Charles XII

Charles XII (1682-1718), king of Sweden (1697-1718) and its greatest military hero, who ranks among the most able generals in European history.

The son of Charles XI, he was born in Stockholm on June 17, 1682. Soon after Charles succeeded to the throne, Sweden, with extensive possessions on the Baltic, was threatened by a coalition of Frederick IV, king of Denmark, Augustus II, king of Poland, and Peter I, tsar of Russia, which resulted in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). In 1700, Charles invaded Denmark and quickly forced Frederick to sign the Peace of Travendal (now Traventhal). Charles hastened to the Baltic and rapidly brought his army of 8000 men to the Swedish stronghold, Narva, Estonia, which was beleaguered by 40,000 Russians. The disciplined Swedish troops, although wearied by forced marches, totally routed the Russians in November 1700. Charles then turned to conquer Poland, which was overrun by the Swedish troops. Augustus was driven into Saxony (Sachsen), and Charles obtained the election of his ally Stanisław I Leszczyński as king of Poland in 1705.

Charles then marched into Saxony, and Augustus, by the Treaty of Altranstädt of 1706, was forced to recognize Stanisław. Charles was now at the height of his power; with a disciplined army holding Germany in awe, he spurned peace overtures from Peter. Determined to humble Russia, he began an invasion of the country in September 1707. He penetrated into the interior of Russia, his army harassed along the way, suffered through two severe winters and turned south. On July 8, 1709, while besieging Poltava, Ukraine, he was attacked by the Russian army. Within three days, all his previous military success was undone in one disastrous engagement. Charles barely escaped into the Ottoman Empire. He induced Sultan Ahmed III to attack Russia. In 1711 Peter was able to escape from a precarious position on the Prut River. The Swedish monarch spent the next three years in intrigues to induce the Ottomans to attack Russia again. When he found that his plots were of no avail, he defied the Ottoman government and was imprisoned. He escaped in 1714 and reached Stralsund, a Swedish possession in Pomerania. The city was besieged by a combined force of Danes, Prussians, and Saxons for a year before it surrendered. Charles again escaped, reached Sweden, and raised another army. He began an invasion of Norway in 1717. During this struggle he was killed at Fredrikshald on November 30, 1718. He was succeeded on the throne by his sister Ulrika Eleonora, who began the process of negotiating peace to end the war that had cost Sweden its rank as a great power in the Baltic region.