Chapter CCCXCVI: Section 7 (24)

"Charles XII, at his accession to the throne, found himself
the absolute and undisturbed master, not only of Sweden and
Finland, but also of Livonia, Carelia, Ingria, Wismar, Viborg,
the Islands of Rügen and Oesel, and the finest part of
Pomerania, together with the duchy of Bremen and Verden,—all
of them the conquests of his ancestors. … The beginning of the
king's reign gave no very favorable idea of his character. It
was imagined that he had been more ambitious of obtaining the
supreme power than worthy of possessing it. True it is, he had
no dangerous passion; but his conduct discovered nothing but
the sallies of youth and the freaks of obstinacy. He seemed to
be equally proud and lazy. The ambassadors who resided at his
court took him even for a person of mean capacity, and
represented him as such to their respective masters. The
Swedes entertained the same opinion of him: nobody knew his
real character: he did not even know it himself, until the
storm that suddenly arose in the North gave him an opportunity
of displaying his great talents, which had hitherto lain
concealed. Three powerful princes, taking the advantage of his
youth, conspired his ruin almost at the same time. The first
was his own cousin, Frederick IV, king of Denmark: the second,
Augustus, elector of Saxony and King of Poland; Peter the
Great, czar of Muscovy, was the third, and most dangerous. …
The founder of the Russian empire was ambitious of being a
conqueror. … Besides, he wanted a port on the east side of the
Baltic, to facilitate the execution of all his schemes. He
wanted the province of Ingria, which lies to the northeast of
Livonia. The Swedes were in possession of it, and from them he
resolved to take it by force. His predecessors had had claims
upon Ingria, Esthonia, and Livonia; and the present seemed a
favorable opportunity for reviving these claims, which had
lain buried for a hundred years, and had been cancelled by the
sanction of treaties. He therefore made a league with the King
of Poland, to wrest from young Charles XII all the territories
that are bounded by the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea,
Poland, and Muscovy. The news of these preparations struck the
Swedes with consternation, and alarmed the council." But the
effect on the young King was instantly and strangely sobering.
He assumed the responsibilities of the situation at once, and
took into his own hands the preparations for war. From that
moment "he entered on a new course of life, from which he
never afterwards deviated in one single instance. Full of the
idea of Alexander and Cæsar, he proposed to imitate those two
conquerors in every thing but their vices. No longer did he
indulge himself in magnificence, sports, and recreations: he
reduced his table to the most rigid frugality. He had formerly
been fond of gayety and dress; but from that time he was never
clad otherwise than as a common soldier. He was supposed to
have entertained a passion for a lady of his court: whether
there was any foundation for this supposition does not appear;
certain it is, he ever after renounced all commerce with women,
not only for fear of being governed by them, but likewise to
set an example of continence to his soldiers. …
{2825}
He likewise determined to abstain from wine during the rest of
his life. … He began by assuring the Duke of Holstein, his
brother-in-law, of a speedy assistance. Eight thousand men
were immediately sent into Pomerania, a province bordering
upon Holstein, in order to enable the duke to make head
against the Danes. The duke indeed had need of them. His
dominions were already laid waste, the castle of Gottorp
taken, and the city of Tönningen pressed by an obstinate
siege, to which the King of Denmark had come in person. … This
spark began to throw the empire into a flame. On the one side,
the Saxon troops of the King of Poland, those of Brandenburg
Wolfenbüttel, and Hesse Cassel, advanced to join the Danes. On
the other, the King of Sweden's 8,000 men, the troops of
Hanover and Zell, and three Dutch regiments, came to the
assistance of the duke. While the little country of Holstein
was thus the theatre of war, two squadrons, the one from
England and the other from Holland, appeared in the Baltic. …
They joined the young King of Sweden, who seemed to be in
danger of being crushed. … Charles set out for his first
campaign on the 8th day of May, new style, in the year 1700,
and left Stockholm, whither he never returned. … His fleet
consisted of three-and-forty vessels. … He joined the
squadrons of the allies," and made a descent upon Copenhagen.
The city surrendered to escape bombardment, and in less than
six weeks Charles had extorted from the Danish King a treaty
of peace, negotiated at Travendahl, which indemnified the Duke
of Holstein for all the expenses of the war and delivered him
from oppression. For himself, Charles asked nothing. "Exactly
at the same time, the King of Poland invested Riga, the
capital of Livonia; and the czar was advancing on the east at
the head of nearly 100,000 men." Riga was defended with great
skill and determination, and Augustus was easily persuaded to
abandon the siege on the remonstrance of the Dutch, who had
much merchandise in the town. "The only thing that Charles had
now to do towards the finishing of his first campaign, was to
march against his rival in glory, Peter Alexiovitch." Peter
had appeared before Narva on the 1st of October, at the head
of 80,000 men, mostly undisciplined barbarians, "some armed
with arrows, and others with clubs. Few of them had guns; none
of them had ever seen a regular siege; and there was not one
good cannoneer in the whole army. … Narva was almost without
fortifications: Baron Horn, who commanded there, had not 1,000
regular troops; and yet this immense army could not reduce it
in six weeks. It was now the 15th of November, when the czar
learned that the King of Sweden had crossed the sea with 200
transports, and was advancing to the relief of Narva. The
Swedes were not above 20,000 strong." But the czar was not
confident. He had another army marching to his support, and he
left the camp at Narva to hasten its movements. Charles'
motions were too quick for him. He reached Narva on the 30th
of November, after a forced march, with a vanguard of only
8,000 men, and at once, without waiting for the remainder of
his army to come up, he stormed the Russian intrenchments.
"The Swedes advanced with fixed bayonets, having a furious
shower of snow on their backs, which drove full in the face of
the enemy." The victory was complete. "The Swedes had not lost
above 600 men. Eight thousand Muscovites had been killed in
their intrenchments: many were drowned; many had crossed the
river," and 30,000 who held a part of the camp at nightfall,
surrendered next morning. When czar Peter, who was pressing
the march of his 40,000 men, received news of the disaster at
Narva, he turned homeward, and set himself seriously to the
work of drilling and disciplining his troops. "The Swedes," he
said phlegmatically, "will teach us to beat them."

