the Russians, and ultimately Poland would be divided up by its neighbors and cease to exist as a sovereign state by the end of the 18th century. Poland also surrendered claims to Livonia and direct control over the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, which, although remaining a Polish fief, was not integrated into Poland proper and came under strong Russian influence which only ended with the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. Background After the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, the King of Poland was elected by the Szlachta, a body composed of the Polish nobility, in a specially-called election sejm. Royal power was increasingly restricted by the Sejm, legislative body of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In turn, the Sejm was often paralyzed by the Liberum Veto, the right of any member to block its decisions. Poland's neighbors often influenced the Sejm, and by the early 18th century the democratic system was in decline. In 1697, Augustus II became king, backed by Austria and Russia. Deposed by Stanislaus Leszczyński in 1705, he returned four years later and Stanislaus fled to France, where his daughter Maria married Louis XV of France in 1725. Augustus failed in an attempt to settle the Polish crown on his son, Augustus III, leading to a contest for the throne when he died in 1733. In the secret 1732 Treaty of the Three Black Eagles, Russia, Austria and Prussia agreed to oppose the election of either Stanislaus or Augustus III and to support Manuel of Portugal instead. The dispute coincided with the breakdown of the Anglo-French Alliance, which had dominated Europe since 1714. The agreement at Utrecht to ensure France and Spain remained separate meant despite the close relationship between Louis XV and his uncle Philip V of Spain, the two countries were opponents in the 1718 to 1720 War of the Quadruple Alliance. When Cardinal Fleury became French chief minister in 1726, he sought a closer relationship with Spain, helped by the birth of Louis, Dauphin of France in 1729, which seemed to ensure the countries would remain separate. Fleury supported Stanislaus, hoping to weaken Austria and secure the Duchy of Lorraine, a strategic possession occupied by France for large parts of the previous century. The current duke Francis Stephen was expected to marry Emperor Charles's heir Maria Theresa, bringing Austria dangerously close to France. At the same time, Philip wanted to regain