Charles XII of Sweden: Carolus Rex | Personage Non Grata

For three-hundred years, the legend of Charles XII has remained.

A legend all too controversial and complex. Though known today from the Sabaton album that bears his name, Charles was a character all his own. Both Sweden's savior and its destroyer. The one who both brought the nation to great heights, but allowed it to fall all the lower.

As there was Peter “the Great”, there was Charles “the Invincible”. His world seems so foreign to many today. A world where Sweden dominated the North and Kings lead wars far afield. Even the mystery of his bizarre death casts another shadow upon Charles. Who was this king and why is he so polarizing?

Charles XII of Sweden, the man who would have been the Alexander of the North.
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Music:
Ugonna Onyekwe — "Overcome" (0:00-01:09)
Frédéric Chopin — "Galop Marquis", preformed by Aya Higuchi (01:09-01:19)
Akash Gandhi — "Viking" (01:19-03:34)
Quincas Morieira — "London Fog" (03:34-05:23)
Kevin MacLeod — "Constancy Part One" (05:23-06:26)
Kevin MacLeod — "Stoneworld Battle" (06:26-10:18)
roljui — "Autostrade" (10:18-12:33)
Aaron Kenny — "Christmas Homecoming" (12:30-14:38)
Kevin MacLeod - "Crinoline Dreams" (14:39-15:08)
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All copyrighted media, images, and music respective owner(s).
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Sources:
-Voltaire. Voltaire's History of Charles XII, King of Sweden. Translated by Winifred Todhunter, J.M. Dent, 1908.
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All Embrace Me: "Thank You For Watching."

[Pseudiom]

Corrections:
@Gösta Ståhl pointed out Charles died on November 30. I mixed up the date.

[Masterchief]

As a Swede I find it highly amusing that an American would find interest in our history. Long live the memory of Carolus Rex, the lion from the North!

[twilftw]

This is the plot of a fire emblem game

[CENsystem]

I WAS CHOSEN BY HEAVEN
SAY MY NAME WHEN YOU PRAY TO THE
SEE CAROLUS RISE

WITH MY LORD MY PROTECTOR
MAKE EM BOW TO MY WILL TO THE SKIEEESSS
SEE CAROLUS RISE

*TO THE

*SEE CAROLUS RISE*

[sergeyshoygu]

Wow, this was a really quality video. I'm astonished that you've so few views with such good videos, continue like this and you'll be a massive channel in the future soon :) You've earned yourself a new fan and subscriber

[johannordstrom]

Gott mit uns
As we all stand united
All together Gott mit uns!

[TheFenderBass]

-But Charles was crowned in 1697 not 1700 as an absolute monarch on the orders of Carl Piper the leading kings council member.


-The map is wrong aswell when Charles ascended Sweden did not own any polish coastal cities nor did sweden have Trondelag in Norway.


-The numbers fighting at Narwa is also wrong it wasn't 8 000 vs 80 000 it was more or less ~10 000 swedes vs ~35 000 Russians.


-You are also very wrong about how Charles entered into Poland. They didn't face little resistence nor were concieved as liberators. The polish civil war started because Charles wanted to dethrone Augustus and therefore forced the Polish Magnates to elect his own puppet king Stanislaw. The civil war was about which king is to rule over poland set in motion by Charles himself. Many magnates refused to even show up to vote or to watch Stanislaws coronation as they didn't support him at all. It was a long and drawn out polish campaign which spanned 5+ years until finally Charles managed to fully defeat Augustus by occupying his home of Saxony. The polish civil war would restart when Augustus came back.


-Charles never managed to Capture the fortress of Poltava it was in the control of the Russians just under siege by the swedes. Charles wasn't injured in the battle of Poltava he was injured before the battle had begun. He watched it take place from his stretch since he couldn't walk due to being shot in the foot a few days prior when inspecting trench duggouts.


-The painting battle of Bender couldn't possibly have been painted in 1703 since the event occured in 1713. Simple spelling mistake perhaps.


-Charles never made plans to make peace with russia. He wasn't even alive when the peace in Nystad gave the Russians the baltic territories. He never ever ''turned against western europe with Russia''.


-And the last part about the Norwegian Campaign is pure bullony. He didn't hire Pirates to muster a navy his army crafted some ships in a Norwegian lake if thats what you were referring to. He didn't inflict a crushing blow to the Danes in fact he had failed his 1716 campaign against them and was now trying again with better preperation. And the part about Britain was only an option not his actual plan cause he didn't share his plans for the future. The Norwegian campaign would cut the brits and danes out from the baltic which is why he launched it but taking on Britain was only an option for what to do after a succesful campaign in Norway.


-As pointed out he died November 30th not December 11th.


-Again he wasn't inside a fortress when he died he was inside a Trench whilst his army was sieging the Fortress. He stuck his head up above the trench the moment he died.


