Charles xii sweden biography for kids wikipedia

He assumed power, after a seven-month caretaker government , at the age of fifteen. In , a triple alliance of Denmark—Norway , Saxony — Poland—Lithuania and Russia launched a threefold attack on the Swedish protectorate of Holstein-Gottorp and provinces of Livonia and Ingria , aiming to draw advantage as the Swedish Empire was unaligned and ruled by a young and inexperienced king, thus initiating the Great Northern War.

Leading the Swedish army against the alliance, Charles won multiple victories despite being significantly outnumbered.

Charles xii quotes

A major victory over a much larger Russian army in , at the Battle of Narva , compelled Peter the Great to sue for peace , an offer that Charles subsequently rejected. By , Charles, now 24 years old, had forced all of his foes into submission. Russia was now the sole remaining hostile power. Charles's subsequent march on Moscow met with initial success as victory followed victory, the most significant of which was the Battle of Holowczyn where the smaller Swedish army routed a Russian army twice its size.

The campaign ended with disaster when the Swedish army suffered heavy losses to a Russian force more than twice its size at Poltava.

Charles xii cause of death

Charles had been incapacitated by a wound prior to the battle, rendering him unable to take command. The defeat was followed by the Surrender at Perevolochna. Charles spent the following years in exile in the Ottoman Empire before returning to lead an assault on Norway, trying to evict the Danish king from the war once more in order to aim all his forces at the Russians.

Two campaigns met with frustration and ultimate failure, concluding with his death at the Siege of Fredriksten in At the time, most of the Swedish Empire was under foreign military occupation, though Sweden itself was still free. This situation was later formalized, albeit moderated in the subsequent Treaty of Nystad. The result was the end of the Swedish Empire , and also of its effectively organized absolute monarchy and war machine, commencing a parliamentary government unique for continental Europe, which would last for half a century until royal autocracy was restored by Gustav III.

Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician, credited with introducing important tax and legal reforms.