Persian Dynasty

Swedish Vasaätten
Polish Wazowie
Lithuanian Vazos
English House of Vasa

A royal family that ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish-Lithuanian Union from 1587 to 1668 . This document mainly deals with the Vasa Dynasty in Sweden.

For the Vasa dynasty of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , see Sigismund III Vasa (Sigismund), Władysław IV Vasa , and John II Casimir Vasa, who once formed a personal union .

The Kalmar League, a three-nation confederation formed in AD 1397 with Denmark ruling Norway and Sweden, lasted for 120 years, but ultimately collapsed as Sweden's resistance to Danish rule continued. Afterwards, Gustav I Vasa , from a Swedish noble family that led the War of Independence, ascended the throne as King of Sweden in 1523 AD, marking the beginning of the Vasa dynasty's rule over Sweden. In the same year, a rebellion broke out in Denmark, and Christian II was deposed and his uncle Frederick I ascended the throne in his place, and Gustav I Vasa entered into an anti-Christian II alliance with Frederick I. In this way, the position of Gustav I Vasa was stabilized, but the early kingship of Gustav I Vasa was unstable, as the Sture family, which had served as regent of Sweden during the Kalmar Union, was aiming for the throne, and he had to escape from the shackles of Lübeck in North Germany, which had to recognize privileges in exchange for much support during the Swedish War of Independence.

The biggest problem Gustav I Vasa had in the early days was the confrontation with the Roman Curia . Since Gustav Trole, Archbishop of Uppsala , originally a royal court judge, had sided with Denmark, Gustav I Vasa tried to expel him and appoint Monson Magnus as the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but was opposed by Pope Clement VII . Also, for different reasons, four bishoprics in Sweden were left vacant. Gustav I Vasa recommended candidates, but Pope Clement VII approved only one of them. Although the confrontation with the Roman Curia was an embarrassment to Gustav I Vasa, he had other options. In 1517 AD, German theologian Martin Luther took issue with the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholics and announced the '95 Theses,' which triggered the Reformation in Europe. Accordingly, Gustav I Vasa supported the Lutheran mission of Ulaus Petri, a disciple of Martin Luther.

In fact, Gustav I Vasa's religious reform did not begin simply because of religious issues. Although Gustav I Vasa was crowned King of Sweden and his finances were poor, the Roman Catholic Church at the time took one-fifth of Sweden's total land revenue and even had tax exemption privileges. In addition, because bishops in the Middle Ages were not just priests but also officials themselves, Gustavus I Vasa needed to replace them with people who were loyal to him. For this reason, Gustav I Vasa obtained the right to appoint bishops and dispose of church property at the Council of Vesteros in 1527 AD, based on the support of merchants, farmers, and some nobles. And Hans Brask, the Roman Catholic bishop of Linköping, who led the Swedish War of Independence and built up a lot of trust, also went into exile, leaving no force left in Sweden to advocate for the maintenance of Roman Catholicism.

In AD 1531, when Gustav I Vasa appointed Laurentius Petri, brother of Ulaus Petri, as the first Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala in Swedish history, Sweden was completely freed from the influence of the Holy See. However, since Lutheranism did not immediately spread to Sweden after that, brothers Ulaus Petri and Laurentius Petri worked hard to spread Lutheranism to the rest of Sweden besides Stockholm . (Gustav Vasas bibel)'. Finally, in AD 1544, Lutheranism was proclaimed as the state religion of Sweden, and in AD 1554, when the Finnish Bishop of Obo died, Michael Agricola was appointed as the new Bishop of Obo to promote the Reformation in Finland.

Along with religious reform, Gustav I Vasa also promoted land reform. During his time as regent of the Sture family, he changed the central area into a fiefdom under his direct control and collected taxes directly every year to improve the royal finances. Gustav I Vasa further expanded the royal domain by confiscating church property. The entire territory of Sweden was largely divided into three areas: tax farmland, royal territory, and private land, and tax officers were dispatched directly to tax farmland to collect taxes. For this reason, by the end of Gustav I Vasa's reign, taxes could be collected from all areas corresponding to about two-thirds of Sweden and Finland.

Now, Gustav I Vasa was able to suppress the noble powers by force based on his abundant finances or buy them off on the condition of distributing the confiscated church property. As Gustav I Vasa's royal authority was strengthened, Sweden became a powerful monarchy, and a representative example was the establishment of the hereditary system. Originally, Sweden's method of succession to the throne was officially elective, but Gustav I Vasa submitted a law of succession to the throne at the Council of Vasteros in 1544 AD, which required representatives of each social class to pass the throne to the eldest son in the future. Since there was no aristocratic power that could dare to challenge Gustav I Vasa, who had already controlled most of the country, and he received support from the rest of the social class, the Act of Succession to the throne was passed without difficulty. Thanks to this, the Vasa royal family can now legally inherit the Swedish throne.

Gustav I Vasa's policy of strengthening royal power and reforming religion aroused much opposition from various parts of Sweden. Meanwhile, in April 1529 AD, a tax official dispatched to Nydala was murdered, and shortly after, Gustav I Vasa's younger sister, Margareta Eriksdoter Vasa, was detained in Jönköping, Småland, on her return from a visit to Germany. And with this as an opportunity, Toure Jensen, an influential nobleman in Gotland, together with Magnus Haraldsson, Bishop of Skara, persuaded the peasants to revolt. They gained momentum by taking control of Västergötland and Småland, but they succeeded in persuading Gustav I Vasa of neighboring Östergötland not to join the rebellion, and under the condition of pardoning the murder of the tax collector, his sister Margareta was released. Afterwards, the peasants tried to hand over the leaders of the rebellion, Touré Jensson and Magnus Haraldsson, to Gustavus I Vasa in exchange for forgiveness for the rebellion, so the two had to go into exile in Denmark, and several nobles who participated in the rebellion were executed, ending the rebellion.

Among the rebellions Gustav I Vasa experienced, the one that gave him the most difficulty was the rebellion of Dalarna, which was the first to join his own army during the Swedish War of Independence. The people of Dalarna thought that the punishment for pro-Danish people after Gustav I Vasa's accession was too excessive and that his religious reform was unjust, so during the first 10 years of Gustav I Vasa's reign, 3 rebelled several times. Then, in AD 1532, Christian II of Denmark, who was trying to recover from his abdication, made an attempt to regain the Swedish throne by using the Dalarna rebellion, but was captured by King Frederick I of Denmark on the way and was imprisoned for the rest of his life. Afterwards, Gustav I Vasa personally led a punitive force to suppress the rebellion in AD 1533, and there was no rebellion in Dalarna.

The last rebellion against Gustav I Vasa occurred in Småland in 1542 AD. When Gustav I Vasa imposed heavy taxes, promoted religious reform, and confiscated church bells and goods, dissatisfied Småland peasants revolted, led by Nils Däcke. Nils Dake became a fairly large force because he used the despotic monarchy and religious reform of Gustav I of Vasa as the cause of the rebellion. Since the rebellion was not suppressed even after several months, Gustavus I Vasa sent a letter to Dalarna appealing for support for him and recruiting troops to suppress the rebels, and this message was spread throughout Sweden. As this worked, Gustav I Vasa was able to recruit a punitive army without hiring German mercenaries and defeated the Småland rebels in the spring of 1543 AD. Afterwards, in order to set an example, Gustav I Vasa executed the leader of the rebellion, Nils Dake, and had his limbs cut off and displayed throughout the country.

When Gustav I Vasa needed a navy to attack Stockholm during the Swedish War of Independence , he negotiated with Lübeck in North Germany and received support from the Hanseatic League 's navy, so he had to grant considerable privileges in return. Meanwhile, after the death of Frederick I in Denmark in 1533 AD, his son Christian III succeeded to the throne, but because he was a Lutheran, the 'Counts' War (Grevens Fejde)' broke out, a rebellion in which Roman Catholic forces demanded the reinstatement of Christian II. Gustav I Vasa saw this as a good opportunity to weaken Lübeck's influence and began supporting Christian III. In fact, this was not only to keep Lübeck in check, but also to prevent Christian II from seeking the Swedish throne in the future after regaining the Danish throne.

In 1535 AD, the Swedish navy defeated the Hanseatic navy in the Battle of Lillaveld, and the Swedish army occupied Skåne . With the support of Denmark's Jutland nobles, led by Johan Landzau, and Sweden, Christian III suppressed the peasant revolt on the Jutland peninsula and defeated the army of Christopher, Count of Oldenburg. The following year, in AD 1536, he captured Copenhagen and succeeded in being recognized as king throughout Denmark. As Lübeck was defeated in the Count War, all of Lübeck's privileges regarding Baltic Sea trade were revoked, and the terms of repayment of Sweden's debt to Lübeck were also changed to Sweden's advantage. And with the signing of the Treaty of Brunsebrew in 1541 AD, Denmark and Sweden became allies.

Another foreign war fought during the reign of Gustav I Vasa was against the Russian Tsardom of Russia in 1554 AD. At that time, the Russian Tsardom was greatly increasing its national power in 1547 AD when Ivan IV, famous by the nickname 'Emperor', declared himself the Tsar . Ivan IV did not consider himself the Tsar and King Gustav I Vasa as equals. In this state of diplomatic tension, Sweden and Russia were frequently clashing on the Finnish border, and an attack by the Finnish garrison in AD 1555 finally led to an all-out war. The Finnish garrison received reinforcements from Sweden at Oreshek.[1] They attacked the fortress, but the Russian army held out using scorched-earth tactics, exposing serious problems with supply. The following year, in 1556 AD, the Russian Tsardom launched a counterattack and pretended to attack Vyvor, but withdrew due to an epidemic. As the war situation continued to sluggish, the Novgorod Peace Treaty was signed in 1557 AD.

In 1556 AD, Gustav I distributed the estates to his sons except for Crown Prince Eric XIV . Accordingly, the second son, Johan , was appointed the Duke of Finland, the third son, Magnus, was appointed the Duke of Östergötland, and the youngest son, Karl , was appointed the Duke of Södermanland, but the fourth son, Karl, and the fifth son, Sten, were excluded from the inheritance because they died young. However, the eldest son , Erik Amid this concern, when Gustav I Vasa died in 1560 AD, his eldest son, Eric XIV, held a splendid coronation ceremony in Uppsala and succeeded his father's throne.

Initially, Gustav I Vasa distributed the territory to his sons and granted them the authority to independently collect taxes and act on behalf of the king, but Eric In addition, in AD 1562, his half-brother, Duke Johan of Finland, who had opposed him for a long time, married Katazina , the sister of King of Poland and Archduke Sigmund II August of Lithuania, despite his opposition , so in AD 1563, Johan and Katazina were imprisoned and their fiefdom, Finland, was confiscated. In addition, Erik

In AD 1561, Livonia , which was the territory of the Livonian Knights , could not withstand the pressure from the Grand Duchy of Moscow and disbanded the knights on its own, forming the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. They chose the path of subordination to the Eastern Military Alliance . Accordingly, Denmark, which occupied Özel-vik , began to target northern Livonia as well, but Erik Then the king of Denmark and Norway became vengeful. The 'Seven Years' Northern War' began when Frederick II officially declared war on August 13, citing the Battle of Bornholm, a small-scale local battle that took place in May 1563. However, the war became sluggish, with Sweden having the advantage at sea and Denmark having the advantage on land.

Meanwhile, Eric XIV was mentally unstable from the beginning of his reign, and his condition gradually became more serious. As internal discontent grew due to his despotic monarchy and the Danish war, Eric The Sture family had a great influence on the Swedish nobility as they produced a succession of regents during the Kalmar League. In fact, even during the reign of Gustav I Vasa, there were claims that the Sture family should become king. However, King Eric XIV suffered a mental breakdown during the trial and had him executed. Although Erik

In 1568 AD, Eric The Swedish nobles, who valued lineage, were angry at the fact that Erik Eventually, Erik XIV was dethroned and John ascended the throne as King John III of Sweden. Erik

Although the Seven Years' Northern War with Denmark ended with the signing of the Treaty of Stettin by John III in 1570 AD, in the same year, Ivan IV of Tsarist Russia signed a peace treaty with Sigismund II of Poland and Lithuania and began attacking Estonia, thus resuming the Livonian War . Moreover, the initial war situation was very unfavorable for Sweden, as Magnus of Denmark, who had become bishop of Özel-vik, became the king of Livonia, claiming to be a vassal of Ivan IV, and Estonia was subjected to a pincer attack. However, Estonia's central city, Reval (now Tallinn ), never fell, and the situation began to turn around when the commander-in-chief was replaced by Pontus de la Gardi in 1574 AD.

