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TheNorthern Seven Years' War (also known as theNordic Seven Years' War, theFirst Northern War, theSeven Years' War of the North or theSeven Years War in Scandinavia) was fought between theKingdom of Sweden and a coalition ofDenmark–Norway,Lübeck, andPoland–Lithuania between 1563 and 1570. The war was motivated by the dissatisfaction of KingFrederick II of Denmark with the dissolution of theKalmar Union, and the will of KingEric XIV of Sweden to break Denmark's dominating position. The fighting continued until both armies had been exhausted, and many men died. The resultingTreaty of Stettin was a stalemate, with neither party gaining any new territory.
TheKalmar Union of the three former Scandinavian Kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark lasted on and off from 1397 to 1523, until it finally collapsed following the continued Swedish resentment of Danish domination.[7]
A successful rebellion in 1471 led to Swedish victory at theBattle of Brunkeberg, which established a powerful anti-Union movement under the leadership of theBonde–Sture nobles. In 1520,Christian II of Denmark reconquered Sweden and took a bloody revenge on the anti-Union faction at theStockholm Bloodbath.[8] More than 80 noble men and ladies, including leading citizens ofStockholm, were executed, but the result severely backfired on Christian II.[7] The violence elicited strong reactions in Sweden for years to come,[8] and the Union was broken by the successfulSwedish War of Liberation from 1521 to 1523. Christian II was condemned by the Pope, and heabdicated in 1523. The subsequent Danish kingsFrederick I andChristian III, turned their attention mainly on theReformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein and theCount's Feud civil war, and relations with Sweden were generally peaceful.[9]
In Sweden, the internal power vacuum, combined with theabdication of Christian II, provided the opportunity forGustav Vasa to consolidate control of Sweden and claim the throne in June 1523, with the support of peasants and theHanseatic towns ofLübeck andDanzig. Under Vasa, the Kalmar Union was finally dissolved, and Sweden began establishing itself as a rival power of Denmark–Norway.[7] Gustav Vasa's Sweden was in a weak position in 1523, as access to theNorth Sea was dominated by the DanishSound Dues and limited to a 20 kilometer stretch on theKattegat in the vicinity ofÄlvsborg, close to modernGothenburg. Furthermore, Denmark controlled theBaltic, limiting Swedish movement there.
Gustav Vasa changed the military structure in Sweden, which did not bear immediate fruit in the Nordic Seven Years' War but was to have a lasting impact on Sweden's fortune. In 1544 he used the old Scandinavian concept of Uppbåd (levy or the prerogative to call up some fraction of men from each district in an emergency) to establish one of the first nativestanding armies in Europe. The men served on standby, remaining at home in peacetime, and being paid by tax concessions, but were required to assemble and drill. This system was later expanded as theSwedish allotment system. By 1560 when Gustav Vasa died, every ten peasants were required to provide one soldier who must serve anywhere domestic or foreign as required by the king.
After the deaths of Christian III and Gustav Vasa, in 1559 and 1560 respectively, both countries now had young and hawkish monarchs,Eric XIV of Sweden andFrederick II of Denmark. Frederick II envisioned the resurrection of the Kalmar Union under Danish leadership, while Eric wanted to finally break the dominating position of Denmark.[10]
Shortly after hiscoronation in 1559, King Frederick II of Denmark ordered his ageing field-commanderJohan Rantzau to avenge the humiliating Danish defeat against the small peasant republic ofDitmarsh, which was defeated in a matter of a few weeks and brought under theDanish-Norwegian crown. During the next year, the Danish expansion continued with the possession of theBaltic Sea island ofÖsel.[11]
In 1561, when a sizeable remnant of theOrder states in the northern Baltics weresecularized by its grand masterGotthard Kettler, both Denmark and Sweden were attracted to intervene in theLivonian War.[12] During this conflict, King Eric of Sweden successfully obstructed the Danish plans to conquerEstonia. He sought to dominate theBaltic Sea, while unsuccessfully pressing for Frederick to remove the traditionally Swedish insignia ofThree Crowns from the Danishcoat of arms;[13] a bone of contention since Christian III and Gustav Vasa. In February 1563, Swedish messengers were sent toHesse to negotiate Eric's marriage withChristine of Hesse but were held back inCopenhagen. In retaliation, Eric added theinsignia of Norway andDenmark to his own coat of arms and refused Danish requests to remove these symbols.
