Scanian War
Scanian War | |||||||||
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Part of the Franco-Dutch War and the Northern Wars | |||||||||
Battles (left to right from top): | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Scanian insurgents |
Swedish Empire Kingdom of France | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Charles XI Magnus De la Gardie Rutger von Ascheberg Simon Grundel-Helmfelt † |
The Scanian War (
The war was prompted by Swedish involvement in the
The Danish objective was to retrieve the Scanian lands that had been ceded to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde, after the Northern Wars. Although the Danish offensive was initially a great success, Swedish counter-offensives led by the 19-year-old Charles XI of Sweden nullified much of the gain.
At the end of the war, the Swedish navy had lost at sea, the Danish army had been defeated in Scania by the Swedes, who in turn had been beaten in Northern Germany by the Brandenburgers. The war and the hostilities ended when Denmark's ally, the United Provinces, settled with Sweden's ally France and the Swedish king Charles XI married Danish princess
Background
Franco–Swedish alliance
In the 1660s and early 1670s, the Swedish Empire experienced a financial crisis. In hope of subsidies, the Swedish government, acting on behalf of king Charles XI of Sweden during his minority, had entered the anti-French Triple Alliance with the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England, which broke apart when Charles II of England rapproached France in 1670, after the War of Devolution.[3]
In April 1672, Sweden and France concluded an alliance, with France promising 400,000
By September 1674, Sweden had enlarged her army to 22,000 men after France had increased the subsidies to 900,000 riksdaler, which she threatened to withdraw if Sweden was not using this army, stationed in Swedish Pomerania, for an attack on her adversaries. By December, the Swedish army had grown to around 26,000 men, roughly half of which were stationed in garrisons in Bremen, Wismar and Pomerania while the rest were free to operate under Lord High Constable and field marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel.[4]
Anti-Franco–Swedish alliance
Another defensive alliance formed in September 1672 between Denmark–Norway,
The Netherlands had been attacked by the French army in 1672, known as the
War on land
Tactics
At the time of the Scanian War Swedens armed forces were oriented around cavalry as the main assault force with infantry filling a defensive role supported by cavalry units. Being on the offensive were preferred in a battle. In a set of regulations written in 1676 by Rutger von Ascheberg, the cavalry were to rush the enemy and get in so close that they could see the whites of their eyes before firing their pistols at the enemy. After that swords were to be drawn and the attack pressed.[7]
In Northern Germany
Swedish–Brandenburger War
In December 1674,
The Fehrbellin affair was a mere
When the United Provinces initially asked for Danish–Norway support against the French and their allies in the Franco-Dutch War, Danish–Norwegian King Christian V wanted to join them, and go to war with Sweden immediately to recapture the historically Danish provinces of Scania and Halland. Count Peder Griffenfeld, an influential royal adviser, advised against it, and instead advocated a more pro-France policy. But when the numerically superior Swedes lost the Battle of Fehrbellin on 28 June 1675, it was the first such defeat of Swedish forces since the Thirty Years' War. Christian V saw his chance, and overcoming Griffenfeld's opposition, attacked.[8]
Allied campaign against Bremen–Verden
The second largest Swedish garrison in North Germany, after Swedish Pomerania, was the twin Duchy of Bremen-Verden. For political reasons, and to prevent the Swedes from advertising and recruiting mercenaries, the Allies decided to conquer these two duchies. Denmark–Norway and Brandenburg–Prussia were joined by allies from the neighbouring imperial principalities of Münster and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
The campaign began on 15 September 1675 with an Allied advance into the two Swedish duchies. They rapidly captured one Swedish fortress after another. The Swedes were hampered by the high number of mainly German deserters because, after the imposition of the
By the end of the year only the Swedish headquarters town of
Swedish Pomerania
At this point, the Swedish empire in Germany began to crumble. In 1675, most of Swedish Pomerania and the
Danish–Norwegian reconquest of Scania
The Danish–Norway recapture of Scania (which had been captured by Sweden in 1658) started with the seizure of Helsingborg on 29 June 1676. Danish king Christian V brought 15,000 troops against a defending Swedish army of 5,000 men, who spread out over the province.