Meanwhile, Zygmunt II of Poland, who was concurrently Grand Duke of Lithuania, united the two countries in AD 1569, creating the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, when Zygmunt II died without leaving a son in AD 1572, the succession of monarchs in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was changed to an elective system, and in AD 1576 Duke Batory Stephen of Transylvania was elected as the new monarch under the name "Stephan Batory " . Afterwards, Stephen Batory began driving the Russians out of Livonia from AD 1579 to AD 1581. Now, the situation was reversed, and Sweden also occupied Narva . Eventually, in AD 1582, Tsar Rus and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth signed a peace treaty, and the following year, Sweden also ended the war with Russia and recognized its sovereignty over Estonia and Narva. In this way, Russia's advance into the Baltic Sea was completely blocked, and instead, Sweden gained control of the eastern Baltic Sea and took advantage of the transit trade connected with Russia.

John III himself was a competent theologian, and for the sake of reconciliation between Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism, he himself wrote the Rödboken in AD 1577, reviving some of the Roman Catholic ceremonies. However, this caused a backlash from many Lutherans, and in particular, his younger brother, Duke Karl of Sodermanland, who played a big role in the coronation of John III, stood at the center of it. Duke Karl of Sodermanland rejected the Red Book and did not hesitate to hide persecuted Lutherans in his estate. This increased tension between the two, but a confrontation between the brothers did not take place on John III's deathbed in 1592 AD.

John III had his son Sigismund, whom he had after marrying Katagina Jagiellonka of Poland , grow up receiving a Roman Catholic education according to Katagina's opinion. And because Sigismund inherited the lineage of the Jagiło dynasty through his maternal lineage, when Stefan Báthory died in 1586 AD , he was elected as the new monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and crowned as Sigismund III Vasa . And when John III died in 1592 AD, he succeeded to the Swedish throne, but problems arose because he was a Roman Catholic. Eventually, this issue developed into a civil war between Sigismund and Karl, Duke of Södermanland.

After the death of John III in 1592 AD, his son Sigismund was to succeed to the throne, but the Swedish council rejected his Roman Catholic status. And Sigismund's uncle, Karl, Duke of Sodermanland, convened the Uppsala Synod in AD 1593, reaffirmed that the Lutheran Church was the state religion of Sweden, and declared that no other religious ceremonies were held in Sweden. Since the decision of the Uppsala Synod applied to the king without exception, Sigismund had to give up the Roman Catholic ceremony in order to stay in Sweden. Naturally, Sigismund protested and declared that the decision made in the absence of the king himself was null and void.

After Sigismund arrived in Stockholm accompanied by a Polish guard, he allowed several churches to still hold Roman Catholic services. However, when Sigismund arrived in Uppsala for the coronation in 1594 AD, Duke Karl of Södermanland appeared with 3,000 soldiers and held a class council of representatives of the four classes - nobles, clergy, merchants, and peasants - to reaffirm the decision of the Uppsala Synod and put pressure on Sigismund. In the end, Sigismund had to accept the decisions of the Uppsala Synod, but when he returned to Stockholm after his coronation, he continued to hold Roman Catholic services and placed Roman Catholics in key government positions.

When Sigismund returned to Poland, he appointed Karl, Duke of Södermanland, to rule Sweden with a Privy Council of Swedish nobles. However, in reality, he attempted to seize control by dispatching his own officials and tax collectors to each province without specifying specific authority. Because of this, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, insisted on unifying the government and requested that he be appointed regent, but there was a conflict of opinion with the nobles about the authority of the regent. However, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, was appointed regent through the Söderköping Parliament in 1595 AD and succeeded in delegating the king's authority to rule in Sigismund's absence.

Regarding the decision of the Söderköping caste system, Sigismund once again defined it as illegal because it was made without the approval of the king himself. Swedish nobles also refused to cooperate, saying that they only swore loyalty to King Sigismund. Accordingly, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, suppressed the opposition of the nobles by asserting that the decisions of the class council were superior. In addition, when Klaus Plame of Finland and Estonia, who was appointed by Sigismund and in charge of the Swedish navy, refused to obey, he incited the Finnish Österbotten peasants to revolt in 1596 AD. Although Klaus Flame suppressed the uprising, he died shortly afterwards.

Sweden was now divided into two parties: Sigismund, the king, and Karl, Duke of Södermanland, the regent. However, because most of the Swedish nobility sided with Sigismund, Duke Karl of Södermanland consolidated his position by convening a class council again in Ådvoga in AD 1597. Since only one Swedish noble attended this event, Duke Karl of Södermanland became enraged and many frightened Swedish nobles fled to Poland. Then, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, started a rebellion in earnest and took control of all of Sweden, even capturing Obo, which was occupied by Eva Stenborg, Klaus Fleming's widow, and even succeeded in taking over Finland.

By 1598 AD, Sigismund was preparing a full-scale counterattack. Sigismund gathered mercenaries from Germany and Hungary and appointed Jürgen von Farensbach from Livonia as commander-in-chief in February 1598 AD to invade Sweden, but he had trouble securing transport ships to cross the sea and wasted too much time due to bad weather. Meanwhile, Arvid Eriksson Stollarm's Finnish rebel army, which rose in response to Sigismund, landed in Uppland first, but was repulsed by the Uppland peasant army. However, in May 1598 AD, Polish troops landed in Abasker and forced Kalmar to surrender in August. And as Sigismund advanced into Gotland, Gotland nobles and officers joined him, Uppland cavalry arrived, and reinforcements also arrived from Finland and Estonia.

Although Sigismund succeeded in capturing the capital, Stockholm, the Polish fleet suffered the misfortune of encountering a storm and was destroyed. Now Sigismund found himself under siege within Sweden, and Duke Karl of Södermanland moved to Linköping to block Sigismund's supply route. Negotiations with Sigismund were carried out in parallel, but they were defeated in the Battle of Stejeborg on September 8, 1598. At this time, reinforcements were being called from Poland to support Sigismund, so Karl, Duke of Södermanland, fell into despair and briefly contemplated exile, but gave up due to dissuasion from his associates.

Although the war situation was unfavorable to Duke Karl of Södermanland in many ways, he still had the advantage of having a strong navy. In the end, the Swedish navy led by Joachim Schell succeeded in blocking the Polish reinforcements that were trying to join Sigismund and instead providing reinforcements to Karl, Duke of Södermanland. Now, Sigismund, feeling a sense of crisis, retreated to Linköping, and Karl, Duke of Södermanland, pursued him and won a decisive victory at the Battle of Stojjebro on September 25, 1598 AD. And Karl, Duke of Södermanland, with complete upper hand, signed an armistice with Sigismund at Linköping .

Afterwards, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, sent the Polish army back to Sigismund and ordered Sigismund to remain in Sweden until the convening of the Diet. And although Sigismund was still treated as the king of Sweden, everyone, including the nobles who sided with him, was arrested, and there were no more people left who supported him, so he felt threatened for his life and had to flee to Poland at the end of 1598 AD. In this way, the Swedish throne became vacant, and Karl, Duke of Södermanland, became the de facto ruler of Sweden.

The following year, in 1599 AD, Karl began a full-scale suppression of the opposition. First, Jacob Nev, who supported Sigismund when the Treaty of Linköping was signed, revolted again in Dalarna, but was immediately suppressed. A rebellion also broke out in Västergötland, but was suppressed by Karl Karlsson Jelenhielm, the illegitimate son of Karl, Duke of Södermanland. He also imprisoned Archbishop Abraham Angermanus of Uppsala, who supported Sigismund, and attacked Kalmar, which still supported Sigismund, and surrendered in May after several months of siege. And in July of that year, the Swedish parliament declared Sigismund's official abdication and sent an ultimatum to his eldest son, Prince Władysław , to recognize the right to succeed to the throne only on the condition that he grow up receiving a Lutheran education in Sweden.

Separately, Karl, Duke of Södermanland, attacked the remaining Finnish fortresses on Sigismund's side and subdued them all in August 1599. And in November, the 'Åbo Bloodbath' occurred, in which all Finnish supporters of Sigismund who had been captured were executed. And in February 1600, when the Swedish parliament received no response until the deadline for the ultimatum sent to Sigismund expired, it recognized Karl, Duke of Södermanland, as the new King of Sweden, Karl IX . Afterwards, in March, Karl IX once again strengthened his royal power by carrying out the 'Linköping Bloodbath', in which five Swedish nobles who supported Sigismund were executed. Now, since Swedish Estonia was the only country that supported Sigismund, they had to fight with Sigismund again over this issue.

Returning to Poland-Lithuania, Sigismund III wanted to reclaim the Swedish throne, but when it was difficult to get support from the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he changed his plan to attack Swedish Estonia, which still supported him as king. And in AD 1600, the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Krzysztof Mykowai Radivu, dispatched them and won several local battles, but was unable to achieve a decisive victory due to lack of finances. On the other hand, despite consecutive defeats in local wars, Sweden was able to recruit a large number of troops in a short period of time through the conscription system, and was able to go beyond Estonia and now reach Livonia , a territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Accordingly, Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth decided to increase its troops, and in AD 1601, Lithuanian field hetman Jan Karol Kodkiewicz, who was waging war in the Ottoman Empire and the Principality of Moldavia, arrived in Livonia and joined Krzysztof Mykołaj Wiław. Although the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army numbered only 3,000 men and the Swedish army numbered 5,000 men, including 4,000 cavalry, in the Battle of Cockenhausen on June 23, 1601, the Swedish army was defeated by 1,000 Polish-Lithuanian cavalry forces centered on Husaria , with 2,000 casualties.

After the Battle of Cockenhausen , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's army grew in size with the joining of the Grand Hetman of Poland, Jan Zamoiski . Accordingly, in AD 1602, Sweden gave up most of the Livonian territory it had occupied and could barely maintain Reval, Pernau, Hafsal, and Dorpat. Although Jan Zamoiski, who was 60 years old, returned to Poland, Jan Karol Kodkiewicz succeeded in defeating Arvid Eriksson Stolarm's Swedish army and capturing Dorpat in 1603 AD. And Karl IX personally arrived in Riga with reinforcements, but as Jan Karol Kodkiewicz was victorious once again, Sweden's Baltic territory was further reduced. However, although Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth refused additional financial support, the Swedish parliament resolved to increase troops in 1605 AD.

Accordingly, Karl IX led over 10,000 troops into battle with Jan Carol Kodkiewicz in Kirsholm in September 1605 . And even though Jan Karol Kodkiewicz had only 3,600 troops, he carried out an extreme defensive strategy of forming a grid formation of 7 to 8 rows due to his experience of struggling against Winged Hussar. However, when Jan Karol Kodkiewicz lured him into a false retreat for four hours, the cautious Karl IX also began pursuing him, but when the battle actually began, in just 30 minutes, the Swedish cavalry was completely defeated by the cavalry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including the Winged Hussars. In the Battle of Kirholm, the Swedish army suffered a crushing defeat, with 8,000 people killed or taken prisoner, and even Charles IX fled in a panic, barely saving his life.

Afterwards, a despondent Charles IX returned to Sweden, giving up on recapturing Riga, but Jan Karol Kodkiewicz, despite his admirable victory in the Battle of Kirsholm, only maintained a defensive posture in the Latgale (currently eastern part of Latvia) due to lack of finances. Moreover, in 1606 AD, an uprising by Mikołłzłzdowski occurred in Poland against the excessive strengthening of royal authority by Sigismund III, and Jan Karol Kodkiewicz had to return to Poland to suppress it. Accordingly, in 1608 AD, Joachim Frederick von Mansfeld led a new Swedish army and invaded Livonia again, but Jan Karol Kodkiewicz returned and was defeated once again at the Battle of the Gauja River in October. Afterwards, the war continued, but it was only a local war, and an official truce was established with the death of Charles IX in AD 1611.

In Russia's Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Rurik dynasty came to an end when Emperor Ivan IV died in AD 1584 and his son Fyodor I died without an heir in AD 1598. Afterwards, Boris Godunov , Peter I's brother-in-law and the de facto ruler, ascended the throne as Tsar, but the first False Dmitry Rebellion broke out in 1601 AD based on rumors that Ivan IV's youngest son, Dmitry, was still alive somewhere . Although they were initially just a ragtag group, when Boris Godunov died in AD 1605, Russian nobles who were dissatisfied with his rule joined the False Dmitry rebels, murdered Boris Godunov's son, Fyodor II, and installed False Dmitry as tsar. And the following year, False Dmitry was murdered, and Vasily Shuisky , an influential nobleman, became the new tsar.

Vasily IV Shuisky now sought to sort out the chaos, but in 1607 AD a second Pseudo-Dmitri Rebellion broke out. Although the second False Dmitry failed to capture Moscow, he formed his own government in Tsushino. Additionally, as the power of the Moscow government weakened, northern Russia also began to reject the rule of Vasily IV Shuisky. As a result, Vasily IV Shuisky, who was cornered, requested help from Sweden, and Charles IX also decided to provide military support with the ambition to crown his son Gustav Adolf or Carl Philip as the Russian Tsar . However, this actually stimulated Sigismund III and led to the full-scale military intervention of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the siege of Smolensk, and the defeat of the Rus-Swedish alliance by the Hussarian cavalry led by Stanisław Žukiewski at the Battle of Klushno in June 1610 AD .

