One of the most controversial monarchs of Scandinavia was the Swedish king Charles 12. In his reign, the conquests of this Scandinavian country reached their maximum limits, but under him, due to defeat in the war, the end of Swedish great power came. One of the greatest heroes of the nation or a loser was Charles 12 - the Swedish king? The biography of this monarch will allow us to understand this issue.
Childhood
What kind of man was this - the Swedish king Charles 12? A brief biography of this monarch, as expected, originates from the birth of the crowned person. It is this that will become the starting point of our narrative.
So, the future Swedish king Charles 12 was born in June 1682 in the capital city of Stockholm. His father was the monarch of Sweden, Charles 11 of the Palatinate-Zweibrucken dynasty, and his mother was Ulrike Eleanor, daughter of the King of Denmark, Frederick 3.
Charles 12 received a very good education at that time, as evidenced by at least the fact that this husband spoke several languages.
Ascension to the throne
Charles 11 died quite early, at the age of 41, when his son was only 14 years old. Since then, Charles 12 is the Swedish king. He was crowned immediately after the death of his parent in March 1697.
Despite the wishes of his father and his immature age, Charles 12 insisted on his recognition as an adult and refused to introduce regency.
First military campaign
From the first years of his reign, Karl 12, the Swedish king, got involved in various military campaigns. The biography of this ruler consists almost entirely of descriptions of his campaigns. Youthful maximalism played an important role in such violent activity.
Charles 12 knew that he was facing a confrontation with the coalition of Russia, Denmark and Poland, but, nevertheless, was not afraid to enter into confrontation with these countries. He directed his first blow against Denmark in 1700. Thus began the great Northern War.
The pretext for the fighting was the attack of the cousin of Charles 12, King of Denmark Frederick, on an ally of the Swedish monarch Friedrich Holstein-Gottorp. Taking with him a relatively small military contingent, Charles 12 made a lightning landing in the capital of his rival, the city of Copenhagen. The decisiveness and swiftness of the actions of the Swedish king made him request the peace of the Danish monarch, who did not expect such agility from young Karl.
The fact of the surrender of Denmark caused acute displeasure among its allies - the Polish king Augustus 2, who was also the elector of Saxony, and the Russian king Peter 1, later nicknamed the Great.
Baltic War
Already in February 1700, the Saxon troops of Augustus 2 besieged the Swedish cities in the Baltic. Soon, the most powerful of the anti-Swedish coalition, Peter 1, joined in the hostilities.
Russian troops besieged the Baltic cities of Narva and Ivangorod, which belonged to Sweden. In this situation, Charles 12 again demonstrated his determination and quick thinking. At the head of the expeditionary force, previously triumphant victory over Denmark, he landed in the Baltic. Despite the fact that the forces of the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal de Croix were three times the army of the Swedes, Karl was not afraid to give a decisive battle. His audacity was rewarded since Sweden triumphed in complete victory. The Russian army suffered significant numerical and material losses, in particular, lost all artillery.
Baltic control by Charles 12 was restored.
War with Poland
The next rival of Charles 12, who needed to be dealt with, was the Polish king and at the same time the Saxon elector August 2.
I must say that August 2 could fully rely only on his Saxon army. In Poland, he was a stranger invited to the throne. In addition, the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth provided for the absence of strict centralized management, significant freedom of the nobility, which made the royal power rather weak. Not to mention the fact that in Poland there was an opposition against Augustus 2, ready to support Charles 12. The leading role in it was played by tycoon Stanislav Leszczynski.
The Swedish king Charles 12 invaded Poland in 1702. In the battle of Klishev, he defeated Augustus 2, despite the fact that his army was twice as small as the enemy’s army. The Swedes captured all the enemy artillery.
In 1704, representatives of the Polish gentry, who supported Charles 12, deposed August 2 and proclaimed king Stanislav Leszczynski. King Stanislav was able to establish actual control over the territory of the Commonwealth with the support of the Swedish monarch in 1706. This happened after Charles 12 finally defeated Augustus 2 and forced the latter to conclude the Peace of Altransted, according to which he abdicated the Polish throne, but retained the Elector of Saxony.
Campaign to Russia
Thus, by the end of 1706, of the entire coalition of countries opposing Sweden, only Russia remained in service. But her fate seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Karl’s army won victories over the Russians, at the same time confronting other states. Now, when Peter 1 lost allies, only a miracle could save the Russian kingdom from complete surrender.
Nevertheless, while the Swedish king Charles 12 was busy with Polish affairs, Peter 1 managed to recapture a number of Baltic cities from him and even found his new capital in that area - St. Petersburg. Naturally, this state of affairs displeased the Scandinavian monarch. He decided to end the enemy with one blow, capturing Moscow.
As during the war with Poland, before the invasion, Charles 12 found allies. The Little Russian hetman Ivan Mazepa and the Cossack foreman, dissatisfied with the restriction of their freedoms by the tsarist regime, acted as these. It was Mazepa’s support that played a paramount role in Karl’s decision to move to Moscow through Little Russia. Until the last moment, Peter 1 did not believe in this conspiracy, since he was rather loyal to the Cossack hetman, although he had repeatedly been informed of the fact of the agreement between the Swedish king and Mazepa. In addition, the Ottoman Empire, which at that time was at war with the Russian state, was supposed to be an ally of Charles 12.
