poland and devised as proof of the faithlessness of Augustus II vis-a-vis Peter and the Poles. The author focused her attention on depicting the role played by the supposed treaty of Dresden signed with Sweden on 7 January 1720 (actually, this was a Swedish project of a preliminary, never confirmed by Augustus II) during the negotiations carried out by Stanislaw Chomentowski, envoy extraordinary to St. Petersburg. The article demonstrates the way in which the Russians used the texts which 'leaked out' of the Swedish chancery to confuse the Polish diplomats, to delay the talks and, finally, to refuse to meet the demands made by the Commonwealth. She portrayed the weakness of Augustus II who, despite vehement dementi and testimonies showing that the charges launched against him were untrue, did not have an opportunity to halt the detrimental campaign pursued within the Commonwealth. The attitude represented by Russia towards Polish-Saxon negotiations with Sweden was indubitably one of the factors which made it impossible for Augustus II to put a formal end to the Northern War, and which considerably weakened his position on the eve of the negotiations held in Nystadt.

Keywords

EN

AUGUSTUS II; NORTHERN WAR; POLISH-SWEDISH NEGOTIATIONS; RUSSIA

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN w Warszawie
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historyczny
• Year: 2005
• Volume: 112
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 31-46
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kosinska U.

• U. Kosinska, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Historyczny, ul. Krakowskie Przemiescie 26/28, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06PLAAAA01583470