FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I. (1750-1827), king of Saxony, son of the elector
Frederick Christian, was born at Dresden on the 23rd of December 1750.
He succeeded his father under the guardianship of Prince Xavier in 1763,
and was declared of age in 1768. In the following year (January 17,
1769) he married Princess Maria Amelia, daughter of Duke Frederick of
Zweibruecken, by whom he had only one child, Princess Augusta (born June
21, 1782). One of his chief aims was the reduction of taxes and imposts
and of the army. He was always extremely methodical and conscientious,
and a good example to all his officials, whence his surname "the Just."
On account of the claims of his mother on the inheritance of her
brother, the elector of Bavaria, he sided with Frederick the Great in
the short Bavarian succession war of 1778 against Austria. At the peace
of Teschen, which concluded the war, he received 6 million florins,
which he employed partly in regaining those parts of his kingdom which
had been lost, and partly in favour of his relatives. In 1785 he joined
the league of German princes (_Deutscher Fuerstenbund_) formed by
Prussia, but without prejudice to his neutrality. Thus he remained
neutral during the quarrel between Austria and Prussia in 1790. In the
following year he declined the crown of Poland. He refused to join the
league against France (February 7, 1792), but when war was declared his
duty to the Empire necessitated his taking part in it. Even after the
peace of Basel (April 5, 1795) he continued the war. But when the French
army, during the following year, advanced into the heart of Germany, he
was compelled by General Jourdan to retreat (August 13, 1796). He
maintained his neutrality during the war between France and Austria in
1805, but in the following year he joined Prussia against France. After
the disastrous battle of Jena he concluded a treaty of peace with
Napoleon at Posen (December 11, 1806), and, assuming the title of king,
he joined the Confederation of the Rhine. But he did not alter the
constitution and administration of his new kingdom. After the peace of
Tilsit (July 9, 1807) he was created by Napoleon grand-duke of Warsaw,
but his sovereignty of Poland was little more than nominal. There was a
kind of friendship between Frederick Augustus and Napoleon. In 1809
Frederick Augustus fought with him against Austria. On several occasions
(1807, 1812, 1813) Napoleon was entertained at Dresden, and when, on his
return from his disastrous Russian campaign, he passed through Saxony by
Dresden (December 16, 1812), Frederick Augustus remained true to his
friend and ally. It was only during April 1813 that he made overtures to
Austria, but he soon afterwards returned to the side of the French. He
returned to Dresden on the 10th of May and was present at the terrible
battle of August 26 and 27, in which Napoleon's army and his own were
defeated. He fell into the hands of the Allies after their entry into
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