_Period of Political Grandeur--Charles XII_
Charles XII., the most famous of Swedish kings, was a boy of fifteen at
the death of his father. He was born June 17, 1682, at the castle of
Stockholm. The astrologers declared that Sweden was to receive a new
war-lord, and that time they were not mistaken. Charles XII. was born
in the same year as the absolute monarchy of Sweden, which power he
was to abuse in such a great measure. Shortly after his birth, one of
the speakers of the knightly chapter house, Justice Gyllencreutz, said
while warning against the consequences of an absolute power: “A king
may come who follows his own will, being more fond of war than peace,
or utterly extravagant. History proves that changes of the constitution
generally are beset by dangerous consequences; yea, that they often
have brought destruction to the country and its people.” These words
were prophetic.
The early education of Charles was supervised by his mother, sweet
Ulrica Eleonore, who taught him piety, modesty, gentleness and justice
by her own example. He participated with earnestness in the morning and
evening prayers, kneeling before the only Lord he ever acknowledged
as his superior. His mother died when Charles was seven years of age,
but the devotion in which he held her he fixed upon his sisters,
Hedvig Sophie and Ulrica Eleonore, but especially upon the former. His
religious feeling was deep and sincere, and he evinced early a love
of truth, justice and pure morals which, like his brotherly devotion,
followed him through life. The most remarkable trait in a son of
Charles XI. was his power of self-control; but he was his father’s
superior also in intellectual gifts, such as a ready memory, a good
apprehension and a sharp discernment. His faults were early developed,
and met, after the death of his parents, no restraint. He was taciturn,
unapproachable, proud, self-willed and headstrong. He had from his
grandfather inherited an ambition for the vain glory of war, which
was led astray by his unrestrained power of imagination. From the age
of five he was taught by the learned professor, Andreas Norcopensis,
ennobled under the name of Nordenhielm, to whom he was very devoted
and under whose guidance he received a good general education. The
plain, able scholar influenced the young prince in a wholesome manner.
When his teacher asked him how an honest man ought to be, the pupil,
then seven years of age, answered: “He should be gentle but of great
courage; fierce like a lion to his enemies, gentle like a lamb to those
at home.” To the question if it were not better to avoid dangers in
order to save one’s life, the little Charles answered: “No, it would be
a shame to live in such a manner.”
Charles XI. had drawn an outline of the course which the education of
his son was to follow. The first place was given to study of the Bible
and the Christian doctrines and the severe practice of religion. The
prince was to learn Swedish and German early, to receive instruction in
the laws and constitution of his country, and in the science of war,
and to be trained in the arts of military drill, fencing and riding on
horseback. He soon acquired the faculty of speaking Latin fluently, in
the ordinary mechanical way, and learned some French. When his first
governor, Eric Lindskiold, tried to interest him in the latter language
by pointing out its usefulness in diplomatic intercourse with the
French ambassador, the prince answered: “If I meet the king of France
I will converse with him in his own language. When a French ambassador
comes here, it is more appropriate that he learns Swedish on my
account than I French on his.” His favorite studies were strategy and
mathematics, which he made under the Swedish general, Charles Magnus
Stuart. He often said that the one who was ignorant of mathematics
was only a half human being. Charles was fond of riding the horses of
his father, and followed the latter on his adventurous journeys and
hunts. When only twelve years of age he killed his first bear. He early
developed the reckless courage which made him so famous. Charles was
exceedingly fond of reading the Eddic poems and the old hero Sagas of
the North. He said he wanted to resemble the ancient hero kings, and
wished he had, like many of them, a brother who would remain at home to
rule the country in peace, while he, with his warriors, made a tour of
the world. The prescription, made by his father, that the prince should
be taught to make a moderate use of his absolute power, was, if carried
out, of little consequence. Charles mourned deeply the losses of his
mother and of his first teacher, Nordenhielm, which followed close
upon each other, seeking, after that, more the company of his father.
Charles XI. had a long private conversation with his son shortly
before his death, pointing out the men in whom he could confide.
Among these Charles Piper occupied a conspicuous place. He remained
ever the adviser of Charles XII., but never had his full confidence.
The enigmatic king confided in nobody, and passed through life without
opening his heart to any one.
Charles XI. had appointed a government to reign during the minority
of his son, to be presided over by Queen-dowager Hedvig Eleonore. But
the Estates of the Riksdag, at the request of the nobility, declared
Charles XII. of age when only fifteen. The young king placed the crown
upon his head with his own hands at the coronation, and took charge
of the government in November, 1697. Bengt Oxenstierna remained at
the head of foreign affairs as the president of the chancery, while
Charles took personal interest in continuing the life work of his
father, the restitution of crown lands, which still went on. Charles
Piper, who had been quite active in obtaining an early majority for the
king, was raised to the dignity of a count, and became one of the most
influential members of the state council. Charles was not influenced
by anybody in spite of his youth. He listened to what the councillors
had to say, then announced his resolutions with terse independence. He
refused firmly the appeals of the nobility to reduce the demands of the
work of restitution. He abolished the practice of torture, in spite of
the unanimous vote of the state council to the contrary. When the aged
Bengt Oxenstierna was anxious to have annulled a treaty with France,
already signed, the young king answered tersely: “You have heard my
opinion; I am the one who signed the treaty.” Charles took, in general,
little interest in foreign affairs, except those concerning Holstein,
to the duke of which country his elder sister was married.
The exuberant spirits of the youthful Charles found an outlet in daring
exploits and plays of war. The somewhat older man, Count Arvid Bernhard
Horn, the commander of the royal body-guard, took an active part in
these as the most intimate comrade of the king. They went bear-hunting
together, with wooden forks as their only weapon, fought naval battles
with hand-spurts, made breakneck rides on horseback, etc. When the
king was near being drowned in one of these “naval battles,” the only
ones that Charles XII. ever fought, he was saved by Arvid Horn, who
pulled him up by the hair. When Horn in some other game was badly hurt
and taken ill, the king kept the night watch at his bedside. Upon the
visits of Duke Frederic of Holstein, the two young princes indulged
in escapades of the wildest kind, if one were to believe the reports
made by the foreign ambassadors at Stockholm to their respective
governments, and chiefly founded upon hearsay. His application to
state affairs was almost constant and very arduous, for which reason
these reports of the escapades and adventures of the youthful king are
probably wild exaggerations, or mere fables.
The reports of a young inexperienced king who gave up his time to
sport and pastimes spread abroad, and the enemies of Sweden were led
to believe that an opportune moment was come for an attack on the
empire which held the balance of power in Northern Europe. Peter the
Great, one of the most remarkable men of modern history, was czar of
Russia. Engaged in his heroic task of reorganizing his barbarous empire
to a modern European state, he was desirous of obtaining harbors on
the coast of the Baltic, from which sea he was cut off by the Swedish
possessions. August, a cousin of Charles XII., who was elector of
Saxony and king of Poland, was anxious to take possession of Livonia.
King Frederic IV. of Denmark, also a cousin of Charles, wished to
suppress the duke of Holstein, who had gained independence, thanks
to the assistance of Sweden. Czar Peter and King August entered into
a secret alliance with each other. While negotiations for continued
peace with Sweden were still pending, the Russians secretly crossed the
boundary in Ingermanland, Saxon troops entered Livonia, and the king
of Denmark took possession of Holstein. The Swedish council of state
was amazed at this triple danger. Charles simply remarked that it was
strange that both of his cousins wanted war, and expressed the hope
that God would support him in his righteous cause.