Now Vasily IV Shuisky was pushed even further into a corner, and the Duma , the Russian noble council , decided to crown Vasily IV Shuisky and enthrone Władysław, the eldest son of Sigismund III, as tsar. However, Sigismund III rejected Władysław's demands from the Duma to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church , guarantee missionary work for the Russian Orthodox Church, and return the occupied territories, and after entering Moscow, he demanded that Russian nobles pledge loyalty to him as well as to Władysław, causing friction. Afterwards, Sigismund III, feeling threatened for his life, returned to Poland with Władysław, leaving only a small army in Moscow. However, in June 1611 AD, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army succeeded in capturing Smolensk, which had held out for 20 months.

Meanwhile, in response to Sigismund III's seizure of Moscow, King Charles IX also ordered Jacob de la Guardi, who had been dispatched to Russia, to occupy Novgorod, a large city in northwestern Russia. And in Novgorod, he convened the Zemskii Sobor (National Assembly) , a class meeting in which Russian boyars (grand nobles), clergy, merchants, and free people of the city all participated , and attempted to elect one of his sons, Gustav II Adolf or Carl Philip, as the Russian tsar. However, in April 1611 AD, Christian IV of Denmark attacked Kalmar on the border, so he could no longer focus solely on Russia.

Meanwhile, the Russians felt a great sense of crisis when Smolensk was occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Novgorod fell to Sweden, and they formed the 'National Army'. And although the First National Army of 1610 AD failed, the Second National Army succeeded in defeating the Polish army and recapturing Moscow in September 1612 AD. And in February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor was held to elect Mikhail Romanov, a member of the Romanov family, a prestigious Russian family and the parent of Ivan IV's first queen consort , Anastasia Romanovna, as the new Tsar, Mikhail I. Accordingly, the chaos of the ' Era of Confusion ' that lasted for 15 years from AD 1598 finally came to an end, and a new Russian Empire under the rule of the Romanov Dynasty emerged.

Meanwhile, in order to go from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea, Sweden had to pass through Denmark's Øresund Strait, so it was paying a lot of tolls to Denmark. Accordingly, Karl IX sought to pioneer the North Sea route through Lapland, the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula where few people lived, and even declared himself "King of the Lap people of Nordland" in AD 1607. However, it was difficult for King Christian IV of Denmark to ignore Sweden's development of an alternative route, and he had no choice but to rebel even more because he wanted to achieve this through the territory of Norway, where he also held the throne. And when Charles IX of Sweden continued to ignore his protests, he declared war in April 1611 and started the 'Kalmar War'.

Afterwards, King Christian IV personally led 6,000 Danish troops and succeeded in capturing Kalmar , where the name of the war originated, on May 26. Charles IX also launched a counterattack, and his son, Gustav II Adolf, led the cavalry and defeated the Danish cavalry at the Battle of Christianofel, but failed to recapture Kalmar. And in the summer of AD 1611, the Swedish army under Baltsar White succeeded in entering Norway's Ertland and Herriedalen without blood, but was lost again in the fall of AD 1612 due to a counterattack by the Norwegian army. Moreover, as the winter of 1611 AD approached, there was a brief lull in the fighting. On October 20, 1611, Charles IX suddenly died of a stroke, and 17-year-old Gustav II Adolf succeeded to the Swedish throne and took over the Kalmar War.

After ascending the throne, Gustav II Adolf made an offer of peace, but it was rejected by Christian IV of Denmark. Rather, as Christian IV further strengthened his army in the Skåne region of southern Sweden, Gustav II Adolf attacked the border area, but was defeated by the Danish army at the Battle of Vitsche on February 11, 1612 AD. Then, the Danish army resumed its attack on Sweden, captured Elvsborg and Gulberg, and began advancing towards Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. However, Gustav II Adolf protected the capital Stockholm by harassing the Danish army through scorched-earth operations and guerrilla warfare that disrupted supply lines.

Eventually, on January 20, 1613 AD, the Kalmar War came to an end as the Knered Peace Treaty was concluded through the mediation of England and the Netherlands , who had difficulties in Baltic Sea trade in the aftermath of the Kalmar War. Sweden had to pay a large indemnity in exchange for returning all of the Norwegian territories it had occupied and returning Elvsborg and Gulberg. However, since Sweden was guaranteed free trade rights in the Øresund Strait, the intended goal was achieved. Later, when Gustav II Adolf concluded the Kalmar War with Denmark, he began to reorganize domestic affairs and military in earnest.

Gustavus II Adolf also promoted military reform, first reducing the size of tactical units and increasing tactical flexibility by organizing a battalion consisting of several companies and a brigade composed of these battalions as a basic formation. In addition, they manufactured easy-to-operate, lightweight cannons and used them in war to strengthen their firepower. Above all, by improving the linear formation first introduced by Mauritz van Nassau, who commanded the Dutch army during the Dutch War of Independence, the troops were trained to enable organic cooperation among the three forces of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. And after achieving some success, Gustav II Adolf again started a war with Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over Livonia.

First, regarding Russia, when the Romanov dynasty was established by Mikhail I Romanov in AD 1613 , he gave up his position as tsar and went on the offensive, occupying western Kariala and Ingria and only blocking Russia's advance into the Baltic Sea, ending the Ingrian War . Then, in order to completely dominate the eastern Baltic Sea region, he began a war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in June 1617 by attacking Livonia, a territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A brief truce for two years was established in September 1618, but the attack resumed in August 1621 and succeeded in capturing Riga, the capital of Livonia, after a month-long siege. After a brief truce, when the armistice expired in 1625 AD, Gustavus II Adolf resumed a major offensive against Livonia and won a decisive victory at the Battle of Valkhov on January 17, 1626.

In this way, Gustav II Adolf, who had seized Livonia, expanded the battlefield and landed in the Duchy of Prussia in June 1626 AD. His intention was to capture Riga and then to Gdansk (Danzig), thus gaining full control of Baltic trade. Gustav II Adolf used a new three-armed combined strategy of infantry, cavalry, and artillery to win successive victories in the Battle of Gniep, the Battle of Charne, and the Battle of Dirschau against Husaria, which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is proud of, and conquered major cities of Prussia. took control of them However, the Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg As Ferdinand II supported the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was defeated at the Battle of Tsztiana in June 1629 AD. And finally, in October 1629 AD, the 6-year truce of Altmark was signed, ending the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1618 AD, the '30 Years' War ' broke out in the Kingdom of Bohemia when a revolt broke out against the rule of Ferdinand II, the Holy Roman Emperor with extreme Roman Catholic tendencies . And the Palatinate , a representative Protestant prince of Bohemians. elector They established Frederick V as their king in November 1619 , but suffered a decisive defeat by the Catholic allies of Johann Cerclaes von Tilly at the Battle of Villa Hora in November 1620 . Afterwards, Frederick V lost Bohemia and the Electorate of Palatinate, his original territory, in AD 1623 and had to go into exile in the Netherlands .

Then, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, who was also the Duke of Holstein in the Holy Roman Empire, intervened in the Thirty Years' War to support Protestant forces, but was defeated by Albrecht von Wallenstein, a mercenary captain hired by Ferdinand II, at the Battle of Luther in August 1626 AD . To make matters worse, the Jutland Peninsula was occupied by Albrecht von Wallenstein and Count Tilly Johann Cerclaes in AD 1627, and was defeated again in the Battle of Wolgast in AD 1628, causing Christian IV to lose the will to continue the war. In the end, the Treaty of Lübeck was signed in May 1629, and all real money was returned, but he had to promise not to further intervene in the Thirty Years' War.

Gustavus II Adolf, now at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II over the war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, decided to intervene in the Thirty Years' War. And based on the military reform and experience of the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he achieved a great victory over Count Tilly Johann Cerclaes in the Battle of Breitenfeld in September 1631, using the cooperative tactics of infantry, cavalry, and artillery , and succeeded in killing Count Tilly Johann Cherclaes in the Battle of Rhine in April 1632 AD. However, in the Battle of Lützen against Albrecht von Wallenstein in May 1632, the battle itself was won, but Gustav II Adolf was killed. And since Gustav II Adolf had no sons and only a 6-year-old daughter, Christina, Sweden seemed to be facing a major crisis.

When Gustav II Adolf suddenly died, Sweden's foreign minister (Swedish Rikskansler) Axel Oxensjärna hurriedly crowned Gustav II's young only daughter Christina as queen. And a group of five regents, including Axel Oxenscherna, took over the rule by proxy, and signed the 'Heilbronn League' with the Protestant princes in AD 1633. However, on the Roman Catholic side, Albrecht von Wallenstein was assassinated and Spain provided new military support. Bernhard von Saxe-Weimar and Gustav Horn, who took command of the Swedish army in place of Gustav II Adolf, were defeated by Ferdinand II's son, King Ferdinand of Hungary and Bohemia , and King of Spain. Philip IV 's younger brother, Cardinal Prince Ferdinand , suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Nordlingen against the combined Spanish-Imperial army.

As Sweden's power weakened, the representative Protestant princes, the Elector of Saxony and the Elector of Brandenburg , broke the Heilbronn League and signed the Treaty of Prague with the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, putting Sweden in crisis. However, through his diplomatic skills, Axel Oxenscherna succeeded in persuading France, which was a Roman Catholic country but had secretly supported the Protestant camp to keep the Austrian Habsburg family in check, and directly participated in the Thirty Years' War. Afterwards, when Ferdinand II died in AD 1637, Ferdinand III was elected as the new emperor. Bernhard von Saxe-Weimar and Johann Vanner, who had been fighting repeatedly, died one after another in AD 1639 and AD 1640, but the newly appointed Lennard Torstensson reigned at Breitenfeld, where Gustav II Adolf had previously achieved a brilliant victory. In the second battle in October 1642, they again achieved a decisive victory.

Now that the situation of the Thirty Years' War was favorable again, Prime Minister Axel Oxensjärna declared war on Denmark, his long-time enemy, in December 1643, and the 'Torstensson War', named after the commander-in-chief Lennart Torstensson, began. Afterwards, on land, Lennart Torstensson occupied most of the Jutland peninsula in February 1644, and at sea, he blinded King Christian IV of Denmark in one eye at the Battle of Kolbergerheide in July 1644. Carl Gustav Wrangel won the Battle of Fehmarn on October 13 and took control of the Baltic Sea. Success. Although Hannibal Sehested, Christian IV's son-in-law, fought hard in Norway, where Christian IV was also the king, he was unable to reverse Denmark's unfavorable situation.

In the end, when Christian IV, who could no longer hold out, proposed peace negotiations, the Second Treaty of Bronzebro had to be signed in August 1645 AD under favorable conditions. Through this, Sweden was recognized by Denmark as Norway's sovereignty over the Norwegian territories of Joltland , Herjedalen, Idre, Serna, Gotland , and Össel , and also agreed to receive Haaland for 30 years to ensure the certainty of implementation of the Second Bronzebro Treaty. In addition, Sweden was completely exempted from tolls on the Öresund Strait, and took over the sovereignty of the Archbishopric of Bremen and the Bishopric of Perden, where Christian IV's son, Frederick III, was appointed administrator, and reorganized them into the Duchy of Bremen-Perden, a dependent territory. In this way, Sweden expanded its territory in northern Germany, took control of the Baltic Sea from Denmark, and became a powerful country with the Baltic Sea as its inland sea .

While Sweden was victorious over Denmark in the War of Torstensson, the 30 Years' War also became favorable due to the performance of Louis II of Bourbon-Condé, Duke of Anghien, in the French army . Following the decisive victory over the Spanish army at the Battle of Rocroix in May 1643, the French army defeated the Bavarian army supporting the Habsburg family at the Battle of Freiburg in August 1644. Then, Lennart Torstensson, who ended the war with Denmark, destroyed the imperial army in the Battle of Jankau in March 1645 AD, and in August of the same year, Louis II de Bourbon, Duke of Anghien, defeated the Bavarian army again in the Second Battle of Nordlingen. However, both Lennart Thorstensson and Louis II de Bourbon, Duke of Anghien, had to withdraw from field command due to medical reasons.

Afterwards, Ferdinand III miraculously succeeded in gathering his troops again , but was defeated once again by the joint attack of Sweden's Carl Gustav Wrangel and France's Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount Turenne , at the Battle of Zusmarshausen in May 1648 AD . The siege of Prague in Bohemia, Ferdinand III's stronghold, now began, and Charles Gustav, Prince of Palatinate-weibrücken (later Karl X Gustav), was appointed commander-in-chief of the new Swedish army. Carl Gustav was born to Johann Casimir, a member of the Palatinate-by-Rückenkleburg court, and Catherine, the daughter of Charles IX, making him a cousin to Queen Christina.

