The ISO (International Standards Organisation) assigns a two character code to each country name. These codes are used by Internet 'whois' databases (these two character abbreviations are the whois country codes) and also other applications.
Charles XII (also known as Alexander of the North) was king of Sweden. He was born in 1682 at Stockholm and died in 1718. He was the sole surviving son of Charles XI, whom he succeeded in 1697, when he was but fifteen years old, he was declared of age by the estates. To his jealous neighbours this seemed a favourable time to humble the pride of Sweden. Frederick IV of Denmark, Augustus I. of Poland, and the Czar Peter I of Russia concluded an alliance which resulted in war against Sweden. With the aid of an English and Dutch squadron the Danes were soon made to sign peace, but Augustus of Saxony and Poland, and the czar were still in the field. Rapidly transporting 20,000 men to Livonia, Charles XII stormed the czar's camp at Nerva, slaying 30,000 Russians and dispersing the rest on the 30th of November 1700. Crossing the Dwina he then attacked the Saxons and gained a decisive victory. Following up this advantage he won the battle of Clissau, drove Augustus from Poland, had the crown of that country conferred on Stanislaus Leczinsky, and dictated the conditions of peace at Altranstadt in Saxony in 1706.
In September, 1707, the Swedes left Saxony, Charles XII taking the shortest route to Moscow. At Smolensk he altered his plan, deviated to the Ukraine to gain the help of the Cossacks, and weakened his army very seriously by difficult marches through a district extremely cold and ill supplied with provisions. In this condition Peter marched upon him with 70,000 men, and defeated him completely at Pultawa. Charles XII fled with a small guard and found refuge and an honourable reception at Bender, in the Turkish territory. Here he managed to persuade the Porte to declare war against Russia. The armies met on the banks of the Pruth on July the 1st 1711 and Peter seemed nearly ruined, when his wife, Catharine, succeeded in bribing the grand vizier, and procured a peace in which the interests of Charles XII were neglected.
The attempts of Charles XII to rekindle a war were vain, and after having spent some years at Bender he was forced by the Turkish government to leave. Arriving in his own country in 1714, he set about the measures necessary to defend the kingdom, and the fortunes of Sweden were beginning to assume a favourable aspect when he was slain by a cannon-ball as he was besieging Frederikshall on November the 30th, 1718. Firmness, valour, and love of justice were the great features in the character of Charles XII, but were disfigured by an obstinate rashness. After his deathSweden sank from the rank of a leading power. Research Charles XII
Feodor III was a Russian prince. The the son of CzarAlexis, he reigned from 1676-1682, warred with the Poles and Turks, and, by the peace of Baktschisarai, obtained possession of Kiev and some other towns of the Ukraine. Research Feodor III
A hetman was the elected chief (general) of the Don and Ukraine Cossacks. The hetman was elected by the people throwing their fur caps at their choice, the winner being the man with the most caps at his feet. The dignity was abolished among the Cossacks of the Ukraine by Catharine the Great and the last hetman of the Don Cossacks was Count Platoff who died in 1814. Research Hetman
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov was a Russian politician and soldier. He was born in 1881 near Dneppropetrovsk, Ukraine and died in 1969. In 1903 he joined the Bolshevik movement, leading to his exile in Siberia. He returned to Russia and fought in the Great War and the revolution of 1917, and in 1935 was appointed Marshall of the Soviet Union. In 1925 he was appointed Commissar for Defence, a post he held until 1940 when he became commander-inchief of the Russian Northern Army, leading the legendary defence of Leningrad at which he urged the people to 'take up your arms and defend the city at all costs'. Upon the death of Stalin in 1953 he became President of the Soviet Union, apost he held until 1960. Research Kliment Voroshilov
Nikita Khruschchev was a Sovietstatesman. He was born in 1894 at Kursk and died in 1971. A coalminer, he joined the Communist Party in 1918 and fought in the Civil War. After rising to full membership of the Politburo in 1939 he was assigned to organise the guerrilla defence of the Ukraine against the Axis forces during the Second World War. From 1947 to 1949 he was chairman of the Ukraine Council of Ministers and in 1952 he became a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. And in 1953 Secretary General of the USSR. He opposed Stalinism, believing naively that Communism could survive by peaceful means. In 1958 he became chairman of the council of ministers, but resigned in 1964 following a row with Mao Tse-Tung of China. He was responsible for the despatch of missiles to Cuba which prevented the American invasion of Cuba, but which almost resulted in a massive pre-emptive nuclear strike by the USA against every Communist country in the world. Research Nikita Khruschchev
Pavel Sudoplatov was a Soviet spymaster. He was born in 1907 at Meltiopol in the Ukraine. As a Soviet intelligence officer responsible for 'special tasks', Pavel Sudoplatov was responsible for the assassination of Leon Trotsky and during the Second World War was in charge of guerrilla warfare and disinformation in Germany and in German-occupied territories. Following the Second World War, Pavel Sudoplatov ran networks of 'illegals' whose job was, in the event of a NATOattack on the Soviet Union, to engage in sabotage of NATO military establishments. Pavel Sudoplatov also was in charge of networks of spies providing the Soviet Union with information on atomic weapons - which, despite his claims, were not 'convinced' to provide information but rather many of the spies he controlled were happy to provide information to the USSR in support for the Soviet Communist philosophy. Research Pavel Sudoplatov
Semyon Mikhailovich Budenny was a Russian soldier. He was born in 1883 and died in 1973. A Cossack, he fought as a private in the Russo-Japanese War and as an NCO during the Great War. After the Russian Revolution he defeated the White Russians at the Battle of Tsaritsyn and served in the war with Poland in 1920. In 1935 he was appointed a marshal and in 1941 commander of the Red Armies in Ukraine. Research Semyon Budenny
Abbreviations
Research Country Codes
