Section IV.-Republican France under the National Convention. Section V. First French Republic under the Directory.. Section VI.-Napoleon's Consulate and Accession as Emperor... Section VII.-Napoleon's Austro-Russian War of 1805 and Results... Section VIII.-Napoleon's Prusso-Russian War of 1806-7 and Results.. Section IX.-Napoleon and the Peninsular War. Section X.-Napoleon's Austrian War of 1809 and Results. Section XI.-Napoleon's Disastrous Russian War of 1812. Section XII.-War of German Liberation and Fall of Napoleon. CHAPTER XXXVI. STATES-SYSTEM IN NORTH AND EAST. SECTION I.-WARS OF DENMARK, SWEDEN AND A. D. 1588 1648. DURING the sixty years reign of CHRISTIAN IV., A. D. 1588-1648, Christian IV., of Denmark was prosperous, notwithstanding her disastrous wars. The Denmark, Danish monarchy embraced all of Denmark and Norway, with the seven southern provinces of Sweden; while Iceland and Greenland were among its foreign possessions. In 1611 Christian IV. began a foolish and useless war with the King of Sweden; but this war was ended by His Wars the Peace of Siorod in 1613, through the mediation of England. The part which Christian IV. took in the Thirty Years' War as an ally of the German Protestants, which ended in his defeat and which was closed by the Peace of Lübeck in 1629, has already been alluded to; as has also his disastrous war with Sweden in 1644, which was ended by the Peace of Brömsebro, in August, 1645. with Sweden. Frederick III., of Denmark, A. D. 1648 1670, Upon the death of Christian IV., in 1648, his son FREDERICK III. became King of Denmark and Norway. In 1657 Frederick III. became involved in a war with Charles X. of Sweden, which was ended by the Peace of Roskild in 1658. A second war with Charles X. of Sweden, begun in 1658, was ended by the Peace of Copenhagen in 1660. In 1660 Frederick III. accomplished a peaceful revolution by His Wars which he changed the constitution of Denmark, thus converting his kingdom from an elective and limited monarchy into an absolute and hereditary one. Thus the Danish nobility were deprived of their great privileges and revenues by the Royal Law, which conferred unlimited power upon the king. The nobles thus lost their former power and independent position, and were bound very closely to the throne by titles and orders. Frederick III. died in 1670, and was succeeded on the Danish throne by his son CHRISTIAN V., who engaged in a war with Charles XI. of Sweden in 1675, which was ended in 1679 through the intervention of Louis XIV. of France. Upon the death of Christian V., in 1699, his with Sweden. Royal Law. Christian V., A. D. 16701699. Frederick son FREDERICK IV. became King of Denmark and Norway. He IV., A. D. 1699- reigned until his death in 1730. 1730. Charles IX. of Sweden, A. D. CHARLES IX. of Sweden was engaged during part of his reign of twelve years, A. D. 1599-1611, in a war with his nephew and predecessor, King Sigismund III. of Poland, who still claimed the Swedish crown after his deposition by the Swedish Diet. A few months before his death, in 1611, Charles IX. became involved in a war with Christian IV. of Denmark. Among the causes of complaint of the two His Wars. kings was one that each bore upon his shield three crowns symbolizing the three Scandinavian kingdoms. 1599 1611. Gustavus Adolphus, A. D. 1611 Upon the death of Charles IX., in the fall of 1611, his son, the illustrious GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS-" the Lion of the North "--became King of Sweden at the age of sixteen. He chose for his Prime Minister the famous Axel Oxenstiern, a man of profound wisdom and good judgAxel Ox- ment, a model statesman and diplomatist, and the prime mover in Swedish affairs for a long series of years. 1632. enstiern. Gustavus as a Gustavus Adolphus had served his apprenticeship in the art of war in the struggle with Christian IV. of Denmark, and he was destined Warrior. to become not only one of the most famous of military heroes, but also the founder of a new system of warfare and army organization, which in the course of time superseded the closely-serried ranks of the Swiss pikemen and the Spanish lancers. His Wars with Denmark and Russia. Through the mediation of England, the war with Christian IV. of Denmark was ended in two years by the Peace of Siorod, in January, 1613; but a war with Russia had already begun. The male line of Rurik having become extinct, a party in Russia desired to place a brother of Gustavus Adolphus on the Russian throne. The Swedes gained some advantages in this war, but the greater part of the Russian nation succeeded in maintaining the right of Michael Romanoff to Peace of the Russian crown. By the Peace of Stolbova, in 1617, Russia ceded Stolbova. considerable territory to Sweden, including the site of the present city of St. Petersburg. His war with Poland. Altmark. In 1620 Gustavus Adolphus became involved in a war of nine years with his cousin, King Sigismund III. of Poland, caused by the latter's pretensions to the Swedish crown. This war was ended in 1629, by Truce of the six years' Truce of Altmark, through the mediation of France, whose illustrious Prime Minister, Cardinal Richelieu, was anxious to allow Gustavus Adolphus liberty to engage in the great Thirty Years' War in Germany. By this war with Poland, Sweden acquired Livonia and part of Prussia; but far more valuable were the discipline and experience which enabled Gustavus Adolphus to assume his place as the great leader and champion of the Protestant hosts in the Thirty Years' War. |