In the meantime, truce negotiations continued, and as the siege lasted for three months and even Prague was in danger of being captured , the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in October 1648 AD. Through this, each territorial state of the Holy Roman Empire gained independent sovereignty and diplomatic rights, and the Calvinist Church as well as the Lutheran Church gained freedom of religion. In this way, the Holy Roman Empire remained only in appearance, but virtually collapsed. In addition, Sweden also owned the Vorpommern region and the port of Wismar , and the ownership of the Duchy of Bremen-Ferden, which had been handed over from Denmark, was also recognized. In addition, France, another victorious country, also gained territorial gains, and the Electorate of the Palatinate, which triggered the war, was returned to Charles I Ludwig, the son of Frederick V , and the independence of the Dutch Republic and the Swiss Confederation, which were territories of the Habsburg family but were virtually independent, became independent. internationally recognized.

Now, despite the bad news of Gustav II Adolf's sudden warrior, Sweden gained the status of a victor in the Thirty Years' War and stood tall as a northern European power with the Baltic Sea as its inland sea. In the meantime, Queen Christina , who reached the age of majority in AD 1644, was freed from her regency and ruled directly. However, there were various conflicts with Axel Oxenscherna, who had been in control of Sweden. The appointment of King Gojong's cousin Carl Gustav as commander-in-chief of the Swedish army at the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Treaty of Westphalia ending the war in 1648 AD The signing of the agreement was also enforced by Queen Christina despite the opposition of Axel Oxenscherna.

Queen Christina had René Descartes as her tutor from a young age and was highly educated and educated. However, she felt burdened by the position of monarch of Sweden and wanted to distance herself from her politics. It was because I wanted to establish a major. She was wooed by many European royal families and Swedish aristocrats, but she refused them all and declared herself celibate. In 1649 AD she named Carl Gustav as her successor, despite opposition from the Senate and Axel Oxen Sherna.

Queen Christina was immersed in Roman Catholicism, which was unusual for a Lutheran country, Sweden. Accordingly, Queen Christina began to dream of going to Rome , Italy, where she was the home of the Roman Catholic Church and where the Renaissance movement in culture and art was actively developing . On June 6, 1654 AD, she abruptly announced her abdication, and she took off her crown herself at Uppsala Castle, handing over her throne to Carl Gustav. Accordingly, when Carl Gustav ascended the throne as the new King of Sweden, he was named Carl X Gustav, and the new Zweibruecken Kleburg dynasty following the Vassar dynasty began. And Christina left Sweden in the summer of AD 1654, and she died on August 28, AD 1654. Even Axel Oxenscherna died, Sweden welcomed a new era by Carl X Gustav.

Meanwhile, Christina, who had abdicated, was crowned Pope in December 1654 AD. After receiving a warm welcome from Alexander VII , he converted to Roman Catholicism. Afterwards she lived the rest of her life prosperous thanks to Swedish financial support and was treated as her queen in European society and lived her luxurious life. She was also influential in the Roman Catholic Church and patronized several artists. At one point she even sought the throne of Naples or the position of monarch of the Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth, but this did not materialize and she died in AD 1689, where she was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In Sweden, the 'Vasa Dynasty' was cut off when Queen Christina suddenly abdicated in June 1654 AD, and her cousin Carl Gustav inherited the Swedish throne as Carl Karl​ ​From an early age, Karl

After coming of age, Karl Since Queen Christina adhered to celibacy and considered abdication, she considered Charles However, Charles X Gustav was later able to gain diplomatic experience when he was appointed plenipotentiary.

Afterwards, Karl And immediately after his accession to the throne, in October 1654 AD, he married Hetwig Eleonora, the daughter of Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in preparation for a future war with Denmark, his long-time enemy. In addition , Karl

Now, Karl Originally, the Duchy of Prussia was a ' German Knights ' state, but it was divided into East and West by the 'Second Treaty of Torun' in AD 1466, and Poland took West Prussia under the name of 'Royal Polish Prussia' , and the territory owned by the Teutonic Knights was reduced to the remaining East Prussia . And in AD 1525, when Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach , the last leader of the Teutonic Knights , converted to Lutheranism and disbanded the Teutonic Knights, the Teutonic Knights were reorganized into the ' Principal of Prussia ' and placed under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Poland .

Later, when Albrecht Friedrich , son of Albrecht, died without a son in AD 1618, his son-in-law, Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg, inherited the Duchy of Prussia . This continued even during the days of Friedrich Wilhelm , grandson of Johann Sigismund, and as the elector of Brandenburg, he was a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, but as a Duke of Prussia, he was in the dual position of being a vassal of the King of Poland. In response , Charles X Gustav's offer of an alliance made the Prussian duchy independent of Poland, and it became a good opportunity to unite his two territories in the future . only did

Following the approval of the Swedish Parliament and the acquiescence of Frederick William of Brandenburg -Prussia, Charles At the time, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was in turmoil as an uprising began in AD 1648 under the leadership of Zaporozhye Cossack i Bohdan Khmelnytskyi of Ruthenia following the accession of Ján II Kazimierz Vasa . To make matters worse, in October 1653 AD, the Russian Tsardom, allied with the Zaporozhye Cossacks, recaptured Smolensk and invaded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, losing much of its eastern territory. In addition, Sweden had already started a war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on July 1, 1655, when 7,200 Swedish troops led by Magnus de la Guardi attacked Dunaburg (now Daugavpils ) in Livonia, part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and succeeded in capturing it on July 12.

The Second Northern War began in earnest on July 21, 1655, when Arvid Wittenberg of Pomeran , a Swedish territory in North Germany, invaded Poland. Arvid Wittenberg's Swedish army consisted of 13,650 men and 72 cannons. To deal with it, 13,000 pospolite ruszenie and 1,400 standing infantrymen from the province of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska in Polish) came out from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, Bogusław Leszczynski, who was supposed to command the Polish army, was ill and left for Breslau, so Poznan Governor Krzysztof Opalinski and Kalish Governor Andrzej Karol Gruzinski took command of the Polish army.

The Poles set out to prevent the Swedish army from crossing the Notch River. However, at this time, the Swedish army was boasting the strongest during the Thirty Years' War, so it won the 'Battle of Ujscie' on July 24, 1655 AD, and rather surrounded the Polish army. Originally, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth elected their monarch through free elections by nobles called Szlachta, so loyalty to John II Kazimierz Vasa, then monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was weak and even the ' golden There were many people who did not care who became the monarch as long as their privilege, which was so powerful that it was called 'the freedom of the king', was guaranteed. Due to this, a number of Polish nobles in Greater Poland, including Poznan Governor Krzysztof Opalinski and Kalish Governor Andrzej Karol Gruzinski, who were keenly aware of the superiority of the Swedish army at the Battle of Ujscie, surrendered and received swords 10 He chose the path of becoming a vassal of the three Gustaves.

Although Arwid Wittenberg succeeded in easily occupying Greater Poland in a single battle and opening the way to Warsaw , the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , he only occupied the major cities of Greater Poland, including Poznań and Kalisz, and then strengthened his defensive posture and waited for Karl X Gustav to arrive with reinforcements. And only after the arrival of Charles X Gustav on August 20, 1655 AD, did they march together to Warsaw. The Swedish army's advance continued at a snail's pace, defeating the Polish army in the 'Battle of Sobota' on September 2, occupying Wowicz on September 4, and capturing Warsaw on September 8.

Afterwards, Karl Surprised by this, Jan II Kazimierz fled from the Polish border to Silesia , but on October 13, even Kraków, the former capital of the Kingdom of Poland, located in the Lesser Poland (Polish Małopolska) region, fell. With Poland's defenses now completely collapsed, Alexander Koniecpolski surrendered near Krakow on October 26, and on October 28 the two top commanders of the Polish army, Field Hetman Stanisław Landskoronski of Poland and Grand Hetman Stanisław Levera Potocki of Poland, surrendered. And on October 31, with the defeat of Jan Kazimierz Krasinski , the Płodk governor of Mazowsze (Polish Mazowsze) region, all of Poland's major regions - Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, and Mazowsze - were now under Swedish control.

Meanwhile, Lithuania, which had been in union with Poland since the Treaty of Lublin in 1569 AD , had already lost a significant amount of territory due to the Russian invasion. To make matters worse, when John II Kazimierz marched into Silesia , the Lithuanian nobility began to agitate. And as Magnus Gabriel de la Guardi of Swedish Livonia continued his offensive, Janusz Radzyu, a Lithuanian nobleman and Grand Hetman of Lithuania, pursued negotiations with Karl Accordingly, Lithuania dissolved its union with Poland and formed an eastern alliance with Sweden, and instead agreed to continue to guarantee the existing privileges and freedoms that Lithuanian nobles enjoyed and to receive Swedish protection from Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, Karl Accordingly, in order to protect themselves from attacks by Sweden, the nobles of Prussia, the Polish crown, signed the Treaty of Linsk with Frederick Wilhelm, Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg of Germany, on November 2, 1655, and entrusted them with defense. But here in Danzig and Elving[2] , Torn was excluded. Nevertheless, Gustav Otto Stenborg's Swedish army captured Gdańsk and Puchig in November and December 1655 AD.[3] , occupied the entire Polish Crown of Prussia except Marienburg .

Now that Carl X Gustav's Swedish army had pursued the retreating Prussian army as far as Königsberg, the capital of the Duchy of Prussia , Friedrich Wilhelm hurriedly began peace negotiations with Carl X Gustav. And on January 17, 1656 AD, the Treaty of Königsberg was signed and the Polish kingdom withdrew from Prussia, as well as recognized the suzerainty of Charles X Gustav over the Prussian duchy. In March 1656 AD, even Malbork surrendered, leaving Gdańsk the only Polish Prussian region not occupied by Sweden.

Meanwhile, Charles X Gustav deployed troops to the Silesian border to prevent John II Kazimierz from returning to Poland. And on November 18, 1655 AD, the Swedish army began attacking the Jasna Góra monastery in Lesser Poland. However, since Sweden was a Protestant Lutheran country and Poland was a Roman Catholic country, Sweden's occupation of Poland was seen as a loss of religious freedom. In fact, the Swedish army plundered Roman Catholic churches and monasteries, which aroused the indignation of many Poles .

Because of this, many Poles formed their own volunteer army and came to the rescue of the Jasna Gora Monastery in order to save their country from the crisis of the Second World War and protect their religious freedom. On December 7, 1655, Gabriel Wojniłowicz defeated the Swedish army and renegade Polish forces at Krosno, and then recaptured Nowy Sacks, Biawa, Dukla, Wiec, Wieliczka, and Oswiecim . And Jasna Gora Monastery also succeeded in withstanding the onslaught of the Swedish army to the end under the leadership of abbot Augustin Kordecki.

Resurrected by the news of the victory at the Battle of Jasna Gura Monastery, John II Casimir returned to Poland on December 27, 1655 AD. And two days later, the Polish grand hetman Stanisław Levera Pototsky and the Polish field hetman Stanisław Lanzkoronski, who surrendered to Sweden two days later, supported John II Casimir in the 'Tishovce Confederation (Konfederacja tyszowiecka)'. formed Then, many of the Polish armies that had surrendered to Sweden returned to the Tišovce Confederation one after another, and on December 31, at Krozno, John II Kazimierz, Stanisław Lebera Potocki, Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Stanisław Landskoronski, and Stefan Meeting with important Polish commanders such as Tzarniecki gave him a chance to revive his knighthood. In addition, on December 31, 1655 AD, Janusz Rajbiu, who led the coalition of Lithuania and Sweden, died suddenly, so Pawel Jan Sapieha, who supported John II Casimir, became the new Grand Hetman of Lithuania. After that, he began to resist Sweden, virtually breaking the Kedainei Agreement.

Meanwhile, Karl And in mid-February 1656, they formed a camp near Gowamp, where the Vistula and Wievz rivers meet in the Lesser Poland region, and waited for Stefan Czarniecki's Polish army. When the Polish army appeared, they formed a camp in February. On the 18th, they crossed the Vistula River and made a surprise attack on the Polish army, resulting in a great victory. They then marched towards Lwów, where John II Kazimierz was staying, but gave up the attack after realizing that the Zamosic fortress located along the way could not be taken without siege cannons. Accordingly, they turned to Beuzec, but suffered from constant guerrilla warfare from the Polish army, and eventually on March 3, Charles X Gustav had no choice but to decide to withdraw his troops.

In the meantime, Polish forces were engaged in guerrilla warfare in Masovše and Greater Poland.[4] ' was attacking. On March 11, the Swedish army arrived at Jarosław and defeated Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, who was blocking the river San, but was pursued by the Polish army of Stefan Tzarniecki, who had been defeated at the Battle of Gowump. And as Stefan Charniecki continued to engage in guerrilla warfare, the Swedish army struggled. Charles X Gustav, who could not stand this, decided to retreat north at the end of March, and then the Polish army, which had surrendered to the Swedish army, began to return to John II Casimir. And 5,000 Swedish troops, hungry and exhausted, headed for Sandomierz, but were besieged by the Poles because the place was already in Polish hands.