_Voltaire,
History of Charles XII., King of Sweden,
books 1-2._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Denmark and Norway): A. D. 1699.
Accession of Frederick IV.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1701-1707.
Invasion and subjugation of Poland and Saxony by Charles XII.
Deposition of Augustus from the Polish throne.
Charles at the summit of his career.

"Whilst Peter, abandoning all the provinces he had invaded,
retreated to his own dominions, and employed himself in
training his undisciplined serfs, Charles prepared to take the
field against his only remaining adversary, the King of
Poland. Leaving Narva, where he passed the winter, he entered
Livonia, and appeared in the neighbourhood of Riga, the very
place which the Poles and Saxons had in vain besieged.
Dreading the storm that now approached, Augustus had entered
into a closer alliance with the czar; and at an interview
which took place at Birsen, a small town in Lithuania, it was
agreed that each should furnish the other with a body of
50,000 mercenaries, to be paid by Russia. … The Saxon army,
having failed in their attempt on Riga, endeavoured to prevent
the Swedes from crossing the Dwina; but the passage was
effected under cover of a thick cloud of smoke from the
burning of wet straw, and by means of large boats with high
wooden parapets along the sides, to protect the soldiers from
the fire of the enemy, who were driven from their
intrenchments with the loss of 2,000 killed and 1,500
prisoners. Charles immediately advanced to Mittau, the capital
of Courland, the garrison of which, with all the other towns
and forts in the duchy, surrendered at discretion. He next
passed into Lithuania, conquering wherever he came, and
driving 20,000 Russians before him with the utmost
precipitation. On reaching Birsen, it gave him no little
satisfaction, as he himself confessed, to enter in triumph the
very town where, only a few months before, Augustus and the
czar had plotted his destruction. It was here that he formed
the daring project of dethroning the King of Poland by means
of his own subjects, whose notions of liberty could not
tolerate the measures of a despotic government. … The fate of
Augustus, already desperate, was here consummated by the
treachery of the primate Radziewiski, who caused it to be
immediately notified to all the palatines, that no alternative
remained but to submit to the will of the conqueror. The
deserted monarch resolved to defend his crown by force of
arms; the two kings met near Clissau (July 13, 1702), where
after a bloody battle fortune again declared for the Swedes.
Charles halted not a moment on the field of victory, but
marched rapidly to Cracow in pursuit of his antagonist.
{2826}
That city was taken without firing a shot, and taxed with a
contribution of 100,000 rix-dollars. The fugitive prince
obtained an unexpected respite of six weeks, his indefatigable
rival having had his thigh-bone fractured by an accidental
fall from his horse. The interval was spent in hostile
preparations, but the recovery of Charles overturned all the
schemes of his enemies, and the decisive battle of Pultusk
(May 1, 1703) completed the humiliation of the unfortunate
Augustus. At the instigation of the faithless cardinal, the
diet at Warsaw declared (February 14, 1704) that the Elector of
Saxony was incapable of wearing the crown, which was soon
after bestowed on Stanislaus Leczinski, the young palatine of
Posnania. Count Piper strongly urged his royal master to
assume the sovereignty himself. … But the splendours of a
diadem had few charms in the eyes of a conqueror who confessed
that he felt much more pleasure in bestowing thrones upon
others than in winning them for himself. Having thus succeeded
in his favourite project, Charles resumed his march to
complete the entire conquest of the kingdom. Every where had
fortune crowned the bold expeditions of this adventurous
prince. Whilst his generals and armies were pursuing their
career from province to province, he had himself opened a
passage for his victorious troops into Saxony and the imperial
dominions. His ships, now masters of the Baltic, were employed
in transporting to Sweden the prisoners taken in the wars.
Denmark, bound up by the treaty of Travendhal, was prevented
from offering any active interference; the Russians were kept
in check towards the east by a detachment of 30,000 Swedes; so
that the whole region was kept in awe by the sword of the
conqueror, from the German Ocean almost to the mouth of the
Borysthenes, and even to the gates of Moscow. The Czar Peter
in the mean time, having carried Narva by assault, and
captured several towns and fortresses in Livonia, held a
conference with Augustus at Grodno, where the two sovereigns
concerted their plans for attacking the Scandinavian invaders
in their new conquests, with a combined army of 60,000 men,
under Prince Menzikoff and General Schullemberg. Had the fate
of the contest depended on numerical superiority alone,
Charles must have been crushed before the overwhelming power
of his enemies; but his courage and good fortune prevailed
over every disadvantage. The scattered hordes of Muscovy were
overthrown with so great celerity, that one detachment after
another was routed before they learned the defeat of their
companions. Schullemberg, with all his experience and
reputation, was not more successful, having been completely
beaten by Renschild, the Parmenio of the northern Alexander,
in a sanguinary action (February 12, 1706), at the small town
of Travenstadt, near Punitz, a place already fatal to the
cause of Augustus. … The reduction of Saxony, which Charles
next invaded, obliged Augustus to implore peace on any terms.
The conditions exacted by the victor were, that he should
renounce for ever the crown of Poland; acknowledge Stanislaus
as lawful king; and dissolve his treaty of alliance with
Russia. The inflexible temper of Charles was not likely to
mitigate the severity of these demands, but their rigour was
increased in consequence of the defeat of General Meyerfeld,
near Kalisch, by Prince Menzikoff—the first advantage which
the Muscovites had gained over the Swedes in a pitched battle.
… The numerous victories of Charles, and the arbitrary manner
in which he had deposed the King of Poland, filled all Europe
with astonishment. Some states entertained apprehensions of
his power, while others prepared to solicit his friendship.
France, harassed by expensive wars in Spain, Italy, and the
Netherlands, courted his alliance with an ardour proportioned
to the distressing state of her affairs. Offended at the
declaration issued against him by the diet of Ratisbon, and
resenting an indignity offered to Baron de Stralheim, his
envoy at Vienna, he magnified these trivial affronts into an
occasion of quarrelling with the emperor, who was obliged to
succumb, and among other mortifying concessions, to grant his
Lutheran subjects in Silesia the free exercise of their
religious liberties as secured by the treaties of Westphalia.
… The ambitious prince was now in the zenith of his glory; he
had experienced no reverse, nor met with any interruption to
his victories. The romantic extravagance of his views
increased with his success. One year, he thought, will suffice
for the conquest of Russia. The court of Rome was next to feel
his vengeance, as the pope had dared to oppose the concession
of religious liberty to the Silesian Protestants. No
enterprise at that time appeared impossible to him."