Initially the operation was a great success. Large parts of the local peasantry sided with Denmark and the outnumbered Swedish troops were in bad shape.
Town after town fell into the hands of the Danes–Norwegian and the Swedes had to retreat north to Sweden proper. In a month's time only the fortified town of Malmö remained under Swedish control.
The Gyldenløve War
Norwegian history records the campaigns in Norway (or in formerly Norwegian provinces) as the Gyldenløve War; it was named after
1675 stalemate
Simultaneously with the Danish invasion, Norway's forces were marshaled along the border to force the Swedes to deal with the prospect of fighting a two-front war. A force of 4,000 Norwegians was concentrated at
Gyldenløve's 1676 campaign
In 1676 Gyldenløve personally led Norwegian forces in the field. His Norwegian army took and fortified the pass at
In early August a Danish–Norwegian expedition was sent north to take the town of
Recapture of Bohuslän
Despite the Danish forces' defeat at Fyllebro, the successful recapture of Scania allowed Norwegian troops to regain formerly Norwegian Bohuslän. During the winter of 1677, the Norwegian army was increased to 17,000 men, allowing operations to increase further. Gyldenløve captured the fortress at Marstrand in July and joined forces with General Løvenhjelm.[10]
The Swedes mounted a counteroffensive under the command of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, sending an army of 8,000 to expel the Norwegian forces. They were defeated by the Norwegians, and forced to retreat, holding only Bohus Fortress in Bohuslän.[10]
Reconquest of Jämtland
In August 1677, Norwegian forces of 2,000 men, led by General Reinhold von Hoven and General Christian Shultz also retook formerly Norwegian Jämtland.[10]
Although Bohuslän and Jämtland were former Norwegian provinces and the forces in both locations were well received by the native populations there, things went badly for Denmark–Norway in the Scanian campaigns, and the Norwegian forces withdrew when ordered to do so by King Christian V.[10]
War in Scania
On 24 October 1676, the Swedish king
However the Danes held the fortified town of Landskrona and was able to ship in more Dutch and German mercenaries and in July 1678 Christian V marched east to rescue the diminishing Danish garrison in the town of Kristianstad besieged by the Swedes. After facing the whole Swedish army on the plain west of Kristianstad Christian V opted not to give battle but to retreat back to Landskrona and evacuate all his troops from Scania.
War at sea
Battle of Öland
The war was also fought at sea. In the
Battle of Fehmarn
The Danes–Norwegian won another significant victory in the
Battle of Køge bay
The control at sea was secured a year later, when the Danish–Norwegian fleet, led by Niels Juel, again defeated the Swedish fleet at the Battle of Køge Bay, near Copenhagen. The Swedes lost over 3,000 men in this engagement, while the Danish–Norwegian only suffered some 375 casualties. The Danish–Norwegian success at sea hindered the Swedish ability to move troops between northern Germany and Sweden.
Peace
Peace was negotiated between France (on behalf of Sweden) and Denmark–Norway at the
In Scania itself, however, the war had a devastating effect in raising the hopes of the pro-Danish guerilla known as Snapphane and their sympathisers, who thereupon suffered savage repression from the reinstated Swedish authorities.
See also
References
- ^ The Scanian War 1675–79. Educational site for high schools created by Oresundstid.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-423-03001-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-06429-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-06429-4.
- ISBN 978-0-582-06429-4.
- ISBN 978-3-423-03001-4.
- ISBN 978-91-85057-05-4.
- ^ a b c Lisk, Jill (1967). The Struggle for Supremacy in the Baltic: 1600–1725. Funk & Wagnalls, New York. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- ^ Bain, Robert N., Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900, Cambridge University Press, 1905, p. 297.
- ^ a b c d e f g Gjerset, Knut (1915). History of the Norwegian People, Volumes II, pp. 253–261. The MacMillan Company. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ISBN 3-8258-7150-9.