Due to the exhausting Second Northern War, the Commonwealth was a country without state administrative bodies, with an underdeveloped economy, insufficient tax revenues and an army that was neither qualitatively nor numerically ready for the requirements of the time.

Saxony was still superior to Brandenburg-Prussia in terms of internal development at the end of the 17th century, but had to cede the Protestant leadership role in the Holy Roman Empire to Brandenburg in the following decades.

One driving force behind the attainment of royal dignity was the desire for political sovereignty, which Elector Frederick Augustus I promised to give further weight in foreign policy.

All princes of this time followed the French model of Louis XIV, such as elaborate courtly ceremonies, lavish banquets with opera performances and ballets.

The Saxon ambassador in Warsaw, Jacob Heinrich von Flemming, had previously succeeded in completely fragmenting the competition by fielding ever new applicants.

The efforts of Pope Innocent XI's nephew, Prince Livio Odescalchi, Duke of Bracciano and Ceri, James Louis Sobieski, the son of the former King John III.

François Louis, Prince of Conti who traveled from France for the royal election, was even able to garner a larger number of votes than August, but had to return to his homeland, forced by Saxon troops.

[2] Despite the advantages, such as additional dynastic inheritance claims and greater weight in peace negotiations, Saxony was not satisfied with winning the Polish royal crown.

After the occupation of Saxony by the Swedes in the Great Northern War, King Augustus II had to give up the Polish royal title in the Treaty of Altranstädt in 1706 and recognize Stanislaus I Leszczyński, who was supported by Sweden, on the throne.

Since this would have been a first step towards the establishment of an absolutist hereditary monarchy in Poland, it provoked the uprising of the Tarnogród Confederacy in 1715/16, led by Stanisław Ledóchowski and Jan Klemens Branicki, which put Augustus at risk of his throne.

It was mainly a revolt of the small nobility against the king; Important magnates such as Lithuania's hetman Ludwik Pociej (a friend of Peter the Great) tended to try to mediate.

Although the Saxon troops remained victorious in all major battles, they were unable to end the uprising, so money began to run out.

King Augustus II accepted the Tsar's mediation and achieved only partial success in the Peace of Warsaw in 1716 and the Silent Sejm in 1717.

The feudal nobility could produce intensively, and the exchange of goods between Poland and Saxony, promoted by the Leipzig Trade Fair and facilitated by customs agreements, increased.

A central economic and financial policy could not be implemented in Poland, a large part of the taxes (up to 20%) were stuck in the collection system and mercantilist thinking was limited to the self-interest of the magnate families.

Given this situation, the king and his prime minister Heinrich von Brühl hoped to control Poland with the “ministerial system” of magnates loyal to Saxony (who were placed in key positions) and tried to politically connect the two countries.

In Saxony, after the fall of Aleksander Józef Sułkowski, Heinrich von Brühl led the government from 1738 to 1756, and in 1746 he formally became prime minister.

Saxony also had no influence whatsoever on the awarding of the Polish crown: Poland-Lithuania had come under Russian hegemony more than ever; as successor to Augustus III.

Stanisław August Poniatowski was appointed by Empress Catherine the Great, ending the personal union between Saxony and Poland.

However, Augustus renounced the use of the instrument cuius regio, eius religio, which would have enabled him to re-catholize Saxony or at least emancipate the Catholic religion.

The decadent mood of that time was remembered, which became a symbol of the late Sarmatian aristocratic culture with its lavish celebrations and the lack of sense of responsibility among the majority of the magnates towards their own state.

The union resulted in increased contacts between Poles and Sorbs, coincidentally at a time when the Sorbian national revival began and resistance to Germanization emerged.

[9] Numerous landmarks in Saxony, including the Zwinger, Dresden Cathedral, Japanisches Palais, Moritzburg Castle and Königstein Fortress are decorated with reliefs containing the coat of arms of Poland-Saxony.

Polish refugees included the artistic and political elite, such as composer Frédéric Chopin, war hero Józef Bem and writer Adam Mickiewicz.