GUSTAVUS II (GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS), king of Sweden, grandson of Gustavus Vasa: b. Stockholm, 9 Dec. 1594; d. Liitzen, Saxony, 16 Nov. 1632. He was trained to war under experienced generals, and at 16 took his place in the state council. Charles IX, the father of Gustavus, had been declared king to 'the ex clusion of his nephew Sigismtrnd, who, on ac cepting the crown of Poland during his father's lifetime, had abjured the Protestant religion. On fife death of Charles, Gustavus succeeded him, with the consent of the states, as king elect. Sweden was at this time at war with Denmark, and Gustavus was in command of the army. He chose for his chancellor and first councillor Axel Oxenstiern, a man 10 years his senior, and already eminent for his ability, who eventually proved himself to be one of the greatest of European statesmen. The war with Denmark was concluded through the mediation of England in 1613. A new enterprise at this time presented itself to the ambition of Gus tavus— the throne of Russia was vacant and contested. A party favored the election of Charles Philip, the brother of Gustavus, and was supported by a Swedish invasion under General de la Gartie, who had penetrated to Novgorod; while the Poles, who had also in vaded Russia, had reached Moscow. Michael Romanoff was, however, elected czar. Gustavus took a personal share in the Russian war, which continued for about four years after this election, and had made considerable con guests in Livonia and the neighboring provinces when peace was concluded at Stolbova in 1617. In 1620 he married Eleanora, sister of the elector of Brandenburg. The war with Russia was followed by war with Poland, which lasted nine years, and was concluded on advantageous terms for Gustavus by a six-years' truce in September 1629. He had made important con
quests, which he was allowed to retain, in East Prussia.
His attention was now diverted from north ern wars by the affairs of Germany. The op pression of the Protestants by Ferdinand II excited his sympathy. He was alarmed by the progress of Wallenstein, which threatened to extend the empire to the Baltic, and by leagu ing himself with the Protestants of Germany he might hope for easier and more extensive con quests than by struggling single-handed against the northern powers. He named his daughter Christina heiress to the throne, embarked for Germany in May 1630, and landed with an army of 13,000 men in the island of Usedom on the coast of Pomerania. After repeatedly defeat ing the imperial generals and conquering a great part of Germany, he was killed in the bat tle of Liitzen. Gustavus differed from some other great commanders in preferring a small well-ordered army to a large one, asserting that all over 40,000 men were an encumbrance. His character made him beloved by his soldiers, and he was served with a devotion which enabled him to effect great things with small means. The effects of the discipline he imparted to the Swedish army, and the prestige of success de rived from his victories, were felt long after his death. His body was taken to Sweden. Consult 'Lives) by Dodge (1896) ; Droyson (1879); Fletcher (1891) ; Noel (1905) ; John ston, C. H. L., Cavalry Leaders) (1908) ; and Cambridge Modern History (Vol. IV, 1907). See THIRTY YEARS' WAR.