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The reason why the states surrounding the Baltic Sea were so eager
to take control of the Baltic states, was their importance in being able to
control the trade from Russia to western Europe. The collapse of the German
Order State created a political vacuum that constituted a threat to trade
relations.
The reasons why the trade relations between Russia and western
Europe were so important and lucrative to control, were of a strategic nature.
Europe imported grain, hemp, flax and timber from Russia. Many countries in
Europe had difficulties in producing enough grain to feed the population. They
were depended in many cases on import. Hemp, flax and timber were used in ship
building and therefore very important to naval countries such as England,
Holland and Sweden.
Because of the political turbulence in the Baltic area, the
English established a new trade route north of Scandinavia, to Russia. When
Sweden, because of this, tried to take control of the northern coastal regions
of Scandinavia, it led to conflict with Russia and Denmark. When King Gustav II
Adolf, who "inherited" the conflict, realised that it would be very difficult
for Sweden to control the northern route, he concentrated the Swedish interest
to the Baltic Sea. Sweden now strove to create a "dominium maris baltici", i.e.
supremacy of the Baltic Sea.
Gustav II Adolf
Gustav II Adolf was born in 1594. He was the son of Karl IX and
his wife Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp. He married Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
who gave birth to a daughter who later would become Queen Kristina of Sweden.
His relations to the Swedish aristocracy were very good. The
aristocracy had strengthened its power position after the death of Karl IX. For
instance, the King had to consult the Council of Aristocrats before initiating
or ending a war. During his regime, many aristocrats were awarded estates in
conquered territories, and others were able to buy land, originally belonging
to the state. The good relations between the King and the aristocracy created a
stable political climate.
During Gustav II Adolf´s period as king, a number of new
cities were built, among them the most important, Göteborg. Today you can
se the statue of the king on Gustav II Adolf square.
As King, he immediately had to deal with a war against Denmark.
In this war the Danes, among other things, occupied the fortress of
Älvsborg in Göteborg. The Swedish state had to pay a ransom to get it
back. During the 30 Years War, Gustav II Adolf personally led his troops in
Germany. At Breitenfelt in 1631, he won a great victory in spite of numerical
inferiority. However, one year later, in 1632 , he was killed in the Battle of
Lützen. In the peace of Westfalia in 1648, Sweden was established as a
Great Power.
The first problem was the trade from Russia to western Europe.
Most of it went from Russia over "Livland", i.e. modern Latvia, to cities in
western Europe. In the early 17th century "Livland", and the coastal areas in
the south-west of the Baltic Sea, were controlled by Poland. This meant
important customs revenues from the commerce relations with Russia. The Swedish
king was, of course, interested in getting his hands on these revenues. The
supremacy over "Livland" and other important harbour cities in polish Prussia,
meant massively increased revenues for the Swedish state. The customs revenues
alone, amounted to over 25 percent of the Swedish state income.
Internal factors that had an impact on the development towards a
great power were, among other things, a fairly well managed economy, a growing
domestic iron and weapons industry, a, for the time, very well-administrated
state and a slightly increasing population. However, the external factors, a
weak Russia and social and economic problems in other European countries that
competed with Sweden, are regarded by most scholars as the main explanation as
to why Sweden, with its limited resources, could become so powerful.
During the 17th century, iron became one of the most important
Swedish export products. A rich presence of iron ore, in combination with waste
woods that supplied the blast furnaces with firewood and streams providing
waterpower to the ironwork's forges, made an extensive production possible.
Another fact that made increased production possible was the
Swedish decision to import Walloons from the southern parts of modern-day
Belgium. The Walloons were very skilled in producing high quality iron. The
most famous of these Walloons is Lois De Geer who became an important
entrepreneur, shipowner and banker. Sweden became self-supporting not only
regarding iron, but also with different types of war material, especially heavy
artillery. Swedish artillery was exported all over Europe
Constant war
The Swedish Great Power period was characterised by almost
constant war. This became even more evident when Gustav II Adolf, in 1630,
decided to enter the 30 Years war that raged in Europe. The direct cause to the
Swedish intervention was the growing influence of the German Emperor and his
forces in northern Germany. This was considered a threat to Swedish interests
in the Baltic area.
Earlier, the Swedish intervention was characterised as a defence
of Protestantism against the catholic armies in Europe. However, later reSearch
(in Swedish) points to more profane causes, such as political and economic
influences. The two most famous battles of the war were the Battle at
Breitenfelt in 1631, where Gustav II Adolf, in spite of numerical inferiority,
won a spectacular victory, and the Battle of Lützen in 1632, where the
King was killed. The Battle of Lützen however, finally ended in a Swedish
victory.