When Frederick VI, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, who was staying in Warsaw, heard that Carl X Gustav was isolated, he led 2,500 Swedish troops to rescue him. Accordingly, part of the Polish army besieging Carl X Gustav broke away to deal with Frederick VI, so Carl X Gustav began to break through the siege on his own and ordered Frederick VI to return to Warsaw. Although Frederick VI was pursued by Stefan Tzarnietsky and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirsky and defeated at the 'Battle of Barka' on April 7, Carl X Gustav safely broke through the siege while he bought time, and on April 13 I was able to return to Warsaw.

However, John II Casimir, who regained his confidence, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Poland through the 'Luby lwowskie' on April 1, 1656 AD, and united the Poles religiously. And since Stefan Tzarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski set out to recapture Greater Poland, in order to prevent this, when Carl X Gustav left Warsaw, Pawel Jan Sapie succeeded in recapturing Lublin on April 21st. The Lithuanian army under Lithuania reached Praga, near Warsaw, on 23 April and began attacking Warsaw. Stefan Tzarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski were also defeated at the 'Battle of Kwecko' on May 7, but after reorganizing their forces at Gniezno, they joined the Lithuanian army led by Pawel Jan Sapieha in the siege of Warsaw at the end of May. did. As a result, Arvid Wittenberg, who was in charge of Warsaw's defense, could not hold out any longer and gave up Warsaw on June 1st and escaped.

Meanwhile, the Rus Tsardom, which thought that the complete collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would cause the balance to collapse, concluded a truce with Poland, and the Rus Tsardom also declared war on Sweden in May 1656 AD and attacked Swedish Ingria in July 1656 AD , seizing the two major Baltic fortresses of Nöteborg and Nyen.[5] and another separate unit captured Dorpat . And the main force commanded by Tsar Alexei of Russia began to advance toward Riga along the Western Dvina River, capturing Daugaupils (July 31) and Kokneze (August 14), respectively, on the way, and then began the siege of Riga from the end of August .

However, the siege of Riga, which had a strong defensive posture, was prolonged, and Russia, which lacked naval power, was unable to block the Swedish army's food supply and troop reinforcements through the sea. Because of this, on October 5, 1656 AD, the Russian army had to give up the siege of Riga and withdraw. Now the Swedish army counterattacked and recaptured most of Ingria, and achieved a decisive victory over Matvey Sheremetev's Russian army at the Battle of Balk on July 8, 1657 AD, but the war became entrenched when Ivan Khovansky succeeded in a counterattack at the Battle of Gdov on September 16 of that year.

Now, Charles X Gustav, who was rather in danger, ceded the province of Greater Poland, which was practically difficult to protect, to Frederick Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, on June 29, 1656 AD, and decided not to exercise the suzerainty over the Greater Poland province. The Treaty of Marienburg was signed. Later, as the garrison in Greater Poland was replaced by the Brandenburg Army, Charles X Gustav had time to use his troops. Warsaw was recaptured. However, the Polish army reorganized its forces and aimed to recapture Warsaw, and in the meantime Warsaw was destroyed and was not suitable for defense, so it abandoned Warsaw and withdrew to Prussia.

Lithuanian field hetman Vincenti Corvin Gosiewski, with the support of the Tatars, advanced into the Prussian Duchy and won a victory over the Brandenburg-Swedish allied forces at the 'Battle of Prostki' on October 8, 1656 AD. Captured Bogusław Rajbiu, who had helped cede Lithuania to Sweden through the Ney Agreement. However, after the Crimean Tatars withdrew, they were defeated in the 'Battle of Filippub' on October 22 and withdrew to Lithuania, and Bogusław Rajbiu was released again. In the meantime, the Polish army, which had been recovering Greater Poland, now began to attack the Prussian Duchy, so all the Brandenburg troops defending Greater Poland withdrew to the Duchy of Prussia. Moreover, the long-lasting siege of Danzig by the Swedish army ultimately ended in failure.

The only areas of Polish occupation now held by Karl Accordingly, Karl Through this, it was decided to completely give up suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia and also hand over ownership of Ermland, which was sandwiched between the Prussian Duchy of the Polish Crown of Prussia.

Charles X Gustav was born Duke of Erdei on December 6, 1656 AD. Rakóc György II and Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the Zaporozhye Cossacks were also brought in, and together with Frederick Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg and Lithuanian nobleman Bogusław Radzywław, they signed the 'Treaty of Radnot' and agreed to partition and occupy the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Accordingly, it was decided that Karl In addition, Bohdan Khmelnitsky of the Zaporozhye Cossacks decided to occupy southeastern Poland, and Rakoc György II of the Duchy of Erdei decided to occupy the Lesser Poland region.

Now, starting in January 1657, Rakoc György II began his advance into southern Poland with 25,000 troops mobilized from the Principality of Erdei , the Principality of Wallachia , and the Principality of Moldavia , along with 10,000 Zaporozhye Cossacks for support. And on March 28, 1657 AD, it arrived in Krakow, the central city of Lesser Poland, and took over ownership from the Swedish army. Although Rakóc György II had incurred the indignation of the Polish people by looting and arson and massacring thousands of people during his advance , Rakoc György II ignored this and advanced north, leaving only some defensive troops in Krakow, and joined the Swedish army of Karl

Against this, Stanisław Lebera Potocki's Polish army and Pawel Jan Sapieha's Lithuanian army joined, and in early May, Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski led a detached force and marched into Erdei for revenge. On May 13, Swedish-Erdei forces captured the Brest Fortress and succeeded in recapturing Warsaw on May 17 after a three-day siege. However, in June, Denmark's alliance with John II Casimir and Denmark's sudden declaration of war forced Charles X Gustav to leave Warsaw with most of his troops.

John II Casimir, who fled, actively promoted an alliance with the Habsburg Empire . Imi Jan II Casimir, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the House of Habsburg on December 1, 1656 AD He signed the 'Treaty of Vienna' with Ferdinand III , but was dissatisfied with only 4,000 troops, and even that was canceled when Ferdinand III died in April 1657 AD. Afterwards, John II Casimir negotiated again with Leopold I, who was elected as the new Holy Roman Emperor as the son of Ferdinand III. Instead of increasing the number of people, maintenance costs were to be borne by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Accordingly, in June 1657 AD, the Austrian army under Raimondo Montecuccoli entered the borders of Poland.

On June 20 , 1657 , Charles Rakoc György II, who became desperate, also tried to return to the Principality of Erdei in a hurry, but suffered a defeat at the Battle of Magierub near Lwów on July 11 and a decisive defeat at the Battle of Tsarni Ostruv in Podolia on July 20, and signed a peace treaty three days later. Through this, Rakóc György II was able to return to the Duchy of Erdei only after breaking the alliance with Sweden, returning Krakow and Brest-Litovsk, which he had occupied so far, and promising to pay a huge war indemnity.

However, on July 26, 1657 AD, the remaining troops of the Principality of Erdei were besieged in Skawat by the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate, so they fled alone. As a result, 25,000 troops of the Principality of Erdei were killed or taken prisoner by the Tatars, resulting in complete destruction. However, the hardships of Rakóc György II were not over. The Padishah of the Ottoman Empire, who wanted to restore suzerainty over the Duchy of Erdei, Mehmed IV attacked the Duchy of Erdei using Rakoc György II's arbitrary attack on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as an excuse, and Rakoc György II was deposed. Afterwards, Larakocci György II was repeatedly reinstated and dethroned with the support of the Habsburg Empire, but finally died in May 1660.

Meanwhile, Denmark participated in the 30 Years' War during the reign of Christian IV (reigned from AD 1588 to AD 1648) against the Austrian Habsburg family, but suffered a major defeat in AD 1625 and withdrew after signing the Treaty of Lübeck in AD 1629. And when Sweden participated in the Thirty Years' War in AD 1630, it sided with the Austrian Habsburg dynasty in AD 1634, but was attacked by Sweden. In August 1645, the Second Treaty of Bronzebro was signed, ceding sovereignty over Norway's Holland , Herjädalen, Idre, Serna, Gotland , and Össel to Sweden , and also kept Haaland for 30 years. I suffered a humiliation that had to be endured. In addition, Denmark had to completely exempt Sweden from tolls on the Øresund Strait and even hand over to Sweden the sovereignty over the Bishopric of Ferden and the Archdiocese of Bremen, which were under Danish influence.

Denmark, which had to suffer huge territorial losses from Sweden in the Thirty Years' War, began to struggle desperately. And Frederick III, the second son of Christian IV, who succeeded to the throne in AD 1648, looked for an opportunity and King Carl X Gustav of Sweden bravely invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but despite the initial great achievements, he gradually suffered a hardship. Seeing that he could not be avoided, he concluded an alliance with John II Casimir of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and declared war on Sweden. However, as Carl X Gustav did not return to Sweden as expected and attacked Denmark directly, Denmark was in danger.

Karl Although the Swedish army was small, it was a well-armed and well-trained elite force, so it advanced through the Danish defense line. For this reason, the Danish army avoided engaging in turns with the Swedish army on flat ground. On August 25, 1657 AD, Swedish troops arrived at the fortress of Fredericia on the eastern coast of Denmark. This was a recently built fortress with 8,000 defenders stationed there, but after a two-month siege, Carl Gustav Wrangel succeeded in capturing it through a night attack on October 24 and captured 6,000 Danish soldiers. As a result, the Swedish army took control of the supply route for the entire Danish army in Jutland.

After taking control of Denmark's inland territories of Schleswig-Holstein and the Jutland peninsula, Charles And in mid-December, when a record-breaking cold wave hit and even the sea froze, Charles And when it was reported that movement seemed possible, on January 30, 1658, the following year, he boldly attempted an ice crossing on foot across the ice of the Lesser Belt Strait (Danish Lillebælt) with 9,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry, and safely arrived at Fün Island . At this time, the ice sank and the soldiers were submerged in water up to their knees, but it is said that they were all able to cross safely. There were also 3,000 Danish garrisons on the coastal area of ​​the island of Fyn, but they were easily suppressed by the Swedish army.
Now , Karl Instead of crossing the Great Belt Strait directly, he proposed a detour to Langelan Island and Rolan Island. Charles​ ​Denmark was in great confusion because they thought the Swedish army would not attack until spring. Eventually, Frederick III of Denmark gave up resistance and negotiated peace, signing the Treaty of Roskilde on February 26 under very unfavorable terms.
Through the Treaty of Roskilde , Karl In addition, Denmark was ordered to break all anti-Swedish alliances, not to allow ships from countries hostile to Sweden to enter the Øresund Strait in the future, and to officially give up its suzerainty over the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, the wife of Karl X Gustav, which was already semi-independent. Lastly, it was agreed that the stationing of Swedish troops in Denmark would not only be permitted, but that maintenance costs would also be paid, and troops would also be provided when Sweden waged a war near the Danish border in the future.

Having brought the Habsburg Empire and Denmark into an alliance, and the Principality of Erdei out of its alliance with Sweden, John II Casimir now began negotiations to restore Brandenburg-Prussia as well. And on September 19, 1657 AD, representatives of each country signed the Treaty of Belau, which instead of abolishing Poland's suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia, instead of the right to the Duchy of Prussia if the male lineage of the House of Brandenburg Hohenzollern was cut off . agreed to return to the Polish Crown. However, although Friedrich Wilhelm had been ceded from Sweden, the Roman Catholic region of Ermland, which had rejected his rule as a Protestant, was returned to Poland. The Treaty of Belau was formally signed as the Treaty of Bromberg by the monarchs of both sides on November 6, 1657 AD, and according to this, Brandenburg-Prussia broke the alliance with Sweden and rather sided with John II Casimir.

Then, Karl However, because the diplomatic situation was unfavorable for Sweden, with the ambition to prevent Denmark from re-entering the war and monopolize the Baltic Sea, they suddenly unilaterally canceled the Treaty of Roskilde in June 1658 and invaded Denmark again. On August 6, 1568, Karl At this time, Denmark was caught off guard, and the Swedish army was still stationed on the Jutland peninsula and the island of Fyn, so they were able to easily occupy the remaining areas except Copenhagen. Gustav Otto Stenborg also reinforced Skåne's forces in southern Sweden.

