Editing Charles XII of Sweden (section)

==Great Northern War==
{{Main|Great Northern War}}

=== Early campaigns ===
[[File:Karl XIIs staty.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Monument to Charles XII in Stockholm, with Charles pointing towards Russia. Stockholmers call this statue "the lion among four pots" ("Lejonet mellan fyra krukor") referring to the mortars. This contrasts with a nearby statue of [[Charles XIII of Sweden|Charles XIII]], which has lions similarly arranged; that statue is known as "the pot among four lions" ("Krukan mellan fyra lejon"), referring to a Swedish slang expression for a klutz.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Pembroke Fetridge|title=The American Traveller's Guide: Harper's Hand-book for Travellers in Europe and the East: Being a Guide Through Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Tyrol, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ppPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA829|year=1875|page=829}}</ref>]]

Around 1700, the monarchs of [[Denmark–Norway]], Saxony (ruled by elector [[August II of Poland]], who was also the king of [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland-Lithuania]]) and Russia united in an alliance against Sweden, mainly through the efforts of [[Johann Reinhold Patkul]], a [[Livonian people|Livonian]] nobleman who turned traitor when the [[Reduction (Sweden)|"great reduction"]] of Charles XI in 1680 stripped much of the nobility of lands and properties. In late 1699, Charles sent a minor detachment to reinforce his brother-in-law Duke [[Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp]], who was attacked by Danish forces the following year. A Saxon army simultaneously invaded Swedish Livonia, and in February 1700 surrounded [[Riga]], the most populous city of the Swedish Empire. Russia also declared war (August 1700), but stopped short of an attack on [[Swedish Ingria]] until September 1700.<ref name=tucker>{{cite book|editor=Spencer C. Tucker|title=Wars That Changed History: 50 of the World's Greatest Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhGFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA182|year=2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=182–193|isbn=978-1610697866}}</ref>

Charles's first campaign was against Denmark–Norway, ruled by his cousin [[Frederick IV of Denmark]]. For this campaign Charles secured the support of England and the Netherlands, both maritime powers concerned with Denmark's threats too close to [[Øresund|the Sound]]. Leading a force of 8,000 and 43 ships in an invasion of [[Zealand (Denmark)|Zealand]], Charles rapidly compelled the Danes to submit to the [[Peace of Travendal]] in August 1700, which indemnified Holstein.<ref>Thomas Derry, ''History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland'' (2000), p. 154.</ref>
Having forced Denmark–Norway to make peace within months, King Charles turned his attention upon the two other powerful neighbors, King August II (cousin to both Charles XII and Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway) and [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] of Russia, who also had entered the war against him, ironically on the same day that Denmark came to terms.<ref name=tucker/>

Russia had opened their part of the war by invading the Swedish-held territories of [[Livonia]] and [[Estonia]]. Charles countered this by attacking the Russian besiegers at the [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Battle of Narva]] (November 1700). The Russians outnumbered the Swedish army of ten thousand men by almost four to one. Charles attacked under cover of a blizzard, effectively splitting the Russian army in two and won the battle. Many of Peter's troops who fled the battlefield drowned in the [[Narva River]]. The total number of Russian fatalities reached about 10,000 at the end of the battle, while the Swedish forces lost 667 men.<ref>Richard Cavendish,  "The Battle of Narva." ''History Today'' 50#11 (2000): 50+.</ref>

Charles did not pursue the Russian army. Instead, he turned against Poland-Lithuania, which was formally neutral at this point, thereby disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by the Swedish parliament. Charles defeated the Polish king [[Augustus II]] and his [[Saxony|Saxon]] allies at the [[Battle of Kliszow]] in 1702 and captured many cities of the Commonwealth. After the deposition of Augustus as king of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], Charles XII put [[Stanislaus I of Poland|Stanisław Leszczyński]] as his puppet on the Polish throne (1704).<ref>{{cite book|author=Renata Tyszczuk|title=The Story of an Architect King: Stanislas Leszczynski in Lorraine 1737–1766|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3W5fvGVt3fYC&pg=PA34|year=2007|publisher=Peter Lang|page=34|isbn=978-3039103249}}</ref>

