Latin Gustavus Adolphus
born Dec. 9, 1594, Stockholm, Swed.
died Nov. 6, 1632, Lützen, Saxony
King of Sweden (1611–32) who made Sweden a major European power.
The son of Charles IX , Gustav inherited his father's dynastic quarrels with Sigismund III Vasa and until 1629 faced a legitimist invasion from Poland. He ended the war with Denmark in 1613, but Sweden was forced to pay a crushing war indemnity. He ended the war with Russia (1617) and annexed Ingria and Kexholm. Internal tensions were largely resolved by his trusted chancellor, Protestantism against the Counter-Reformation . He entered the Thirty Years' War in 1630 as a defensive maneuver, to secure the Swedish state and church from danger. An outstanding military tactician, he led an army of unusual quality, and his position was strengthened by alliances with France, Brandenburg, and Saxony. Success in the Battle of Breitenfeld let him sweep through central Germany and claim large territorial cessions, particularly Pomerania (1631). At Lützen in 1632, the Swedes defeated {{link=Wallenstein, Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von, duke von Friedland">Albrecht W.E. von Wallenstein 's army, but Gustav was killed in battle.