Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - XVIII. Reign of Chales XIII, 1809–1818 - C. Administration of Charles John as Crown Prince
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Charles XIV John 321
posed of Prussian, Russian, and Swedish forces.
Against this army Napoleon directed his chief attacks
to break the iron ring with which the enemies sur-
rounded him. But Charles John defeated the French
troops in sharp engagements at Gross-Beeren and Den-
newitz, south of Berlin. Finally the three armies con-
centrated their strength against Napoleon at Leipsic
and during three days (Oct. 16, 18, 19) fought the
great "Battle of the Nations/’ as it has been called.
With the fragments of his army Napoleon withdrew.
Europe was liberated. It was to the skillful strategy
of Charles John that the allies in the first place owed
their victory, his plan of the campaign having been
previously accepted by the allies at a conference held
at the Castle of Trachenberg near Breslau.
From Leipsic the allies advanced into France. But
Charles John did not wish to enter his native land as
an enemy. His duty as crown prince had compelled
him to fight his former compatriots, but it was not
against the French people he had fought, but against
their despot. In fact, he had fought not only for the
liberation of Sweden and her allies, but also for the
freedom of France from a despot actuated only by an
insatiable ambition.
The Treaty of Kiel. While the allies were continuing
the war and compelling Napoleon to abdicate, Charles
John seized the opportunity of securing his reward for
the part he had taken in the late struggle. Like Tor-
stensson and Charles X in former days, he invaded
Denmark from Germany. He easily compelled Fred-
erick VI to accept the terms of the Treaty of Kiel,
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