<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XII_of_Sweden" id="mwXw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Charles XII of Sweden">Charles XII of Sweden</a> stops his march to conquer Moscow outside <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk" id="mwYA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Smolensk">Smolensk</a>, marking the turning point in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_War" id="mwYQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Great Northern War">Great Northern War</a>. The army is defeated nine months later in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poltava" id="mwYg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Battle of Poltava">Battle of Poltava</a>, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Empire" id="mwYw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Swedish Empire">Swedish Empire</a> ceases to be a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_power" id="mwZA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Major power">major power</a>.