The war was very expensive for Sweden. Only a small part of the
Swedish troops in Europe were Swedes or Finns. The use of mercenaries was
extensive and very expensive, in fact quite devastating to the state finances.
Because of this, King Karl XI initiated a complete reorganisation of the
Swedish army in the late 17Th century. This led to an increasing use of
domestically recruited soldiers, and is the forerunner to the system of
compulsory military service of today.
Because of the increased costs in maintaining an army of
mercenaries, King Karl XI started the reorganisation of the Swedish army in
1680. The so called "indelningsverket" was introduced. This was a system for
recruitment and for supporting the soldiers in the infantry, cavalry and navy.
This meant that most personnel were recruited in Sweden.
The farmers of a county were, in peacetime, responsible to give
support to a certain number of soldiers. The soldiers were each given a cottage
to live in and a small piece of land to farm. They were regularly called up for
military service where they had to take part in manoeuvres. This system gave
Sweden a comparatively efficient national army. But the system had negative
consequences as well. For instance, when King Karl XII, who had prohibited the
recruitment of foreign mercenaries, needed more soldiers for the army, this
meant heavily increased burdens for the Swedish farmers, of whom many were
drafted.
Karl XII
Karl XII was born in 1682. He was the son of King Karl XI and
Ulrika Eleonora. He became king when he was only 15 years old, because of the
death of his father in 1697. He continued his father's concentration of power
to the monarchy. This was the old struggle for power between the aristocracy
and the king, and now the aristocrats were losing. When he was crowned, he
himself put the crown on his head to show that he was an absolute monarch with
absolute power.
He immediately had to go to war because of the
Russian/Danish/Polish alliance attack on Sweden in 1700. After that, he was
involved in almost constant war until his death. Because of this, he is also
called "The Warrior King". After initial successes, for instance victory in the
battle at Narva, the extended war became more and more expensive and difficult
for Sweden.
In 1709 Karl XII was beaten by the Russians at Poltava and the
Swedish army surrendered. The king ,however, escaped to the town of Bender,
near Denser in the Ottoman Empire, were he stayed for five years, trying to
convince the Turks to attack Russia. This did not succeed and he returned to
Sweden. In 1718 Sweden attacked Norway and in the Battle of the Fortress of
Fredriksten, the King was shot in the head and killed.
At its peak in the middle of the 17th century, the Swedish Great
Power period included Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern
Germany. The extended borders became more and more difficult and costly to
defend and the growing strength of Russia constituted a constant threat to
Sweden.
The end of power
The beginning of the end for the Swedish Great Power period was
the outbreak of the Great Nordic War in 1700. When Karl XI died in 1697, he was
succeeded by his 15 year-old son, Karl XII. This caused Russia, Denmark, Norway
and Poland to form an alliance and try to conquer some of the Swedish
territories. The alliance attacked in 1700.
Initially King Karl XII was very successful in defending the
Swedish territories. The Danes were quickly defeated, and at Narva, in
modern-day Estonia, Swedish troops defeated a much more powerful Russian enemy.
The initial success perhaps led to a Swedish underestimation of the Russian
strength, which later proved to be fateful. After Narva, the King and his army
fought in Poland for five years before a peace-treaty was signed. During these
five years, the Russian Tsar Peter reorganised the Russian army.
In 1708 King Karl XII attacked Russia, trying to accomplish a
decisive military victory. The Russians used their ancient strategy and burned
everything when they retreated. This strategy and an extremely cold winter in
1708-1709 took a heavy toll of the Swedish army. In 1709 at Poltava, a weak
Swedish army met the well prepared Russians and was almost annihilated. After
Poltava, Russia conquered the Baltic provinces and a great part of Finland. The
Danes landed in southern Sweden but were thrown back. In northern Germany
Swedish territories were also lost.
Back in Sweden, King Karl XII decided to attack Norway, which, at
this time, was a part of Denmark, in trying to defeat the Danes. He attacked in
1718 and was killed in the trenches outside the fortress of Fredriksten in
southern Norway. This was the end of the Swedish Great Power period. In the
peace- treaty, signed in 1721, Sweden lost its Baltic provinces and a part of
Finland. Sweden also lost most of its territories in northern Germany.
Although Sweden lost its position as a Great Power, there were
positive consequences. Sweden still was the most powerful of the Nordic
countries, and most importantly, the new Swedish borders were much easier to
defend than earlier.
Literature on Sweden´s Great Power period
Read more about Sweden´s great Power period in The Swedish
Imperial Experience 1560-1718 by Michael Roberts.
More suggestions on books are listed here in Print
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750 years of Stockholm
history | The Vikings | The
Birth of the Swedish Nation-State | The Great
Power Period 1625-1718 | Sweden in the 18th and 19th
Centuries | Sweden in the 20th century |
