The Great Northern War

Imagine Sweden having a whole empire, the Baltic Empire around the Gulf of Finland to be exact. Charles XII vs Peter the Great: A battle for the ages for the land that the Swedes had for many generations. In total, the Swedes had an estimated 250,000 men (including allies) on their side of the war and Russia (along with its allies) had an estimated 330,000 men in their army to combat their opponent of Sweden and the western European countries (besides the Ottomans) helping Sweden. Charles XII and his allies first focused on attacking Denmark. The Swedish navy was able to outmaneuver the Danish Sound blockade and deploy an army near the Danish capital which is present day Copenhagen. At the same time, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet had also set course towards Denmark. Together with the Swedish fleet, they carried out a bombardment of Copenhagen from 20th–26th of July. This surprise move and pressure by the Naval Powers (England and the Republic of Dutch Colonies) forced Denmark/Norway to withdraw from the war in August 1700 according to the terms of the Peace of Travendal which made Sweden's temporary ally, Denmark, leave the Great Northern War and ultimately be neutral.

Sweden anticipated the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal and the city of Narva conjointly and in a counter-offensive pushed Augustus II's forces through the Polish commoners to Saxony, which dethroned Augustus along the way and forced him to acknowledge his defeat in the Treaty of Altranstädt (October 1706). The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of Johann Reinhold Patkul, who was the architect of the alliance seven years earlier. Meanwhile, the forces of Peter I had recovered from defeat at the city of Narva and gained ground in Sweden's Baltic provinces, where they cemented Russian access to the Baltic Sea by founding the great city of Saint Petersburg on May 27th of 1703. Charles XII moved from Saxony into Russia to confront Peter the Great, but the campaign ended in 1709 with the destruction of the main Swedish army at the decisive Battle of Poltava and Charles' exile in the Ottoman town of Bender. The Ottoman Empire eventually defeated the Russian army in the Pruth River Campaign that lasted from 1710 to 1711. This in turn brought Sweden to its knees and forced them to surrender, eventually building the Russian Empire that we know today.