Charles XII. was eighteen years of age when he entered this stupendous
conflict. He was tall and slender, but broad-shouldered; he had a
sympathetic face, dark-blue eyes, thin brown hair, and a carriage
expressing courage and an indomitable spirit. Upon entering actual
warfare, Charles renounced all pleasures and comforts. Sharing the
severe discipline of his soldiers, he slept in a tent, ate of their
rude food, and drank nothing but water. The wig, considered so
indispensable in those days, was laid aside and he dressed, like the
men of his body-guard, in a coat of coarse blue cloth with large brass
buttons and yellow lining. His long sword was hung at a yellow leather
girdle. He wore high boots and yellow trousers made of skin. In battle
he was always found where the danger was most imminent.
Charles turned first against Denmark. A Swedish fleet of forty-eight
ships joined the naval forces of equal strength which the Swedish
allies, England and Holland, had sent to meet it in the Sound. A
more powerful combination has never been seen before or after in
Scandinavian waters. Charles embarked with his troops on one hundred
Scanian ships and landed at Elsinore, August 4, 1699. He was impatient
to reach shore, jumped into the water, which reached to his arms,
and was followed by his troops, who carried their weapons high above
the water. A sudden attack was made on the Danish troops on shore,
who turned and fled. The Swedes made a temporary camp and prepared
themselves for a march on Copenhagen. King Frederic was struck with
terror and hastened to make peace with the duke of Holstein, who was
left in undisturbed possession of his country through the treaty of
peace at Traventhal. Charles withdrew his troops at once, although
reluctantly, having wished to crush the power of Denmark. He had
maintained the strictest discipline in his camp, and treated the
inhabitants of the country with gentleness. The Danish peasants, who
abundantly brought necessary provisions, said to the king: “You do us
no harm because you are the son of our pious Ulrica Eleonore.” The king
answered: “What I have done I have been forced to do. But rest assured
that I shall from this day be the upright friend of your king.”
Charles now turned against Russia. With an army of somewhat more than
8,000 men he sailed for Ingermanland to attack the invaders, at least
five times as many in numbers, who were laying siege to the town of
Narva. The majority of the Russian troops consisted of serfs who were
taken directly from their work and were without any military training.
This army of undisciplined serfs was to a great extent commanded by
foreign adventurers. The news of the approach of the Swedish troops
brought consternation. Several of the Russian officers shed tears,
while the czar quickly left his army to gather more troops. The
remarkable battle of Narva was fought November 20, 1700. King Charles
offered the enemies a battle in the open field, but when they refused
to accept or to come out, he attacked them in their trenches, which
formed a semi-circle around the town of Narva, with the wings touching
the river of the same name. The war-cry of the Swedes was: “With the
help of God!” Their attack was favored by a snowstorm, which blew in
the faces of the Russians, blinding them. The enemies could tell that
the Swedes were few in numbers, but thought that reinforcements must
be on the way. The trenches were filled with bundles of fagots, the
ramparts were mounted, and the Russians thrown into confusion. The
Russian cavalry fled at the opening of the artillery fire. The rest,
crushed in between the walls of the town and their aggressors, tried to
escape on every side. The Swedes soon had cut the immense Russian line
of troops in twain at the centre. The half which consisted of the right
wing moved down to the bridge over the Narva River. But the bridge gave
way under the weight of the first 3,000 men, who found their graves in
the river below. The rest of the right wing was hedged in between the
Swedes and the river. The regiments of the Russian guards, who were
the most experienced of the troops, fought bravely for some time, but
great confusion ensued among the others, the soldiers wanting to kill
their foreign officers, whom they blamed for the catastrophe. The chief
commander, Duke de Croi, with several other foreigners, for this reason
surrendered to the king.
The Russian soldiers of the right wing, abandoned by their superior
officers, made heroic efforts to defend themselves behind barricades
which they erected for the moment. King Charles hastened to the spot,
but was very near losing his life in passing through a swamp. He sank
so deep that the water rose to his neck, and he could save himself
only by leaving his horse, his sword, and one of his heavy boots
behind in the mud. Without in the least improving his condition, the
king took another horse and sought his way to the heart of the battle.
The Russians were killed in masses, but did not surrender before King
Charles had taken a Russian battery, thus depriving them of the last
hope of being reunited with the left wing. The latter, who kept in the
vicinity of their trenches, had fought with a good deal of courage. At
nightfall two officers were sent from the right wing to ask the king
for an armistice, which was granted. King Charles spent the night in
his wet clothes, by the bivouac fire, on the ground, his head resting
in the lap of one of his soldiers. In the morning, before dawn, two
Russian generals arrived, demanding free leave for the remainder
of the right wing. This was granted, but the superior officers had
to remain as prisoners of war. The commander of the left wing also
opened negotiations. Free leave was granted them upon the surrender
of their arms. It must have been an impressive sight to see the body
of 12,000 Russians, with heads uncovered, who passed in line by only
half as many Swedes, depositing their banners and arms at the feet of
Charles XII. It was a wise plan to keep as prisoners only the superior
officers, for the Swedes had not the means at hand to watch and feed so
many prisoners as those who were allowed a free leave. In the battle
of Narva 18,000 Russians were killed or captured; the hostile camp,
baggage and artillery fell into the hands of the victors. Charles
XII. made his solemn entry into Narva, where Te Deum was sung in the
cathedral. Charles with his own hand crossed out all expressions of
vainglory over the success or disdain of the vanquished which occurred
in the official account of the victory to be sent to Stockholm.
In the following year Charles XII. turned against his third enemy, King
August. Saxon troops, 10,000 strong, were joined by 19,000 Russians,
and had taken a strongly fortified position on the southern shore of
the river Dvina. Charles decided to cross the river from Livonia and
attack the enemy. The famous crossing of the Dvina was planned in all
details by Eric Dahlberg, the venerable hero and engineer from the wars
of Charles X. and Charles XI. Baron Dahlberg died not long after this
memorable event. It was June 27, 1701. The Swedish infantry was carried
across in prams, the cavalry on fleet-bridges provided with wooden
walls on hinges, which, when erect, were a protection against the fire
of the enemy, and, when let down, formed gangways for the landing.
In front of all boats loaded with hay and straw were sent out, which
were ignited, sending a thick, disagreeable smoke in the face of the
enemy. The artillery in the prams kept up a disastrous fire. Charles
XII. was one of the first to land, and opened the attack when only half
of his infantry had reached the shore. The Russians soon scattered in
wild flight. The Saxons withstood three powerful attacks, but at last
followed the bad example set by their allies. The battle was fought and
won before the Swedish cavalry had reached the shore. The bountiful
provisions of the scattered army were captured. The crossing of the
Dvina was executed under the direction of Charles Magnus Stuart and
Count Magnus Stenbock.
The victories of the young hero king and his valiant soldiers aroused
the admiration of all Europe, and much sympathy was expressed for
Sweden, who had so successfully warded off a deceitful and unjust
attack. Charles XII. received offers of peace from his enemies, but he
did not accept them. He did not believe that his treacherous neighbors
would keep their promises, and he was no doubt right. He ought to have
crushed Russia first, but his victory over Czar Peter had been too
easily acquired to make him realize the genius, power and resources
of this semi-barbarous enemy. Charles considered King August a more
formidable opponent, which was a mistake; but his suspicion that the
latter would attack him from behind if he entered Russia would probably
have proved to be well founded had circumstances permitted. So Charles
invaded Poland, resolved to gain by the interior conflict which was
disturbing the peace of that country. He wanted to dethrone August and
select a prince who would keep faith with Sweden.
