On February 1, 1733, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Augustus II the Strong died in Warsaw, leaving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth without a monarch.

During the Convocation Sejm (June 1733), the Primate of Poland, interrex Teodor Potocki suggested that no foreign candidacy should even be considered in the election.

Therefore, Leszczyński, disguised as a merchant named Ernest Bromback, accompanied by French Army officer Dandelot, reached Poland by land, after a trip through Germany.

This news was received in Paris with joy, but soon after the election, the new king had to flee to Gdańsk, where he awaited French military assistance.

Eventually, Russian and Saxon armies defeated the supporters of Leszczyński (see Siege of Danzig (1734)), and in 1736, the Pacification Sejm confirmed the accession of Augustus III to the Polish throne.