Loads of pretty blatant and unforgiving inaccuracies in this video makes me cringe. You only need a second to google and its clear how inaccurate this video was. Poor work on your sources mate. I can see that you got alot of info from Voltaires Biography of Charles the 12th. I've read it too. its was written in the late 1720s which means before the time of historical methodicism. Besides that its written by a French Philisopher but he wasn't a historian. He writes it more in the style of a fictional work of art than a biography and romanticizes the story. Voltaire although great philosopher of his era wasn't keen to science neither did he have access to the sources of documents written by Charles and his companions. Its most clearly that Voltaire based the biography on stories about charles rather than on actual sources like documents and letters. Interesting book nonetheless but historically accurate very little so.
The rest of your sources are pretty decent but you clearly didn't read them properly at all. Otherwise many of these inaccuracies wouldn't be here.
Sorry for being rough but if you gonna make something don't half ass it.

[Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

A lot of people are pointing out mistakes in the video, but honestly, you did a great job capturing the most important fundamental thing about Charles XII: The fact that he was a *nuanced* character.
In Sweden, the view of Charles XII is dominated by two schools of thinking. The Old School is the good ol' 19th century romanticism. "Our race is pure, the Easterners are barbarian mongloids, Charles XII was a perfect hero who fought to save Sweden from the evil Moscovites, he had no flaws whatsoever, he was practically a demigod" which, obviously, is ridiculous.
The countermovement that gained a lot of influence in the mod 20th century was just that: A countermovement. They took everything the Old School claimed and inversed it. "Charles XII was the worst king of all time, he had no redeeming qualities, literally everything he did was bad" - The New School is surprisingly similar to the Old School in it's single-mindedness, lack of nuance, and over-simplification of complex issues.


Nowadays, a lot of historians gravitate towards some neutral third option, Charles XII was a complicated figure and the portrayal of him should reflect that. The view of him is dominated by these two schools and I'm afraid that Sabatons album just played into the regular Old School narrative of "Charles XII was a perfect warrior king"

I much prefer portrayals like these, that acknowledge the incredible nuance in Charles' character and actions.

[funnyjupiter]

you did a good job sure som minner slip ups but still amazing and underrated. I think you have summoned up Charles/Karl XII story quite well. More people needs to know his story and your did an awesome job telling it.

[fromsupplysuperfly]

Such a shame he had no mentor like G2A had in Axel Oxenstierna. C12 had no long term goals. Just a chip on his shoulder

[grevevondy]

He was killed november 30th according to the calendar of the time and december 11th according to ours, so technically you're correct, but we usually teach/learn the dates of the old swedish calendar in school. Also, what an underrated video!! I have some critique though and that is, you may want to cut down on all the layers of pictures and flags? Some are unnecessary and really just cause confusion:)

[eretna]

we turks called him ironhead "demirbaş" because while carolus was in bender the demirbaş section of government spent money on carolus's army to recover, we didnt named it after his personality

[honkerhonkersson]

We love Karl. He fought for our rights as swedes. Much love.

[jamesalvarez]

Reference to the Macedonia madmen and the Swede during the Mexican American war of 1846:

Meanwhile, the inquiry presses powerfully, are these same destined Anglo-Saxon missionaries so immaculate in their character, so wise in their great national ideas, and so unbendingly true in their realization of them, that they have earned a title or authenticated "a divine right" to conquer and colonize the rest of God's earth? They may, doubtless, plead the right of might; but that is far from being the might of right. They may use the old appeal, ultima ratio regum, the ultimate resort of kings, and alas, We now see, of republics too; but so long as they have no more divine method than that, of civilizing the savage, and Christianizing the heathen, they are held down by an eternal gravitation to the vulgar level of “Macedonia's madman and the Swede”. Blind and foolish indeed must we be, if with the combined lights of history and Christianity on our path, we see any other or grander destiny for ourselves as a republic than that of righteousness, and freedom, and peace. “Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." If the Anglo Saxons, your American and British blood have any other destiny than that, let them beware before they run upon the thick bosses of those bucklers of the Almighty, which have already drank up the blood of the proudest victors. God keep us from our own worst passions and from a warlike destiny!

-the war with Mexico reviewed, Abiel Abbott Livermore, American Peace Society 1850

[Tramseskumbanan]

Gustav Vasa was Karl XII’s great great great grandfather.

[bondeboy]

Most of Finland belonged to Sweden even before the kalmar union...

[gustav]

3:34 That's a map of Sweden in 1658-1659. Denmark reconquered Trondheim and Bornholm in 1660. Also, Charles didn't crush the Danes or ride into Copenhagen. The Danes and Swedes were forced to sign a status quo peace by the Dutch and the English right after he had landed. There was no major engagement in 1700 between Denmark and Sweden. Copenhagen was the strongest fortified city in Europe at the time, and Charles knew he couldn't take it, which is why he was eager to make peace with Denmark but not with Russia later on.

[Grivian]

Charles didn't march into Copenhagen, he wanted to crush the danes but was forced by diplomats from the netherland and england to settle for a white peace with Denmark. They were intimidated by Swedish power and scared that if Denmark was conquered the power balance would shift too much. Still the invasion of Denmark was absolutely flawless and Denmark was clearly outmatched as they were beaten almost immediately

[bolesawbierut]

Hey you know, I'm from Poland but if i wanted someone to win the northern war, it would be Sweden.

[pandaman]

i liked the video but u need to read up more about the great northern war and the territorial expansions / ambitions of the involved powers