The Polish empire had not taken any active part in the war against
Sweden, but Charles XII. demanded that the Poles should prove their
good faith by dethroning August and by choosing a native king. When
they refused, he let his army enter Poland. For four years King Charles
remained there, marching from one part of the country to the other.
He conquered the Polish capitals of Warsaw and Cracow, and several
other fortified places, winning over a considerable group within the
nobility. In 1704 the Diet of Warsaw was called, at which the Polish
nobles, in the presence of Swedish troops under the command of Count
Arvid Horn, were compelled to deprive August of his crown and elect a
new king according to the instructions of King Charles. The new king
chosen was the noble, but incapable Stanislav Leczinski, who belonged
to an aristocratic family of little influence and few connections. He
was an upright and highly educated man, but lacked energy. King August
was not willing to abdicate, for which reason King Charles pursued him
into his hereditary land. The line of march to Saxony went through
Silesia, a neutral country belonging to the empire of Austria. As the
army of August had been allowed to pass this country, Charles argued
that the same right must be granted him and his troops. At the river
Oder, Charles was met by a number of persecuted Protestants, who,
kneeling and weeping, prayed for his assistance in pleading their cause
before the emperor. Charles promised them to do so, and kept his word.
The Swedish army entered Saxony in the year 1706. The inhabitants, who
had in a clear memory the acts of recklessness and cruelty committed
by the troops of John Banér, fled for their lives, taking along all
the property that could be moved. To their great surprise, they saw
the Swedes encamp themselves as quietly as in time of serenest peace.
No violence was committed. Nothing was taken, except in exchange for
money. But a heavy war tax was imposed, which made both August and his
people inclined to seek an early end of the war.
Thanks to the means raised in this manner, the Swedish army was
provided with an entirely new outfit of clothes and furnished with
necessary provisions. Every regiment established a savings bank of
its own, in which the soldiers deposited their earnings. The castle
of Alt-Ranstædt was the headquarters of Charles XII., situated close
by the memorable battlefield of Lutzen. The sojourn of Charles XII.
in Saxony was an incident of universal importance to the history of
Europe. He had with his soldiers approached the scene of a conflict
which was shaking the whole of Western and Southern Europe. The
situation was such that it for the moment hung at the point of the
victorious sword of Charles XII. The great question was whether he was
resolved to take an active part in the universal conflict. Charles
was besieged at his headquarters by princes, warriors and statesmen,
who came to pay their respects, desirous of winning his favor and of
getting an idea of his plans. The Swedish invasion of Saxony was highly
beneficial to the interests of France, and Louis XIV. was the first
to admit it, anxious to make the stay of Charles as long as possible,
because it had caused a standstill in the hostilities against France.
The Duke of Marlborough was among the visitors of Charles XII. He
brought a letter of courtesy from Queen Anne, who wrote that the letter
“came not from her chancery but from her heart, and was written by her
own hand.” She longed to meet the famous king personally. The duke’s
errand was to find out whether Charles was to join the fighting forces
of Western Europe or to attack Russia. He was glad to learn that the
latter move was the one which the king had in mind. Although the two
great warriors expressed mutual admiration, neither was sympathetically
impressed by the other. Charles XII. thought Marlborough looked “too
fine” for a soldier, while the latter thought the rude simplicity of
the king an affectation by which to obtain notoriety. On account of
the great influx of distinguished visitors, the style of living was
quite different at the royal headquarters of Alt-Ranstædt to what
it was during the Polish and Russian wars. But the king kept up the
heavy military drills and long individual expeditions on horseback,
which he thought indispensable. One of the first ones of the latter
which he undertook was to visit the battlefield of Lutzen. The king
remembered distinctly all that he had read about the famous battle, and
made clear to his generals the various positions of the two armies. At
Schwedenstein, the place where Gustavus Adolphus fell, he lingered for
a long while in silence. At last he said: “I always have tried to live
as he did. May God grant me the grace of dying in like manner.”
King August was satisfied to conclude a treaty of peace, which was
signed at Alt-Ranstædt. He renounced the crown of Poland and recognized
Stanislav Leczinski as the legitimate king. August turned over John
Reinhold Patkul, a Livonian traitor, who during the reign of Charles
XI. had made himself disagreeably conspicuous, and who had been
intriguing against Sweden ever since. Charles XII. was, in gentleness
and justice, far in advance of his contemporaries, but he made an
exception to his ordinary course of clemency in the case of Patkul,
who was executed according to the cruel practice of the time. When the
Swedish army left their camp, after peace was made, the regiments were
for many miles followed by the grateful inhabitants, who, with tears in
their eyes, gave evidence of their friendship. The reason was that the
good-natured soldiers of the regular army had followed the habits of
their country in assisting their temporary hosts in their various rural
pursuits. The Swedes were greeted by the people of Silesia with great
enthusiasm, out of gratitude for the improved conditions which the
emperor had granted them, at the request of the king. Charles XII. thus
made good, in a measure, the acts of violence committed by the Swedish
army during the Thirty Years’ War, and proved that he had at heart the
cause of religious liberty.
Czar Peter was now to be punished, when it was too late. The Russians
had invaded the Baltic provinces and captured the fortress of Nœteborg,
which Czar Peter gave the new and significant name of Schluesselburg.
The new Russian capital of St. Petersburg, with formidable fortresses,
was founded in 1703. The laborers were carried away by force from
the various parts of the immense empire. They died in great numbers
of prostration and of fevers, the Swedes also doing their best to
impede the progress of the work. The vacancies were rapidly filled by
new multitudes. While the Swedish king was fighting in Poland, the
provinces of Ingermanland, Esthonia and Livonia were overrun by the
Russians, who devastated the country with acts of cruelty. Dorpat was
captured and Narva fell after a bloody conflict, being bravely defended
by Rudolph Horn. The Russians destroyed the Swedish navy of the Lake
Peipus and penetrated to the province of Courland where Charles XII.
had left a considerable detachment of troops. The plan of Czar Peter
to conquer Courland and cut off Charles from the connections with his
empire was frustrated by General Adam Louis Lewenhaupt.[4] He met a
formidable Russian force, several times as numerous as his own, at
Gemauerthof, near Mitau, which he routed, in 1705.
Sweden stood alone in her struggle with Russia. The old alliance with
England and Holland was no longer in existence. The continental powers
were too busily engaged in the West to assist in checking the rising
power of the Eastern giant. For the limited resources of Sweden he was
too big already. Charles XII. had with him a stately and well-equipped
army of 44,000, which, by contemporary authors, was pronounced to
have consisted of the finest soldiers of the world. Charles was to
attack Russia from Poland, for the devastated Baltic provinces could
no longer support an army with the necessary provisions. General
Lewenhaupt was to join him from Livonia with an army of 12,000 men and
ample provisions. Another Swedish commander, General Lybecker, was to
attack and destroy St. Petersburg, with an army of the same size, from
his headquarters in Finland. The total of Swedish troops distributed
in various directions amounted to 100,000, the largest regular army
Sweden ever had put up. Charles had concluded to engage semi-barbarous
allies in a battle against a semi-barbarous enemy. In 1707 he entered
into an alliance with Turkey, and, about the same time, another with
Mazeppa, an old ambitious Cossack leader who wanted to establish his
supremacy over the steppes of Russia. The plans of Charles XII. for the
invasion of Russia have often been severely criticised, but competent
judges of our day have declared that they were not only elaborate but
highly ingenious. They miscarried on account of arrangements which
could not be made according to expectations, and on account of Czar
Peter’s practice of laying bare and waste the parts of his own country
through which the invaders were to pass. Furthermore, Charles had sent
home to Sweden several of his best generals, such as Arvid Horn and
Magnus Stenbock. This was done after the successes in Poland, and was
a good thing in itself, for the men mentioned were exactly those who
were destined to save the very existence and honor of a country which
was deprived of its political grandeur through the heedlessness of
King Charles. But without them he was surrounded by inexperienced men
only. Charles Gustavus Rehnskiold was the most conspicuous of these, a
valiant but reckless man, who only understood certain details of the
elaborate expedition.
