Gustavus II, king of Sweden, conscripts and trains an army far more mobile than those of his rivals

Ordnance factories in Sweden begin producing light but powerful field artillery, easy to move on the battlefield

After years of warfare, the truce of Altmark gives Estonia and most of Latvia to Sweden

Gustavus II and the Swedish army win a conclusive victory over the imperial forces at Breitenfeld

The Swedish army wins another convincing victory at Lützen, but Gustavus II dies leading a cavalry charge

War between English colonists and Pequot Indians brings disaster to the Pequots but safeguards the settlement of Connecticut

Covenanters seize control of Edinburgh and other Scottish towns, launching the conflict with England known as the Bishops' War

In need of funds for the Bishops' War in Scotland, Charles I summons parliament to Westminster

Charles I, at Nottingham, raises the royal standard - signalling that he considers himself at war

Charles I leads his army into action at Edgehill - the first, but inconclusive, battle in the English Civil War

Charles I marches to within a few miles of Westminster (to Turnham Green), but withdraws without engaging the enemy

Charles I withdraws to Oxford, where he establishes his court for the rest of the war

The Prince de Condé and the Vicomte de Turenne emerge as brilliant generals in France's wars

In the first decisive battle of the English Civil War the king's nephew, Rupert of the Rhine, is heavily defeated at Marston Moor

Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell form England's first professional army, calling it the New Model Army

The royalist forces, again under the command of Rupert of the Rhine, suffer another major defeat at Naseby

With a parliamentary army surrounding royalist Oxford, Charles I escapes in disguise and heads north

A young Hindu prince, Shivaji, captures Bijapur in a campaign against Muslim rulers, enabling him to establish the large and long-lasting Maratha empire

Charles I puts himself in the hands of a Scottish army, opposed at the time to the English parliament

The Scottish army holding Charles I makes peace with parliament, and hands the king to parliamentary commissioners

Charles I is held at his palace of Hampton Court, as a prisoner of Cromwell and parliament

Charles I comes to a secret arrangement with a group of Covenanters in Scotland, winning their support

Scottish Covenanters invade England in support of the English king, Charles I, in his struggle against parliament

The Peace of Westphalia finally brings to an end the Thirty Years' War

Parliamentary forces defeat the Scottish invaders and suppress other new outbreaks of royalist support