17th-century Sweden was the Baltic military powerhouse before attacking Russia in the winter, making them costly with the empire.

Today, Sweden is the country pursuing a neutral foreign policy.

Capital was a poor country with a sparse population, the medieval Sweden could not compare with the big rivals at the time such as France and Russia in terms of resources.

He is well-known for being a smart and creative military commander, pursuing a flexible and maneuverable battle mode suitable for Sweden.

Swedish soldiers are deployed in company-sized tactical squads, ensuring flexibility instead of bulky enemy lines.

Most artillery of the period was stationary on the battlefield, but the Swedish infantry regiments possessed light and highly mobile field artillery to support the soldiers during the battle.

These tactics helped the Swedish army to win repeatedly on the battlefield.

The triumph of Sweden was the Battle of Breitenfeld, the land today near the German city of Leipzig, in September 1631.

King Gustavus Adolphus died in the Battle of Lutzen in 1632, but his army still won.

In 1708, Sweden invaded Russia, but this decision cost them dearly.

The Swedish army was under the command of Charles XII, the young king who was dubbed the "Lion of the North".

Charles XII attacked Russia with only 40,000 troops, a force much smaller than 500,000 Napoleon soldiers in 1812 and 3 million Germans during the Barbarossa campaign in 1941.

The Swedish army had a good start by removing the Danish - Norwegian coalition and the Polish - Lithuanian empire from the war.

However, the Russian military then adopted a "scorched earth" tactic, destroying everything before retreating deep into its vast territory, leaving behind what the enemy could not take advantage of.

In 1709, Europe experienced unprecedented cold winters for 500 years.

The fate of the Swedish empire was decided at the Battle of Poltava in central Ukraine in June 1709.

The Russians blocked the Swedish attack, then organized a counterattack with superior forces and surrounded the blockade of the enemy.

King Charles XII withdrew from Russia with 543 soldiers who survived and lived in exile for 5 years.

Neither Napoleon nor Hitler later learned from the bitter defeat of Charles XII.