When the Swedes were approaching Russian territory, Czar Peter made
offers of peace which the French ambassador urged Charles to accept.
Charles answered: “He does not mean it. He wishes the world to believe
that he wants peace and I war.” Czar Peter had organized his army
through a wonderful exertion of energy, built new fortresses and
strengthened the old ones, enforced discipline and gathered ammunition.
Able officers had been trained in the repeated conflicts with the
Swedes. These took the lead of the army movements.
Charles left Poland with somewhat more than 30,000 men, entering
Lithuania and chasing the Russians before him. A last great victory
was won by Charles XII. at Holovzin in Lithuania, in 1708. The Swedish
army crossed the Dniepr and marched to Mohilev. Charles lingered in
this place for a month, anxiously awaiting the arrival of General
Lewenhaupt. The latter remained in Livonia during all this time, the
letter ordering him to join the central army not reaching him in due
time. The march was continued toward Smolensk, but King Charles thought
that he could only reach Moscow over that route with the greatest
difficulty, and changed his course, marching toward the Ukraine to
join Mazeppa and the Tartars. Mazeppa had been vexed by the long
delay, and was, besides, not able to gather the forces which he had
promised. Czar Peter captured his stronghold, and Mazeppa reached the
Swedish army more like a fugitive than an ally. The expedition of
General Lybecker against St. Petersburg proved a failure. Lewenhaupt,
who had at last received his order, moved into Russia. At Liesna he
met a hostile army considerably larger than his own. After a fierce
battle, which involved a great loss of life, Lewenhaupt broke through
the Russian lines. He had been forced to destroy the great amount of
provisions which he had gathered, and reached the army of King Charles
in a very different state than was anticipated. The king found himself
in a difficult position, being cut off from all connections with his
country and in want of provisions.
The battle of Pultowa, which was fought June 28, 1709, decided for
centuries the contest over the political supremacy of Northern Europe.
Charles XII., with his army, which had been reduced to 18,000 men,
laid siege to the important town of Pultowa, by the river Vorskla.
The Russian army, 50,000 strong, under the command of Czar Peter,
hastened toward the enemy. The fear of the terrible Swedes was as
yet so strong in them that they did not risk an attack, but built a
strongly fortified camp. King Charles, with his army in distress,
further reduced to only 12,000 men, and in want even of ammunition,
saw no other way than to fight. He was himself wounded in the foot
and unable to take command in person. General Rehnskiold, who led the
cavalry, acted as general commander during the battle, which position
he was not able to fill; Lewenhaupt commanded the right wing with
decided success. He forced the enemy to abandon three of its seven
forts, and saw it once inclined to leave in flight. The left wing of
the Swedish army was brought into disorder and receded. King Charles,
who suffered greatly from his wounded foot, was carried on a litter
between the lines, encouraging his soldiers and dealing out new orders.
The litter was soon shattered, and the horse which the king mounted was
shot under him. He saved himself by accepting the horse of one of his
officers. Rehnskiold, who appeared nervous and confused, offered only
a lame assistance with the cavalry. While riding back and forth in his
heedless anxiety to be useful, without obtaining his object, he rode
into the Russian lines and was made a prisoner. The same fate befell
Count Piper, the aged adviser of King Charles. Lewenhaupt kept up his
heroic struggle on the right wing, but his forces were greatly reduced
by the fire of the Russian artillery. The Swedes had lost the battle.
Their infantry had especially suffered great losses. A great number of
the ablest officers were killed or made prisoners. As an illustration
may be quoted the fact that among the killed were twenty-two officers
of the Wrangel family. The Russians made no fierce pursuit, and the
remnants of the Swedish army were given time to recede to the shore
of the Dniepr where this river is joined by the Vorskla. The change
of route toward the Ukraine had been made contrary to the advice of
Count Piper; the march to the Dniepr was made contrary to that of Count
Lewenhaupt. The Swedish troops were in fact shut in between the mighty
rivers, which they lacked the means to cross, and the surrounding
mountains, lined with Russian artillery. Charles was unwilling to leave
his army, but Lewenhaupt persuaded him to save his life. Mazeppa had
crossed the Dniepr with his troops. Charles followed in the night
of July 1st with 1,000 of his men. With 500 Swedes Charles reached
the Turkish town of Bender, where he was at first resolved to remain
only until his wound was healed. Lewenhaupt, who now was in command,
surrendered to the Russians the following morning, with all the rest of
the army. This course was inevitable; another battle would only have
caused new and useless sacrifices of human lives.
A sad fate awaited the Swedes in Russian captivity. Only a few saw
their homes again, after years of suffering. Rehnskiold was among
these. The majority, like Lewenhaupt and Piper, died in captivity.
Considerable information about the experiences of the Swedish prisoners
in Russia is found in their memoirs and note-books, preserved to
this day. It appears that the treatment which they received varied
greatly, according to circumstances. Czar Peter wished to keep the
Swedish captives in the country as long as possible, with the object
of favorably influencing his barbarous subjects by their superior
abilities and culture. He had commanded clemency in their treatment;
but his orders must have been disobeyed, for many Swedish soldiers
are known to have perished in the sulphur mines. In Tobolsk and other
towns of Siberia, Swedish majors and captains were in great numbers
occupied in the humble pursuits of teachers, barbers, tailors, painters
and blacksmiths. Some kept shops and others made articles of the
Swedish sloyd, in which there was no competition in the market. The
pastimes were music and theatricals. There were, among these thousands
of prisoners, 9 generals, 17 colonels, 27 lieutenant-colonels, 38
majors, 494 captains, 975 lieutenants, 67 ministers of the Gospel,
etc. A good many of these were Swedish subjects of German descent,
or foreigners in Swedish service. The prisoners tried their best to
make it as pleasant for themselves as possible. They formed a little
community of their own in Moscow, with Piper and Rehnskiold as their
highest officials. Georg Nordberg, pastor of the body-guards, was made
the president of a chapter-house, which held church conferences, issued
texts for special services, examined and consecrated ministers. Czar
Peter tried to attract some of the ablest officers to him by promises
of liberty and remunerative positions. Many of the captives, seeing
no prospect of freedom, decided to remain in the country, entered the
Greek church and married Russian women. Some who could not endure
captivity made a revolt at Kasan, killing the armed troops, and making
an attempt to reach their own beloved country. The plot was frustrated
and was of sinister consequences, for the Swedish captives commenced
from that time, 1711, to be transported to Siberia in great numbers.
This was only to move the important work of civilization eastward. The
captives, instead of succumbing to the severe climate, unfolded the
great energy of their race, cheerfully accommodating their lives to
the new requirements and devoting their time to travels for scientific
research, or mercantile purposes, in Russian service, or on their
own responsibility. They made accounts and maps of undiscovered and
unexplored parts of Siberia, gathering results which have been of great
importance to later explorers, geologists and ethnographers. Principal
among these scientists are Philip John von Strahlenberg, whose great
book on Siberia was published in Leipsic in 1730, and John Anton Matérn
and Peter Schœnstrœm, his collaborators; John Gustavus Renat, made a
prisoner by the Kalmucks, whom he taught the secrets of manufacturing
cannon and bombs, and of printing books with movable types; Lorenz
Lange, who was secretary of several Russian embassies to the imperial
court of China, about which country he has given valuable information;
John B. Muller, John Schnitscher and Ambjœrn Molin. Tobolsk was the
centre of the Swedish colonies in Siberia, where a peculiar sect
grew up among those of deep religious sentiment. A sectarian school,
with more than 100 pupils, was established, and the German pietist,
Aug. Herrman Francke, for some time supported the movement. Governor
Gagarin, who wanted to make himself ruling sovereign of Siberia,
arranged a formidable conspiracy. It was discovered, the governor was
hanged, and the Swedish captives who were involved in it were sent
still further away to Nerschinsk.
