Sweden 1523-1611 Sweden 1654-1680









Sweden 1611-1654



A.) Foreign Policy

When GUSTAVUS II. ADOLPHUS, age 17, was paid homage as King of Sweden in 1611 (he was crowned only in 1617), a new age began in Swedish history. Sweden found herself subject to a Danish invasion (WAR OF KALMAR, 1611-1613); the Danes took Kalmar and Aelfsborg and even attempted an attack on Stockholm. In 1613 the PEACE OF KNÄRED was signed; Denmark retained Älfsborg (Sweden's only access to the North Sea), which Sweden regained in 1619 by paying the last installment of a sum of 1 million Riksdalers.
War with Poland (Polish King Sigismund Wasa still claimed the throne of Sweden) had begun in 1617. In 1623 a Polish army invaded Sweden, only to be defeated.
In 1617 the ongoing war with Russia was ended in the PEACE OF STOLBOVA, which added Kexholm and INGERMANLAND, including the area around future St. Petersburg, to the Swedish Empire. The Swedes now took on Poland and in 1621 conquered RIGA; most of LIVONIA became Swedish. According to the TRUCE OF ALTMARK in 1629, Sweden kept Livonia with Riga and also got the Prussian cities Elbing, Frauenburg, Braunsberg and Memel.
Meanwhile, in Germany the 30 Years War had reached a dramatic stage. The Catholic (Habsburg) side had defeated the protestant side, which after Danish King Christian's defeat (1626/27) looked for a new champion. Wallenstein had been given the Duchy of Mecklenburg. The fear of a Catholic stronghold to be established on the shore of the Baltic Sea was too much for Sweden too take. In 1630, the Swedes landed in Pommerania. Soon they had concluded alliances with the protestant Duchies of Brandenburg and Saxony, defeated the Catholics at Breitenfeld. Gustav Adolf marched into central Germany, established himself at Mainz, assuming the title PROTECTOR GERMANIAE. In those days, warfare was financed by forcing contributions from the occupied territory/by plundering it. The Swedish army grew in size, having many non-Swedes in their ranks, and the occupied country suffered. Gustav II. Adolf fell in the BATTLE OF LÜTZEN 1632. The Swedes still were a major power, but suddenly without king. His only daughter, CHRISTINA, was merely 5 years old. Chancellor AXEL OXENSTJERNA ruled in her place. After a short war in 1643-45, Denmark ceded GOTLAND, ÖSEL, HALLAND, JÄMTLAND and HÄRJEDALEN to Sweden (Treaty of Brömsebro). Sweden also annexed Idre and Särna, hithrto part of Norway's Upland region, now integrated into Sweden's Dalarna region, but it was not mentioned in the Treaty of Brömsebro. The PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1648) added HITHER POMMERANIA, WISMAR, the DUCHIES OF BREMEN and VERDEN (all in Northern Germany) to the Swedish realm. Sweden had established a DOMINIUM MARIS BALTICI, a Dominion of (the lands surrounding the) Baltic Sea.
Gustav II. Adolf's daughter Christina was 6 years old when her father died in the Battle of Luetzen in 1632. She was proclaimed of age on her 18th birthday in 1644. In 1649 she proclaimed that she would never marry; Riksdag appointed, at her suggestion, her cousin Karl Gustaf von Pfalz-Zweibrücken as heir-apparent. Christina abdicated in 1654, emigrated to Rome and converted to Catholicism.


B.) Domestic Policy

In the early years of Gustav II. Adolf's reign, under able Chancellor AXEL OXENSTJERNA, the justive system was reformed, a new HIGH COURT (Svea Hofrätt) established in Stockholm; other high courts were established in Åbo (1623, for Finland), Dorpat (1630, for Livonia and Estonia), Jönköping (1635, for Götaland). The army also was reformed.
As Sweden finally got a secure access to the North Sea, the city of GÖTEBORG was founded (in 1619, today Swedens second largest city).
AXEL OXENSTJERNA was appointed chancellor, the most influential man in Sweden after the king. The offices of drots (responsible for jurisdiction), marshal, admiral and treasurer were created, collegia (bureaucracies) established to support these officials.
In 1634 the Regerings Form, a document intended to be a constitution, was passed; it administratively reorganized Sweden in LAENs, declared Lutheranism state religion (Catholic King Sigismund Wasa of Poland was still claiming the Swedish throne), described the powers of Riksdag, of the state bureaucracy, and how the country should be governed in case of a regency.
Other steps taken in order to develop Sweden were the introductioin of a POSTAL SYSTEM (1638/1663).
The Swedish CADASTRAL OFFICE was established in 1628. An administrative reform in 1634.
In 1640 the Stockholm city walls were razed, a new era of city planning began.


