CONTINENTAL RIVALRIES

Sweden has been the dominant power around the Baltic Sea since the Thirty Years’ War (161848) but at the end of the 17th century the country is ruled by a new, teenage king – Charles XII. An antiswedish alliance headed by Tsar Peter I (‘the Great’) of Russia includes Augustus II of Saxony-poland-lithuania and Frederik IV of Denmarknorway. Their joint aim is to reduce Sweden’s power.

Charles XII painted at the age of 15 in the year of his accession to the Swedish throne in 1697