If Charles XII., up to the date of the terrible battle of Pultowa,
has deserved our sympathy, in spite of his faults and mistakes, it is
impossible to look upon him in the same charitable light for the rest
of his career. The great defeat and the loss of his army he described
in letters to his sister, Ulrica Eleonore, and the state council, as
small misfortunes, without consequence, which he was soon to repair.
Instead of trying his utmost to obtain peace on the best possible
conditions for his poor country, and instead of saving his unhappy army
from the miseries of captivity, he made plans for new campaigns and
demands for a new army. Czar Peter expressed more correct views of the
situation. A few hours after the battle of Pultowa he wrote to Admiral
Apraxin: “Now rests at last secure our city on the Neva.” And he was
right. The period of the political grandeur of Sweden was at an end.
Great was the renowned heroism of Charles XII. and his warriors. Still
greater, although less renowned, the heroism with which his poor and
neglected country suffered the disasters which these glorious deeds
brought upon it. The regular troops of the army created by Charles
XI. had not been sufficient. New regiments were, one after the other,
created by means of increased taxes and repeated enlistments, until
it appeared as if the whole male population was to be sent out in the
endless wars, to be killed or imprisoned, and the distressed country
doomed to inevitable destruction. Plague, hunger and emigration
threatened to make away with those spared from military service. Swedes
of the nineteenth century have difficulty in apprehending how the
country was able to endure such terrible hardships.
The consequences of the defeat at Pultowa soon became manifest. The
enemies of Sweden had formed a better idea of the resources of the
country than had its own ruler, and were resolved to profit by it.
King August at once declared the treaty of Alt-Ranstædt to be null
and void, and entered Poland, where he in a short time recovered
his lost authority. Stanislav fled and sought a refuge on Swedish
territory. King Charles later gave him his little hereditary land
of Palatinate-Zweibrucken. King Frederic of Denmark declared war
upon untenable grounds and had an army of 16,000 men invade Scania.
Helsingborg was captured without difficulty. Great consternation was
caused by this assault upon the unhappy and apparently defenceless
country. The state council was brought to despair. The situation was
saved by Count Magnus Stenbock, the able general. After having served
as quartermaster-general of the Swedish army in Poland, he was sent
back to Sweden, being governor-general of Scania at the time when this
province was invaded. He had not with him the necessary troops to meet
the enemy, but left for Smaland, where he gathered an army of peasants,
chiefly consisting of inexperienced but sturdy youths in wooden shoes
and coats of goatskins. From Vexio, where he had met his new mustered
troops, Stenbock returned to Scania, in February, 1710, obtaining the
reinforcements of a few additional regiments, which swelled his army
to the number of 14,000 men. The well-equipped Danish force, which,
after an expedition into Bleking, returned to Scania, made a good deal
of fun of the “Stenbuk og hands Gededrenge” (the mountain buck and his
goatherds). Governor Stenbock understood how to gain the confidence and
rouse the patriotism of his “goatherds.” He was soon sufficiently sure
of their ability to risk a battle, which was fought at Helsingborg,
February 28, 1710. The Danes, commanded by George Rantzau, were routed,
and sought a refuge behind the walls of the town. The Danish losses
were 4,000 killed and wounded and 3,000 prisoners, with their camp,
artillery and baggage. A few days later the Danes evacuated Scania,
returning to Seeland. The victory of Helsingborg was the most glorious
of the battles fought by Magnus Stenbock. It saved Sweden in the hour
of direst distress, rekindling the hope which the battle of Pultowa had
extinguished. It was the last time in Swedish history that the Danes
entered Scania as enemies.
The victory at Helsingborg was only one bright star in a night of
darkness. In the Baltic provinces the disasters followed close upon
each other. Count Nils Stromberg, the governor-general of Livonia,
was forced to surrender the town of Riga, July 1, 1710, after having
fought the Russians for months with great bravery. The enemies which
forced the able Stromberg to give up his cause were hunger and
plagues. Not less than 40,000 Russians had lost their lives outside the
walls of Riga. Within a few months Duenamuende, Pernau and Reval also
surrendered. This made complete the Russian conquest of the Swedish
empire in the Baltic provinces. The operations against Finland, begun
earlier, were continued with success. The town and fortress of Viborg,
which never had been occupied by foreign troops, were captured in June,
and Kexholm in September. The country was unmercifully devastated, in
spite of solemn promises to the contrary.
That under such circumstances discontent against the absolute ruler
was fostered seems only natural. During the first few years of the
Carolinian campaign the noise of the great victories was stronger than
the voices of discontent and complaint. When the glorious battles were
not followed by treaties of peace, the grumbling voices grew louder.
The king was at first not the object of the growing discontent, but
the state council, which was considered to make greater demands than
were necessary. The king was supposed to fight for a righteous cause
against treacherous enemies, but the truth dawned on a good many that
a government invested with absolute power was the cause of the misery.
The battle of Pultowa brought to a mature state the thoughts of a
change in the constitution, thoughts which for years had occupied the
ablest men of the country. The double government was to a great extent
responsible for the bad state of affairs. The king tried to rule with
absolute power from his headquarters in Saxony, Poland and the Ukraine,
with Piper as his adviser. At home the state council held the reins of
government and sometimes acted in direct opposition to the instructions
or intentions of the king. Charles XII. was very jealous of his power,
and the state council, foremost in which were a few men of the very
highest ability, like Count Arvid Horn, was on this account sometimes
unable to carry out its best endeavors. Charles by his methods brought
confusion and uncertainty into the deliberations and acts of the
government, injuring the commonwealth and the principles of an absolute
monarchy as well. The king was not able to supervise the details of his
administration, and unrighteous officers profited thereby, by their
unlawful collections of taxes, causing open revolts of the suffering
population in various parts of the country.
The state council took no pains to hide the truth from the king, rather
using strong colors in their descriptions of the critical condition
in order to obtain the much-sought-for and needed peace, or at least
the gratification of seeing the armies of the country used exclusively
for the defence of its own possessions. King Charles considered the
members of the state council as a body of weaklings, cowards and fools,
who painted the devil on the wall because they lacked the courage
and endurance to await the final and infallible triumph of his royal
arms in a righteous cause. The climax was reached after the arrival
of Charles at Bender. The state council commenced to negotiate for
peace on its own responsibility. It also convoked a committee of the
Estates of the Riksdag to a meeting for deliberations on measures
which would better the hopeless conditions of the state and people.
King Charles learned of it and sent from Bender a remarkable order, in
which he absolutely forbade such meetings, “especially because the last
convention of the Estates,” he wrote, “had no other consequence than to
let them still plainer discover their impoverished condition.”