C.) The Economy

GÖTEBORG, (re-)founded in 1619, was to become Sweden's main port for overseas trade (archenemy Denmark controlled the Sound). Swedish exports of copper and iron rose sharply.
In 1625 Sweden introduced a COPPER COINAGE in an effort to reduce the outflow of silver.
The attempt to establish a shipbuilding industry in Sweden began with an ominous disaster : in 1628, the "Wasa", on her maiden voyage, unevenly loaded, tipped to one side, took in water and sunk.
Dutch immigrants LOUIS DE GEER and the DE BESCHE brothers, bringing with them experienced craftsmen from Wallonia, entered the mining business and entered in arms production; de Geer was to become Sweden's richest man. In 1637 the MINING COLLEGE ( in 1649 elevated to the rank of BERGSKOLLEGIUM (Board of Mines)) and a central office controlling the manufacture of iron were established, A number of new cities were founded - Sundsvall, Luleå, Umeå, Borås.
In 1620 emigration was forbidden by law, while the immigration of skilled craftsmen was encouraged, Swedish government agents travelling the continent in order to recruit such immigrants.
The war in Germany proved very costly. Initially, French SUBSIDIES contributed to paying the Swedish expenses. Although the Swedish army collects heavy war contributions from the occupied territories, the Swedish state had to spend more money to keep the army in the field. In order to pay for the war, the crown sold crown land to nobles, thus weakening future revenues. On the other hand, the gains Sweden made on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea - the Prussian cities (1629-1635), Livonia, Pomerania, Stift Bremen, were of great importance, as they considerably raised the Swedish crown's revenue.
Sweden engaged in colonial policy as well. In 1637 the colony of NEW SWEDEN was established at Delaware, in 1652 another colony at CABO CORSO at the Bay of Guinea (Africa) by the AFRICA COMPANY founded by Dutch immigrant Louis de Geer.
Queen Christina granted many crown lands to noblemen, many of whom she had elevated in rank. This considerably weakened the Swedish crown financially. She ignored demands by Riksdag's lower estates to reclaim crown land (which, if done, would reduce the need for additional taxation).
In 1620, Stockholm, the largest city in Sweden, had a population of about 10,000.


D.) Intellectual Life

In 1618 a new bible translation was published ("Gustav Adolf's Bible").
In 1624, Gustav II. Adolf donated 300 estates to Uppsala University, prividing her with the economic foundation of future greatness. During the 30 YEARS WAR, many books, as war booty, were sent to Sweden, enriching the library of the university.
From 1634 to 1644, HUGO GROTIUS, the Dutch 'father of international law', served Sweden as ambassador to France.
The universities of Abo (Turku) and Helsingfors (Helsinki) wrere established in 1640, creating cultural centres in Finnland as well; Dorpat in Livonia had been given a university in 1632. RENE DESCARTES (1649-1650) and JAN AMOS COMENIUS stayed for some time in Sweden; Descartes disputed with Queen Christina, who acquired the nichname the PHILOSOPHER QUEEN. Her abdication and most of all her conversion to Catholicism came as a shock to Sweden's Lutheran establishment.
In 1649, Swedish was introduced as language of instruction in the nation's schools, replacing Latin. In 1645, Swedens first newspaper was published.
The violin was introduced to Sweden in the 1640es.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Thirty Years War
Swedish Wars, from Hans Hogman, table of Swedish wars 1521-1814, maps, links
The Thirty Years War, from Fredrika Bremergymnasiet, essays, biographies, strong on Sweden
The Thirty Years War : Sweden, from Mikael Andersson
Gustav II. Adolf, Pt.5, The Polish War. The Prussian Campaign, from Strv102r
Biography of Queen Christina, from Dr. Pavlac's Women's History Site at Kings College
Kriget mot Danmark 1643-1645, from Sverige som Stormakt
Chronology of Swedish History, 1600-1650, 1650-1700, by Ken Polsson
Timeline of Swedish History, from timelines.ws, detailed, yet amateurish
Timeline of the Netherlands and Scandinavia relating to North America, posted by New Netherland Museum
DOCUMENTS Portrait of Queen Christina, from Art Istocracy, portraits of Queen Christina by Seb. Bourdon in 1652, from Web Gallery of Art, of Q. Chr. on horseback, by the same, 1653, from Web Gallery of Art
Coin : 1 Öre 1629, from Coins from Famous People in History
Images from Chronik 2000 Bilddatenbank : Gustav II. Adolf, Gustav II. Adolf, Gustav II. Adolf, The "Wasa", sunk 1628, when recovered in 1961, Drawing illustrating Gustav Adolf's landing in Pomerania, Christina, Christina's Throne, Axel Gustavsson Count Oxenstierna
Map : The Swedish Empire, 1560-1660, from Germany GenWeb Project, a few flaws
Carl Gustav Hellquist, Painting : the body of Gustavus Adolphus is prepared for boarding at Wolgast 1633, to be transported to Stockholm, from DHM (1885)
Battle of Kringen (1612), Painting by Georg Nielsen Strømdal, from DHM, fought in Norway during the Dano-Swedish War of 1611-1613
Medal : Victory in the Battle of Breitenfeld, from Medal Web, Collection Benjamin Weiss
Medal : Gustavus Adolphus' Victory in the Battle of Breitenfeld, from Medal Web, Collection Benjamin Weiss
Medal : Death of Gustavus Adolphus, 1634, from Medal Web, Collection Benjamin Weiss
Italian Baroque Medals, from Medal Web, Collection Benjamin Weiss, three medals on Queen Christina
REFERENCE Franklin D. Scott, Sweden : The Nation's History, Univ. of Minnesota Press 1977
Jerker Rosen, Svensk Historia Vol.1, Stockholm : Esselte (1962) 1983
Bulstrode Whitelocke, A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol. II (1855), posted by Gutenberg Library Online


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on October 28th 2007

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