We have the big examples of Napoleon, Hitler and the Ottoman Empire, but a little less known is the empire of Sweden, so vast were its conquests. Enjoy :) ** Sweden Was a Military Giant - Until It Invaded Russia by Michael Peck on Sat, Oct 22, 2016 http://nationalinterest.org/blog/sweden-was-military-giant%E2%80%94until-it-... When most people think of Sweden, they think of IKEA furniture, depressing murder mysteries and a foreign policy of strict neutrality.Yet 400 years ago, Sweden was a major military power. Indeed, it was even an empire, a fact that must make today's Swedish leftists cringe.Under young King Gustavus Adolphus, a brilliant and innovative military commander, Sweden in the early 1600s became a sort of Nordic Israel (which must also make Swedish leftists cringe). Sweden was a poor, thinly populated nation that couldn't match the resources of larger rivals such as France and Russia.