_A. Crichton,
Scandinavia, Ancient and Modern,
volume 2, chapter 3._

ALSO IN:
_S. A. Dunham,
History of Poland,
pages 219-221._

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 5, chapter 5 (volume 3)._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1707-1718.
Charles XII. in Russia.
His ruinous defeat at Pultowa.
His refuge among the Turks.
His fruitless intrigues.
His return to Sweden.
His death.

"From Saxony, Charles marched back into Poland [September,
1707], where Peter was making some ineffectual efforts to
revive the party of Augustus. Peter retired before his rival,
who had, however, the satisfaction of defeating an army of
20,000 Russians [at Golowstschin, in the spring of 1708],
strongly intrenched. Intoxicated by success, he rejected the
czar's offers of peace, declaring that he would treat at
Moscow; and without forming any systematic plan of operations,
he crossed the frontiers, resolved on the destruction of that
ancient city. Peter prevented the advance of the Swedes, on
the direct line, by destroying the roads and desolating the
country; Charles, after having endured great privations,
turned off towards the Ukraine, whither he had been invited by
Mazeppa, the chief of the Cossacks, who, disgusted by the
conduct of the czar, had resolved to throw off his allegiance.
In spite of all the obstacles that nature and the enemy could
throw in his way, Charles reached the place of rendezvous; but
he had the mortification to find Mazeppa appear in his camp as
a fugitive rather than an ally, for the czar had discovered
his treason, and disconcerted his schemes by the punishment of
his associates. A still greater misfortune to the Swedes was
the loss of the convoy and the ruin of the reinforcement they
had expected from Livonia, General Lewenhaupt, to whose care
it was entrusted, had been forced into three general
engagements by the Russians; and though he had eminently
distinguished himself by his courage and conduct, he was
forced to set fire to his wagons to prevent their falling into
the hands of the enemy.
{2827}
Undaunted by these misfortunes, Charles continued the campaign
even in the depth of a winter so severe that 2,000 men were at
once frozen to death almost in his presence. At length he laid
siege to Pultowa, a fortified city on the frontiers of the
Ukraine, which contained one of the czar's principal
magazines. The garrison was numerous and the resistance
obstinate; Charles himself was dangerously wounded in the heel
whilst viewing the works; and while he was still confined to
his tent he learned that Peter was advancing with a numerous
army to raise the siege. Leaving 7,000 men to guard the works,
Charles ordered his soldiers to march and meet the enemy,
while he accompanied them in a litter (July 8, 1709). The
desperate charge of the Swedes broke the Russian cavalry, but
the infantry stood firm, and gave the horse an opportunity of
rallying in the rear. In the meantime the czar's artillery
made dreadful havoc in the Swedish line; and Charles, who had
been forced to abandon his cannon in his forced marches, in
vain contended against this formidable disadvantage. After a
dreadful combat of more than two hours' duration, the Swedish
army was irretrievably ruined; 8,000 of their best troops were
left dead on the field, 6,000 were taken prisoners, and about
12,000 of the fugitives were soon after forced to surrender on
the banks of the Dnieper, from want of boats to cross the
river. Charles, accompanied by about 300 of his guards,
escaped to Bender, a Turkish town in Bessarabia, abandoning
all his treasures to his rival, including the rich spoils of
Poland and Saxony. Few victories have ever had such important
consequences as that which the czar won at Pultowa; in one
fatal day Charles lost the fruits of nine years' victories;
the veteran army that had been the terror of Europe was
completely ruined; those who escaped from the fatal field were
taken prisoners, but they found a fate scarcely better than
death; for they were transported by the czar to colonize the
wilds of Siberia; the elector of Saxony re-entered Poland and
drove Stanislaus from the throne; the kings of Denmark and
Prussia revived old claims on the Swedish provinces, while the
victorious Peter invaded not only Livonia and Ingria, but a
great part of Finland. Indeed, but for the interference of the
German emperor and the maritime powers, the Swedish monarchy
would have been rent in pieces. Charles, in his exile, formed
a new plan for the destruction of his hated rival; he
instigated the Turks to attempt the conquest of Russia, and
flattered himself that he might yet enter Moscow at the head
of a Mohammedan army. The bribes which Peter lavishly bestowed
on the counsellors of the sultan, for a time frustrated these
intrigues; but Charles, through his friend Poniatowski,
informed the sultan of his vizier's corruption, and procured
the deposition of that minister. … The czar made the most
vigorous preparations for the new war by which he was menaced
(A. D. 1711). The Turkish vizier, on the other hand, assembled
all the forces of the Ottoman Empire in the plains of
Adrianople. Demetrius Cantemir, the hospodar of Moldavia,
believing that a favourable opportunity presented itself for
delivering his country from the Mohammedan yoke, invited the
czar to his aid; and the Russians, rapidly advancing, reached
the northern banks of the Pruth, near Yassi, the Moldavian
capital. Here the Russians found that the promises of Prince
Cantemir were illusory," and they were soon so enveloped by
the forces of the Turks that there seemed to be no escape for
them. But the czarina, Catherine —the Livonian peasant woman
whom Peter had made his wife—gathered up her jewels and all
the money she could find in camp, and sent them as a gift to
the vizier, whereby he was induced to open negotiations. "A
treaty [known as the Treaty of the Pruth] was concluded on
terms which, though severe [requiring the Russians to give up
Azof], were more favourable than Peter, under the
circumstances, could reasonably have hoped; the Russians
retired in safety, and Charles reached the Turkish camp, only
to learn the downfall of all his expectations. A new series of
intrigues in the court of Constantinople led to the
appointment of a new vizier; but this minister was little
inclined to gratify the king of Sweden; on the contrary,
warned by the fate of his predecessors, he resolved to remove
him from the Ottoman empire (A. D. 1713). Charles continued to
linger; even after he had received a letter of dismissal from
the sultan's own hand, he resolved to remain, and when a
resolution was taken to send him away by force, he determined,
with his few attendants, to dare the whole strength of the
Turkish empire. After a fierce resistance, he was captured and
conveyed a prisoner to Adrianople. … Another revolution in the
divan revived the hopes of Charles, and induced him to remain
in Turkey, when his return to the North would probably have
restored him to his former eminence. The Swedes, under General
Steenbock, gained one of the most brilliant victories that had
been obtained during the war, over the united forces of the
Danes and Saxons, at Gadebusch [November 20, 1712], in the
duchy of Mecklenburg; but the conqueror sullied his fame by
burning the defenceless town of Altona [January 19, 1713] an
outrage which excited the indignation of all Europe." He soon
after met with reverses and was compelled to surrender his
whole army. "The czar in the meantime pushed forward his
conquests on the side of Finland; and the glory of his reign
appeared to be consummated by a naval victory obtained over
the Swedes near the island of Oeland. … Charles heard of his
rival's progress unmoved; but when he learned that the Swedish
senate intended to make his sister regent and to make peace
with Russia and Denmark, he announced his intention of
returning home." He traversed Europe incognito, making the
journey of 1,100 miles, mostly on horseback, in seventeen
days, "and towards the close of the year [1714] reached
Stralsund, the capital of Swedish Pomerania. Charles, at the
opening of the next campaign, found himself surrounded with
enemies (A. D. 1715). Stralsund itself was besieged by the
united armies of the Prussians, Danes, and Saxons, while the
Russian fleet, which now rode triumphant in the Baltic,
threatened a descent upon Sweden. After an obstinate defence,
in which the Swedish monarch displayed all his accustomed
bravery, Stralsund was forced to capitulate, Charles having
previously escaped in a small vessel to his native shores. All
Europe believed the Swedish monarch undone; it was supposed he
could no longer defend his own dominions, when, to the
inexpressible astonishment of everyone, it was announced that
he had invaded Norway.
{2828}
His attention, however, was less engaged by the war than by
the gigantic intrigues of his new favourite, Goertz, who,
taking advantage of a coolness between the Russians and the
other enemies of Sweden, proposed that Peter and Charles
should unite in strict amity, and dictate the law to Europe. …
While the negotiations were yet in progress, Charles invaded
Norway a second time, and invested the castle of
Frederickshall in the very depth of winter. But while engaged
in viewing the works he was struck by a cannon-ball, and was
dead before any of his attendants came to his assistance
[December 11, 1718]. The Swedish senate showed little grief
for the loss

