THE REIGN OF GEORGE II.—George II. was systematic in his ways, frugal, willful, and fond of war. In his private life, he followed the evil ways of his father. Walpole's influence was predominant. The clever Queen Caroline lent him her support. Walpole reluctantly entered into war with Spain (1739), on account of the measures adopted by that power to prevent English ships from carrying goods, in violation of the treaty of Utrecht, to her South American colonies. The principal success of England was the taking of Porto Bello by Admiral Vernon.
When the war was declared, the people expressed their joy by the ringing of bells. "They are ringing the bells now," said Walpole: "they will be wringing their hands soon." The blame for the want of better success in the war was laid on the prime minister, and he was driven to resign. Then followed the ministry of the Pelhams, Henry Pelham and the Duke of Newcastle, who, like Walpole, managed Parliament by bribing the members through the gift of offices.
In the war of the Austrian succession (1740), England took part with Austria, and the king in person fought in Germany. In 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the young Pretender (whose father, the old Pretender, styled himself James III.), landed in the Highlands. The Highlanders defeated the English at Preston Pans, near Edinburgh. The Pretender marched into England as far as Derby, at the head of the Jacobite force, but had to turn back and retreat to Scotland. The contest was decided by the victory of the English under the Duke of Cumberland, at Culloden (1746), which was attended by an atrocious slaughter of the wounded. Culloden was the last battle fought in behalf of the Stuarts. Nearly eighty Jacobite conspirators, one of whom was an octogenarian, Lord Lovat, were executed as traitors. These Jacobites were the last persons who were beheaded in England. The Pretender wandered in the Highlands and Western Islands for five months, under different disguises. He was concealed and aided by a Scottish lady, Flora Macdonald. Then he escaped to the Continent, where he led a miserable and dissipated life, and died in 1788. His brother Henry, Cardinal York, the last of the Stuarts in the male line, died in 1807.
CHAPTER III. THE GREAT NORTHERN WAR: THE FALL OP SWEDEN: GROWTH OF THE POWER OF RUSSIA.
SWEDEN.—The eventful epoch in the history of Sweden, in this period, is the reign of Charles XII. (1697-1718). At his accession, when he was only sixteen years old, Sweden ruled the Baltic. Its army was strong and well disciplined. What is now St. Petersburg was a patch of swampy ground in Swedish territory, where a few fishermen lived in their huts. The youth of Charles was prophetic of his career. In doors, he read the exploits of Alexander the Great; out of doors, gymnastic sports and the hunting of the bear were his favorite diversions. He became an adventurous warrior after, the type of Alexander. His rashness and obstinacy occasioned at last the downfall of his country. Three great powers, Russia, Poland, and Denmark, with the support of Patkul, a disaffected Livonian subject of Sweden, joined in an attack on the youthful monarch (1699). Patkul, who was a patriot, unable to secure the rights of Livonia, and condemned as a rebel, had entered the service of the Elector Augustus of Saxony, who was king of Poland. There were territories belonging to Sweden which each of the confederates coveted. Frederick IV. of Denmark expected to incorporate Sweden itself in his dominions.
RUSSIA: PETER THE GREAT.—The first ruler of the house of Romanoff, which has raised Russia to its present rank, was Michael (1613-1645). Under Alexis, his son (1645-1676), important conquests were made from the Poles, and the Cossacks acknowledged the sovereignty of the Czar. The principal founder of Russian civilization was Peter the Great (1682-1725). Through the machinations of his half-sister Sophia, who contrived to get the armed aid of the streltzi,—the native militia,—he had to share the throne with a half-brother, Ivan, who was older than himself, and lived until 1696. Sophia pushed aside Peter's mother, and grasped the reins of power. Peter learned Latin, German, and Dutch, and acquired much knowledge of various sorts. As he grew older, his life was in danger; but at the age of seventeen, he was able to crush his enemies (1689). Sophia, who was at their head, he shut up in a monastery for the remainder of her days. From Lefort, a Swiss, and other foreigners, Peter derived information about foreign lands, and was led to visit them in order to instruct himself, and to introduce into his own country the arts and inventions of civilized peoples. He invited into Russia artisans, seamen, and officers from abroad. He traveled through _Germany _and _Holland _to England, and with his own hands worked at ship-building at the dock-yards of Zaandam (near Amsterdam) and Deptford. On his way to Venice, he was called home by a revolt of the streltzi, which he put down. He was unsparing in his vengeance, and, despite his veneer of culture, never got rid of his innate barbarism. _Azoff _he conquered, and it was ceded to him by the Turks in the Peace of Carlowitz (1699). Then his ambitious thoughts turned to the Baltic, for he was bent on making Russia a naval power. He formed a secret alliance with Denmark and Poland against Sweden.
