The Swedish Empire was at its greatest extent in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
After its victories in the Thirty Years' War, Sweden reached the height of its power during the Second Northern War, when its primary adversary, Denmark–Norway, was neutralized by the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.
In modern historiography this period is known as the Swedish Empire, or stormaktstiden ("the era of great power"). It ended when Sweden lost the Great Northern War. The Swedish Empire at its height in 1658.
Viewed in its entirety, the 18th century in Sweden was a golden age of trade and commerce. In 1731 the Swedish East India Company was founded, which was extremely successful until it was forced out of business during the Napoleonic Wars.
But in 1709, the Swedish army lost a decisive battle against the Russians near the town of Poltava in present-day Ukraine. After that defeat, Sweden was no longer a great power in Europe. Sweden was involved in many wars during its history, but since 1815, the country has been at peace.
The accession to the European Union in 1995 meant that neutrality as a principle was abolished. Sweden is still today a neutral and non-aligned country in regard to foreign and security policy.
On 17 September 1809, the period of Swedish rule over the rest of Finland came to an end when the Treaty of Hamina was signed, ending the Finnish War. As a result, the eastern third of Sweden was ceded to the Russian Empire and became established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.
Early reforms. Sweden was weak during the Middle Ages, but the “advantage of backwardness” helped after that since the nobility was weak and couldn't resist reforms and centralisation. Sweden became the prototypical fiscal military state and could punch far above its weight.
The Vikings originated from the area that became modern-day Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. They settled in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Greenland, North America, and parts of the European mainland, among other places.
Sweden gained its independence from Denmark in the 16th century, and would rise as one of the major European great powers in the 17th century when it was formed as the Swedish Empire (Swedish: Svenska imperiet), known in Swedish as Stormaktstiden. It fought in the Thirty Years War, in which it was victorious.
In addition, both Sweden and Finland have deep bilateral defense cooperation with the USA, as well as with each other. The Finnish–Swedish defense cooperation officially includes joint wartime planning. For NATO, the concept of informal allies is central to address.
Meanwhile, back in the north, Sweden was invaded by its enemies; Charles returned home in 1714, too late to restore his lost empire and impoverished homeland; he died in 1718. In the subsequent peace treaties, the allied powers, joined by Russia and Great Britain-Hanover, ended Sweden's reign as a great power.
The dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden was the result of a conflict over the question of a separate Norwegian consular service.
Battle of Poltava, (June 27 [July 8, New Style], 1709), the decisive victory of Peter I the Great of Russia over Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War. The battle ended Sweden's status as a major power and marked the beginning of Russian supremacy in eastern Europe.
The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Sweden and Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) and Theatre War.
For the most part, Scandinavian raiders from Sweden as well as those from Norway, Denmark, and their colonies would have all been called “Vikings”. However, the primarily Swedish Vikings who went further east and south into the European continent were also known as the “Varangians of Kievan Rus'”.
Finally, in 870 the Danes attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces were commanded by King Aethelred and his younger brother Alfred. At the battle of Ashdown in 871, Alfred routed the Viking army in a fiercely fought uphill assault.
The average height of Vikings as found by researchers and scholars, varied depending on a number of factors, including their age and gender. Typically, the average male Viking would usually be between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 9, while the average female would be between 5 foot 1 and 5 foot 3.
Sami peoples
Ivar Samuelsen, Sea Saami (Sami, Sapmi). Man from Finnmark in Norwegian Lapland. Since prehistoric times, the Sami people of Arctic Europe have lived and worked in an area that stretches over the northern parts of the regions now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Russian Kola Peninsula.
Through luck and well-placed geography, Sweden had the kind of natural resources (iron ore and wood) needed when countries like Britain and Germany industrialised. “The industrial revolution made the iron in our ground very important,” Waldenström told The Local. The last time Sweden took part in a war was 1814.
Sweden is a parliamentary monarchy and a country that has free and fair elections with a strong multiparty system. In Sweden, an individual has a good level of freedom in terms of civil liberties and political rights, which are legally guaranteed and respected in practice as the rule of law prevails.
As a result of the Great Northern War (Treaty of Nystad, 1721), Sweden had lost Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, and part of Karelia… War with Russia in 1741–43 led to a temporary Russian occupation of Finland and to a further loss of Finnish provinces northwest of St. Petersburg.
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Sweden, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations". Sweden joined other countries in spring 2022 in declaring a number of Russian diplomats persona non grata.
Foreign policy. Since a short war against Norway in 1814 in conjunction with the creation of the union, Sweden has not been involved in any war. Since World War I, Sweden has pursued a policy of non-alignment in peacetime and neutrality in wartime, basing its security on a strong national defense.