Emperor Francis following the Austro-Polish victory at Warka

The Little Northern War

Overview

The Little Northern War, at least by Pope Francis, is what is called "The Damned Continuation Of The Thirty Years Francis," and is treated by him as the final sequel to the war. This war had consisted of Sweden, the Electorate of Brandenburg with the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Dutch Republic and for only one year the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. Francis had considered the war a "Pyrrhic victory" due to the fact that the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth had nearly collapsed before his intervention, with thousands of lives lost prior to.

Cromwell, who is still alive, congratulated the Swedes at the time for "toppling the Catholic horn."

The First Period of the War

Following the Polish-Swedish conflicts prior to, overlapping the Thirty Years Francis, Carl X Gustav had immediately grown power-hungry a year into his reign, invading the Balts which had been (predominantly) under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth.

Assaults from Swedish commanders Arvid Wittenberg and Magnus de la Gardie had ultimately led to the (almost) collapse of the Commonwealth, with king Jan II Kazimierz Waza fleeing to Austria, seeking aid from Emperor Francis. This era is known as "the deluge." During this period, The Swedes and Russians underwent a short war, solidifying the end with a peace treaty and another forced encroachment into Poland with the Brandenburger armies, where Warsaw had capitulated in 1656 after 2 days of fighting.

Austria Intervenes

After the Polish King Jan Kazimierz had begged Francis for aid, the Kaiser had reluctantly joined in order to halt Protestantism and Swedish authority from taking hold in the Russo-Swedish occupied Poland. In order to avoid a second Thirty Years Francis, Emperor Francis had allied with the Dutch Republic and had worked in concert with the Dutch provisional government, as they were in a 22 period vacancy of a Stadtholder. From here, Emperor Francis signed an alliance with the Polish King-in-exile, and had successfully advanced into southern Poland, liberating Krakow almost immediately, forcing Carl X Gustav to flee the commonwealth and invade the Danes as a last-ditch attempt to win at least a portion of the war, where his efforts in Denmark-Norway had succeeded, though all was lost in Poland. After a short invasion by Emperor Francis, Carl X Gustav was killed in a skirmish outside Gothenburg with Imperial troops by the Kaiser himself, who had routed his armies from Sweden after days of looting and mass rape promptly. Sweden had then sued for peace.