The Great Northern War: Sweden’s Rise and Fall

In this episode of The History of Sweden, we turn our gaze to the early eighteenth century, a period that defined Sweden as a European superpower and then saw it collapse in spectacular fashion. We trace the military revolution engineered by Charles XI, particularly the indelningsverket allotment system that created a standing army without heavy taxation. This foundation allowed his son, Charles XII, to launch aggressive campaigns against the Russian Empire, Poland, and Denmark-Norway during the Great Northern War. We explore key battles like Narva, where Swedish tactics crushed larger forces, and Poltava, the catastrophic defeat that ended Swedish dominance on the continent. Beyond the battlefield, we examine the political tension between the King and the Riksdag, the role of Queen Ulrika Eleonora, and the cultural legacy of figures like Carl Linnaeus who lived through this turbulent transition. From the silver dirhams of the Viking Silk Road to the gunpowder armies of Stormaktstiden, we see how a small nation became an empire and what remained after its fall.

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