User blog comment:BoogieMango/If You Could Meet ANY Figure in History.../@comment-4034967-20130309011159/@comment-4034967-20130309234008

I wouldn't really call 1618-1648 compared to 1700-1721  "just." And anyway, Karl won most of his battles, usually being outnumbered, but the main reason for the Swedish loss at Poltava and ultimately failure of the Swedish Empire was his inability to command his troops, as he himself was wounded whereas the vastly outnumbering Russian army was commanded by Peter himself.