Great Northern War Collage of important events, from left to right:
<ul><li>Battle of Narva, 1700 (Otto August Mankell, made in 1870). The first major battle of the war resulted in a complete Russian withdrawal out of Swedish Ingria, allowing Charles XII of Sweden to turn his forces against Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony.</li>
<li>Battle of Warsaw, 1705 (anonymous contemporary plate). In 1704, Augustus was dethroned in favor of Stanisław Leszczyński, following a Swedish invasion. To prevent the coronation of the new king at Warsaw, a 9,500-man large Saxon–Polish–Lithuanian army was sent to destroy the much smaller Swedish force protecting it. The allies, however, were defeated in the ensuing battle. The king could then be crowned Stanisław I, and a peace treaty between Poland and Sweden was signed.</li>
<li>Battle of Poltava, 1709 (Pierre-Denis Martin, made in 1726). After having forced Augustus to surrender following an invasion of Saxony, in 1706, Charles XII launched an invasion to deal with his last enemy, Peter I of Russia. The two rulers met in battle after more than a year of campaigning, which ended in a disastrous Swedish defeat, turning the tide of the war.</li>
<li>Battle of Gadebusch, 1712 (Magnus Rommel, made circa 1712). Both Denmark–Norway and Saxony reentered the war after Poltava, forcing the Swedes to go on the defensive. Their German dominions were soon attacked; to relieve them, a new Swedish army was raised and landed in Swedish Pomerania. At Gadebusch, the Danes and Saxons suffered a heavy tactical blow, but the strategic results were meager; the Swedish army was trapped and destroyed at Tönningen the following year.</li>
<li><i>Bringing Home the Body of King Charles XII</i>, 1718 (Gustaf Cederström, made 1878). Swedish Finland fell in 1714, after a Russian invasion, while the last Swedish stronghold in Germany surrendered in 1716. To regain the initiative, Charles XII launched an invasion of Norway in 1718. The king was shot dead during the Siege of Fredriksten, and his body was carried back home to Sweden. After his death, Sweden lost all initiative in the war; it finally ended in 1721, as peace was established in the Treaty of Nystad.</li></ul>
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