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1654-1720 Pfalz-Zweibrucken

Charles X. (1654-1660), of the German house of Pfalz-Zweibrucken, fully restored Sweden to its previous importance. Charles X Gústame was educated in Sweden, and was in language, ideas, and manners a Swede ; he had a keen intellect and a powerful will, and was quick in decision and in action. In addition he possessed that higher education and culture which result from study and travel. He was specially distinguished as a general, for he had studied military tactics under Torstenson and had fought with distinction in the Thirty Years' War. When he ascended the throne in 1654 he found the country in a most unsettled and deplorable condition. The finances were in confusion owing to Christina's extravagance, and the resources of the people had been drained by taxation. In order to increase the revenue the Riksdag (national assembly) decided to confiscate the crown lands which had been given away by Christina, and in fact almost three thousand estates were seized. These measures were however shortly discontinued, as the attention of the king was directed to foreign politics.

Though a Protestant power, Sweden was usually allied with France, and its influence was depressing to all German vigor and independence. The Protestant maritime powers, Holland and England, were busy at home, and had at best no affection for Germany, which was now helpless and of no use to them. They slowly came into alliance with the German states against the threatening ascendency of France; but it was not until the next century that France was humbled in the war of the Spanish succession.

Swedish relations with Poland and Denmark were not of the most friendly kind. Since John II Casimir of Poland, the son of Sigismund, refused tu acknowledge Charles Gustavus as king of Sweden, the latter decided to declare war. He attacked Poland from Pomerania, conquered Warsaw and Cracow, received the homage of the Polish nobles, and compelled the Great Elector of Brandenburg to place the duchy of Prussia under the feudal supremacy of Sweden and to promise to furnish auxiliary troops. The idea of Charles was to divide Poland, to retain the coast provinces for himself, and thus to make the Baltic a Swedish lake.

His great success had, however, raised up for him many enemies ; Holland and Austria were inciting Denmark and Eussia to war. The Poles rebelled ; their king returned from exile. And although Charles Gustavus obtained a brilliant victory at Warsaw on July 28-30, 1656, he found himself in a critical position, and in order to ensure the fidelity of Brandenburg was obliged, on November 25, at Labian, to acknowledge the independence of Prussia. At the same time a commercial treaty was concluded with Holland. Then Denmark declared war against him ; and the Austrians advanced into Poland. Upon this Charles Gustavus relinquished Poland and proceeded by forced marches through north Germany, and within a short time conquered the peninsula of Jutland. At the beginning of 1658 he crossed over the ice of the Belts to Zealand and compelled the king, Frederic III, by the peace of Eoskilde to cede the Scanian provinces, together with the island of Bornholm, and from Norway Trondhjems (Drontheims) Len and Bohuslen.

This marked the zenith of Sweden's international power. At that time she had control over almost the whole coast line of the Baltic. But Charles Gustavus was not satisfied ; he wished to destroy Denmark's independence. He therefore violated the peace, and in 1658 landed again in Zealand ; but this time he did not meet with the same success. Copenhagen withstood his attacks, and was succoured by the Dutch, who, since they did not approve of his plans, had attached themselves to his other enemies, amongst -whom was Brandenburg. An army of Brandenburgers, Poles, and Austrians under the Great Elector drove the Swedes out of Jutland; the inhabitants of the provinces which had been ceded rose in revolt. After an unsuccessful attack on Copenhagen, Charles Gustavus abandoned the siege of the capital in 1659 and returned to Sweden.

He still hoped for assistance from England ; but the English, in alliance with France and Holland, remained faithful to the peace of Roskilde. Charles, however, intended to carry on the war, and aimed at the conquest of Norway. He accordingly marched with his army into southern Norway, but died suddenly at Göteburg on February 23, 1660.