King Charles lingered in Bender, fascinated by the plans made by
several Turkish princes of an armed support against his enemies, or
at least an escort of troops for his return through Poland. The king
succeeded in his efforts to force the sultan of Turkey to an attack on
Russia. The Turks, 200,000 strong, made an invasion, according to plans
drawn up by Charles, and were successful in completely surrounding a
Russian army, commanded by Czar Peter in person, at the shores of the
river Pruth. The czar saved himself by a supreme effort, sacrificing
all his gold and the jewels of the czarina as bribes to the grand
vizier, who commanded the Turkish army. This dignitary let the Russians
escape, thus spoiling the plans of the whole campaign. To Charles it
was a great disappointment. His hope to see the Russian giant crushed,
and the defeat at Pultowa avenged, was gone forever. His plan of
reaching Poland with Turkish troops to join Stenbock and a Swedish army
was shaken with the loss of confidence in his barbarous allies. The
perfidious grand vizier was punished, but the agreement of peace which
he had made with the czar was sanctioned by the sultan, in 1711.
The Swedish state council was quite reluctant to obey the repeated
orders of the king for a new army, hesitating to impose new burdens
upon the suffering people. The king grew impatient and there was no
escape possible. Magnus Stenbock, the most popular man in all Sweden,
set an example of personal sacrifices which was followed by many
others, and a new army of 9,000 men was at last equipped with a navy to
carry it across the Baltic to Pomerania. Stenbock landed in the island
of Rugen, in September, 1712, and increased his army to 14,000. He
abandoned the idea to march toward Poland because the king remained at
Bender, and entered Mecklenburg after having skilfully avoided meeting
a superior force of Russian and Saxon troops, which followed him at a
distance. Negotiations of peace had been commenced before the arrival
of Stenbock, between the dethroned Stanislav of Poland, who was then in
Pomerania, and King August. This caused a standstill in the operations,
an armistice of a fortnight having been agreed to, with a prospect of
renewal. The Danes made an end to it, entering Mecklenburg in December.
When the armistice was at an end, Stenbock hastened with his troops
to Gadebusch, where the Danish army was encamped, by this rapid move
preventing the latter from joining the Russian and Saxon forces. Only a
detachment of Saxon cavalry had succeeded in reaching the Danish camp.
The battle of Gadebusch was fought December 9, 1712, and was the last
of the great victories on land that a Swedish army ever won on the
Continent. The Danes were crushingly defeated, and their allies found
it safest to return to their former fortified positions. The Swedish
artillery, commanded by Charles Cronstedt, distinguished itself in
this battle against an enemy of superior strength. But Stenbock could
not for any length of time keep up the struggle against the armies of
three countries, not receiving any support from Sweden, nor sufficient
provisions in Mecklenburg. When the Danes burned the town of Stade,
Stenbock in revenge burned Altona, toward the end of the year. His
army was reduced for lack of provisions, and Stenbock saw no other
course to take than to shut himself up with his troops in the fortress
of Tœnning, in the possession of the young duke of Holstein-Gottorp.
Stenbock persevered in his hopes for support from Sweden, or friendly
powers, in vain. Efforts were made in Sweden to send him troops and
provisions, but did not prove successful. When death from starvation
was impending, the valiant general concluded to surrender. May 6, 1713,
it was agreed that Stenbock and his army of 11,000 men should become
Danish prisoners, but that they should be exchanged at the earliest
opportunity. King Frederic IV. of Denmark dishonestly neglected to
fulfil this agreement, repeatedly and flatly refusing to exchange
any of the prisoners. The hero of the victories at Helsingborg and
Gadebusch at first received a tolerably good treatment in Danish
captivity, which later was changed in a horrible manner. After years
of cruel suffering, he died in a miserable dungeon, in 1717, one year
prior to the death of Charles XII. This great descendant of Eric
Stenbock and Magdalen Sture tried to kill the time of his captivity by
carving in ivory, some articles of exquisite design by his hand still
being preserved.
At the surrender of Tœnning, Sweden lost her last army and her ablest
general. Her king dwelt among the Turks in circumstances fraught with
increasing dangers, and her enemies on every side stood ready for
attack, the country being a prey to discontent and despair. Still her
measure of misery and contumely was not filled.
Charles XII. persevered in his strange sojourn at Bender, being
a guest who caused the sultan continual worry through his great
political influence. The king was resolved to leave Turkey only in one
manner, and that was escorted by a Turkish force. He was successful
in persuading the sultan to declare war on Russia once more, but
Czar Peter hastened to make so many concessions that peace was made
before any campaign was begun. King Frederic of Prussia offered
Charles an alliance on the condition that he should at once return
to Sweden. Charles seemed at last inclined to do so, but then a
conspiracy was brought to his notice, disclosing a plan by which the
perfidious Turkish princes of his intended escort were to deliver
him into the hands of King August of Poland. King Charles refused to
leave Poland, and the conspirators effected an order from the sultan
to attack Charles with an army of 10,000 men, and bring him, dead
or alive, to Adrianople. The order was executed February 11, 1713,
Charles defending himself with his few hundred Swedes and some Poles
of his escort against the overwhelming force of Turks and Tartars. The
house of the king, near Bender, had been strongly fortified for the
occasion. When the trenches were taken most of his men surrendered,
but Charles remained with fifty Swedes in the house, which was built
of wood, warding off the attack and putting the enemy to flight with
a heroism vividly recalling the tales of the ancient Sagas. The Turks
returned toward evening and ignited the building. The Swedes valiantly
continued their struggle, fighting with their swords against the Turks,
surrounded by heavy fire and by the smoke of the burning building. The
king at last was forced to leave the house and tried to make his way
to the neighboring chancery building, which was of stone and better
fit to withstand an attack. Charles stumbled and fell, and was at once
made prisoner, together with his followers. This peculiar incident,
which has been called the Kalabalik, or Popular Tumult, of Bender,
aroused universal surprise and dislike. Charles was conducted to a
Turkish pasha, who treated him with respect. He was under supervision
first at the town of Demotika, later at the palace of Timurtasz, both
in the vicinity of Adrianople. Charles considered it incompatible
with his royal dignity to call on the grand vizier. For this reason
it was given out that he was ill, and in his miraculous stubbornness
he persevered in keeping his bed for a whole year! During all this
time, Charles followed up his policy of governing Sweden from afar
with absolute despotism. He prepared new rules for the chancery,
attempting to change the form of administration from one of faculties,
or colleges, to one of departments, or bureaus. He made negotiations
of peace in the same spirit as of yore, viz., without being willing
to make any concessions, and planned new campaigns. For recreation he
played chess and listened to music.
In Sweden the peculiar Turkish adventures of Charles XII. were not
understood or appreciated, and the country seemed forsaken by all,
even by the king, who by many was thought to be insane. The state
council saw no possibility of maintaining a government without the
consent and goodwill of the people. Plans for a new constitution,
a reduction of the royal power and a peace at any cost were in the
air. Princess Ulrica Eleonore was called as a member of the state
council and a Riksdag was convoked, to meet toward the end of 1713.
The Estates declared that they were, in case of necessity, ready to
seek peace under the auspices of the princess and the state council,
and were in favor of appointing the princess to the regency. Arvid
Horn, the leading spirit of the state council, used the utmost of his
influence in keeping the Riksdag from the revolutionary acts which
would be involved in making Ulrica Eleonore regent, but he saw to it
that the declaration of the Riksdag, of intended peace-making through
the princess and state council, was communicated to the king. Hans
Henric von Liewen, one of the state councillors, was selected to
carry this communication to the king, together with letters from the
queen-dowager and the state council. Count Liewen gave a full and true
account to the king, telling him in plain words that if he did not
return home without delay his kingdom would be lost to him.