=== Russian resurgence ===
[[File:Karl XII and Ivan Mazepa after The Poltava Battle by Gustaf Cederström.jpg|thumb|Charles XII and [[Ivan Mazepa]] at the [[Dnieper River]] after [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]] by [[Gustaf Cederström]]]]
While Charles won several decisive battles in the Commonwealth and ultimately secured the coronation of his ally [[Stanisław Leszczyński]] and the [[Swedish invasion of Saxony|surrender of Saxony]], the Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] embarked on a military reform plan that improved the Russian army, using the effectively organized Swedes and other European armies as role models. Russian forces managed to penetrate [[Ingria]], where they established a new city, [[Saint Petersburg, Russia|Saint Petersburg]]. Charles planned an [[Swedish invasion of Russia|invasion of the Russian heartland]], allying himself with [[Ivan Mazepa]], [[Hetman]] of the [[Cossack Hetmanate|Ukrainian Cossacks]]. The size of the invading Swedish army was peeled off as Charles left Leszczyński with some 24,000 German and Polish troops, departing eastwards from Saxony in late 1707 with some 35,000 men, adding a further 12,500 under [[Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt]] marching from Livonia. Charles left the homeland with a defense force of approximately 28,800 men, with a further 14,000 in Swedish Finland, as well as other garrisons in the Baltic and German provinces.<ref>''Karoliner'' by Alf Åberg, p. 117.</ref><ref>''Karl XII'' by Bengt Liljegren, pp. 151, 163.</ref>

After securing his "favorite" victory in the [[Battle of Holowczyn]], despite being outnumbered over three to one by the new Russian army, Charles opted to march eastwards on Moscow rather than try to seize [[Saint Petersburg]], founded from the Swedish town of [[Nyenskans]] five years earlier.<ref>''Svenska slagfält'', p.  280.</ref> Peter the Great managed, however, to ambush Lewenhaupt's army at [[Battle of Lesnaya|Lesnaya]] before Charles could combine his forces, thus losing valuable supplies, artillery and half of Lewenhaupt's men. Charles's Polish ally, Stanisław Leszczyński, was facing internal problems of his own. Charles expected the support of a massive Cossack rebellion led by Mazepa in Ukraine, with estimates suggesting Mazepa was able to muster about 40,000 troops. However, the Russians subjugated the rebellion and destroyed its capital, [[Baturyn|Baturin]], before the arrival of the Swedish troops. The harsh climate took its toll as well, because Charles marched his troops to winter camp in [[Ukraine]].<ref>''Svenska folkets underbara öden'', book four by Carl Grimberg, about the numbers of Mazepa's army.</ref>

By the time of the decisive [[Battle of Poltava]], in July 1709, Charles had been wounded, one-third of his infantry was dead, and his supply train had been destroyed. The king was incapacitated by a gunshot wound to the foot and was unable to lead the Swedish forces. With the numbers of Charles's army reduced to some 23,000, with many wounded or involved on the siege of Poltava, his general [[Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld]] had a clearly inferior force to face the fortified and modernized army of Tsar Peter, with some 45,000 men.<ref>''Bra Böckers Lexikon'', the article of Karl XII.</ref> The Swedish assault ended in disaster, and the king fled south to the [[Ottoman Empire]] with a small entourage, and set up camp at [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] with some 1,000 of his ''[[Caroleans]]'' ("Karoliner" in Swedish). The remainder of the army surrendered days later at [[Perevolochna]] under Lewenhaupt's command, most of them (including Lewenhaupt himself) spending the rest of their days in Russian captivity.

The Swedish defeat at Poltava marked the downfall of the [[Swedish Empire]],<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Kalevi Holsti|author=Kalevi Jaakko Holsti|title=Peace and War: Armed Conflicts and International Order, 1648–1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XeRWvk3TP_gC&pg=PA69|year=1991|page=69|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521399296}}</ref> as well as the founding of the [[Russian Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Dominic Lieven|title=The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia, 1689–1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzR0cmnP3J8C&pg=PA29|year=2006|page=29|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521815291}}</ref>

=== Exile in the Ottoman Empire ===
[[File:Royal Monogram Of King Charles XII Of Sweden.svg|thumb|150px|Royal Monogram]]
The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] initially welcomed the Swedish king when he went to [[Abdi Pasha the Albanian|Abdurrahman Pasha]], commander of [[Ochakiv|Özü]] Castle, as he was about to fall into the hands of the Russian army, and he was able to take refuge in the castle at the last moment. Afterward, he settled in [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] at the invitation of its governor, [[Ağa Yusuf Pasha]].

In the meantime, Charles sent [[Stanisław Poniatowski (1676–1762)|Stanisław Poniatowski]] and {{ill|Thomas Funck (1672–1713)|lt=Thomas Funck|sv}} as his messengers to [[Constantinople]].<ref name="linquist" >Herman Lindquist (in Swedish): Historian om Sverige. Storhet och Fall. (History of Sweden. Greatness and fall) ISBN 9172630922 (2000) Nordstedts förlag, Stockholm</ref> They managed to indirectly contact [[Gülnuş Sultan]], mother of Sultan [[Ahmed III]], who became intrigued by Charles, and took an interest in his cause, and even corresponded with him in Bender.<ref name="linquist"/>

