Peace

Charles X Gustav fell ill in early 1660 and died on 23 February of that year. With his death, one of the major obstacles to peace was gone and the Treaty of Oliwa was signed on 23 April. Sweden was accepted as sovereign in Swedish Livonia, Brandenburg was accepted as sovereign in Ducal Prussia, and John II Casimir withdrew his claims to the Swedish throne, though he was to retain the title for life. All occupied territories were restored to their pre-war sovereigns.

Territorial gains of the Swedish Empire after the Treaty of Roskilde (green outline) and Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) (light green). The Second Northern War marked the height of Sweden's stormaktstiden

However, Denmark was not keen on peace after their recent successes and witnessing the weakness of the Swedish efforts. The Netherlands withdrew their blockade, but were soon convinced by Denmark to support them again. FranceThe Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe since the High Middle Ages. It was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. Colonial conflicts with Great Britain led to the loss of much of its North American holdings by 1763. The Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic.France and EnglandThe Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from about 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general. The English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927.England intervened for Sweden and the situation was again teetering on the edge of a major conflict. However, the Danish statesman Hannibal Sehested negotiated a peace treaty without any direct involvement by foreign powers. The conflict was resolved with the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660). Sweden returned Bornholm and Trøndelag to Denmark. The treaty of 1660 established political borders between Denmark, Sweden and Norway which have lasted to the present day, and secured the Swedish dominium maris baltici.

Russia, still engaged in the Russo-Polish War (1654–67), settled her dispute with Sweden in the Treaty of Kardis, which restored Russian-occupied Swedish territory to Sweden.

List of Peace Treaties

• Treaty of Königsberg: Sweden and Brandenburg-Prussia (1656, superseded by Bromberg and Oliva)
• Treaty of Bromberg: Brandenburg-Prussia and Poland-Lithuania
• Treaty of Roskilde: Sweden and Denmark (1658, superseded by Copenhagen)
• Treaty of Oliwa: Sweden and Brandenburg-Prussia, AustriaThe Archduchy of Austria was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periphery. The archduchy's history as an imperial state ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Lower and Upper Austria crown lands of the Austrian Empire.Austria and Poland-Lithuania (1660)
• Treaty of Copenhagen: Sweden and Denmark (1660)
• Treaty of Kärde: Sweden and Russia (1661)

• Outline of the Second Northern War (1655–1660)
  

  HISTORIC BATTLES

  Second Northern War (1655–1660)

  The Second Northern War (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway. The Dutch Republic often intervened against Sweden. View Historic Battle »

  Prelude: Sweden, at that time an expansionist empire with an army designed to be maintained by the revenues of occupied territory, was conscious that a direct attack on her main adversary Russia could well result in a Dano-Polish–Russian alliance.

  Swedish campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: On the western front, Wittenberg was opposed by a Polish levy of 13,000 and an additional 1,400 peasant infantry.

  Occupation of Poland-Lithuania and the Brandenburgian intervention: In the north, the Royal Prussian nobles concluded a defensive alliance with the Electorate of Brandenburg on 12 November in the Treaty of Rinsk, permitting Brandenburgian garrisons.

  Polish–Lithuanian recovery: Charles X Gustav, with a force of 11,000 horse, reacted by pursuing Czarniecki's force of 2,400 men, confronting and defeating him in the Battle of Gołąb in February 1656.

  Brandenburgian-Swedish alliance and Russia's war on Sweden: On 25 June 1656, Charles X Gustav signed an alliance with Brandenburg: the Treaty of Marienburg granted Greater Poland to Frederick William in return for military aid.

  Swedish–Brandenburgian–Transylvanian–Romanian alliance and the truces with Russia: Rákóczi entered the war in January 1657, crossing into the commonwealth with a force of 25,000 Transylvanian-Wallachian-Moldavian men and 20,000 Cossacks who broke the Polish siege of Kraków before they met with Charles X Gustav, who had led a Swedish-Brandenburgian army southwards.

  Austro–Brandenburgian–Polish alliance, Danish campaigns in Sweden: On 1 December 1656, he signed an alliance with Ferdinand III of Habsburg in Vienna, essentially a declaration of Ferdinand III's intend to mediate a peace rather than provide military aid, which did not come into effect until Ferdinand's death on 2 April 1657.

  Denmark and Pomerania: The attack of Frederick III of Denmark in June 1657, aimed at regaining the territories lost in 1645, provided an opportunity for Charles X Gustav to abandon the unfortunate Polish–Lithuanian battlefields.

  Sweden entrenched: In 1659, the war was characterized by Swedish forces defending their strongholds on the southern Baltic coast against allied assaults.

  New Sweden: The Dutch moved an army to the Delaware River in the summer of 1655, easily capturing Fort Trinity and Fort Christina.

  Peace: Russia, still engaged in the Russo-Polish War (1654–67), settled her dispute with Sweden in the Treaty of Kardis, which restored Russian-occupied Swedish territory to Sweden.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Second Northern War", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.