_W. C. Taylor,
Student's Manual of Modern History,
chapter 7, section 6._

ALSO IN:
_E. Schuyler,
Peter the Great,
chapters 53-56 and 61-66 (volume 2)._

_Sir E. S. Creasy,
History of the Ottoman Turks,
chapter 18._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1719.
Accession of Ulrica Eleonora.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1719-1721.
Constitutional changes.
Treaties of Peace ending the Great Northern War.
Swedish cessions of Territory.

"An assembly of the States was summoned in February [1719],
and completely altered the constitution. Sweden was declared
an elective kingdom, and the government was vested in a
council of 24 members, divided into eight colleges, who were
invested with a power so absolute that their elected queen was
reduced to a mere shadow. In short, the ancient oligarchy was
restored, and Sweden became the prey of a few noble families.
… In November a treaty was signed at Stockholm between Sweden
and Great Britain, by which the Duchies of Bremen and Verden
were ceded to George I. [as Elector of Hanover] in
consideration of a payment of one million rix-dollars. By
another treaty in January 1720, George engaged to support
Sweden against Denmark and Russia, and to pay a yearly subsidy
of $300,000 during the war. About the same time an armistice
was concluded with Poland till a definitive treaty should be
arranged on the basis of the Peace of Oliva. Augustus was to
be recognised as King of Poland; but Stanislaus was to retain
the royal title during his life, and to receive from Augustus
a million rix-dollars. Both parties were to unite to check the
preponderance of the Czar, whose troops excited great
discontent and suspicion by their continued presence in
Poland. On February 1st a peace was concluded with Prussia
under the mediation of France and Great Britain. The principal
articles of this treaty were that Sweden ceded to Prussia,
Stettin, the Islands of Wollin and Usedom, and all the tract
between the Oder and Peene, together with the towns of Damm
and Golnau beyond the Oder. The King of Prussia, on his side,
engaged not to assist the Czar, and to pay two million
rix-dollars to the Queen of Sweden. The terms of a peace
between Sweden and Denmark were more difficult of arrangement.
… By the Treaty of Stockholm, June 12th 1720, the King of
Denmark restored to Sweden, Wismar, Stralsund, Rügen, and all
that he held in Pomerania; Sweden paying 600,000 rix-dollars
and renouncing the freedom of the Sound. Thus the only
territorial acquisition that Denmark made by the war was the
greater part of the Duchy of Schleswig, the possession of
which was guaranteed to her by England and France. Sweden and
Russia were now the only Powers that remained at war. … At
length, through the mediation of France, conferences were
opened in May 1721, and the Peace of Nystad was signed,
September 10th. … The only portion of his conquests that
[Peter] relinquished was Finnland, with the exception of a
part of Carelia; but as, by his treaty with Augustus II., at
the beginning of the war, he had promised to restore Livonia
to Poland if he conquered it, he paid the Crown of Sweden
$2,000,000 in order to evade this engagement by alleging that
he had purchased that province."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 5, chapter 7 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:
_F. C. Schlosser,
History of the 18th Century,
period 1, division 1, chapter 2, section 3._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1720.
Accession of Frederick of Hesse-Cassel,
husband of Ulrica Eleonora.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1720-1792.
Wars with Russia and Prussia.
Humiliating powerlessness of the king.
The parties of the Hats and the Caps.
A constitutional Revolution.
Assassination of Gustavus III.