On August 11, 1658, now Charles X Gustav marched on what is now Frederiksborg, near Copenhagen. Surprised by this, Frederick III of Denmark took the citizens outside the walls of Copenhagen into the castle, burned all the surroundings, and closed the gates. This gate did not open for another 22 months. However, as the Swedish navy blocked the port, Copenhagen had to suffer from food shortages as supplies were cut off not only by land but also by sea. Nevertheless, the citizens of Copenhagen did not break their will to fight, continuing to repair the walls that were collapsing due to the Swedish army's massive artillery bombardment from land and sea. Then, fearing that Sweden would seize the Øresund Strait and threaten its Baltic Sea trade, the Netherlands sent a fleet to support it and arrived northwest of Helsingør on October 22 , waited until the wind was favorable, and launched an attack on October 29. While doing so, the Battle of Oresun took place.

The Dutch fleet consisted of a total of 43 ships, of which a total of 30 combat ships were divided into three squadrons. When the battle began, Vice-Admiral Witte de Witt led nine ships, followed by Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam's 11 ships, and the last 10 ships commanded by another Vice-Admiral, Pieter Florissohn. did The Swedish fleet against this had 33 battle lines out of a total of 45 ships. The Battle of Oresund was intense, with casualties of more than 2,000 on both sides, and two vice admirals were killed in the Dutch fleet, but in the end the Dutch fleet succeeded in joining the Danish fleet. As the Swedish fleet withdrew to Landskrona, the naval blockade of Copenhagen was broken, and Copenhagen, which received food and new troops, was encouraged to continue the siege.

Although the siege of Copenhagen turned out to be unfavorable, Charles X Gustav continued the fighting and ordered a general attack in February 1659, but the offensive on February 9 ended in failure. Furthermore, while leaving the pontoon bridge that the Swedish army had installed to cross the moat, he found out that the length of the pontoon bridge for the Swedish army in Denmark was 36 feet. In response, on 10 February, the Danes, with the help of the Dutch, broke the ice in the moat and increased the length of the river to 44 feet. Unaware of this, the Swedish army launched an all-out offensive at midnight on February 11, and it was only after they crossed the moat despite Copenhagen's fire that they realized that the length of the pontoon bridge was insufficient. Although the Swedish army continued the battle by bringing a longer pontoon bridge, heavy casualties piled up and at 6:00 am on February 12, King Carl X Gustav could not continue the battle any longer and ordered a withdrawal.

In the spring of 1658 AD, the Polish army led by Krzysztof Grosicki, who had successfully defended Lwów along with Paweu Jan Sapieha and Stefan Czarniecki, along with the Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecucoli, launched an offensive against the Polish Crown of Prussia, which was still occupied by Sweden. Here, the Brandenburg army, which had joined as a new ally, was led by Bogusław Radzywiu, who was staying in the Duchy of Prussia, and came to provide support. By the end of 1658 AD, Torun was captured by the combined forces of Poland, Austria and Brandenburg, leaving only Malbork , Grudgeonz (German name Graudents), Elblonk and Brodnica (German name Strasbourg) in Swedish occupation . However, the offensive continued and occupied Georgia in August 1659, and then Brodnica, exhausted from hunger, surrendered. In addition, while continuing the siege of Malbork, the siege of Elblonk began in December.

Meanwhile, on September 14, 1658, 14,500 men of Frederick Wilhelm's Brandenburg army, 10,600 Austrians of Raimondo Montecuccoli, and 4,500 Polish troops of Stefan Czarniecki crossed the Oder River and began advancing toward the Baltic coastal region of continental Europe occupied by Sweden, attacking Stettin and then heading to the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. Although there was conflict between these anti-Swedish allies, they nevertheless conquered the Jutland peninsula and continued to force the Swedish army into retreat. In addition, because the Danes rose uprisings in various places, on May 19, 1659, the Swedish army even lost the fortress of Fredericia, the last stronghold on the Jutland peninsula, and was forced to retreat to the island of Fyn.

Afterwards, the Swedish army on the island of Fune repulsed two attacks on May 31 and June 26, AD 1659, and won the Battle of Ebeltoft against the Danish fleet on July 23, securing the island of Fune. Because of this, the Brandenburg-Austrian allied forces had to give up any further capture of Fun Island and change their target to Pomeranian territory, Sweden. The Brandenburg-Austrian army then entered Pomerania, burned Greifenhagen, and occupied the island of Volyn and Dombie. However, after failing to capture Stettin and Greifswald and being counterattacked and the supply route cut off, the Brandenburg army retreated as it was. Also in Polish Crown Prussia, Torun had already fallen at the end of AD 1658, but Elblanc and Marienberger (Kvizin in Polish) held out.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, uprisings from various places fought against the Swedish army, and in particular, the uprisings called 'Snapphane' in Skåne, Blekinge, and Haaland were outstanding. And at the end of 1658 AD, Norway recaptured the Troenedallag region, and Bornholm Island also had an uprising and was freed from Swedish control. Additionally, in the Battle of Nyborg, which took place on the eastern side of the island of Fün on November 14, 1659, Sweden suffered a decisive defeat due to a pincer attack by the combined Dutch-Danish fleet commanded by Michiel de Reuter of the Netherlands and the Polish-Brandenburg army led by Stefan Czarniecki, and Sweden was forced to give up the islands of Fün and Langelland.

Now Charles X Gustav crossed the Baltic Sea in December 1659 AD and moved to Gothenburg , Sweden, where he convened a parliament and assembled an army to attack Norway. could not be put into practice. And since Carl XI, the son of Carl X Gustav, who inherited the Swedish throne, was only 5 years old, the regency entrusted with the Swedish rule had to give up further war and negotiate peace in a hurry. In fact, Sweden had already been negotiating peace behind the scenes with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth since the loss of Torun in the autumn of 1659 AD. The Habsburg Empire and Brandenburg-Prussia seldom agreed to peace negotiations, as they intended to take this opportunity to occupy Swedish Pomeranian territory. However, in AD 1658, Tsar Rus invaded Lithuania again, and in October, AD 1659, the Zaporozhian Cossacks signed the Pereyaslav Agreement, making Ukraine subordinate and threatening the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth again. Miesy also hurriedly tried to conclude a peace treaty with Sweden.

In this way, the Peace Treaty, in which Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburg Empire, and Brandenburg-Prussia all participated, was signed at Oliva near Gdańsk on May 3, 1660 AD. With the Treaty of Oliva, Sweden had to return all territories temporarily occupied by Karl On the other hand, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was unable to make any gains due to the renewed war with Tsarist Russia. Rather, he officially renounced the Swedish throne, which he had claimed since the emergence of the Polish Vasa dynasty, and also recognized Sweden's rights to Swedish Livonia.

Also, Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Prussia reaffirmed the abolition of Polish suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia, which had been recognized by the Treaty of Bellau in 1657 AD, although the territorial expansion failed. Through this, Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded in obtaining the de facto sovereignty of Brandenburg through the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War in AD 1648, and this time, the independence of Prussia as well, leading to complete independence of the two territories. This will serve as the basis for the birth of the Kingdom of Prussia by his son, Frederick III, in AD 1701 .

After ending the Second Northern War with the Treaty of Oliva, Sweden also concluded negotiations with Denmark and signed the Treaty of Copenhagen on May 27, 1660 AD. In fact, the contents of the Treaty of Copenhagen were not much different from the Treaty of Roskilde, in which Sweden agreed to own the islands of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge, Bohuslen and Ben in the eastern part of the Oresund Strait as they were and to be exempted from tolls in the Oresund Strait. Instead, it was decided to return the province of Trondelag to Norway and to cede the island of Bornholm to Denmark. Through this, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway almost fixed their borders today. Sweden also made peace with the Netherlands, and the following year agreed with Russia to sign the Treaty of Kardis, restoring its borders to those of 1617 AD. Through this, Sweden was able to end the 2nd Northern War without any territorial loss, defending all the territories at the time of King Carl X Gustav's accession.

In 1660 AD, after Charles X Gustav died suddenly, his son Charles X I succeeded to the throne at the age of five, so Hedwig Eleonora, Charles X Gustav's widow and Charles X I's mother, became regent. However, Sweden had already experienced the sudden death of Gustav II Adolf during the Thirty Years' War and the accession to the throne by his daughter, Queen Christina, at a young age, and according to the Government Organization Act (års regeringsform) enacted in 1634, the five highest-ranking officials leading the Privy Council (Riksradet) were leading the state affairs: the 'Senior Minister (Rikskansler),' 'Minister of Justice (Riksdrots),' 'Minister of Defense (Riksmarsk),' 'Minister of the Navy (Riksamiral),' and 'Minister of Finance (Riksskattmastare). A regency council was formed, consisting of six members, including Hedwig Eleonora and five of the highest-ranking officials of the Privy Council, with Hedwig Eleonora nominally serving as its president.

Although Karl Moreover, because the chairwoman, Hedwig Eleonora, was originally not very interested in politics, she ended up delegating the rule of Sweden to the rest of the regency. This high-level officials forming a regent group to lead Sweden was similar to the time of Queen Christina, and despite the sudden death of Karl Unlike during the time of Queen Christina, this time there was no person with political power and leadership like Axel Oxelscherna.

The representative members of the regent group were the Minister of Justice, Pere Brahe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Magnus Gabriel de la Guardi, and the Minister of Finance, Gustave Bonde. And when Adolf Johann I of Kleeburg-Palatinate stepped down as Minister of Defense, Carl Gustav Wrangel, who had been Minister of the Navy in 1664, moved to Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and was replaced by Gustav Otto Stenbock. Afterwards, Sweden was divided into two factions over external affairs after the Second Northern War. Foreign Minister Magnus-Gabriel de la Gardie favored expansion of power through war based on pro-French policies, but Justice Minister Pere Brahe and Finance Minister Gustave Bonde opposed this and argued for peace and economic recovery.

Meanwhile, through the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the 30 Years' War in 1648, Sweden ceded the bishoprics of Bremen and Verden and reorganized them into a duchy, a secular fiefdom, and Charles X Gustav concurrently held the title of Duke of Bremen-Verden. However, the city of Bremen itself, an imperial free city, is omitted here. Accordingly, Sweden attacked the city of Bremen in 1654 AD, took Bederkesa and Bremerae, and obtained an oath of loyalty from the city of Bremen. However, when Karl

First, in Swedish Pomeraina, Carl Gustav Wrangel led 14,000 troops and occupied all of Bremen's outskirts except the city itself. However, Brunswick-Luneburg and Cologne sent reinforcements to Bremen, and Brandenburg, Denmark, and the Netherlands also joined the anti-Swedish alliance. Moreover, France, Sweden's long-time ally, also refused to intervene this time. In the end, Sweden negotiated peace with Bremen and signed the 'Treaty of Habenhausen', in which Sweden demolished all the fortresses it had built near Bremen in the Duchy of Bremen-Verden, and in return, the city of Bremen agreed to give up its right to attend the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire as a free imperial city. However, although Bremen appeared to be subordinate to Sweden on the outside, in reality it maintained autonomy and maintained its position as a free imperial city until the end.

Sweden was in a financial crisis because of the war that continued through the 1660s and early 1670s. At this time, when King Philip IV of Spain died in 1665 and his son Carlos II ascended to the throne at the age of 4, Louis And when this was not recognized, they took military action, and in May 1667, the French army invaded the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Spanish Succession . Accordingly, despite Sweden's traditional friendly relationship with France, Sweden signed an anti-French Triple Alliance with the Netherlands and England, hoping for financial support.

However, France pushed back against the Spanish army and concluded the War of Inheritance by signing the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in April 1668 and returning only Franche-Comté to Spain instead of occupying a significant portion of the Spanish Netherlands. Moreover, the anti-French Triple Alliance collapsed in May 1670 when Charles II of England secretly signed the Treaty of Dover with Louis XIV of France. Then, in April 1672, Sweden again signed an alliance with France and was promised financial support. Based on this, Sweden continued to strengthen its forces in German territory. Additionally, because Sweden maintained friendly relations with the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp in southern Denmark, the maternal family of Charles XI, it gained considerable influence in Europe.

In opposition to the Franco-English-Swedish alliance, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty signed alliances with Denmark, Brandenburg-Prussia, Brunswick-Celle, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Hesse-Kassel. Meanwhile, in May 1672, France started a war with the Netherlands, crossed the border with Münster and Cologne , and quickly occupied three of the seven provinces that make up the Dutch Republic ( Utrecht , Helderland , and Overlaysall ). In addition, England, as an ally of France, dispatched its navy and launched a separate 'Third Anglo-Dutch Wars' to attack the Netherlands.

In response to this, the Netherlands signed a four -country alliance in August 1673 with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm , and Spanish king Carlos II . And although it struggled with the French troops on land, the Navy was promoted in the sea, signing the Second Treaty of Westminster in February 1674, and succeeded in breaking England from war. And in May 1674, Leopold I declared war against France, and in August of the same year, Brandenburg also headed to Strasbourg in northeastern France. Then, in December 1674, Sweden began to attack Brandenburg in December 1674 when France asked for a participation in Sweden.