CONDITION OF POLAND.—In 1697 _Frederick Augustus _II.,—Augustus the Strong,—Duke of Saxony, was elected king of Poland: he became a Roman Catholic that he might get the crown. But the Polish nobles took care to increase their power, which was already far too great to be compatible with unity or order. Under the anarchical but despotic nobility and higher clergy, stood the serfs, embracing nine-tenths of the whole population, who were without protection against the greed and tyranny of their lords.
EVENTS OF THE NORTHERN WAR.—The _Danes _first attacked the territory of Holstein Gottorp, whose duke had married the sister of Charles XII. William III. of England supported Sweden. The Anglo-Dutch fleet came to Charles's assistance. He landed his troops in Zealand. The Danes gave up their alliance, and sued for peace. Europe was now astonished to discover that the Swedish king was an antagonist to be feared. In the field he shared the hardships of the common soldier, and was as brave as a lion. _Charles _now attacked the Russian army before Narva, in Livonia. With the Swedish infantry he stormed the camp of the Russians, and routed their army, which was much larger in numbers than his own (1700). He then raised the siege of Riga, which the Poles and Saxons were besieging, having first defeated their troops on the Dwina. These brilliant successes might have enabled _Charles _to conclude peace on very advantageous terms. But he lacked moderation. He was as passionate in his public conduct as _Peter the Great _was in his private life. He was resolved to dethrone _Augustus _in Poland. After the battle of Clissau (1703), he occupied that country, and made the Diet give the crown to Stanislas Lesczinski, the Palatine of Posen. To prevent Russia and Saxony from uniting against the new king, Charles carried the war into Saxony, and forced Augustus, in the Peace of Altranstädt, to renounce his claim to the Polish crown, and to surrender Patkul, the rebel, who had become a subject of Russia, whom he put to death with circumstances of cruelty. In 1703 Peter laid the foundations of the new city of St. Petersburg. But, a few years later, Russia was invaded by Charles, who in 1708 almost captured the Czar at Grodno, defeated his army near Smolensk, and was expected to advance to Moscow. But the imprudent Swede turned southward into the district of the Ukraine, there to be joined by Mazeppa, the "hetman" of the Cossacks, who led them in revolt against Peter. Mazeppa was able, however, to bring him but few auxiliaries. The harshness of the winter, and other untoward events, weakened the Swedish force. The battle of Pultowa (1709) was a great victory for the Czar. Charles escaped with difficulty to Turkey. There he remained for three years, supported with his retinue, at Bender, by the Sultan. His object was to bring about a war between the Sultan and the Czar. He so far succeeded that Peter, when surrounded on the Pruth by Turkish troops, was rescued only by the courage and energy of Catherine, the mistress whom he afterwards married. Charles was finally obliged to leave Turkey, after being exposed to imminent peril in an attack by the janizaries, who seized his camp and took him captive. With a few attendants, riding by day and sleeping in a cart or carriage by night, he journeyed back to Sweden, and arrived at Stralsund (1714). The hostile allies, together with Hanover and Prussia, were once more in array against him. Baron van Görtz, a German, became his principal adviser. He negotiated a peace with Peter, of whom the other allies were beginning to be jealous. Charles's plan was to invade Norway, then to land in Scotland, and, with the help of Spain and of the Jacobites, to restore the Stuarts to the English throne. While besieging Friedrichshall, a fortress in Norway, he exposed himself near the trenches, and was killed by a bullet (1718). It was long a question whether the fatal shot was fired from the enemy or by an assassin. Not until 1859 was it settled, by an examination of the skull, that the gun was discharged from the fortress.
RESULTS OF THE WAR—One result of the Northern war was the execution of Görtz, to whom the Swedish aristocracy were inimical, and a reduction of the king's authority. Hanover received Bremen and Verden; Prussia, the largest part of Pomerania; Sweden gave up its freedom from custom duties in the Sound. Augustus was recognized as king of Poland. Russia, by the Peace of Nystadt (1721), obtained Livonia, Esthonia, Ingermannland, and a part of Carelia, but restored Finland. Sweden no longer had a place among the great powers. The place that Sweden had held was now taken by Russia.
CHANGES IN RUSSIA.—The Czar, Peter, took the title of emperor. He transferred the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg. By constructing canals, roads, and harbors, he promoted trade and commerce. By fostering manufactures and the mechanic arts, and by opening the mines, he increased the wealth of the country. He altered the method of government, making the ukases, or edicts, emanate from the sole will of the emperor. He abolished the dignity of Patriarch, making the Holy Synod, of which the Czar is president, the supreme ecclesiastical authority. Peter made a second journey through Germany, Holland, and France (1716). His son Alexis, who allied himself with a reactionary party that aimed to reverse the Czar's policy, he finally caused to be tried for treason. He was condemned, but died either from the bodily torture inflicted on him to extort confession, or, as many have believed, by poison, or other means, used by the direction of his father. His friends, after being barbarously tortured, were put to death.