Ulrica Eleonora, the sister of Charles XII., resigned the
crown in 1720, in favor of her husband, Prince of Hesse, who
became king under the title of Frederick I. His reign
witnessed the conquest of Finland and the cession (1743) of a
part of that province to Russia.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1740-1762.

On his death in 1751, Adolphus Frederick, bishop of Lubeck,
and administrator of Holstein, was raised to the throne.
"Though his personal qualities commanded respect, his reign
was a disastrous one. He had the folly to join the coalition
of Russia, Poland, Austria, and France against the king of
Prussia. Twenty thousand Swedes were marched into Pomerania,
on the pretext of enforcing the conditions of the treaty of
Westphalia, but with the view of recovering the districts
which had been ceded to Prussia after the death of Charles
XII. They reduced Usedom and Wollin, with the fortresses on
the coast; but this success was owing to the absence of the
Prussians. When, in 1758, Schwald, the general of Frederic the
Great, was at liberty to march with 30,000 men into Pomerania,
he recovered the places which had been lost, and forced the
invaders to retire under the cannon of Stralsund. The
accession of the tsar Peter was still more favourable to
Frederic. An enthusiastic admirer of that prince, he soon
concluded a treaty with him. Sweden was forced to follow the
example; and things remained, at the peace of Hubertsburg, in
the same condition as before the war. Scarcely was Sweden at
harmony with her formidable enemy, when she became agitated by
internal commotions. We have alluded to the limitations set to
the royal authority after the death of Charles XII., and to
the discontent it engendered in the breasts of the Swedish
monarchs. While they strove to emancipate themselves from the
shackles imposed upon them, the diet was no less anxious to
render them more enslaved. That diet, consisting of four
orders, the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the
peasants, was often the scene of tumultuous proceedings: it
was rarely tranquil; yet it enjoyed the supreme legislative
authority.
{2829}
It was also corrupt; for impoverished nobles and needy
tradesmen had a voice, no less than the wealthiest members.
All new laws, all ordinances, were signed by the king; yet he
had no power of refusal; he was the mere registrar-general. …
The king had sometimes refused to sign ordinances which he
judged dangerous to the common weal: in 1756 an act was
passed, that in future a stamp might be used in lieu of the
sign-manual, whenever he should again refuse. More intolerable
than all this was the manner in which the diet insisted on
regulating the most trifling details of the royal household.
This interference was resented by some of the members,
belonging to what was called the 'Hat' party, who may be
termed the tories of Sweden. Opposed to these were the 'Caps,'
who were for shackling the crown with new restrictions, and of
whom the leaders were undoubtedly in the pay of Russia. … As
Russia was the secret soul of the Caps, so France endeavoured
to support the Hats, whenever the courts of St. Petersburgh
and St. Germains were hostile to each other. Stockholm
therefore was an arena in which the two powers struggled for
the ascendancy." Gustavus III., who succeeded his father
Adolphus Frederic in 1771, was able with the help of French
money and influence, and by winning to his support the burgher
cavalry of the capital, to overawe the party of the Caps, and
to impose a new constitution upon the country. The new
constitution "conferred considerable powers on the sovereign;
enabled him to make peace, or declare war, without the consent
of the diet; but he could make no new law, or alter any
already made, without its concurrence; and he was bound to
ask, though not always to follow, the advice of his senate in
matters of graver import. The form of the constitution was not
much altered; and the four orders of deputies still remained.
On the whole, it was a liberal constitution. If this
revolution was agreeable to the Swedes themselves, it was
odious to Catherine II., who saw Russian influence annihilated
by it." The bad feeling between the two governments which
followed led to war, in 1787, when Russia was engaged at the
same time in hostilities with the Turks. The war was unpopular
in Sweden, and Gustavus was frustrated in his ambitious
designs on Finland. Peace was made in 1790, each party
restoring its conquests, "so that things remained exactly as
they were before the war." On the 16th March, 1792, Gustavus
III. was assassinated, being shot at a masquerade ball, by one
Ankerstrom, whose motives have remained always a mystery.
Suspicion attached to others, the king's brother included, but
nothing to justify it is proved. The murdered king was
succeeded by his son Gustavus IV., who had but just passed the
age of three years.

_S. A. Dunham,
History of Denmark, Sweden and Norway,
book 3, chapter 4 (volume 3)._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Denmark and Norway): A. D. 1730.
Accession of Christian VI.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Denmark and Norway): A. D. 1746.
Accession of Frederick V.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1751.
Accession of Adolphus Frederick.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Denmark and Norway): A. D. 1766.
Accession of Christian VII.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1771.
Accession of Gustavus Ill.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1792.
Accession of Gustavus Adolphus.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1795.
Peace with France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794-1795 (OCTOBER-MAY).