His son, Charles XI, was only four years old at the time of his father's death. The regency, which consisted of the five chief officials of the empire, had no desire for further conquest, but only for a cessation of war, if that could be arranged honourably for Sweden. In the peace of Oliva John Casimir resigned his claims to the Swedish throne and relinquished Livonia to Sweden. Holland received some commercial advantages : Denmark recovered Bornholm and Trondhjems Len (May 27, 1660, Copenhagen), and Eussia resigned her conquests in the Baltic provinces (June 2, 1661, Cardis). Apart from this, the regency did little to improve the state of the country, and totally neglected the education of the young king. The resumption of crown lands was not continued ; the regents considered only their own interests and those of the nobles. In their foreign policy they were irresolute and lacking in independence, and even accepted bribes from the foreign powers. The Estates were at variance.

At the beginning of 1668 Sweden joined the Triple Alliance against France. The Swedes attacked Brandenburg ; at this time the Elector was fighting against the French on the Rhine. Frederic "William on hearing of the attack hurried to the assistance of his country and inflicted a severe defeat on the Swedes at Fehrbellin (June 28, 1675). This defeat struck a great blow at the military glory of the Swedes, and was the cause of the declaration of war by the Danes, who were still grieving over the loss of Scania. At first the Danes were wholly successful ; they were victorious at sea under Niels Juel, landed in Scania, where the inhabitants welcomed them as their liberators, and soon had possession of the whole province.

As the prospects of Sweden were so gloomy, great irritation prevailed in the country against the incompetent government. The young king, who had come of age in 1672, proved equal to the danger. It is true he could not conquer the Danes on the sea ; the German possessions were also irretrievably lost. But in the bloody battle at Lund he at least saved Scania for Sweden. The negotiations which Louis XIV had in the meantime entered upon at Nimwegen concluded the war in the north by the peace of Saint-Germain (with Brandenburg ; June 29, 1679) and the peace of Lund (with Denmark; September 26, 1679). Sweden only sustained the loss of her provinces on the east bank of the Oder. The war had, however, greatly injured the domestic prosperity of Sweden. The country was impoverished and involved in debt.

The king and his confidential advisers were agreed that the one effectual remedy was to remodel the political and social organisation of the country. The first task for Charles was to reduce the power of the council and the upper nobility ; he succeeded in accomplishing this with the help of the other Estates and of the gentry. The Estates sanctioned a new constitution (1680 and 1682), by which Sweden was practically transformed into an absolute monarchy. The Riksdag became a royal council, which the king summoned at his pleasure ; the king had the power of enacting laws without consulting the Riksdag. These measures resulted in completely revolutionising the conditions of land ownership, and destroyed the power of the nobility, by levelling the barriers of privilege which had separated the counts and barons from the inferior nobility.

The reorganisation of the army, which had been begun by Charles IX and Gustavus Adolphus, and which has partially remained in effect up to the present day, was completed. It was decided that in future the soldiers should be billeted on the estates of the peasants, who in return were exempted from military service in times of peace. Certain crown estates were freed from taxation on condition that they defrayed the expenses of the cavalry, while the officers received their maintenance from the crown lauds. At the same time Swedish soldiers were levied to defend the foreign provinces.

After the death of Charles XI (April 15, 1697), his son, Charles XII, became king, and although not yet fifteen years old was declared of age at the end of 1697. Charles had enjoyed a good education. Like his father he was noted for an earnest piety and strict morality ; his mode of life was temperate and simple. Even as a child he exhibited that love of honour and audacity, at the same time that obstinacy and perversity, which characterised him throughout his life. It was generally considered that he possessed only moderate abilities, because he seemed to devote his time only to bear hunts and other equally dangerous pastimes. Accordingly his neighbours, who were jealous of the power of Sweden, thought that this was the best opportunity to recover what they had lost Russia, Denmark, and Poland formed an alliance, and immediately began the great Northern War (1700-1721).

Peter, the Czar of Russia, gained a brilliant victory over Charles on the 8th of July, 1709; the king himself only escaped with difficulty, and fled with five hundred followers across the Dnieper and the Bug into Turkish territory. The battle of Poltava decided the fate of the North; Eussia had taken the place of Sweden as a great power.

As Charles died unmarried, after his death his sister Ulrica Eleonora, who had been married to Frederic, hereditary prince of Hesse, was chosen queen, but she was obliged to renounce the absolute sovereignty in February, 1719. The war soon came to an end in the new reign.