During his stay in the Ottoman Empire, Charles earned the nickname {{Lang|tr|demirbaş}} (literally "iron-head"). This word can mean stubborn or persistent, and it is usually assumed that this is why the Turks called Charles by this nickname. However, the term {{Lang|tr|demirbaş}} commonly referred to state-owned articles in general and the furniture, equipment, etc. in state offices in particular. Thus, the nickname may be an ironic reference to Charles's visits to Ottoman government offices over a prolonged period.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2012 |orig-date=Orig. published in print in 1965 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |title=Demi̇rbas̲h̲ |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1791 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English) |publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1791 }}</ref>

Eventually, a small village named Karlstad ([[Varnița, Anenii Noi|Varnița]]) had to be built near Bender to accommodate the ever-growing Swedish population there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://varldsinbordeskriget.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/sweden-the-ottoman-empire-and-the-crimean-tartars-c-1580-%E2%80%93-1714-%E2%80%93-the-realpolitik-of-a-christian-kingdom/|title=Sweden, The Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tartars, c 1580 – 1714 – The Realpolitoik of a Christian Kingdom |website=Världsinbördeskriget|publisher=Wordpress|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011203211/https://varldsinbordeskriget.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/sweden-the-ottoman-empire-and-the-crimean-tartars-c-1580-%E2%80%93-1714-%E2%80%93-the-realpolitik-of-a-christian-kingdom/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gülnuş Sultan convinced her son to declare [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)|war against Russia]], as she thought that Charles was a man worth taking a risk for. Later on, the Ottomans and Russians signed the [[Treaty of the Pruth]] and [[Treaty of Adrianople (1713)|Treaty of Adrianople]] to end the hostilities between them. The treaties dissatisfied the pro-war party supported by King Charles and Stanislaw Poniatowski, who failed to reignite the conflict.

[[File:King Karl XII of Sweden (David von Krafft) - Nationalmuseum - 20352.tif|thumb|left|Portrait by [[David von Krafft]] 1707]]

However, the Sultan Ahmed III's subjects in the empire eventually got tired of Charles's scheming. His entourage also accumulated huge debts with Bender merchants. Eventually, "crowds" of townspeople attacked the Swedish colony at Bender and Charles had to defend himself against the mobs and the Ottoman [[janissaries]] involved. This uprising was called {{Lang|tr|kalabalık}} (Turkish for crowd) which afterward found a place in Swedish lexicon referring to a [[:wikt:ruckus|ruckus]]. The janissaries did not shoot Charles during the [[skirmish at Bender]], but captured him and put him under house-arrest at [[Dimetoka]] (nowadays [[Didimoticho]]) and Constantinople. During his semi-imprisonment the King played [[chess]] and studied the [[Ottoman Navy]] and the naval architecture of the Ottoman galleons. His sketches and designs eventually led to the famous Swedish war ships ''Jarramas'' (Yaramaz) and ''Jilderim'' (Yıldırım).{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Meanwhile, Russia and Poland regained and expanded their borders. Great Britain, an adversary of Sweden, defected from its alliance obligations while Prussia attacked Swedish holdings in Germany. Russia occupied Finland (the [[Greater Wrath]] 1713–1721). After defeats of the Swedish army, consisting mainly of Finnish troops in the Battle of [[Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Helsinki (1713)]], the Battle of [[Battle of Pälkäne|Pälkäne 1713]] and the Battle of [[Battle of Storkyro|Storkyro 1714]], the military, administration and clergymen escaped from Finland, which fell under Russian military regime.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen|isbn=978-951-0-14253-0|page=265|last1=Zetterberg|first1=Seppo|year=1987}}</ref>

During his five-year stay in the Ottoman Empire, Charles XII corresponded with his sister (and eventual successor), Ulrika Eleonora. According to Mrs. Ragnhild Marie Hatton, a Norwegian-British historian, in some of those letters Charles expressed his desire for a peace treaty which would be defensible in the future Swedish generations' eyes.  However, he emphasized that only a greater respect for Sweden in Europe would enable him to achieve such a peace treaty.  Meanwhile, the Swedish Council of State (government) and Estates/Diet (Parliament) tried to keep the beleaguered Sweden somehow organized and independent.  Eventually, in the autumn of 1714, their warning letter reached him.  In it, those executive and legislative bodies told the absentee King that unless he quickly returned to Sweden, they would independently conclude an achievable peace treaty with Russia, Poland and Denmark. This stark admonition prompted Charles to rush back to Sweden.<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968.</ref><ref>Seppo Zetterberg et al. (eds.), ''A Small Giant (Compendium) of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen''. 2nd ed.,  Helsinki, (2003) {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{Page number needed|date=November 2024}}

