"Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century,[1] primarily between the territorial rivals of the Swedish Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Poland–Lithuania, and Denmark–Norway. The Great Northern War is generally considered to have concluded the Northern Wars with the decline of Sweden and establishment of the Russian Empire as the principal power of the region, however there are different scholarly opinions on which war constitutes the First Northern War and an internationally agreed-on nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised.[2]
Depending upon what date is chosen for the starting point, the Northern Wars comprise:
