The Great Northern War is a conflict between 1700 and 1721 involving Sweden against an anti-Swedish coalition that includes Russia, Denmark and Poland-Lithuania. Some other countries will also join in anti-Sweden coalition such as England, Prussia, and Hanover.In the 17th century, Sweden was one of the great powers in the Scandinavian region. Sweden participated in various wars and held a series of regional expansions to cause a sense of dislike from neighboring countries. For example, Russia who want the Swedish region on the edge of the Baltic Sea so that the sea route to the Atlantic Ocean open. Meanwhile, Denmark intends to annex Scania and other areas taken by Sweden from Denmark due to the war between the two countries in the 17th century. Then there is the Polish-Lithuanian ambitious to take Livonia to the Swedish economy sector weakened, as information Sweden and Poland-Lithuania are rivals trade in the Baltic region.In 1679, the 15-year-old Charles XII ascended the throne to become king of Sweden. It is exploited by the anti-Swedish country to beat Sweden because its king is still too young and inexperienced in leading a country. A coalition made up of Russia, Poland-Lithuania and Denmark was formed to fight Sweden in the hope of getting the territory they wanted.In March 1700, Danish troops invaded the Holstein region, as well as the beginning of the Great Northern War. Not long ago, Saxony, one of the Polish-Lithuanian states, also invaded the Livonia region (now including Lithuania). Russia also did not want to miss & the territory that was targeted by Russian invaders was Narvia & Ingria (both located on the edge of the Baltic Sea). Despite being beaten three countries at once, Sweden was able to survive and hold resistance.The first country to be expelled from the war was Denmark. After successfully resisting the invasion of Denmark, Sweden then launched a counterattack to the Danish region. Swedish navy and Swedish warriors were able to repel Danish troops up to Copenhagen, which is the capital of Denmark. Denmark finally ended the war with Sweden through the Treaty of Traventhal.While Sweden was beating Denmark. Poland under King Augustus invaded Livonia, but this invasion was able to stem the Swedes when Charles XII moved his troops to Livonia. Failure also afflicted Russia when Swedish soldiers were able to defeat a much more numerous Russian soldier in Narva on 19 November 1700.Between 1700 and 1706 Charles XII focused on conquering Poland to facilitate the next invasion of Russia. In 1701 Swedish troops defeated Poland in Riga, a year later Sweden succeeded in occupying Warsaw and in 1704, Charles XII made Stanislaw Leszczynski the king of puppetry in Poland. Poles eventually succeeded in mastering it completely in 1706 after Augustus II accepted Stanislaw's powers and agreed to end the war.Two of his friends have been removed by Sweden does not make Russia give up so easily even during the time when Sweden fought in Poland used Russia to rebuild his troops. In 1708 it was Russia's turn invaded by Sweden. Initially Sweden was able to advance into the territory of Russia but due to difficulties in logistics and winter shipments coming, Sweden was defeated by Russia in Poltava in June 1709 and Sweden's invasion of Russia was also capable of dammed Russia.After his defeat in Poltava, Charles III fled to the Ottoman Empire and there he persuaded Sultan Ahmed III to help Sweden to fight against Russia. A short war between the Ottomans and Russia took place in the Pruth River region from 1710 until 1711. The two sides finally agreed to end the war in 1713.While Charles was alienated the country that originally surrendered to Sweden continue his resistance. Denmark invaded Scania in 1710 while the Polish king, Augustus II again seized his throne from Stanislaw. This situation forced Charles XII to return to Sweden in 1714.In 1715 Prussia and Hanover joined against Sweden followed by the British who declared war on Sweden in 1716. The situation worsened for Sweden when it had to lose the area of ​​Stralsund at the end of 1715 and Wismar next year so that Sweden lost all its territory in Eastern and Central Europe. But Sweden can still feel victory when successfully conquered Kristiania (now Oslo) in Norway.

Charles XII himself led his troops to master Norway but unlucky on December 11, 1718, Charles killed shot in the head while besieging the fortress Frederikshald. After the death of Charles XII the entire Swedish army was withdrawn from Norway.Charles's death was also followed by separate peace talks with the coalition member states. The new war actually ended in 1721 after the inauguration of a peace agreement between Russia and Sweden in the same year. Sweden was forced to give the Baltic region to Russia and Sweden must also pay war reparations to the opposing country. Sweden, once a strong European country, must lose its title when defeated by Russia and its coalition.Additional opinions from mimin:Actually if Sweden want to re-hold an alliance with France maybe early 18th century will be "world war" even though the scale is not as big as PD1 or PD2. Because while Sweden was at war with an anti-Swedish coalition in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, France was facing a coalition of Grand Alliances in Western Europe to the Americas at the War of Succession of Spain (1702-1714) and the enemies faced by Sweden and France were the same (England, Hanover, Prussia).The reason Sweden have not had contact with France is probably because Sweden has no interest in the Spanish throne issue in Western Europe, and Sweden is also reluctant to expand the conflict and must add new enemies, and Sweden is more focused on defending its territory from Russia and its coalition rather than having to focus on facing England, Prussia, and Hanover which is less threatening to Sweden.