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: A. D. 1801-1802.
The Northern Maritime League.
English bombardment of Copenhagen
and summary extortion of peace.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1802.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1805.
Joined in the Third Coalition against France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1805 (JANUARY-APRIL).

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1806.
In the Russo-Prussian alliance against Napoleon.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1806-1807.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: A. D. 1807-1810.
Northern fruits of the conspiracy of the two Emperors at Tilsit.
Bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of
the Danish Fleet by the English.
War of Russia and Denmark with Sweden,
and conquest of Finland.
Deposition of the Swedish king.

On the 7th of July, 1807, Napoleon and Alexander I. of Russia,
meeting on a raft, moored in the river Nieman, arranged the
terms of the famous Treaty of Tilsit.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1807 (JUNE-JULY).

"There were Secret Articles in this Treaty of Tilsit in which
England had a vital interest. These secret articles are not to
be found in any collection of State Papers; but Napoleon's
diplomatists have given a sufficient account of them to enable
us to speak of them with assurance. Napoleon would not part
with Constantinople; but he not only gave up Turkey as a whole
to be dealt with as Alexander pleased, but agreed to unite his
efforts with Alexander to wrest from the Porte all its
provinces but Roumelia, if within three months she had not
made terms satisfactory to Alexander. In requital for this, if
England did not before the 1st of November make terms
satisfactory to Napoleon, on the requisition of Russia, the
two Emperors were to require of Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal,
to close their ports against the English, and were to unite
their forces in war against Great Britain. … In the month of
May, the Duke of Portland had had an audience of the Prince of
Wales at Carlton House, at which he had heard a piece of news
from the Prince which it deeply concerned him, as Prime
Minister, to know. The Prince Regent of Portugal had sent
secret information that Napoleon wanted to invade our shores
with the Portuguese and Danish fleets. The Portuguese had been
refused. It was for us to see to the Danish. Mr. Canning lost
no time in seeing to it: and while the Emperors were
consulting at Tilsit, he was actively engaged in disabling
Denmark from injuring us. When he had confidential information
of the secret articles of the Tilsit Treaty, his proceedings
were hastened, and they were made as peremptory as the
occasion required. He endured great blame for a long time on
account of this peremptoriness; and he could not justify
himself because the government were pledged to secrecy. … Mr.
Jackson, who had been for some years our envoy at the Court of
Berlin, was sent to Kiel, to require of the Crown Prince (then
at Kiel), who was known to be under intimidation by Napoleon,
that the Danish navy should be delivered over to England, to
be taken care of in British ports, and restored at the end of
the war. The Crown Prince refused, with the indignation which
was to be expected. … Mr. Jackson had been escorted, when he
went forth on his mission, by 20 ships of the line, 40
frigates and other assistant vessels, and a fleet of
transports, conveying 27,000 land troops.
{2830}
Admiral Gambier commanded the naval, and Lord Cathcart the
military expedition. These forces had been got ready within a
month, with great ability, and under perfect secrecy; and
before the final orders were given, ministers had such
information of the secret articles of the Treaty of Tilsit as
left them no hesitation whatever about seizing the Danish
fleet, if it was not lent quietly. … When, therefore, Mr.
Jackson was indignantly dismissed by the Crown Prince, no time
was to be lost in seizing the fleet. … On the 15th [of August]
the forces were landed at Wedbeck, for their march upon
Copenhagen, and the fleet worked up before the city. Once
more, an attempt was made to avoid extremities. … The Crown
Prince replied by a proclamation, amounting to a declaration
of war. … And now the affair was decided. There could be no
doubt as to what the end must be. … By the 1st of September,
however, Stralsund was occupied by the French; and part of the
British force was detached to watch them; and this proved that
it would have been fatal to lose time. By the 8th of
September, all was over; the Danish navy and arsenal were
surrendered. One fourth of the buildings of the city were by
that time destroyed; and In one street 500 persons were killed
by the bombardment. … Efforts were made to conciliate the
Danes after all was over; but, as was very natural, in vain. …
Almost as soon as the news of the achievement reached England,
the victors brought the Danish fleet into Portsmouth harbour.
One of the most painful features of the case is the
confiscation which ensued, because the surrender was not made
quietly. At the moment of the attack, there were Danish
merchantmen in our waters, with cargoes worth £2,000,000.
These we took possession of; and, of course, of the navy which
we had carried off."

_H. Martineau,
History of England, 1800-1815,
book 2, chapter 1._

In fulfilment of the agreements of the Treaty of Tilsit, early
in August, 1807, "a show was made by Russia of offering her
mediation to Great Britain for the conclusion of a general
peace; but as Mr. Canning required, as a pledge of the
sincerity of the Czar, a frank communication of the secret
articles at Tilsit, the proposal fell to the ground." Its
failure was made certain by the action of England in taking
possession by force of the Danish fleet. On the 5th of
November, upon the peremptory demand of Napoleon, war was
accordingly declared against Great Britain by the Czar.
"Denmark had concluded (October 16) an alliance, offensive and
defensive, with France, and Sweden was now summoned by Russia
to join the Continental League. But the King, faithful to his
engagements [with England], resolutely refused submission; on
which war was declared against him early in 1808, and an
overwhelming force poured into Finland, the seizure of which
by Russia had been agreed on at Tilsit."

