Charles XII established his headquarters at Altranstädt, and the field army under Schulenburg was driven out of Saxony in the engagements at Ilmenau and Frauenwald on 22 September.

The Swedes blockaded Dresden, which compelled the Saxons to sign the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706) on 24 September; Augustus had to renounce all his claims to the Polish throne and recognize Stanisław Leszczyński as king.

In Saxony, Charles XII replenished his army and waited for the Grand Alliance, concurrently fighting the War of the Spanish Succession against France, to recognize the peace.

In 1700, the Great Northern War began when the anti-Swedish coalition, consisting of Frederick IV of Denmark, Peter I of Russia, and Augustus of Saxony and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, attacked Sweden and her ally Holstein-Gottorp.

[4] Denmark–Norway, besieging Tönning at the time, was quickly forced to sign a peace treaty following a Swedish landing at Humlebæk, combined with an offensive over the Bille.

[8] In 1704, Augustus was dethroned in favour of Stanisław Leszczyński, who was illegally installed by the Swedes; his coronation followed in 1705, after which a treaty between Sweden and Poland was signed.

Augustus, however, continued to resist the Swedes as the Elector of Saxony—Charles XII had refrained from invading Saxony to avoid provoking the Grand Alliance (fighting in the concurring War of the Spanish Succession),[9] who were guarantors of its integrity.

[18][19] On 17 July 1706, since having pursued the Russians from Grodno, Charles XII led his army from Yaroslavychi (Rivne Oblast) towards Greater Poland.

[2] Schulenburg, anticipating a Swedish march through Lower Lusatia, assembled his regular troops there while most of the militia and hunters were sent to the garrisons in Dresden, Wittenberg, Leipzig with the Pleissenburg castle,[27] and Königstein.

An enemy outpost withdrew as Charles XII crossed the river at dawn the next day,[b] marching through Ścinawa (Steinau) to Dąbrowa Środkowa (Mittel Dammer).

Charles XII issued letters of protection from Oleszna Podgórska on 5 September, declaring that no pillaging would occur as long as the inhabitants remained cooperative.

[50][51] On 5 September, Charles XII arrived at the border town of Gryfów Śląski (Greiffenberg), where he received a trumpeter sent by Augustus to convince him to halt his advance.

[52] Upon realising the direction of the invading Swedes, Schulenburg ordered major general Jordan into Upper Lusatia to observe their movements and to overwhelm Charles XII and his vanguard if possible.

[f][58] A squadron of the Swedish Life Regiment Dragoons charged over the bridge into the closest Saxon troops who were forming into battle, causing disorder.

[61] Charles XII left negotiations to his ministers, Carl Piper and Olof Hermelin, and marched past Stolpen to Radeberg on 12 September.

[34] On 17 September, Charles XII marched through Lommatzsch, Mügeln, over the Mulde river, to Grimma, where he received reports that Schulenburg's army was nearby.

[64] Schulenburg, retreating towards Thuringian Forest (Thüringer Wald) via Weimar and Erfurt, tried to save his army into the Holy Roman Empire.

[64][70] On 19 September, the Swedish main army marched through Naunhof to Taucha, from where Axel Gyllenkrok with an escort of 50 dragoons continued to Leipzig.

[73][74] This compelled Imhoff and Pfingsten, who deliberately stalled the negotiations in hope of allied intervention, to sign the confidential Treaty of Altranstädt (1706) on 24 September.

[75] Two days later, a ceasefire was put into effect for 10 weeks, awaiting Augustus' ratification; Meijerfeldt was ordered to lift the blockade of Dresden, while a Swedish force marched to seize the undefended Wittenberg.

He then commanded half his force through the Neustadter Pass to circumvent Dünewald,[k] leaving Jöran Adlerberg with the rest to skirmish in his front.

[86] The Saxon army broke up into companies,[77] with some retreating towards Franconia, others towards Coburg and Bayreuth, while the battered Russians fled towards the Bohemian Forest.

[90] Negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Altranstädt had been conducted in secret, according to the wishes of both rulers; Charles XII wanted to avoid foreign interference, while Augustus, remaining in the Commonwealth with his Russian allies, feared how they would react to such news.

[91] Accordingly, among other things, Augustus were to renounce all his claims to the Polish throne, recognize Leszczyński as king, and abandon the anti-Swedish coalition; James Louis Sobieski, the former pro-Swedish candidate to the throne, and his brother were to be freed from Saxon imprisonment; the Swedish traitor Johann Patkul and the Russians in Augustus' command were to be handed over to the Swedes; the Swedish army would be supplied with winter quarters in Saxony.

[93] The estates in Saxony were forced to pay large contributions, while the Swedish regiments were spread out in several towns and cities all around Altranstädt.

[95] Its stay in Saxony remained mostly peaceful; some early atrocities were committed, especially by the Wallachians and other Poles, which obliged Charles XII to issue strict disciplinary mandates to his troops.

The occupation gave him a certain power position, since the Alliance had to commit troops to the Saxon border which restrained their war efforts against France.

To avoid provoking the Tsar, Joseph secretly gave the Russians passports and instructed them to flee, before staging a fruitless cavalry pursuit.

The growing disaffection between the two rulers brought them to the brink of war; Joseph attempted to create a new anti-Swedish coalition,[103] while Charles XII signed a defence pact with Frederick I of Prussia on 16 August.

[104] The situation was resolved with the Treaty of Altranstädt (1707) on 1 September, as Joseph I's allies persuaded him into making concessions to speed up Charles XII's departure from Saxony.