War of The Polish Succession - Peace Settlement

Peace Settlement

As early as February 1734 the British and Dutch had offered to mediate peace talks between the various parties. By early 1735, proposals were being circulated. As 1735 progressed with the Austrians being in no real position to continue the fight, and the French concerned by the possible arrival of Russian reinforcements on the Rhine (which did eventually occur), negotiations continued through the summer of 1735.

A preliminary peace was finally concluded in October 1735 and ratified in the Treaty of Vienna in November 1738. Augustus was confirmed as king of Poland, Stanisław was compensated with Lorraine (which would pass on his death, through his daughter, to the French), while the former Duke of Lorraine, Francis Stephen, was made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Charles of Parma gave up Parma, which came under direct Austrian rule, but he was richly compensated by being confirmed instead as king of Naples and Sicily. Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace in 1735, the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone in 1737, to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect.

The French (and their allies), hoping for détente and good relations with the Austrians, now also recognized the Pragmatic Sanction that would allow Emperor Charles's daughter Maria Theresa to succeed him. This proved a hollow guarantee, however, as the French decided to intervene to partition the Habsburg Monarchy after all following the death of Charles in 1740. The acquisition of Lorraine for the former Polish king, however, proved of lasting benefit to France, as it passed under direct French rule with Stanisław's death in 1766.

Stanisław signed the act of abdication in 1736, while Augustus III pronounced a general amnesty. Wiśniowiecki was rewarded: the king made him the Grand Hetman (commander-in-chief) of Lithuania.