_Epitome of Alison's History of Europe,
sections 455-456
(chapter 51, volume. 11, of complete work)._

In November, 1808, Finland was virtually given up to
Alexander; and Sweden was thus deprived of her great granary,
and destined to ruin. England had of late aided her
vigourously, driving the Russian navy into port, and
blockading them there; and sending Sir John Moore, with 10,000
men, in May, when France, Russia, and Denmark, were all
advancing to crush the gallant Swedes. Sir John Moore found
the King in what he thought a very wild state of mind,
proposing conquests, when he had not forces enough for
defensive operations. All agreement in their views was found
to be impossible: the King resented the Englishman's caution;
Sir John Moore thought the King so nearly mad that he made off
in disguise from Stockholm, and brought back his troops, which
had never been landed. … After the relinquishment of Finland,
the Swedish people found they could endure no more. Besides
Finland, they had lost Pomerania: they were reduced to want;
they were thinned by pestilence as well as by war; but the
King's ruling idea was to continue the conflict to the last. …
As the only way to preserve their existence, his subjects
gently deposed him, and put the administration of affairs into
the hands of his aged uncle, the Duke of Sudermania. The poor
King was arrested on the 13th of March, 1809, as he was
setting out for his country seat, … and placed in imprisonment
for a short time. His uncle, at first called Regent, was soon
made King. … Peace was made with Russia in September, 1809,
and with France in the following January. Pomerania was
restored to Sweden, but not Finland; and she had to make great
sacrifices. … She was compelled to bear her part in the
Continental System of Napoleon, and to shut her ports against
all communications with England."

_H. Martineau,
History of England, 1800-1815,
book 2, chapter 1._

"The invasion by the Tzar Alexander I. in 1808 led to the
complete separation of Finland and the other Swedish lands
east of the gulf of Bothnia from the Swedish crown. Finland
was conquered and annexed by the conqueror; but it was annexed
after a fashion in which one may suppose that no other
conquered land ever was annexed. In fact one may doubt whether
'annexed' is the right word. Since 1809 the crowns of Russia
and Finland are necessarily, worn by the same person; the
Russian and the Finnish nation have necessarily the same
sovereign. But Finland is not incorporated with Russia; in
everything but the common sovereign Russia and Finland are
countries foreign to one another. And when we speak of the
crown and the nation of Finland, we speak of a crown and a
nation which were called into being by the will of the
conqueror himself. … The conqueror had possession of part of
the Swedish dominions, and he called on the people of that
part to meet him in a separate Parliament, but one chosen in
exactly the same way as the existing law prescribed for the
common Parliament of the whole. … In his new character of
Grand Duke of Finland, the Tzar Alexander came to Borga, and
there on March 27th, 1809, fully confirmed the existing
constitution, laws, and religion of his new State. The
position of that State is best described in his own words.
Speaking neither Swedish nor Finnish, and speaking to hearers
who understood no Russian, the new Grand Duke used the French
tongue. Finland was 'Placé désormais au rang des nations'; it
was a 'Nation, tranquille au dehors, libre dans l'intérieur.'
[Finland was 'Placed henceforth in the rank of the nations; it
was a Nation tranquil without, free within.'] And it was a
nation of his own founding.
{2831}
The people of Finland had ceased to be a part of
the Swedish nation; they had not become a part of the
Russian nation; they had become a nation by themselves.
All this, be it remembered, happened before the formal cession
of the lost lands by Sweden to Russia. This was not made till
the Peace of Frederikshamn on September 17th of the same year.
The treaty contained no stipulation for the political rights
of Finland; their full confirmation by the new sovereign was
held to be enough. Two years later, in 1811, the boundary of
the new State was enlarged. Alexander, Emperor of all the
Russias and Grand Duke of Finland, cut off from his empire,
and added to his grand duchy, the Finnish districts which had
been ceded by Sweden to Russia sixty years before. The
boundary of his constitutional grand duchy was brought very
near indeed to the capital of his despotic empire."

_E. A. Freeman,
Finland
(Macmillan's Magazine, March, 1892)._

ALSO IN:
_General Monteith, editor,
Narrative of the Conquest of Finland,
by a Russian Officer (with appended documents)._

_C. Joyneville,
Life and Times of Alexander I.,
volume 2, chapter 2._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Denmark and Norway): A. D. 1808.
Accession of Frederick VI.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1809.
Accession of Charles XIII.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1809.
Granting of the Constitution.

See CONSTITUTION OF SWEDEN.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1810.
Election of Bernadotte to be Crown Prince
and successor to the throne.

