Belisarius
Posts: 4041
Joined: 5/26/2001
From: Gothenburg, Sweden
Status: offline
|
[QUOTE=K62]All right I take back what I said about the heroic death :o However, after he was defeated by Peter the Great at Poltava he was exiled for some years in a Turkish castle, right? Did he come back to Sweden after that or how did he die in battle :confused:
Also, was he some kind of Napoleon or did something permanent come out of his conquests?[/QUOTE]
Well he wasn't really exiled - after Poltava the remnants of the Swedish Army fled to Turkey. This wasn't a bad call at all, there had been previous negotiations with the Turks about joining the war against Russia. Now they established a more or less permanent station in the vicinity of Bender, with some 7-8 large houses all built after the standard Army drawings. After a few years though, the sultan grew tired and decided to kick them out and the result was spectacular. 50 some hardened swedish veterans, the last survivors from Narva and Poltava, against thousands of Turks. This episode is known to all Swedes as "Kalabaliken i Bender", or "the Bender tumult" if you like. Carolus XII then decided to persuade the managing of Sweden from a closer point - he fled along with three of his most trusted officers. :rolleyes: They probably set a speed record doing it; only three days after the flight from Bender (in Turkey), they arrived at the docks in Stralsund at the Baltic sea.
Home again it didn't take long for the King to feel the urgency for another war - this time against Norway ,who was a province of Denmark since waay back, so it was more of 'convincing' the Norwegians to NOT help Denmark in their war effort. Things went pretty well - this was a complete invasion of Norway from three points; south to Oslo, center to Trondheim (only pass through the mountains leads to Trondheim) and way up north with a small force.
The southern prong heading for Oslo laid siege to the impressive fortress of Fredrikshald, south of Oslo. There, while inspecting the front from the trenches, the King was struck in the head with a musquet bullet and died on the spot.
To this day, it is still a controversy wether he was killed by a Norwegian sniper or shot by his own men. I have been to Fredrikshald, and it's by no means an impossible shot from the fortress wall out to the trench, but the accuracy of the firearms of early 18th century leaves something to be desired. The regicide theory is supported by a bullet that has been on display that supposedly killed him - it's not an ordinary lead shot but a uniform button - from a Swedish uniform. :p The motif ofcourse would be to end 21 years of uninterrupted warfare. OTOH, morale in the Swedish army was good, and Carolus was held in high esteem by rank and officers alike.
This might see its conlusion soon - they are now analyzing the button-bullet for DNA and match it with DNA sampled from the King's body. Personally, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't find any. ;) The whole explanation is just too convenient. I think it was established during the Swedish-Norwegian union of 1814-1905, when there was much need to mend the relations between the nations.
Oh, and the tragedies for the Swedish army wasn't over - the contigent up at Trondheim was ordered to pull back at the news of the King's death. They did so over the mountain pass, and was caught in a blizzard that claimed a majority of them. (some 2-3000 if I remember correctly)
Edit: Answer to your last question K62 - yes, he was a Napoleon of sorts. Not only did he too fail to capture Moscow by the very same reasons that killed la Grande Armée - winter and scorched earth. One would think Napoleon would have learned from his example. :rolleyes: The only lasting effect of his campaigns was the passing of Sweden as a major power in Europe. One could argue that this saved our hinies later on, with the Napoleonic wars and World wars much later, since Sweden was no longer important for anyone. What he *did* accomplish though, in spite of the extremely heavy odds, was to kick Denmark's behind once and for all. This was the end of almost 350 years of continuous Dano-Swedish wars over Baltic domination. The fact that Russia came out of it as a major power probably helped, too...
_____________________________
 Got StuG?
|
Printable Version
- 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread