Frederik was born in 1609 to Christian, King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, and Anna Katharina von Brandenburg. Early in life, he became the Prince (Arch)Bishop of the imperial states of Bremen, Verden and Halberstadt. 1/10
In 1643, Sweden invaded Denmark. Frederik played a role in the Danish defences in Schleswig-Holstein but was defeated. The war proved to be disastrous for Denmark as it lost territory in Scandinavia and in the Baltic Sea (Gotland and Ösel). 2/10
Bremen and Verden were also lost and were acquired by the Swedish monarch. In 1647, Frederik's elder brother died and a year later, his father. But since Denmark was not a hereditary monarchy, Frederik had to give up some of his father's royal prerogatives to become king. 3/10
In 1657, Frederik sought to recover his losses from Sweden. Sweden at the time was busy at war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who also had to battle with Cossack rebels and Russians. But Sweden retaliated in strength and in speed, seizing Jutland and Zealand. 4/10
The war was resolved with the Treaty of Roskilde, but Sweden wasn't done yet. They pressed on to Copenhagen laying siege for months, but the city resisted the attacks. Meanwhile, the Dutch came to support Denmark with their fleet. 5/10
With the treaty, Denmark had lost their control over the Øresund, which connected the Baltic Sea to the North Sea. But with Sweden pushing into Copenhagen, they could gain control of both shores. The Dutch defeated the Swedes at sea partly to prevent that from happening. 6/10
Meanwhile, Copenhagen was still under siege. King Frederik bravely resisted the siege along with his compatriots forming a local militia, despite calls for him to flee. The brave stand proved crucial after Swedish finally retreated, without victory. 7/10
The Swedes were now on the back foot. In addition to Dutch support, King Frederik also received support from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Brandenburg-Prussia. The Swedes were defeated at Nyborg and finally sued for peace with the Treaty of Copenhagen. 8/10
With this victory, King Frederik managed to recover Denmark. Norway also fought to recover some of their lost territory from Sweden. Despite the overall loss, the king gained popularity among the people and was in a position to reform the government. 9/10
In 1660, Denmark became a hereditary monarchy with an absolute ruler. King Frederik was able to reorganize land holding and make governance more inclusive than limited to the nobility. In 1667, he inherited the German County of Oldenburg as well. 10/10
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Did you know that five of the top ten happiest nations in the world were once ruled by a single person?
The story of the Kalmar Union and its long breakup. 1/20 🧵
It was the work of Queen Margrethe, who ruled Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1389 to 1412. Sweden, at the time, also ruled Finland, while Iceland was part of Norway, after its Parliament, the Althing, voted for allegiance to Norway in 1264. 2/20
The idea of a united Scandinavia was not a new one. King Knud, who ruled England, Norway and Denmark three centuries before Queen Margrethe, also claimed to be the king of some Swedes, perhaps indicating he ruled over Skåneland. 3/20
Christian was born in 1503 to Frederik, joint Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, and Anna von Brandenburg. Frederik was the son of Christian, King of the Kalmar Union, which was then ruled by Frederik's elder brother, Johan. But by 1503, Sweden had broken off from the Union. 1/10
The Kalmar Union was envisaged to unite the three Scandinavian kingdoms under a single ruler. But it didn't take long for hiccups to take place after the initial stage. Sweden, for most part, and Norway, briefly, forged their separate paths. 2/10
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was an odd nation. It was an elected monarchy, a multi ethnic, multi lingual, multi religious nation. At its peak, it was the largest and the most populous nation in Europe … until it faltered and fell. 1/25
The story of the Commonwealth took centuries to make.
The Poles were a Slavic tribe who lived in Eastern Europe. Towards the end of the 10th century, they accepted the Roman version of Christianity and expanded into neighbouring areas. 2/25
But in 1138, a well meaning division of territory to avoid fraternal infighting led to further divisions in every generation and fragmentation of Poland over 150 years and, of course, more fraternal infighting. 3/25
Algirdas was born around 1296 to Gediminas and possibly a Rurikid Princess of the Rus' from Smolensk or Polotsk. Gediminas may have been the brother of Vytenis, Grand Duke of Lithuania and he succeeded to the Grand Duchy in 1315. 1/10
Lithuania had been expanding its boundaries acquiring Rus' principalities weakened by the Mongols. By the time of Gediminas, Polotsk, Minsk and Turov had fallen into the Lithuanian sphere of influence. But he had to deal with the troublesome Teutonic Order in the north. 2/10
Reminds me of the time we dealt with Coca-Cola. We had to prepay for supply, but no guarantee if they can supply as per order. Result fund gets stuck. 1/4
Then, the products they supplied like Citra was near expiry and so we returned them at the time of supply. Delays in credit notes meant funds again got stuck. 2/4
On one occasion, we received a carton with products having two manufacturing dates. They had severe logistics issues back then. 3/4
Lajos was born in 1326 to Charles Robert, King of Hungary and Croatia and Elźbieta of Poland. Elźbieta was the sister of Kazimierz, King of Poland. Lajos and Charles Robert belonged to the House of Capet-Anjou that ruled in southern Italy. 1/10
In 1290, with the Hungarian ruling House of Árpád nearing its end, Charles Robert's father, Charles, the eldest son of the King of Sicily in Naples, was declared the new King. However, it took another 20 years, till 1308, for confirming the claim against rival claimants. 2/10