The new king, lately called to the throne, being aged, "the
eyes of the people were fixed on the successor, or Crown
Prince, who took upon himself the chief labour of the
government, and appears to have given satisfaction to the
nation. But his government was of short duration. On the 28th
of .May 1810, while reviewing some troops, he suddenly fell
from his horse and expired on the spot, leaving Sweden again
without any head excepting the old King. This event agitated
the whole nation, and various candidates were proposed for the
succession of the kingdom. Among these was the King of
Denmark, who, after the sacrifices he had made for Buonaparte,
had some right to expect his support. The son of the late
unfortunate monarch, rightful heir of the crown, and named
like him Gustavus, was also proposed as a candidate. The Duke
of Oldenburg, brother-in-law of the Emperor of Russia, had
partizans. To each of these candidates there lay practical
objections. To have followed the line of lawful succession,
and called Gustavus to the throne, (which could not be
forfeited by his father's infirmity, so far as he was
concerned,) would have been to place a child at the head of
the state, and must have inferred, amid this most arduous
crisis, all the doubts and difficulties of choosing a regent.
Such choice might, too, be the means, at a future time, of
reviving his father's claim to the crown. The countries of
Denmark and Sweden had been too long rivals, for the Swedes to
subject themselves to the yoke of the King of Denmark; and to
choose the Duke of Oldenburg would have been, in effect, to
submit themselves to Russia, of whose last behaviour towards
her Sweden had considerable reason to complain. In this
embarrassment they were thought to start a happy idea, who
proposed to conciliate Napoleon by bestowing the ancient crown
of the Goths upon one of his own Field Marshals, and a high
noble of his empire, namely, John Julian Baptiste Bernadotte,
Prince of Ponte Corvo. This distinguished officer was married
to a sister of Joseph Buonaparte's wife, (daughter of a
wealthy and respectable individual, named Clary,) through whom
he had the advantage of an alliance with the Imperial family
of Napoleon, and he had acquired a high reputation in the
north of Europe, both when governor of Hanover, and
administrator of Swedish Pomerania. On the latter occasion,
Bernadotte was said to have shown himself in a particular
manner the friend and protector of the Swedish nation; and it
was even insinuated that he would not be averse to exchange
the errors of Popery for the reformed tenets of Luther. The
Swedish nation fell very generally into the line of policy
which prompted this choice. … It was a choice, sure, as they
thought, to be agreeable to him upon whose nod the world
seemed to depend. Yet, there is the best reason to doubt,
whether, in preferring Bernadotte to their vacant throne, the
Swedes did a thing which was gratifying to Napoleon. The name
of the Crown Prince of Sweden elect, had been known in the
wars of the Revolution, before that of Buonaparte had been
heard of. Bernadotte had been the older, therefore, though
certainly not the better soldier. On the 18th Brumaire, he was
so far from joining Buonaparte in his enterprise against the
Council of Five Hundred, notwithstanding all advances made to
him, that he was on the spot at St. Cloud armed and prepared,
had circumstances permitted, to place himself at the head of
any part of the military, who might be brought to declare for
the Directory. And although, like everyone else, Bernadotte
submitted to the Consular system, and held the government of
Holland under Buonaparte, yet then, as well as under the
empire, he was always understood to belong to a class of
officers, whom Napoleon employed indeed, and rewarded, but
without loving them, or perhaps relying on them more than he
was compelled to do, although their character was in most
instances a warrant for their fidelity. These officers formed
a comparatively small class, yet comprehending some of the
most distinguished names in the French army. … Reconciled by
necessity to a state of servitude which they could not avoid,
this party considered themselves as the soldiers of France,
not of Napoleon, and followed the banner of their country
rather than the fortunes of the Emperor. Without being
personally Napoleon's enemies, they were not the friends of
his despotic power. … Besides the suspicion entertained by
Napoleon of Bernadotte's political opinions, subjects of
positive discord had recently arisen between them. … But while
such were the bad terms betwixt the Emperor and his general,
the Swedes, unsuspicious of the true state of the case,
imagined, that in choosing Bernadotte for successor to their
throne, they were paying to Buonaparte the most acceptable
tribute. And, notwithstanding that Napoleon was actually at
variance with Bernadotte, and although, in a political view,
he would much rather have given his aid to the pretensions of
the King of Denmark, he was under the necessity of reflecting,
that Sweden retained a certain degree of independence; that
the sea separated her shores from his armies; and that,
however willing to conciliate him, the Swedes were not in a
condition absolutely to be compelled to receive laws at his
hand.
{2832}
It was necessary to acquiesce in their choice, since he could
not dictate to them; and by doing so he might at the same time
exhibit another splendid example of the height to which his
service conducted his generals. … We have, however, been
favoured with some manuscript observations … which prove
distinctly, that while Napoleon treated the Crown Prince Elect
of Sweden with fair language, he endeavoured by underhand
intrigues to prevent the accomplishment of his hopes. The
Swedes, however, remained fixed in their choice,
notwithstanding the insinuations of Desaugier, the French
envoy, whom Napoleon afterwards affected to disown and recall,
for supporting in the diet of Orebro the interest of the King
of Denmark, instead of that of Bernadotte. Napoleon's cold
assent, or rather an assurance that he would not dissent,
being thus wrung reluctantly from him, Bernadotte, owing to
his excellent character among the Swedes, and their opinion of
his interest with Napoleon, was chosen Crown Prince of Sweden
by the States of that kingdom, 21st August 1810."

_Sir W. Scott,
Life of Napoleon,
volume 2, chapter 12._

ALSO IN:
_M. de Bourrienne,
Private Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 4, chapter 7._

_Lady Bloomfield,
Memoirs of Lord Bloomfield,
volume 1, pages 17-34._

_W. G. Meredith,
Memorials of Charles John, King of Sweden and Norway._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1810.
Alliance with Russia against France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1810-1812.

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1813.
Joined with the new Coalition against Napoleon.
Participation in the War of Liberation.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1812-1813 to 1813 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: A. D. 1813-1814.
The Peace of Kiel.
Cession of Norway to Sweden and
of Swedish Pomerania to Denmark.

"The Danes, having been driven out of Holstein by Bernadotte
[see GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER)], concluded an
armistice December 18th, and, finally, the Peace of Kiel,
January 14th 1814, by which Frederick VI. ceded Norway to
Sweden; reserving, however, Greenland, the Ferroe Isles, and
Iceland, which were regarded as dependencies of Norway.
Norway, which was anciently governed by its own kings, had
remained united with Denmark ever since the death of Olaf V.
in 1387. Charles XIII., on his side, ceded to Denmark Swedish
Pomerania and the Isle of Rugen. This treaty founded the
present system of the North. Sweden withdrew entirely from her
connection with Germany, and became a purely Scandinavian
Power. The Norwegians, who detested the Swedes, made an
attempt to assert their independence under the conduct of
Prince Christian Frederick, cousin-german and heir of
Frederick VI. of Denmark. Christian Frederick was proclaimed
King of Norway; but the movement was opposed by Great Britain
and the Allied Powers from considerations of policy rather
than justice; and the Norwegians found themselves compelled to
decree the union of Norway and Sweden in a storting, or Diet,
assembled at Christiania, November 4th 1814. Frederick VI.
also signed a peace with Great Britain at Kiel, January 14th
1814. All the Danish colonies, except Heligoland, which had
been taken by the English, were restored."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 7, chapter 16 (volume 4)._

SCANDINAVIAN STATES: (Sweden): A. D. 1814.
The Allies in France and in possession of Paris.
Fall of Napoleon.