The Princely House of Poniatowski, which is based in French today, is descended from one of the brothers of the last Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski (Stanislaus II Augustus). The brothers of Stanisław August were created Princes by the Polish Sejm (the Parliament, an assembly of the Polish nobility that elected Poniatowski the King), as it was common with families of previous elected Polish kings (for example, the Sobieski family and the Leszczyński family, they all acquired the status of a Princely house by the Sejm when its members were elected Kings), and this titles were hereditary. By at the moment of Poniatowski's election the monarchy was elective and not hereditary at all, so his descendants (however, the King had no legitimate descendants) and his brother's descendants, as his potential heirs, could not claim the Polish and Lithuanian thrones. There is no way.
However Stanislaus II Augustus and his political party called the Familia, led by the Czartoryski family, provided some reforms, including the Constitution of 3rd May, the world's second constitution ever, after the American one. This reforms included the succession issues. The constitution made the throne hereditary again, as the reformists thought the so called golden age of freedom of the Polish nobility, including elective monarchy, was the main source of the Polish disaster and fall of the country's power in the 17th and 18th centuries. The constitution designated Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as the heir of Stanisław August as the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the King and Elector of Saxony, and later Duke of Warsaw. He was a male-line grandson and great-grandson of two Polish kings from the Wettin dynasty, Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III. Finally, Frederick Augustus declined to accept the crown upon Stanislaw's death in 1798, because he feared becoming entangled in disputes with Austria, Prussia and Russia, who had begun to partition Poland in 1772. As a matter of fact, a full partition of Poland among the neighboring powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia had already taken place by 1795.
Today, this Wettin claim for the Polish throne may be considered as the strongest and could be led by the current head of the House of Wettin, Maria Emanuel, the Margrave of Meissen. He is a male-line descendant of Augustus III of Poland.
After the final partitions of Poland, the Tsar of Russia created from his part of the former Polish state the Kingdom of Poland, a puppet state, also known as the Congress Kingdom (Królestwo Kongresowe, Kongresówka). The Tsars of Russia used the titles of Kings of Poland (they formally were rulers of the state called Kingdom of Poland) until the end of the Russian monarchy.
The Kingdom of Poland, also informally called Regency Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Regencyjne), was a state created during World War I by Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916 after their conquest of the former Congress Poland from Russia. The state's existence was characterised by constant struggles between German, Austrian and Polish forces about the extent of autonomy and its eventual borders with Germany and its Eastern neighbours. The kingdom, largely considered a client or even a puppet state[1], was transformed into the Second Polish Republic at the conclusion of the war. (From wikipedia)
However Stanislaus II Augustus and his political party called the Familia, led by the Czartoryski family, provided some reforms, including the Constitution of 3rd May, the world's second constitution ever, after the American one. This reforms included the succession issues. The constitution made the throne hereditary again, as the reformists thought the so called golden age of freedom of the Polish nobility, including elective monarchy, was the main source of the Polish disaster and fall of the country's power in the 17th and 18th centuries. The constitution designated Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as the heir of Stanisław August as the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the King and Elector of Saxony, and later Duke of Warsaw. He was a male-line grandson and great-grandson of two Polish kings from the Wettin dynasty, Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III. Finally, Frederick Augustus declined to accept the crown upon Stanislaw's death in 1798, because he feared becoming entangled in disputes with Austria, Prussia and Russia, who had begun to partition Poland in 1772. As a matter of fact, a full partition of Poland among the neighboring powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia had already taken place by 1795.
Today, this Wettin claim for the Polish throne may be considered as the strongest and could be led by the current head of the House of Wettin, Maria Emanuel, the Margrave of Meissen. He is a male-line descendant of Augustus III of Poland.
After the final partitions of Poland, the Tsar of Russia created from his part of the former Polish state the Kingdom of Poland, a puppet state, also known as the Congress Kingdom (Królestwo Kongresowe, Kongresówka). The Tsars of Russia used the titles of Kings of Poland (they formally were rulers of the state called Kingdom of Poland) until the end of the Russian monarchy.
The Kingdom of Poland, also informally called Regency Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Regencyjne), was a state created during World War I by Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916 after their conquest of the former Congress Poland from Russia. The state's existence was characterised by constant struggles between German, Austrian and Polish forces about the extent of autonomy and its eventual borders with Germany and its Eastern neighbours. The kingdom, largely considered a client or even a puppet state[1], was transformed into the Second Polish Republic at the conclusion of the war. (From wikipedia)
All titles were abolished, as all members of the nobility were formally equal (had the same rights and obilgations, for example each Polish noble, a member of the most prominent Czartoryski or Radziwill family and a poor land-less szlachcic had one vote). However, the Princely families were titled as such only by courtesy.
