at the Swedish court. Thereafter, the Crown Prince declared the neutrality of Sweden and opened negotiations with the UK and Russia. In 1812, he allied Sweden with its traditional enemy Russia, and sought to make peace with the United Kingdom with whom Sweden was technically at war. Charles John's personal diplomacy served as the bridge between Russia and the UK as on 18 July 1812 the Treaty of Örebro formally ended the wars between Britain and Sweden and Britain and Russia and formed an alliance between Russia, Britain, and Sweden; creating the Sixth Coalition. The treaty stipulated that Sweden would land an army of no less than 25,000 on the continent for the express purpose of fighting France, as well as liberating Swedish Pomerania, and in exchange, Russia and the UK would diplomatically and militarily support the cession of Norway from the doggedly French-allied Denmark to Sweden. Throughout summer and fall 1812, Bernadotte sought to add more allies to the Coalition, and negotiated a treaty with the Spanish Bourbons against his own brother-in-law who was currently King of Spain. Although Napoleon had forced Frederick Wilhelm III to break off relations with Sweden, Charles John corresponded with the King of Prussia, encouraging him to renounce the forced alliance with France and join the Coalition. Following the Convention of Tauroggen, which broke the Prussian/French Alliance, Frederick Wilhelm signed the Treaty of Kalisz with Russia, and then a separate peace treaty with Sweden, on the basis of Prussian recognition of the Norwegian cession to Sweden, in exchange for Swedish Pomerania, thus formally joining the Coalition in spring 1813. After the defeats at Lützen (2 May 1813) and Bautzen (21 May 1813), it was the Swedish Crown Prince who put fresh fighting spirit into the Allies; and at the conference of Trachenberg he drew up the Trachenberg Plan, the general plan for the campaign which began after the expiration of the Truce of Pläswitz. Charles John, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army, successfully defended the approaches to Berlin and was victorious in battle against Oudinot in August and against Ney in September at the Battles of Großbeeren and Dennewitz. Bernadotte's Army of the North would continue to guard Berlin and keep watch on Davout's forces in Hamburg while the Allies, in accordance with the plan conceived at Trachenberg, maneuvered toward Napoleon's army at Leipzig. With the other Allied armies engaged in battle on