Charles traveled back to Sweden with a group of Ottomans, soldiers such as escorts and businessmen to whom he promised to repay his debts during his stay in the Ottoman Empire, but they had to wait several years before that happened. According to the prevailing church law in Sweden at that time, all who lived in the country, but were not members of the Swedish state church, would be baptized. In order for the Jewish and Muslim creditors to avoid this, Charles wrote a "free letter" so that they could practice their religions without being punished. The soldiers chose to remain in Sweden instead of making difficult trips home. They were called "Askersson" (the word ''asker'' in Turkish means soldier).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/redan-karl-xii-godkande-muslimska-gudstjanster-i-karlskrona|title=Redan Karl XII godkände muslimska gudstjänster|newspaper=SVT Nyheter|language=sv|date=23 September 2015|last1=Friberg|first1=Henrik|access-date=29 April 2020|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428131747/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/redan-karl-xii-godkande-muslimska-gudstjanster-i-karlskrona|url-status=live}}</ref> However, there are accounts implying that following the long stay for Charles to repay his debts, they got paid and left the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vad hände med Karl XII:s kreditorer? |url=https://slakthistoria.se/livet-forr/vad-hande-med-karl-xii-s-kreditorer |website=Slakt Historia |date=19 September 2019 |access-date=18 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031025/https://slakthistoria.se/livet-forr/vad-hande-med-karl-xii-s-kreditorer |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Pomerania and Norway===
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2014}}
[[File:Porträtt av Karl XII. Alt-Ranstad - Skoklosters slott - 86683.tif|thumb|Karl XII, 1707. [[Skokloster Castle]].]]
[[File:Halsduk buren av Karl XII vid Fredrikshall den 30 november 1718 - Livrustkammaren - 39295.tif|thumb|Uniform worn by Charles XII in Frederikshall on 30 November 1718. Shown in [[Livrustkammaren|The Royal Armoury]] in Stockholm.]]
[[File:Bringing Home the Body of King Karl XII of Sweden (Gustaf Cederström) - Nationalmuseum - 18366.tif|thumb|left|''[[Bringing Home the Body of King Charles XII]]''. A [[Romantic nationalism|romanticized]] painting by [[Gustaf Cederström]], 1884]]
Charles agreed to leave Constantinople and returned to [[Swedish Pomerania]]. He made the journey on horseback, riding across Europe in just fifteen days. He traveled across the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary to Vienna and arrived at [[Stralsund]]. A medal with Charles on horseback, his long hair flying in the wind, was struck in 1714 to commemorate the speedy ride. It reads {{Lang|de|Was sorgt Ihr doch? Gott und Ich leben noch}}. ("What worries you so? God and I live still")''.''<ref>{{Cite book|title=German armies. War and German politics, 1648–1806. Warfare and history|last=Wilson|first=Peter Hamish|isbn=1-85728-106-3|page=140}}</ref>

After five years away, Charles arrived in Sweden to find his homeland at war with Russia, Saxony, Hannover, Great Britain and Denmark. Sweden's western enemies attacked southern and western Sweden while Russian forces traveled across Finland to attack the Stockholm district. For the first time, Sweden found itself in a defensive war. Charles's plan was to attack Denmark by striking at her possessions in Norway. It was hoped that by cutting Denmark's Norwegian supply lines the Danes would be compelled to withdraw their forces from Swedish Scania.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
 
Charles invaded Norway in 1716 with a combined force of 7,000 men. He occupied the capital of [[Oslo|Christiania]], (modern Oslo), and laid siege to the [[Akershus Fortress|Akershus fortress]] there. Due to a lack of heavy siege cannons he was unable to dislodge the Norwegian forces inside. After suffering significant losses of men and materiel, Charles was forced to retreat from the capital on 29 April. In the following mid-May, Charles invaded again, this time striking the border town of [[Halden|Fredrikshald]], now [[Halden]], in an attempt to capture the fortress of [[Fredriksten]]. The attacking Swedes came under heavy cannon fire from the fortress and were forced to withdraw when the Norwegians set the town of Fredrikshald on fire. Swedish casualties in Fredrikshald were estimated at 500 men. While the siege at Fredrikshald was underway, the Swedish supply fleet was attacked and defeated by [[Tordenskjold]] in the [[Battle of Dynekilen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nb.no/karl-xii-kart/omfelttogene.htm|title=Karl XIIs felttog i Norge|work=nb.no|access-date=22 June 2009|archive-date=3 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203020542/http://www.nb.no/karl-xii-kart/omfelttogene.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1718, Charles once more invaded Norway. With a main force of 40,000 men, he again laid [[Siege of Fredriksten|siege to the fortress]] of Fredriksten overlooking the town of Fredrikshald. Charles was shot in the head and killed during the siege, while he was inspecting trenches. The invasion was abandoned, and Charles's body was returned to Sweden. A second force, under [[Carl Gustaf Armfeldt]], marched against [[Trondheim]] with 10,000 men but was forced to retreat. In the march that ensued, many of the 5,800 remaining men [[Carolean Death March|perished in a severe winter storm]].