King Charles Xii
Absolute Monarch Research Paper
King Charles XII was born on June 17, 1682 in Stockholm, Sweden. Charles XII was a member of the Gustav family. Charles XII took the throne on December 24th, 1697 at the age of 15 after his father, Charles XI, died of cancer. Charles XII ruled over all of Sweden. Charles XII was the first Swedish king born to absolutism and at the age of 16, officially crowned himself king in Stockholm instead of Upsalla. Charles XII omitted the traditional royal oath as well. Charles’ first official acts consisted of building and restoring palaces and modernizing the Swedish military, introducing flintlocks and bayonets into Swedish warfare. While Charles XII was away from the throne, the absolutism of his empire began to erode. Charles XII refused to marry, therefore, his weaker sister, Ulrika Eleonora, became the head of state. Charles XII thought that upon his return to Stockholm, he could regain absolutist power, but he never did return. When Charles XII first inherited the throne, the Russians, Danes, Saxons, and Polish attacked Sweden, thinking their new king was too inexperienced to defend his country. This attack threw Sweden straight into the Northern war. With Charles XII out on the battlefield, the Swedes drove the Danes out and then went and attacked Russia. Charles XII, commanding a group of soldiers, found themselves outnumbered by the Russians 4:1, managed to pull out a victory in Russia and went on to fight the Saxons and Polish, replacing the Polish king with a Swedish puppet. Sweden then attempted to invade Russia, but ultimately failed and agreed to sign the Treaty of Nystad, which gave Russia Sweden’s Baltic provinces. When he Swedes got involved in the Northern war, Charles XII started creating war taxes that went to outfitting the Swedish military with the latest war technology. Since Charles XII was fighting on the battlefield most of the time, he was not able to supervise details of his administration; therefore
King Charles XII was born on June 17, 1682 in Stockholm, Sweden. Charles XII was a member of the Gustav family. Charles XII took the throne on December 24th, 1697 at the age of 15 after his father, Charles XI, died of cancer. Charles XII ruled over all of Sweden. Charles XII was the first Swedish king born to absolutism and at the age of 16, officially crowned himself king in Stockholm instead of Upsalla. Charles XII omitted the traditional royal oath as well. Charles’ first official acts consisted of building and restoring palaces and modernizing the Swedish military, introducing flintlocks and bayonets into Swedish warfare. While Charles XII was away from the throne, the absolutism of his empire began to erode. Charles XII refused to marry, therefore, his weaker sister, Ulrika Eleonora, became the head of state. Charles XII thought that upon his return to Stockholm, he could regain absolutist power, but he never did return. When Charles XII first inherited the throne, the Russians, Danes, Saxons, and Polish attacked Sweden, thinking their new king was too inexperienced to defend his country. This attack threw Sweden straight into the Northern war. With Charles XII out on the battlefield, the Swedes drove the Danes out and then went and attacked Russia. Charles XII, commanding a group of soldiers, found themselves outnumbered by the Russians 4:1, managed to pull out a victory in Russia and went on to fight the Saxons and Polish, replacing the Polish king with a Swedish puppet. Sweden then attempted to invade Russia, but ultimately failed and agreed to sign the Treaty of Nystad, which gave Russia Sweden’s Baltic provinces. When he Swedes got involved in the Northern war, Charles XII started creating war taxes that went to outfitting the Swedish military with the latest war technology. Since Charles XII was fighting on the battlefield most of the time, he was not able to supervise details of his administration; therefore