Waldemar von Wrangel, half-brother of Carl Gustav Wrangel and commander of the garrison in Swedish Pomerania, crossed the border and invaded Brandenburg. When Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, who was fighting the French army with Leopold I's Austrian army in Alsace, heard the news of the Swedish invasion, he immediately decided to retreat, but because winter had arrived, he had to first organize a winter camp in Marktbreit. It was not until the following year, May 26, 1675, that he set off for Magdeburg, covering 250 km in just two weeks. To achieve this, Friedrich Wilhelm had to give up many of his supply wagons and infantry, but he nevertheless prevented public sentiment by procuring food through local purchases rather than plunder.

The Swedish army did not know the Brandenburg troops at all, so the troops were diversified and occupied the Habelant wetland between Brandenburg and the Havelberg. Friedrich Wilhelm ordered Georg von Deplinger and secretly captured the middle of Latenou to divide the Sweamun. And Georg von Derplinger succeeded in capturing Latenou through the flesh in heavy rain. As a result, Valdemar von Brangel gathered the Swedish army in Havelberg to join the Brownsu Bike Army across the Elbe River, but had to struggle with the summer heavy rain. Eventually, on June 17, 1675, the Brandenburg army approached Nowen and at the same time built a surrounding network around. The Swedish army is now isolated from Pech Bellin.

Now Waldemar von Wrangel tried to cross the Rhyn River at Pervelin, but both sides were swampy and impassable, and even the only bridge was destroyed. As a result, they had no choice but to fight south of Hackenberg while the bridge was being repaired. However, they made the mistake of not seizing the surrounding hills in advance, so the Brandenburg army installed cannons on the surrounding hills and began attacking the right side of the Swedish army from June 18. The Swedish army attempted to repair the bridge again and attack the artillery on the hill, but was repeatedly repulsed by the Brandenburg cavalry. Afterwards, Friedrich Wilhelm sent in infantry to push back the Swedish army, and cavalry also joined in, but the Swedish army held out until the bridge was repaired and succeeded in crossing the Rhyn River under the cover of darkness.

Although the Battle of Fehrbellin was only a local battle and the actual damage to the Swedish army was minor, it had great symbolic meaning because the Swedish army, considered one of the strongest armies in Europe, was defeated by the Brandenburg army, which had not been highly regarded. Now, as doubts spread about the strength of the Swedish army, Sweden's long-time enemy, King Christian V of Denmark , saw this as an opportunity to regain Skåne, which had previously been lost to Sweden. And as the Netherlands joined the anti-French-Swedish alliance and declared war on Sweden, the war between France and the Netherlands expanded into the 'Scanian War' between Sweden and Brandenburg-Denmark.

Now, on September 15, 1675, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark launched an attack against the Duchy of Bremen-Verden, the second largest Swedish territory in northern Germany after Swedish Pomerania. Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark also concluded alliances with Münster and Brunswick-Luneberg. The allies occupied Sweden's fortresses one by one, but Sweden had a hard time due to the large-scale desertion of its mercenaries. By the end of 1675, only Stade and Carlsberg remained in Swedish hands, but the arrival of winter brought the war to a halt. And in January 1676, Carlsberg surrendered, and even Stade was occupied in September of the same year.

In October 1675, the Brandenburg army began to attack Swedenry Pomer, supported by the Danish and Austrian troops. After the Brandenburg army occupied the Bolin Island and the Ulsum Dome Island, he crossed the Peneth River to plunder Damgarten and occupied Trifzes, but the attack of Sutraljit , which was united with Denmark , failed. In November, however, Brandenburg's attack on Volgas, the leader of the Swedish Pomera, failed to occupy Lugen, but continued to occupy or plunder the major regions of Sweden Pomera, including Angklam, Demmin, and Luknits, and succeeded in capturing Stessin in December 1677 .

Battle of Bornholm

It was important for Sweden to maintain control of the sea in order to reinforce its troops in struggling North Germany, so Gustav Otto Stenborg's Swedish fleet sailed in October 1675 AD, but encountered cold and storms and had to return to Stockholm less than two weeks later. For this reason, Gustav Otto Stenborg was reprimanded, and Lorenz Kreutz was given new command of the Swedish fleet in his place. However, he also continued to try to go to the sea, but it ended in vain because the sea froze due to extreme cold in January and February of 1676 AD. Rather, on April 29, 1676 AD, the island of Gotland was occupied by a Danish fleet of 20 ships led by Nils Juhl. For this reason, the Swedish fleet of 23 ships set sail on May 4, but encountered adverse winds and did not arrive at Gotland Island until May 19. However, in the meantime, the Danish fleet had already left Gotland and joined Philip van Almonde's Dutch fleet at Bornholm.

Now that the combined Danish-Dutch fleet was between the islands of Skåne and Rügen on the southern tip of Sweden, blocking Sweden from sending troops to Swedish Pomeraina, the Swedish fleet pursued the Danish fleet and arrived within sight on the morning of May 25. Seeing this, the combined Danish-Dutch fleet initially headed northwest to the Øresund Strait because the Swedish fleet was larger in number, but then turned south again and headed for Jasmund, located northeast of Rügen Island. However, because they failed to dislodge the Swedish fleet, the Battle of Bornholm began on the morning of May 26.

At that time, since the First Anglo-Dutch War (AD 1652–1654), naval battles had been conducted in a single-line formation with no ship-to-ship combat, and only involved exchanging cannon fire. Because of this, the Swedish fleet was unable to take advantage of its numerical superiority, and instead, the combined Danish-Dutch fleet, which had superior navigation skills, shook off the Swedish fleet and withdrew to the Øresund Strait, arriving at Falsterbo, southwest of Skåne. Accordingly, Lorenz Kreutz of the Swedish fleet did not pursue the Danish-Dutch fleet, but anchored at Trelleborg, south of Skåne, and awaited further orders.

On May 30, 1676 AD, Lorenz Kreuz received orders to retake Gotland Island and moved to Öland Island. Then the combined Danish-Dutch fleet began pursuing the Swedish fleet again. At this time, the combined Danish-Dutch fleet had increased in number with the addition of a new fleet led by Dutch Vice Admiral Cornelis Tromp. In particular, Cornelis Tromp was a capable naval commander who experienced the Second Anglo-Dutch War (AD 1665 ~ AD 1667) and the Third Anglo-Dutch War (AD 1672 ~ AD 1674). Accordingly, Cornelis Tromp took over command of the Danish fleet and became commander-in-chief of the combined Danish-Dutch fleet.

On June 1, 1676, the Swedish fleet and the combined Danish-Dutch fleet following it sailed side by side in the narrow area between the island of Öland and the Swedish mainland, but a strong wind blew at this time, causing extensive damage to the Swedish fleet. And although the Swedish fleet had an advantageous position upwind, the highly mobile Danish fleet broke through the narrow gap between the Swedish fleet and the coast and lost the upwind position. Moreover, the Swedish fleet's flagship, the Kronan, suddenly tilted and sank. As a result, Lorenz Kreutz, who was supposed to command the Swedish fleet, and the entire crew were killed, causing great chaos, and Cornelis Tromp did not miss the opportunity and began to launch an onslaught. To make matters worse, the flagship Sverdet, which had taken over command of the Swedish fleet, was surrounded and subjected to intensive bombardment, and the ship collided and began to burn. As a result, Kles Uggla attempted to escape, but drowned, disintegrating the formation of the Swedish fleet, which now lost both commanders, resulting in a crushing defeat at the Battle of Öland.

Due to the defeat in the Battle of Öland, Sweden was forced to completely surrender control of the Baltic Sea to Denmark, and rather than sending reinforcements to North Germany, it laid the foundation for the Danish army to cross the Öresund Strait and attack Skåne in earnest. Accordingly, on June 29, 1676 AD, 14,500 Danish troops landed in Ra, south of Helsingborg, and began occupying Skåne starting with Helsingborg on June 29. While the Danish army numbered 15,000, the Swedish army stationed in Skåne numbered only 5,000, and even those were scattered here and there. Moreover, since Skåne had been a Danish territory for a long time, the people of Skåne welcomed the Danish army. For this reason, the Danish army was able to quickly occupy a large part of Skåne, while the Swedish army was pushed north, leaving Malmö as the only Swedish territory.

When Denmark started a war with Sweden, Norway, which was in an alliance with Denmark, also started attacking Sweden. Ulrik Frederick Güldenlöwe, the governor of Norway, was the illegitimate son of Frederick III of Denmark and thus a half-brother to Christian V. For this reason, in Norwegian history, the Skåne War is called the 'Gyldenløve War'. In 1675 AD, Ulrik Frederick Güldenlöwe dispatched 4,000 Norwegian troops to Fredrikshall to prepare for a possible invasion by the Swedish army and to recapture Bohuslen, the former Norwegian territory. Afterwards, they spent the winter fighting only local battles with Rutger von Ascheberg's Swedish army stationed in Svarteborg (now Munkedal), but began a full-scale offensive in 1676 AD the following year. And after easily occupying Udevala, he broke down the strong resistance of the Swedish army and even captured Venersborg.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, even though Charles XI came of age in 1672 AD, a regent continued to rule by proxy. However, even though Sweden was in crisis due to the Skåne War , instead of solving the problem, they only showed incompetence to the point of infighting among themselves. Accordingly, Karl And in order to recapture Skåne, which had been lost to Denmark, a new army was formed in Småland. Meanwhile, in August 1676 AD, 4,000 Danish troops led by Jacob Duncan occupied Halmstad in the Haaland region, and their goal was to march north and join the Norwegian army that had now advanced to Gothenburg. Accordingly, on August 11, Charles XI personally led his troops and set out to block Jacob Duncan.

Apart from the Swedish army of Charles As a result, Jacob Duncan began retreating south to Skåne, unaware that Charles XI's Swedish army was approaching. In the end, at the Battle of Halmstad on August 17, the Danish army was surrounded and suffered a near-total defeat. As a result, the joining of the Danish and Norwegian armies failed, and on September 5, King Christian V of Denmark personally led his army and attacked to recapture Halmstadt, but despite a three-week siege, he failed to capture it and retreated to Skåne.

By October 1676, the Swedish army had grown to 14,000 men, three quarters of which were cavalry, and Charles XI marched south to relieve Malmö. However, due to the obstruction of the peasant army that rose up in Skåne at the instigation of the Danish army, the supply line was maintained in a narrow state and headed to Lund in early November. Moreover, because the Danish army controlled all crossing points of the Chevling River, Charles XI had to first organize his formation on the north side of the river. And after about a month, heavy snow began to fall and the river froze, so in the early morning of December 4, Charles

Although the Danish army defending the river at this time had a total of 13,000 soldiers, including 5,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 1,300 Dutch navy personnel, it was ahead of the Swedish army in numbers. However, the Danish army was on guard as winter had arrived and there would be no more battles until the spring of the following year, and since it was dawn when the Swedish army started crossing, they were still sleeping. When the guard announced the Swedish army's crossing, the Danish army hurriedly rose up and belatedly began preparing for battle. However, although the Swedish army successfully crossed the river, the number of troops was insufficient, so they began to climb the hill to gain a geographical advantage. The Danish army pursued in an attempt to stop them, but the Swedish army shook them off and succeeded in occupying the hill.

Now, at 9 o'clock in the morning, the full-scale Battle of Lund began. The Danish army was to the east and the Swedish army was to the west, facing each other more than 1km apart. The battle began with artillery fire, but the Danish army had 56 cannons, while the Swedish army had only 12. Nevertheless, Charles XI trusted the superiority of the Swedish cavalry and personally led the cavalry and began to charge toward the Danish left wing. After an hour of fighting, he succeeded in breaking the Danish left wing. The Danish left wing began to retreat, but since their retreat was blocked by the Swedish cavalry, they climbed onto the ice of the river, but when the ice broke, they drowned.

On the other side, the left wing of the Swedish army was being pushed back by the attack launched by the right wing of the Danish army. However, during the fierce battle, the commander-in-chief of the Danish army, Karl von Ahrensdorf, was seriously injured, and his younger brother, Friedrich von Ahrensdorf, had to take over command. He suddenly stopped the battle at noon and began to reorganize his troops while the Danish army was pushing the left wing of the Swedish army with its numerical superiority. The Swedish army had a chance to recover, and around 3 p.m., Karl And when they began to surround the Danish army, the Danish army lost its will to fight even though it still had a numerical advantage.

In this way, the Battle of Lund ended in victory for the Swedish army. However, the damage on both sides was severe, with the Danish army suffering 7,000 casualties and 2,000 prisoners out of a total of 13,000 men, and the victorious Swedish army suffered 5,000 casualties, more than half of the total 8,000 troops. The Battle of Lund is recorded as one of the most gruesome battles in history, with losses reaching close to 70% of the total troops involved. In any case, the Swedish army's victory in the Battle of Lund greatly increased the reputation of Charles XI, who was only 21 years old, and the defeated Danish army was forced to retreat to Landskrona.

