Polish Vector of the Versailles Office political Strategy in the Second Quarter of the Eighteenth Century: Concept and Implementation

In the article, based on the documents and materials found in the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, in the scientific archive of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and on a wide range of various scientific literature on the subject under study, the author reveals the peculiarities of the foreign policy of Versailles Cabinet in the Polish direction in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The study was performed in the context of uncovering all the vicissitudes and conflicts of international politics of the time in Eastern Europe, where the interests of France, on the one hand, and of Austria and Russia, on the other hand, were confronted. The author argues that efforts devoted by French diplomacy concentrated around international issues, above all, dynastic politics. France, with considerable financial and diplomatic efforts, initially succeeded in peacefully achieving its highest goal, namely the enthronement of the father-in-law of their King, Stanisław Leszczyński, on the Polish throne. However, Leszczyński’s reign failed to last for a long time, and subsequent military actions, which followed with varying success, eventually forced France to surrender to Russia’s interests and influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, France did not lose outright. While remaining a strong European power, under the terms of the Vienna Peace Treaty of 1738, it gained its ethnic lands, in particular Lorraine, the ducal domain of Leszczyński, and retained its dominant and exclusive influence in Sweden and Turkey. This policy, led by Cardinal Fleury, allowed France to “save face” and continue to fight its adversaries in the international arena, including the territory of Poland in the second half of the eighteenth century.