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Pleasure and Ambition: The Life, Loves and Wars of Augustus the Strong
Augustus the Strong of Saxony’s life was consumed by two the relentless pursuit of power and the uncompromising pursuit of pleasure. From his accession as Elector of Saxony in 1694 (when his brother the previous Elector died under mysterious circumstances) he pursued political power and glory by fighting the Ottoman Turks, purchasing the Polish throne (becoming a Catholic in the bargain) and warring against Sweden. His other great addiction--to pleasure--primarily in the female form--continually distracted Augustus from the single-minded pursuit of his dynastic aim. (He was reputed to have produced an illegitimate child for every day of the year.) This is the first biography in English of Augustus, and is based on primary German sources and the dispatches of English diplomats.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 5, 2017
A difficult book to rate. The actual bits about Augustus are good, but Sharp spends too much time on tangents about George Stepney and has a distasteful interest in Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz's sex life.
June 11, 2022
Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and sometimes King of Poland, was a louche, greedy, amoral, impious, untrustworthy and ruthless man, but only an average soldier. He gave no thought to his subjects and had no lasting loyalties. But he desperately wanted to be liked and he was not personally vindictive. (Which British prime minister does this sound like?) His nemesis, Charles XII of Sweden, was upright, moral, pious, efficient, an excellent soldier and very vindictive indeed.
These days, perhaps the Elector's biggest claim to fame is the hundreds of bastards he is supposed to have sired. It is true that he had a great many mistresses, but most of these women had both husbands and other lovers. His acknowledged bastards total less than a dozen. Everything else is pure guesswork.
Augustus' greatest success was to become King of Poland. His did this by renouncing his Lutheranism (Warsaw, like Paris, is well worth a mass), using Saxon money to buy enough votes to cause a split election, and then following up with Saxon boots on the ground. This was not "honourable", but it was the usual way the Polish crown was bestowed. Poland was not a great prize financially, but Augustus was now a king and that's what mattered.
He never gave any thought to why his Saxon subjects should finance this purely personal joyride through Poland, but his contemporaries Louis XIV of France and Peter the Great of Moscow were scarcely any better. But at least those two were conquering lands that would strengthen their home countries; the idea that Poland could be annexed to Saxony was quite absurd.
Augustus' next move was even less creditable, but on paper it should have worked. In coalition with Denmark and Moscow, he would take a share of the Swedish Empire south of the Baltic. There was never any plan to march into Sweden itself, and in all fairness, he had as much right to Latvia and Estonia as the Swedes did, perhaps more. (As King of Poland he was also Grand Duke of Lithuania.) The King of Sweden was still a teenager. A swift, coordinated, surprise attack should settle matters in a month or two. How hard could it be?
Very hard indeed, is the answer. This was the Great Northern War, which lasted twenty years. (It was so similar to the later War of Austrian Succession, it should perhaps be called the War of Swedish Succession.) Charles XII turned out to a brilliant general, a great organiser, utterly fearless and exceptionally charismatic. He knocked the Danes out of the war in a single campaign, and then focussed on Augustus.
Now I, personally, would have been content to burn Warsaw and Kraków, and then restore the original borders. But Charles worshipped a vengeful God and wanted Augustus deposed from the Polish throne. Augustus couldn't beat him in a pitched battle, but Poland was a huge country with poor roads, well suited to a Fabian hit-and-run defence. If the Poles were suspicious of their king, they still preferred him to Charles, and they were willing to sell men and supplies in return for Saxon and Russian money. In this way, Augustus avoided capture for several years.
In the end Charles invaded Saxony. Militarily, this was the obvious solution right from the start, but it was politically very risky. Saxony was part of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), and Charles had to cross the Emperor's hereditary domains in Silesia to get there. However, the Empire was fully committed to the War of Spanish Succession, and it was easy enough for Charles to paint his actions as a purely personal dispute and not an invasion of Germany. And so, with great reluctance and no little bad faith, Augustus gave up the Polish throne.
As for Charles XII, he lost his army and his empire in an invasion of Russia, and was eventually killed (by friendly fire?) in Norway.
These days, perhaps the Elector's biggest claim to fame is the hundreds of bastards he is supposed to have sired. It is true that he had a great many mistresses, but most of these women had both husbands and other lovers. His acknowledged bastards total less than a dozen. Everything else is pure guesswork.
Augustus' greatest success was to become King of Poland. His did this by renouncing his Lutheranism (Warsaw, like Paris, is well worth a mass), using Saxon money to buy enough votes to cause a split election, and then following up with Saxon boots on the ground. This was not "honourable", but it was the usual way the Polish crown was bestowed. Poland was not a great prize financially, but Augustus was now a king and that's what mattered.
He never gave any thought to why his Saxon subjects should finance this purely personal joyride through Poland, but his contemporaries Louis XIV of France and Peter the Great of Moscow were scarcely any better. But at least those two were conquering lands that would strengthen their home countries; the idea that Poland could be annexed to Saxony was quite absurd.
Augustus' next move was even less creditable, but on paper it should have worked. In coalition with Denmark and Moscow, he would take a share of the Swedish Empire south of the Baltic. There was never any plan to march into Sweden itself, and in all fairness, he had as much right to Latvia and Estonia as the Swedes did, perhaps more. (As King of Poland he was also Grand Duke of Lithuania.) The King of Sweden was still a teenager. A swift, coordinated, surprise attack should settle matters in a month or two. How hard could it be?
Very hard indeed, is the answer. This was the Great Northern War, which lasted twenty years. (It was so similar to the later War of Austrian Succession, it should perhaps be called the War of Swedish Succession.) Charles XII turned out to a brilliant general, a great organiser, utterly fearless and exceptionally charismatic. He knocked the Danes out of the war in a single campaign, and then focussed on Augustus.
Now I, personally, would have been content to burn Warsaw and Kraków, and then restore the original borders. But Charles worshipped a vengeful God and wanted Augustus deposed from the Polish throne. Augustus couldn't beat him in a pitched battle, but Poland was a huge country with poor roads, well suited to a Fabian hit-and-run defence. If the Poles were suspicious of their king, they still preferred him to Charles, and they were willing to sell men and supplies in return for Saxon and Russian money. In this way, Augustus avoided capture for several years.
In the end Charles invaded Saxony. Militarily, this was the obvious solution right from the start, but it was politically very risky. Saxony was part of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), and Charles had to cross the Emperor's hereditary domains in Silesia to get there. However, the Empire was fully committed to the War of Spanish Succession, and it was easy enough for Charles to paint his actions as a purely personal dispute and not an invasion of Germany. And so, with great reluctance and no little bad faith, Augustus gave up the Polish throne.
As for Charles XII, he lost his army and his empire in an invasion of Russia, and was eventually killed (by friendly fire?) in Norway.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews