ABSTRACT
In 1569, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania signed the Union of Lublin, a constitutional settlement that established a single state, the multicultural and multireligious Commonwealth of Two Nations. The Polish king and the elector of Saxony, Augustus II, attacked Livonia, then ruled by Sweden, with his Saxon troops in February 1700. Augustus in this capacity was attacking not as a Polish king but as a Saxon duke, for even though he used the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a base for his attack, Poland-Lithuania formally remained neutral in the Great Northern War. There were still few supporters of the Russian alliance in Poland though. For this reason, Peter made three mutual assistance treaties with the anti-Sapieha group. Under the terms of these treaties, Lithuania, meaning Lithuania loyal to the anti-Sapieha faction, was to make war against Sweden even if Poland remained neutral.