King Charles at last decided to return to his country. He sent an
embassy of seventy-two people to officially announce his departure to
the sultan at Constantinople, made a loan of a considerable sum of
money, and left Demotika with a large escort. In Wallachia he left the
Turks behind, and continued on his way through Hungary and Germany,
followed by two Swedish officers. The emperor of Germany, who was
desirous of winning over the Swedish king for his plans, prepared a
hospitable reception, but Charles passed Vienna _incognito_ as Captain
Peter Frisk. He rode on, through night and day, taking care of his own
horse and never changing his clothes. Charles arrived at the gate of
Stralsund, in Swedish Pomerania, in the night of November 11, 1714,
accompanied by one officer. In a fortnight he had, on horseback,
traversed a stretch of 1,300 miles.
The situation at the arrival of Charles XII. in Stralsund was beset
with new dangers and complications. Prussia had ceased to be friendly
and was planning to seize the Swedish possessions in Germany. Hanover,
united with England under the same ruler, had the same ambition. The
dilapidated fortifications of Stralsund were attacked by Saxons and
Danes, commanded by their respective kings, August and Frederic. For
more than a year, Charles, with admirable heroism, withstood the siege.
Once, while the king was dictating a letter to a secretary, the latter
sprang to his feet in consternation, a bomb having shattered the roof
of the building. “The bomb, your majesty, the bomb!” exclaimed the
scribe. Charles answered: “What connection is there between the bomb
and my letter?” quietly continuing his dictation. The king found it
at last impossible to keep up the defence of Stralsund, leaving it a
stormy December night, and arriving safely in the town of Trelleborg,
on the southernmost point of Sweden, December 15, 1715.
What a different country that Sweden was which Charles XII. left in
August, 1699, at the very summit of her political grandeur, to the
impoverished and suffering Sweden in which he had now landed! And
what a different man he had himself become during these sixteen years
of absence! Sweden had won a new hero king, of greater fame than any
of his predecessors or successors, but lost her prosperity for the
time being and her political grandeur forever. The people received
the king with demonstrations of joy and with reviving hope for an
honorable peace. The state council and the intelligent few received
him with badly concealed hopelessness and indifference. They knew that
although the young ambitious king had changed to a world-famous hero,
prematurely aged in victory and defeat, the unyielding stubbornness and
the never satiated desire for glory had remained unchanged in Charles
XII. Charles was met by a message from the dying queen-dowager, his
grandmother, with an ardent prayer for peace. Charles answered to hopes
and prayers, to silent indifference and despair, with a command of
more money and more troops! He wanted peace, but as he spoke in the
same terms as when he was the victorious commander of an apparently
invincible army, nobody cared to consider his demands in earnest. The
absolute power reached its last stage of development, a military
despotism which had no other policy than war, no other administration
than the one requisite to maintain and provide the requirements of war.
The state council fell in deepest disgrace, and its functions ceased,
in 1715.
During the last years of his reign, Charles XII. took no advice of
Swedish men. Foreign adventurers and schemers were in charge of the
affairs of state, principal among whom was Baron George Henric Gœrtz.
This man was a minister of state of the young duke of Holstein-Gottorp,
in whose service he remained, and in whose interests, as a successor
to Charles XII. on the throne of Sweden, he zealously worked, while
developing into the all-powerful minister of the Swedish king. Charles
granted him authority to act in his name in almost every branch of
the government, interior as well as foreign. Gœrtz was a genius, but
utterly reckless. For his acts the king was responsible, not he.
Gœrtz was a foreigner and working for the cause of a foreign master.
He tried to obtain loans abroad, made compulsory loans within the
country, placed a tax on articles of luxury, and put in circulation
coins of copper which were a kind of “promissory notes,” worthless in
themselves, but each representing a Swedish dollar. At first these
“coins of need” were issued to the amount of a sensible sum, but were
soon increased in number at the command of Charles XII. himself, so
that they represented higher sums than the crown could redeem, and thus
lost their value. The people refused to take them, while the prices of
everything in the market rose to an astounding height. The government,
in order to save itself from this difficulty, took possession of all
coined money and uncoined silver, and gave the “coins of need” in
exchange, perpetrating several other scandalous acts of violence
against the rights of private property.
The situation grew almost insupportable. Commerce and industry, injured
by the war, ceased entirely because nobody was inclined to sell, only
to receive in exchange worthless coins. Wars and hard years combined in
creating misery and distress everywhere. The peasants were recklessly
treated, and a disregard for moral obligations grew out of the bad
examples set by the government. The students and scientists had in
great numbers been carried away by the bloody wars, and the interest
in the fields of culture was slackened by the power of financial
depression. The wealthy and well-to-do saw their means daily diminish,
and, losing their interest in public welfare, they tried to save the
remnants of their own property. The members of the state council were
threatened by investigations which Gœrtz and his friends were scheming
to institute against them. In the nobility, the plans for a change of
the constitution matured, the leaders in this movement being Count Per
Ribbing and the old Gyllencreutz, who had prophesied the outcome of an
absolute monarchial government.
Charles XII., in spite of his all-absorbing passion for war, did not
lack interest for the pursuits of peace. He encouraged several men
of genius, of whom two were eminently worthy of distinction; viz.,
Nicodemus Tessin, Junior, the architect, and Christopher Polhem, the
engineer.
Nicodemus Tessin was born in Nykœping in 1654. His father and namesake
belonged to an old Pomeranian family, and had come to Sweden during
the reign of Queen Christine. Nicodemus Tessin, Senior, was an able
architect, who built the castle of Drottningholm for Queen-dowager
Hedvig Eleonore, a moderately gifted but art-loving woman. The latter
gathered around herself artists and architects at her castle of
Drottningholm, in Lake Mælar, among whom were Ehrenstrahl, a famous
artist of German birth, who founded the first school of Swedish
painters. The younger Tessin belonged to this circle and was, in their
respective times, in the favor of Charles XI. and Charles XII., acting
as court architect to both. The work which won for him an immortal fame
is the royal palace of Stockholm, an architectural creation worthy of
the admiration of all Europe, and, in Sweden, standing unsurpassed
to this day. It was planned and commenced by Tessin, but completed
according to his plans a hundred years after his death. Charles XI.
ordered a reconstruction of the old castle, which enterprise Tessin
undertook. Shortly after the death of Charles XI., both the old and
the reconstructed parts of the palace were burned, and the body of
the king with difficulty saved from the conflagration. Charles XII.
ordered Tessin to build an entirely new palace. The work was commenced
in 1698, but was gradually abandoned during the war times, to cease
shortly before the battle of Pultowa. Charles was highly interested in
it and wrote from Turkey to Tessin about his views. Tessin intended
to decorate the exterior according to the taste of his day, but
Charles raised opposition, finding the severe beauty of the stern yet
graceful outlines perfect in themselves. The work on the new palace
was recommenced after the death of Charles XII. King Adolphus Frederic
was the first who took up his residence within its walls. Tessin rose
high on the social ladder. From Turkey, the king made him a count and
chancellor of the University of Lund; after his return to Sweden he
appointed him marshal-colonel. Tessin stood in strong opposition to
Baron Gœrtz, and after the death of King Charles joined the leaders of
the revolutionary nobles. He was of universal fame.