In the fall of 1708, the forces of Charles 12 entered the territory of the Russian Empire, which was soon to become the Russian Empire. The Swedish king went to Little Russia, and General Levengaupt moved to help him from the Baltic. In September 1708, he was defeated by Russian troops near Lesnaya, never having time to connect with his sovereign.
Poltava battle
Charles 12 (the Swedish king) and Peter 1 met in 1709 in the battle of Poltava, which the Scandinavian monarch had besieged for several months. It was actually a decisive battle not only of a purely Russian campaign, but of the entire Northern War. The battle was cruel, and the scales tilted to one side or the other. Finally, thanks to the genius of Peter 1, the Swedes were completely defeated. They lost almost 10 thousand people killed and wounded, and more than 2.5 thousand people were captured.
Charles 12 himself was wounded and barely escaped with loyal people, leaving most of the army to the mercy of fate. After that, the remnants of the Swedish army surrendered at Perevolochny. Thus, the number of captured Swedes increased by 10-15 thousand people.
For Russia, it became a landmark battle in which the Swedish king Charles 12 was crushed. A photo of the church, built in memory of this glorious event at the battle site, is placed above.
Reasons for defeat
But why did Karl 12, the Swedish king, lose the battle? The reign of this monarch was marked by glorious victories and in more difficult conditions. Is it really all about the genius of Peter 1?
Of course, the military talent of the Russian sovereign played a significant role in the victory over the Swedes, but there were other significant factors. The Russian army doubled, or perhaps more, outnumbered the Swedish. Ivan Mazepa, whom Karl had so hoped for help, could not convince most of the Cossacks to switch to the side of the Swedish monarch. In addition, the Turks were in no hurry with help.
A significant role in the defeat of Charles was played by the fact that the passage through the territory of Russia was not at all easy for him. His army suffered major non-combat losses related to the severity of the campaign. In addition, she was constantly battered by the irregular Russian cavalry, attacking in swoops and hiding. Thus, the total losses of the Swedish army by the time of its approach to Poltava amounted to almost a third of the troops. After that, the Swedes held the siege of Poltava for about three more months. The Russian forces not only twice exceeded the Swedes in numbers, but were also relatively fresh, in contrast to the battered army of the enemy.
We should not forget that although Charles 12 at the time of the battle was already a celebrated commander, but, nevertheless, he was only 27 years old, and his youth was a frequent companion of fatal errors.
Bender Seating
The rest of Charles 12's life was a series of defeats and setbacks. The Battle of Poltava became a kind of Rubicon between years of glory and humiliation. After a terrible defeat from Peter 1, Charles 12 fled into the possession of his ally, the Turkish Sultan. The Swedish monarch stopped in the city of Bender, on the territory of modern Transnistria.
Having lost the entire army, the king of Sweden was forced to fight against Russia through diplomatic methods. He persuaded the Turkish sultan to start a war with the Russian kingdom. In 1711, his attempts finally succeeded. Another war broke out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Its results were disappointing for Peter 1: he almost got captured and lost part of his possessions. But Karl 12 did not win anything from this victory of the Turks. Moreover, according to the peace concluded in 1713 between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, the Swedish king was forcibly expelled from the Turkish possessions by the sultan. There was even a clash with the Janissaries, during which Karl was injured.
Thus ended the four-year period of the Swedish king in Bender. During this time, his empire markedly decreased in size. Territories in Finland, the Baltic states, and Germany were lost. In Poland, a longtime enemy of Charles 12 - August 2 reigned again.
Homecoming
In twelve days, Charles 12 crossed all of Europe and reached the city of Stralsund, a Swedish estate on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. He was besieged by the Danes. Karl tried to defend a city with a small contingent of troops, but failed. After that, he moved to Sweden to preserve his possessions at least in Scandinavia.
Karl continued active fighting on the territory of Norway, which was part of the Danish crown. At the same time, realizing the complexity of his situation, he tried to conclude a peace treaty with Russia.
Death
According to the official version, Charles 12 was killed in 1718 in Norway by a stray bullet, fighting against the Danes. It happened at the Fredriksten fortress.
According to another version, his death occurred as a result of a conspiracy of the Swedish aristocracy, which was unhappy with the king’s failed foreign policy.
Until now, the question remains of who died of the Swedish king Charles 12. The life of this monarch was from 1682 to 1718. Karl died at age 36.
general characteristics
The Swedish king Charles 12 lived a glorious, eventful, but short life. Biography, the history of his campaigns and his death were examined by us in this review. Most historians agree that Charles 12 was an excellent commander who knew how to win battles with fewer soldiers than the enemy. However, his weakness as a statesman is noted. Charles 12 was unable to secure the future prosperity of Sweden. Already during his lifetime, the previously powerful empire began to fall apart.
But, of course, Carl 12 is one of the most prominent personalities in Swedish history.