Malmö, which was resisting the Danish army in the Skåne region, repelled the Danish army's attack at the end of June 1677. Then, in early July, Karl On the morning of July 14, Karl At this time, the Danish army had a total of 12,000 men (5,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry) and had the superior number of cavalry, but Christian V had given up the advantageous terrain on the hill and moved to a position with his back to the castle wall.

At first, the battle began with cannon fire, and this time, Charles After an hour of fighting, the Danish left wing collapsed and the Danish artillery fell into Swedish hands. Meanwhile, Christian V launched a flank attack on the right wing of the Danish army and successfully attacked the left wing of the Swedish army. However, with the addition of the Swedish peasant army in reserve, the left wing of the Swedish army succeeded in reorganizing. Also, because the left flank of the Danish army was exposed in the center, they began to gradually be pushed back.

Ultimately, the Swedish right-wing cavalry led by Karl At around 4 PM, Christian V fled first, and by 5 PM, all Danish troops withdrew, ending the Battle of Landskrona with the Swedish army's victory. In this way, Karl However, despite the victory at the Battle of Landskrona, Sweden's disadvantage did not change. Because Denmark controlled the Baltic Sea and Landskrona was still in Danish hands, Denmark was able to freely increase its troops.

Battle of Muen

In March 1677 AD, Henrik Horn became the new commander-in-chief of the Swedish fleet, despite his lack of experience in naval warfare. And when news arrived that Cornelis Tromp's Dutch fleet was heading to the Baltic Sea, Charles XI ordered the Gotenborg squadron to join Henryk Horn's main force in Stockholm. However, even though Henrik Horn did not appear until early June, Erik Sievlad of Gotenborg had already set sail first on May 20, and because the winds were calm, he did not pass through the Great Welt Strait until May 29. However, upon hearing this news, Nils Juhl's Danish fleet went on a two-day chase, and a battle broke out near the island of Mön on May 31. And because the Danish fleet was superior in numbers, the Swedish fleet suffered a defeat at the Battle of Møn, losing eight ships and Erik Sievlad being captured.

It was not until June 9, 1677, that Henryk Horn's Swedish fleet sailed from Dalaur near Stockholm. Then, on June 13, it joined Erik Sievlad's surviving ships near the island of Öland. To deal with this, Nils Juhl's Danish fleet also sailed from Copenhagen on June 24, but because the winds were calm, they did not encounter each other until June 29. And the next day, on the morning of June 30, the Swedish fleet began to approach the Danish fleet, but at this time, the Danish fleet was in an unfavorable wind position, so Nils Juel began to evade, but failed to increase the distance, leading to the Battle of Køge Bay on the morning of July 1.

At this time, the Swedish fleet had 45 ships, while the Danish fleet had only 34 ships. However, when a gap appeared in the Swedish fleet's formation, the Danish fleet began to break through the gap. As this succeeded, the Swedish fleet lost its formation and was destroyed individually. In the end, the Battle of Köge Bay ended with a major victory for the Danish fleet, with the Swedish fleet losing 20 ships, but the Danish fleet not losing a single ship. As the defeat in the Battle of Kögemann became a decisive blow, the Swedish fleet avoided further battles with the Danish fleet, allowing Denmark to completely dominate the Baltic Sea. This made it completely impossible for Sweden to supply supplies by sea.

On land, apart from the Danish army's struggles, the Norwegian army continued to perform well and began to pose a major threat to Sweden. When the bitter cold spell of early 1677 AD passed, the Norwegian army began attacking the Bohuslen region in earnest. And on June 6, 1677 AD, 1,600 Norwegian troops landed on Marstran Island and succeeded in occupying it on June 23. By occupying Marstran Island, Denmark and Norway gained a floating port, which gave them an even greater advantage in the war. And 8,000 Swedish troops led by Magnus Gabriel de la Guardi attempted a counterattack, but were defeated by the Norwegian army, and now Fort Bohus was the only area left in the Swedish army in the Bohuslen region.

With the island of Marstran in Norwegian hands, Gothenburg was now threatened. Accordingly, Magnus Gabriel de la Guardi recruited 3,000 new troops, including 1,500 conscripts from Dalarna and 1,200 new cavalry. On August 10, 1677, the Swedish army gathered at Bannerborg headed towards Uddevalla, but was caught up by 5,600 Norwegian troops led by Ulrik Frederik Güldenlöwe, and the Battle of Uddevalla took place on August 28. Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie took up a defensive posture, but the Danish army attacked his flank and cut off his retreat to the Göta Alb River. However, Dalarna conscripts carrying spears held off the Danish cavalry attack until the Swedish army crossed the Göta Alb River and then destroyed the bridge. Nevertheless, because of his defeat at the Battle of Udevala, Magnus Gabriel de la Guardi had to be severely reprimanded by Charles XI.

Norwegian Ulik Fred Leak Leaken Loofe moved to Tronheim in the summer of 1677 and Norwegians in Rohwegians in the summer of 1677 . And as the Swedish army's defense line collapsed by the sudden attack of the Norwegian army, Norway could easily recapture the Zintland. However, despite the former Norwegian territory, the Telands preferred Sweden's rule, not Norway, to link with Sweden. Moreover, because Skone's war has been disadvantageous to Denmark, Denmark's Christian V will withdrew Norwegian troops from the Talland in November 1677.

King Christian V of Denmark, who had succeeded in blocking the Swedish army's reinforcements from North Germany through the Baltic Sea with his victory in the Battle of Kögeman, now launched an offensive against the island of Rügen. This was also indirect support for Brandenburg's attack on Stralsund. On September 17, 1677 AD, a Danish army of 4,200 men landed on the east coast of Rügen Island. At this time, the Swedish army was concentrating on the defense of Stralsund and was about to withdraw most of its troops from Rügen Island, so it seemed like Denmark could easily occupy Rügen Island. However, Sweden's Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck launched a counterattack and regained Rügen Island on January 18, 1678.

Accordingly, in September 1678 AD, Denmark once again attacked Rügen Island together with Brandenburg. Niels Juhl's 27 Danish ships were mobilized to cover the landing of troops, and the command of the troop transport ships was decided to be taken by Cornelis Tromp of the Netherlands. The Brandenburg army arrived on September 22 with 7,240 men led by Georg von Deflinger, with Frederick Wilhelm personally commanding the fleet. The Swedish military was unable to stop this because it was heavily overstretched, and eventually Rügen Island fell into Danish hands again, putting Stralsund at risk of extinction.

In October 1678 AD, the Brandenburg army launched a general offensive against Stralsund. In the meantime, Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck continued to do well, but he no longer had the talent to hold out any longer. On October 10, Brandenburg artillery began firing from the south, and a small fleet of Brandenburg ships from the sea joined the siege. Finally, on October 11, when the southern half of Stelandsund was destroyed, the Swedish army had no choice but to surrender. And in November, Sweden's last stronghold, Greifswald, was occupied by Brandenburg, causing Sweden to lose all territory in Pomeraina.

Sweden now lost all of its northern German territories, and in its place Brandenburg took Swedish Pomerania and the Duchy of Bremen-Verden, except for Rügen, which went to Denmark. However, Denmark also failed to recapture Skåne, its original goal, after being defeated by Charles XI in the Battle of Halmstad and the Battle of Lund. In any case, it was clear that Sweden was in dire straits, so France intervened to maintain the balance of power in Europe. It pressured Brandenburg and Denmark to return to Sweden all the territories they had acquired in the Skåne War. By this time, France had concluded its war with the Netherlands, so it began to pressure them, threatening military intervention if they did not accept its offer of mediation.

Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg found it difficult to launch a full-scale war with France, so he signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on June 29, 1679, agreeing to return all Swedish territories in northern Germany in exchange for an indemnity of 300,000 thalers (silver coins) from France and the return of eastern Friesland. However, he was able to keep Goleniow and Dombye east of the Oder River. Denmark also returned all of its conquered territories to Sweden in the Treaty of Fontainebleau on September 2, 1679.

In this way, Sweden was able to end the Scanian War, recovering most of its territory despite the unfavorable situation. However, Sweden was excluded from all the treaties and was concluded with France, which greatly hurt Sweden's pride. In response, Sweden negotiated independently with Denmark and concluded the separate Treaty of Lund on September 26, 1679. Through this, the territorial return of the Treaty of Fontainebleau was reaffirmed, Denmark's claim to Scania was withdrawn, and the Swedish territories in northern Germany that had been occupied by Denmark, such as Wismar and Rügen, were all returned to Sweden.

In addition, the Dutch influence on the Baltic Sea trade was too strong, so a military alliance was concluded between Sweden and Denmark to check it. And to guarantee this, Charles XI married Ulrika Eleonora, the sister of Christian V, in 1680 AD. However, when Charles XI supported Christian Albert in a dispute over ownership of Schleswig-Holstein between his two brothers-in-law, Christian V of Denmark and Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, the friendly relations between Sweden and Denmark were broken again in 1689 AD.

When the Skåne War ended, Charles To this end, land reform, which had been attempted under his father, Charles A large-scale audit of the period of the Regency government was carried out, and a policy of reclaiming land previously owned by the royal family was promoted, and by the end of the reign of Karl

In addition, a land restitution policy was promoted to territories across the Baltic Sea, and in Estonia and Livonia, even land donated by the Teutonic Knights was returned. This significantly increased the royal treasury, half of which was collected from territories across the Baltic Sea. In accordance with the land restitution policy, except for the great nobles who had previously held inherited land, the remaining small and medium-sized nobles lost their economic foundation and had to make a living with bonuses paid by the state, thus reducing their influence on the administration of state affairs. And by allowing the royal lands to be cultivated by ordinary peasants, the peasants were prevented from being permanently enslaved by the nobles and becoming serfs.

After that, Charles XI used his wealthy finances to hire 25,000 mercenaries as a standing army and entrusted them with the defense of the territories across the Baltic Sea. Then, in 1682 AD, he reformed the conscription system, dividing it into 1,200 small districts to conscript one regiment of soldiers, and assigning one mercenary to each district to lead them, and granting them royal land. Through this, Sweden was able to mobilize 40,000 conscripts in times of emergency, and the number of auxiliary soldiers reached 25,000. The Swedish conscription system reorganized by Charles XI was evaluated as a very efficient system that was maintained for the next 200 years.

Charles XI also created a new navy to counter Denmark. And for this purpose, he ordered Eric Dahlberg to build a new military port in the Blekinge area in 1680 AD, in order to replace the existing Stockholm port, which froze over for a while in winter. Then, a shipyard was built, and docks and warehouses were built, making it a new naval base for the Swedish fleet, and it was named 'Karlskrona' after Charles XI. Since then, Karlskrona has grown into the central base of the Swedish navy and one of the major cities in Sweden.

Charles XI began to reduce the power of the Privy Council, which had been so influential since 1634 AD. The incompetence of the Privy Council had been proven by the Scanian War, so it could not oppose it. In 1680 AD, Charles XI dissolved the existing Privy Council, formed a new Privy Council, and declared that the king could now rule independently without interference from the Privy Council, but would seek its advice only when necessary. The Privy Council was to retain its judicial function as the highest court, and the rest of the day-to-day government was to be carried out independently by Charles XI through a separate administrative body (ambetsverk).

Charles XI, now confident, held the Riksdag in 1693[6] As it was granted unlimited power to carry out reforms, it was also able to levy taxes and bring in loans from foreign countries without the consent of the class parliament. In addition, thanks to his abundant finances, he hired many officials and was no longer dependent on the nobles, but instead ran an autocratic government through officials who were loyal to him. And as the power of the central government strengthened, the influence of local governments began to decline, and local rulers were no longer granted land, only received salaries, and exercised limited authority in their jurisdictions.

Charles XI broke away from his pro-French policy and concluded a treaty with the Netherlands in 1681 to maintain a balance of power in Europe. However, in the War of the Grand Alliance (1689–1697) that followed Louis XIV of France's military occupation of the Electorate of the Rhine Palatinate in Germany, Sweden maintained neutrality and served as a mediator in the Treaty of Rijswijk in 1697 that ended the conflict. Thanks to this neutrality policy, Sweden was able to enjoy a rare 20 years of peace during the reign of Charles XI.

Although Charles XI ascended to the throne at the age of only five, he overcame the national crisis of the Scanian War as an adult, restored the royal finances, and succeeded in establishing an absolute monarchy. Thanks to this, the country was able to recover from the damage caused by the long war and regain its position as a great power. However, he had seven children with his wife Ulrika Eleonora, but only three of them survived, and Ulrika Eleonora died in 1693. After that, Charles XI accompanied his only surviving son, Charles XII, to all official events and received training as a successor. However, from 1694, Charles XI's health deteriorated and he died in April 1697 at the age of 41. As a result, Charles XII had to inherit the Swedish throne at the young age of 14.