Christopher Polhem was the first of great Swedish engineers and
inventors. He was born at the ancient town of Visby, in the island
of Gothland, in 1661, and was the son of a merchant, who died when
Christopher was a child. When only twelve years of age he had to make
his own living. As secretary to a widow of wealth, he early developed
his genius as a mechanician, building his own shop of carpentry, sloyd,
etc., making watches and devising smaller inventions. His want of a
classical education was detrimental to him, and he commenced, when
twenty-four years of age, to study Latin with various ministers in the
country, in exchange for works of his genius and handicraft. At last he
was able to enter the University of Upsala by means of recommendations
from his last teacher. Soon after his arrival he created considerable
attention and admiration by a proof of his ingenuity. Behind the
high altar in the Upsala Cathedral there was a clock of the finest
workmanship, devised in mediæval times by a monk of the monastery of
Vadstena. It was out of order, and not for a hundred years had anybody
attempted to set it right. Polhem undertook to reconstruct the whole
work, connecting with the main mechanism all the hands which pointed
out the hours of the day, the eclipses of the moon and the motions
of the “ruling” planets, according to the system of the astrologers.
Polhem succeeded in his task, and was allowed to test his invention of
automatic haulers of ore in the mines. The college of mining, before
which the invention was successfully demonstrated, accepted it, and
Charles XI. appointed Polhem a mining engineer. In 1694, Polhem made
an extensive journey through England and the Continent. In Paris
he learned that several mathematicians were in vain endeavoring to
construct a clock which would simultaneously show the time of the day
in various countries and strike the hours at the same time. Polhem
announced through the Swedish ambassador in Paris that he was willing
to solve the problem. He constructed a model which gave universal
satisfaction. Louis XIV. had a clock made after this model and gave it
as a gift of honor to the Turkish sultan. Upon his return he proposed
the founding of a _laboratorium mechanicum_, which in several respects
served as a pattern for the later technological institutes of Stockholm
and Gothenburg. The youthful Charles XII. embraced the idea with
interest, but the promising institution came to a standstill during the
wars. Among Polhem’s more remarkable inventions was one for the leading
of water-power, to be used at considerable distances. Charles XII. said
that a man like Polhem was not to be had for several centuries, and
that for this reason he ought to be made useful as long as he lived.
A task of gigantic proportions was intrusted to him--the construction
of a dock for the navy yards at Carlskrona. The great engineer filled
it in an admirable way, and was appointed councillor of commerce and
ennobled under the name of Polhem, his original name having been
Polhammar, which to modern ears sounds just as fine and a good deal
more suggestive.
Another gigantic task worthy of the genius of Polhem was the
construction of a navigable route from the North Sea across the great
inland seas of Sweden to the Baltic, but he was not allowed to finish
it. Charles XII. intrusted the work to Polhem, who was to have it
ready in five years. In 1718, Polhem commenced by forming an immense
sluice, by means of explosions in the rock at Trollhetta. The great
waterfalls of said place were to be avoided and the work of completing
the sluice was begun, when it was all destroyed by unknown enemies,
who dropped beams and planks in the river above, which carried away
the dam. The death of King Charles and the impoverished condition of
the country made it impossible to continue the work on the great canal
system, which had to wait for more than a century for its ultimate
completion. With the death of Charles XII. the era of ambitious
enterprises came to an end; but Polhem was employed in various works
of mechanic improvements in the interest of agriculture, industry and
manufactures. Czar Peter of Russia, King George I. of England, and
several other monarchs made brilliant offers in order to win Polhem
for their countries. He executed several works and inventions abroad,
but loved his own country too much to leave it. Polhem exerted a
great influence in the interest of his science, both by instruction
and by the publication of technical works. Active to the last, he
died in 1751. Polhem was a man of a harmonious endowment, amiable
and dignified, and preserved his plain mode of living throughout his
brilliant career.
Gœrtz led with superior skill the negotiations for peace, while the
impoverished country suffered untold miseries as a consequence of his
unscrupulous financial schemes. He tried to benefit by the sudden but
lasting enmity between Czar Peter and George I., desiring to gain the
support of either against the other. The deliberations were held in the
archipelago of Aland, with Gœrtz as the representative of the Swedish
government. Czar Peter wanted to keep Ingermanland, Esthonia and
Livonia, but was ready to cede Finland, which country he occupied, and
to assist King Charles with troops in an attack on Denmark. Norway was
to be the compensation for the lost Baltic provinces, and the attack on
Denmark was to be made from Germany. Charles XII. had no confidence in
the czar as an ally and had commenced the conquest of Norway directly
and without his aid. No decision was reached in the negotiations with
England.
In February, 1716, Charles XII., from Bohuslæn and Vermland, made an
invasion into Norway, penetrating over the Glom River to Christiania.
He captured the capital, where he held his headquarters for several
weeks, but was not able to take the fortress of Akershus, which, with
its artillery, commanded the city. The Swedish army, 10,000 strong,
suffered a great deal from want of provisions and through a guerilla
war, skilfully conducted by the Norwegians. Charles was in danger
of being surrounded by the enemy, and with difficulty retreated to
Sweden, over the Strait of Svinesund. The dangers were increased by
the Norwegian naval hero, Peter Tordenskiold, who, with some Danish
ships under his command, had destroyed a flotilla of Swedish transport
vessels. An invasion into Scania by Denmark and her allies was planned
for the summer, but did not materialize. King Charles took up his
headquarters at Lund.
The war offered no aspect of interest during the year 1717, except some
unsuccessful attempts made by Tordenskiold to capture the towns of
Strœmstad and Gothenburg. Charles prepared another attack on Norway,
and, by draining the last resources of his country, managed to equip
an army of 60,000 men. In August, 1718, a smaller army, under the
command of Charles Gustavus Armfelt, was sent through Jemtland over the
mountains into the diocese of Drontheim. King Charles, with an army of
30,000 men, invaded Norway from Bohuslæn, Dal and Vermland, and took
in possession the country east of the Glom River. Within a few days
the king laid siege to the fortress of Fredericsten, close by the town
of Fredricshall. November 27th the fort of Gyldenlœve was captured,
and the Swedes moved their trenches ever closer to the fortress, which
seemed doomed to surrender. In the evening of November 30th the king
was seen in one of the trenches watching the work of his soldiers, and
leaning against the rampart. He remained there a long time, not heeding
the appeals of his officers, who grew uneasy on account of the apparent
danger to his person. Suddenly his head sank down on his breast. A
bullet from the fortress had reached him, penetrating his temples and
causing instant death. He met death in the manner he most desired it,
although not while engaged in battle.
Charles XII. was of an enigmatic character, which attracts, through
its strength and superiority over his contemporaries, but which
is repulsive through its tenacity, unyielding sternness and
inaccessibility to reason or persuasion. His moral greatness has won
admiration. It had its limitations, but was superior to the standards
of his time. His ideals were pure and lofty, but, through lack of
contact with the realities and facts of life, only assumed a tragic
grandeur, without proving beneficent to mankind. His faults were such
that his education and experience as an absolute monarch aggravated
them. Charles XII. was the most remarkable man of his age and one of
the greatest soldiers that ever lived. He was also a great general,
although the proper balance between the soldier and the field marshal,
perhaps, was to some extent lacking. The influence of his personality
and example had a miraculous effect upon his soldiers. He suffered his
one great defeat in open battle when wounded, suffering, and not able
to exert his usual influence to its full extent.
Charles XII. has been idolized by his countrymen of all ages, who
in him have recognized an impersonation of all their chief national
virtues, with a few of their national faults, enlarged into the image
of a patriotic hero of almost supernatural grandeur. The Swedish people
were forced to accept absolute power as a salvation from the impending
thraldom of oligarchy. In Charles XII. it saw to what a climax of abuse
this power could attain, even in hands which were deemed righteous
and free from stains. With Charles XII. the political grandeur and
the absolute monarchy of Sweden came to an end, although attempts to
restore both were to be made. A new phase of her development, with
new improvements and new evils, commenced with the reign of Ulrica
Eleonore.