Sweden, 1654-1680 Brandenburg, 1640-1701 Denmark, 1660-1790 Saxony, 1648-1694




Swedish-Brandenburgian War, 1675-1679



A.) Prehistory of the War

This war to a large extent was the result of French diplomacy, attempting to divert attention from the war France fought against the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire since 1672. Sweden agreed, in return for French subsidies, to attack Brandenburg; Poland, in the secret Treaty of Jaworow, agreed to attack the Brandenburgian Duchy in Prussia as soon as the ongoing Polish-Ottoman War was ended. She never had to act on that promise.


B.) The War

On Dec. 15th 1674, a Swedish army c. 12,000 men strong, coming from Swedish Pomerania, invaded Brandenburg, but suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Fehrbellin on June 28th 1675. Denmark and the Dutch Republic declared war on Sweden; the Brandenburgers occupied Usedom and Wollin (1676), Stettin, Rügen, Greifswald, Stralsund (1678). The Danes, with support of the Dutch fleet, reoccupied Visborg on Gotland (May 1676), which they had lost to Sweden in 1645. The Danes also invaded Scania (June 1676), controlled the province by August. The Battle of Lund Dec. 4th 1676 was undecided. The Snapphanes (Scanians resenting Swedish rule; Scania had been Danish until 1658) fought a guerilla war against Sweden. In 1679 a Brandenburg army appeared off the walls of Riga in Livonia. In 1678 the Emperor signed peace with France and withdrew his support of Brandenburg. On June 29th the PEACE OF ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE ended the war; almost all conquests were returned, Brandenburg gaining only minor territory on the east bank of the Oder River.


C.) The Legacy

The war and the peace were victories of French diplomacy. In the peace negotiations, Brandenburg and Denmark were deprived of the fruits of their efforts; Sweden was lucky not to lose more territory. During the war, Brandenburg had stood loyally on the side of the Emperor; Frederick William, the Great Elector, felt betrayed by the latter and now signed a treaty with France which guaranteed him an annual subsidy.
The King of Sweden blamed the poor showing on the Swedish side on the Swedish constitution; in 1680 he introduced Absolutism in his country.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		War of King Karl XI., from Many Swedish Wars, by Hans Högman
Battle of Lund 1676, by Urban Swahn
Snapphanar - frihetskaempar eller skurkar ?, from Skaanelands Historia, in Swedish and Danish (Snapphanes - freedom fighters or criminals ?)
"Snapphane"-Kriget 1675-1679, by Gunnar Olsson
Friskytter og Snaphaner, from http://www.skaanskfremtid.dk/hist/skfri.html, in Danish
Danish Uniforms, Colours and Standards 1675-1679, from Northern Wars 1648-1730
Article Fehrbellin, in EB 1911
DOCUMENTS Documents on the Scanian War, linked by Eurodocs Denmark, scroll down
Thomas Kingo: Om Christian d.5s ledingstog og den danske bondesoldats belejring og erobring af Wismar 1675 (1676) (On Christian V.'s campaign and the Siege and Conquest of Wismar by the Danish peasant soldiers), from Skræp, in Danish, poem
Christian d. 5.: Offentlig kundgørelse vedr. Skåne (1676) (Christian V., Public Announcement concerning Scania), from Skræp, in Danish
Skånske bondefriskytters begrundelse for ansøgning om kongens støtte (1676) (Scanian peasant fighters justify their request for royal support), from Skræp, in Danish
Bondeleder Johan Johansen Hollænder: Om stemningen blandt sine bønderne i Blekinge (1676) (Peasant leader J.J.H. : on the Mood among his peasants in Blekinge), from Skræp, in Danish
Admiral von Tromp: Om stemningen i Ysted (1676) (On the Mood in Ystad), from Skræp, in Danish
Provst Hans Jakobsen Beverlin: Om sympatierne i Skåne efter slaget ved Lund (1676) (On the sympathies in Scania after the Battle near Lund), from Skræp, in Danish
Kongelig fuldmagt til skånske friskytter (1677) (Royal Carte Blanche for the Scanian Peasant Fighters), from Skræp, in Danish
Anders Bording: Danske Mercurius om kampene ved Løddes å / Lund 1676 (1677) (The Danish Mercurius on the Battle near Løddes River / Lund), from Skræp, in Danish
Jacob Worm: Klagedigt over slaget ved Lund (1678) (Mourning Poem on the Battle near Lund), from Skræp, in Danish
Friskyttekaptajn Niels Tommeson Tideman: Trusselsbrev til den svenske kommandant i Engelholm (1678), from Skræp, in Danish
Karl d. 11: Proklamation vedr. forsvenskningsprocessen i Skåne (1678) (Proclamation concerning Swedification in Scania), from Skræp, in Danish
Fordrevne skanske friskytters anmodning om kongelig bistand (1679) (Scanian peasant fighters, expelled from their country, request Royal support), from Skræp, in Danish
Henrik Gerner: Det store slag ved Lund (1681) (The Great Battle near Lund), from Skræp, in Danish
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 31st 2003, last revised on November 18th 2004

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