Diplomacy During the Great Northern War from 1700-1721.

Diplomacy during the Great Northern War from 1700-1721.
Kevin L. Boyd
Norwich University

Abstract
After studying the Peace Treaty of Westphalia and its impact upon how states conduct relations with each other I was interested in finding out how it impacted conflicts subsequent to the treaty. This paper will therefore analyze The Great Northern War and both the diplomatic impact upon the conflict as well as the conflict itself impact upon diplomacy. The Great Northern War lasted from 1700 until 1721 and had the nation-states of Russia, Denmark, and others allied against the Swedish Empire, as well as dominated the European political scene alongside the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714). That this major conflict occurred so soon after the Treaty of Westphalia, and had two of the major belligerents literally switch sides during the conflict then back again, begs for study. I initially chose this bit of history because having lived in Scandinavia and it occurring at such a pivotal time in history intrigued me, however finding out that one of the leading historians, Stewart P. Oakley taught at Norwich was a bonus (Until I learned that it was the Norwich campus of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom). In this paper I will discuss the historical highlights that led up to war as well as the diplomatic history that influenced it, the war itself, the relations between the belligerents and why diplomacy failed during several critical points, and finally the historical legacy that remained afterwards. I found that diplomacy at this stage in history was still infantile and that the personalities of the leaders still had a much larger impact upon both diplomacy and the war than the treaties themselves. Keywords: Great Northern War, Peace Treaty of Westphalia, diplomacy, conflict

Diplomacy during the Great Northern War from 1700-1721.
Introduction
The Thirty Years War was a great windfall for the Swedish Kingdom as they emerged from it

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