Greatest monarch of the early 18th century

Greatest monarch of the early 18th century

  • Peter the Great of Russia

    Votes: 18 36.0%
  • Charles XII of Sweden

    Votes: 6 12.0%
  • Frederick William I of Prussia

    Votes: 9 18.0%
  • William III of Great Britian

    Votes: 6 12.0%
  • Louis XIV of France

    Votes: 5 10.0%
  • Nader Shah of Persia

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • Qianlong of China

    Votes: 2 4.0%

  • Total voters
    50
Greatest monarch of the early 18th century
Peter the Great of Russia
Charles XII of Sweden
Frederick William I of Prussia
William III of England
Louis XIV of France
Nader Shah of Persia
Qianlong of China
If there are any important monarchs I’m missing please list them in comments.:)
 
I decided to go with Pyotr Alexeyevich, forcer of mighty-powerness on the tsardom.

His arch-nemesis, like another soldier-king in the decades to come knew how to use on the field the army forged by his predecessors, but unlike that other soldier-king in the future, lost his country's bid for supremacy on the European stage.

Frederick William planted the seeds that grew Prussia into a major player, but didn't actually try to do so himself.

William III was mostly dead throughout the early 18th century; his arch rival's power was on the wane and long lost his prime in the last two decades.

Don't know much about those last two.
 

Tyr Anazasi

Banned
Peter the Great was the founder of modern Russia and victorious against Charles XII, another great commander. That's why Charles, who made an all or nothing game and lost, is out. As is Nader Shah, who conquered a huge area but was not able to hold it, as his wars were ruinous. Qianlong was not very effective either, as he lost wars and led the country into problems. William III was "only" able to secure the crown of Britain, a task, but also not lasting as he had no heir. Louis XIV is OTOH a contender, but his wars (and lifestyle) were too costly. And he did not gain much. The Soldier King Frederick William I built up the base for his son to make Prussia a power. However, he did not lead many wars and was used by the Kaiser. That his daughter would pay with Silesia for that and Prussia becoming a great power was an irony of history.

Because of that my personal list would be:

1. Peter the Great
2. Louis XIV
3. Frederick William I
4. William III
5. Nader Shah
6. Charles XII
7. Qianlong

Frederick the Great OTOH, if included, would be a tough contender to Peter, especially as he had less resources than Peter.
 
Wouldn't Nadar Shah be an Afghan, or am I confusing him with someone else?

The one on this thread is the one who was Shah of Persia. He successfully invaded the Moghul Empire and finished it off as a major power, although it lasted as a shadow of its former self for another century.

There has been a Nadir Shah of Afghanistan, but he ruled in the 1920s.
 
Peter the Great. Easily. A monarch so modern that he was years ahead of his contemporaries: modernized Russia, created its first fleet, built a sea capital, defeated Sweden. And all this while being the most curious man of his times, capable of working as a simple carpenter in a Dutch harbour or carving the wedding gift for his new queen.
 
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