Lübeck, upset over obstacles to trade introduced by Eric to hinder theRussian trade as well as withdrawn trade privileges, joined Denmark in a war alliance. ThePolish–Lithuanian union also joined, desiring control of the Baltic trade. Skirmishes broke out in May 1563, before war was officially declared in August that year.
In May, the first movements of the war started as a Danish fleet under Jakob Brockenhuus sailed towards the Baltic. AtBornholm, on 30 May 1563, the fleet fired on the Swedish navy underJakob Bagge, even though war had not officially been declared. A battle arose that ended with Danish defeat.
German royal emissaries were sent to negotiate a peace, but at the meeting place ofRostock no Swedes appeared. On 13 August 1563, war was declared by emissaries from Denmark and Lübeck inStockholm. The same month, Danish kingFrederik IIattacked Älvsborg. At the beginning of the war the Danes advanced fromHalland with a 25,000-strong army of professional mercenaries and captured Sweden's gateway to the west,Älvsborg Fortress, after only three days of bombardment and a six-hour assault on 4 September. This achieved the Danish aim of cutting off Sweden from theNorth Sea, blocking the all-importantsalt imports. Eric then attackedHalmstad, without result; the Swedish counterattack was driven back by the professional Danish army. After the king's departure from his army,Charles de Mornay stepped in as the commanding officer and was beaten by the Danish at theBattle of Mared.
At sea a battle broke out nearÖland on 11 September, whereafter the war took a pause.
On 30 May 1564 a battle broke out between the Swedish navy and the Danish–Lübeck navy betweenGotland andÖland. The Swedish navy was under the command ofJakob Bagge, and the Danish–Lübeck navy was under the command ofHerluf Trolle. Bagge was captured and the largest warship of the Baltic, theMars (also known as theMakalös), sunk. The Swedish navy retreated to Stockholm leaving a sea blockade in effect.Klas Horn became the new commander and met the Danish fleet at the island Jungfrun north of Öland 14 August. An inconclusive fight left the sea blockade in effect.
Horn attacked the provinces Halland andSkåne in 1565 and made several attempts atBohuslän andUddevalla. The Danish burned oldLödöse in the province ofVästergötland. Eric initially led the army against the Danish himself, but then turned over command to Nils Boije, who on 28 August 1564 tookVarberg. The Danish army underDaniel Rantzau beat the Swedish army in theBattle of Axtorna on 20 October 1565.
The Swedes fared better at sea. Horn, commanding the Swedish navy, pursued a Danish–Lübeck fleet onto the German coast where most of it was destroyed. After this victory Horn steered for Öresund and levied a toll on passing ships. On 4 June 1565, theBattle at Buchow took place on the Mecklenburg coast, in which the Danish–Lübeck commander Herluf Trolle was mortally wounded. In theBattle of 7 July 1565, the Swedish navy under Horn defeated a Danish–Lübeck navy under Otto Rud near Bornholm, where Sweden captured the Danish flagship theJegermesther. Thus ensured the command of the eastern Baltic by the Swedes that year.
In January 1566 Sweden unsuccessfully laid siege toBohus Fortress inBohuslän (then a Norwegian province). Daniel Rantzau then moved his forces into Västergötland. At sea Horn returned to taking toll charges in the Baltic. An indecisive battle at sea outside of Öland occurred on 26 July 1566. On 28 July, half the Danish–Lübeck Navy was lost in a storm at sea. Horn was then called to command troops on land, where he died 9 September.
Sweden occupied the undefended Norwegian province ofJemtland, which was quickly reconquered by a counterattack by forces under command of the Norwegian governor ofTrøndelag. The forces were unwilling to launch a counterattack on Swedish land. In 1564 the Swedes marched under Claude Collart[14] and re-occupied Jemtland, as well asHerjedalen and Trøndelag, including the city ofTrondheim. Initially facing little opposition from the locals, their subsequent ill treatment of the Trøndelag natives, along with tax pressure, laid the groundwork for later resistance to Swedish invasion.[14] Also, Trøndelag was assisted by the governor ofBergenhus, Erik Rosenkrantz, who forced 3500 local peasants to assist him and his 50 professional soldiers. The Swedes saw Bergenhus as their next target. Although the 400 Swedish soldiers were repelled from Trøndelag, Sweden continued to occupy Jämtland and Härjedalen. These provinces were later regained by Denmark–Norway following the peace process in 1570.[15]
Sweden also launched attacks towards Eastern Norway. In the south-east Sweden capturedBåhus Fortress, but lost it in 1566. Another part of the army marched through the valleyØsterdalen in 1567, capturedHamar, and continued towardsOslo.[15] They reached as far as the Skiensfjord, and torchedSkien at one point.[citation needed] In Oslo, however, citizens torched the city before invaders could seize it. From the south-east, more Swedish forces were then sent to aid in capturingAkershus Fortress near Oslo. These forces torchedKonghelle andSarpsborg on their way. They were repelled from Oslo by local forces together with men belonging to Erik Rosenkrantz and the King of Denmark and Norway. The Swedes retreated in a north-eastern direction, torching Hamar on their way,[15] destroyingHamar Cathedral and the bishop's fortified palaceHamarhus.
