fruitless attempt to draw them into the conflict in support of Stanislaus. The Austrians were thus left largely without effective external allies on their southern and western frontiers. Their Russian and Saxon allies were occupied with the Polish campaign, and the Emperor distrusted Frederick William I of Prussia, who was willing to provide some aid. Divisions within the empire also affected the raising of troops in 1733, as Charles-Albert of Bavaria, who harbored ambitions to become the next Holy Roman Emperor, signed a secret agreement with France in November 1733, and tried, with limited success, to dissuade other rulers within the empire from the Wittelsbach family from providing troops to the emperor under their treaty obligations. While Britain itself did not provide support, the Electorate of Hanover, where George II also ruled as an Imperial Elector, proved willing to help. On 9 April 1734, a Reichskrieg (imperial war) was declared against France, obliging all imperial states to participate. War Poland The Russians, commanded by Peter Lacy, quickly captured the capital city of Warsaw and installed Augustus as potential heir, forcing Stanislaus to flee to Danzig (present-day Gdańsk), where he was besieged for some time by a Russian-Saxon army that came under the overall command of Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich. Danzig capitulated in June 1734, and Stanislaus was forced to flee once more, this time first to the city of Königsberg and eventually to France. This ended major military activity in Poland itself, although it continued to be occupied by foreign troops as Augustus dealt with partisan supporters of Stanislaus I. A group of nobles and aristocrats supporting Stanislaus formed the Confederation of Dzików in late 1734, and under their commander, Adam Tarło, tried to fight the Russian and Saxon troops, but their efforts were ineffective. In what became known as the Pacification Sejm, held in June–July 1736, Augustus was confirmed as king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Rhineland Following France's October 10 declaration of war, it began military operations three days later, invading the Duchy of Lorraine and besieging the imperial fortress at Kehl, across the Rhine River from Strasbourg, gaining control of both objectives in a few weeks. Unable to attack Austria directly, and unwilling to invade the intervening German states for fear of drawing Great Britain and the Dutch into the conflict, France consolidated its position in Lorraine, and withdrew its troops across the