Editing Axel Oxenstierna (section)

===1612–1629: Lord High Chancellor and Governor-General===
On 6 January 1612 Oxenstierna became Lord High Chancellor (''Rikskansler'') of the Privy Council.<ref name="Oxenstierna Family Website - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre" /> His controlling, organizing hand soon became apparent in every branch of the administration.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/> Sweden was at the time troubled by three wars against [[Denmark]] ([[Kalmar War]]), [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland-Lithuania]] ([[Polish–Swedish War (1600–1629)|Polish-Swedish War]]) and Russia ([[Ingrian War]]). Oxenstierna's first big task as Chancellor was to achieve peace in some of the wars. The war against Denmark was considered the most dangerous of the three as the enemy-controlled parts of Sweden itself.<ref name="Populär Historia"/> Negotiations began in Knäred and Oxenstierna was first Swedish plenipotentiary. The negotiations led to the [[Treaty of Knäred]] in 1613. For his efforts regarding these negotiations, Oxenstierna received the title of district judge in the hundred of Snävringe and, eventually, the barony of [[Kimito]].<ref name="Nordisk Familjebok - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna" />

[[File:Gustav II of Sweden.jpg|left|thumb|King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden]]
During the frequent absences of Gustavus in [[Duchy of Livonia (1629–1721)|Livonia]] and in [[Finland]] (1614–1616) Oxenstierna acted as his viceroy.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/> One assignment Oxenstierna received while the king was in Livonia, was the task to finalize the negotiations regarding the marriage of [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg|John Casimir]] and the king's sister, Princess [[Catherine of Sweden (1584-1638)|Catharina]].<ref name="Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna" /> At the coronation of Gustavus Adolphus, in October 1617, Oxenstierna was [[knight]]ed.<ref name="Oxenstierna Family Website - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre" /> In 1620 he headed the embassy dispatched to [[Berlin]] to arrange the nuptial contract between Gustavus and [[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg]]. During the king's Russian and Polish wars he had the principal duty of supplying the [[Swedish Army|armies]] and the [[Royal Swedish Navy|fleets]] with everything necessary, including men and money.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/> Oxenstierna's ways of carrying out his assignments apparently gained King Gustavus's appreciation, since the king, in 1622, asked Oxenstierna to accompany him to Livonia and appointed him [[Governor-General in the Swedish Realm|Governor-General]] and commandant of [[Riga]], a strategically important town during the ongoing war against Poland.<ref name="Nordisk Familjebok - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna" /><ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/> His services in Livonia gained him the reward of four castles (among others [[Burtnieki]] and [[Valmiera]])<ref name="Oxenstierna Family Website - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre" /> and the whole bishopric of [[Cēsis|Wenden]]. Entrusted with the peace negotiations which led to the truce with Poland in 1623, he succeeded in averting a threatened rupture with Denmark in 1624. The Polish-Swedish War was reinitiated in 1626, and on 7 October that year, Oxenstierna became Governor-General in the newly acquired [[Possessions of Sweden|Swedish possession]] of [[Duchy of Prussia|Prussia]]. In 1629 he concluded the advantageous [[Truce of Altmark]] with Poland-Lithuania. Prior to this, in September 1628, he arranged a joint occupation of [[Stralsund]] with Denmark to prevent that important fortress from falling into the hands of the Imperialists.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/>

Oxenstierna was not only highly successful within the diplomacy. During these years, he was entrusted with various important assignments in which he succeeded, such as gathering money and troops for the attack in Prussia in 1626. He played the leading organizational and administrational role in Prussia, as he had done earlier in Livonia. He was in charge of, for example, tolls, fortifications and the entire state [[grain trade]].<ref name="Nordisk Familjebok - Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna" /> During the latter part of the 1620s, [[Elbląg]] (German: ''Elbing''), where Oxenstierna resided and from where he governed the Swedish parts of Prussia, became a major Swedish centre of power, second only to Stockholm.<ref name="Trettioåriga kriget">{{cite book|last=Ericson Wolke|first=Lars|author2=Larsson, Villstrand|title=Trettioåriga kriget|year=2006|editor=Historiska Media|pages=145–148|publisher=Historiska media |isbn=91-85377-37-6|language=sv}}</ref>