Władysław IV aimed to achieve many military goals, including conquests of Russia, Sweden and Turkey. His reign is that of many small victories, few of them bringing anything worthwhile to the Commonwealth. He was once elected a Russian tsar, but never had any control over Russian territories. Like his father, Władysław was involved in Swedish dynastic ambitions. He failed to strengthen the Commonwealth or prevent the crippling events of the Khmelnytsky Uprising and the Deluge that devastated the Commonwealth from 1648 onward.