Two treaties signed in Stockholm in 1719,…

Two treaties signed in Stockholm in 1719, in which Sweden had ceded to Hanover the dominion of Bremen-Verden, and 1720, in which Prussia receives Stettin (Szczecin), Swedish Pomerania south of the river Peene, the islands of Usedom and Wollin, and the towns of Damm and Gollnow, end the Great Northern War between Sweden on one side and on the other Hanover and Prussia; both countries had recently entered the war in the hope of gaining territory when peace was made.

Ulrika Eleonora, the youngest child of King Charles XI and Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Elder, and Queen regnant of Sweden from November 30, 1718, had agreed to abolish the absolute monarchy as a condition of her accession.

She had in 1715 married Landgrave Friedrich I of Hesse-Kassel, whose counsel she has constantly sought in political matters.

She wants him to become co-regent, but as this is not permitted, she abdicates in his favor after just one year of her reign, which succession is confirmed by the Riksdag of the Estates.

Even in 1718, however, when Ulrika had been vying for the throne against her nephew, Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, both she and Frederick had come under the influence of the anti-absolutist parliamentary forces led by Count Arvid Bernhard Horn.

Therefore, when Frederick becomes king on February 29, 1720, he gives up significant powers to Parliament, thus inaugurating the Swedish Age of Freedom.

Virtually powerless, Frederick will devote his time to hunting and love affairs.