The Danish mercenary army was superior to the Swedish peasant army, but the professional army would not fight until their pay was current. Because only a fraction of the army would march, Denmark had to give up the plan to take the fortress of Kalmar and settle for an attack on Stockholm instead. In August 1564, Eric attackedBlekinge and his army occupied it cruelly (most infamously during theRonneby Bloodbath), though the Danish later[when?] reclaimed this.
Eric XIV turned insane, paralyzing the Swedish war effort. The Danish were exhausted and made no serious attacks until Rantzau attackedSmåland andÖstergötland with about 8,500 men.[when?] He burned every field and house and destroyed every head of livestock he could. An attempt to cut off his retreat over the Holaveden failed, as Rantzau's army went over the ice oflake Sommen[16] and in the middle of February 1568 he returned toHalland.
Attempts were made to make peace between the fighting nations during these years. Negotiators included the dukes ofPomerania, French messengerCharles Dancay, and Holy Roman EmperorsFerdinand I andMaximilian II. The emperors wanted Denmark and Sweden to give back the territories won inLivonia, during the ongoingLivonian War, but Sweden refused to give in to those demands.[17]
In 1568, the Swedish dukeJohnstaged a successful coup d'etat against his brother, King Eric.[17] Enthroned as king with the name John III, he began negotiations with Denmark-Norway, and on 18 November the same year this led to adraft peace agreement in Roskilde. This was turned down by the Swedes, however, and in 1569 war stirred again. The Danes attacked and reclaimedVarberg, on 13 November. The Swedes on the other hand now had great success[clarification needed] inSkåne.
At this point, both armies were exhausted,[10] leading to further negotiations toward peace. In September 1570 a meeting began inStettin and peace was finally reached on 13 December 1570 with theTreaty of Stettin. The Swedish king withdrew the claims to Norway, Skåne, Halland,Blekinge, andGotland, while the Danes withdrew their claims to Sweden. The Baltic Sea was declared sovereign Danish. In addition, theKalmar Union was declared dissolved. The Swedes ransomed Älvsborg with 150,000riksdaler and had to hand back captured warships. The disputes concerning the Three Crowns insignia were unresolved and remained a source of future conflict.
The result between Denmark–Norway and Sweden is disputed, some claim that the war ended in a Danish victory,[18][19][20][13][21] while others claim that it ended inconclusively.[22][23][24][25][26]
The resulting Peace of Stettin (13 December 1570)marked the war as a Danish victory, but only in the most marginal sense.
De spänningar som rivaliteten orsakade skulle snart leda till öppen konflikt. År 1563 bröt det nordiska sjuårskriget ut mellan Sverige och Danmark.Kriget avslutades 1570 med dansk seger men utan några territoriella vinster för någon av parterna.
Nordiska sjuårskriget slutade i princip oavgjort med undantag att Sverige hade befäst sin ställning som en sjömakt att räkna med.
Konflikten eskalerade och 1563 brot det nordiska sjuårskriget ut.Det kom att vara till år 1570 och slutade i praktiken oavgjort.
Nordiska sjuårskriget slutade så småningom oavgjort, men Sverige fick betala Danmark en enorm summa pengar, 150 000 riksdaler silvermynt, för att få tillbaka Älvsborgs fästning.
Efter sju år slutade kraftmätningen oavgjort (med fördel Sverige i Baltikum och fördel Danmark vid Västerhavet), vilket sporrade båda sidor till revanschkrig, vilka ledde till ytterligare revanschkrig, och så vidare ända till 1710-talet. Och sedan – när ingen egentligen ville fortsätta det meningslösa krigandet – hetsades nationerna likväl mot varandra eftersom stormakterna Ryssland och Frankrike tvingade dem.
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