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| Scanian War | |||||||||
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| Part of theFranco-Dutch War and theNorthern Wars | |||||||||
 Battles (left to right from top): | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Denmark-Norway Dutch Republic Brandenburg-Prussia Habsburg Monarchy Spanish Empire[1]Supported by:  Scanian insurgents |  Swedish Empire Kingdom of France | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Christian V Ulrik Gyldenløve Niels JuelCornelis TrompFrederick William | Charles XIMagnus De la GardieRutger von AschebergSimon Grundel-Helmfelt † | ||||||||
TheScanian War (Danish:den Skånske Krig;Norwegian:den skånske krig;Swedish:det Skånska kriget;German:Schonischer Krieg) was a part of theNorthern Wars involving the union ofDenmark–Norway,Brandenburg andSweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly onScanian soil, in the former Danish–Norwegian provinces along the border with Sweden, and in Northern Germany. While the latter battles are regarded as a theater of the Scanian war in English, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish historiography, they are seen as a separate war in Germanhistoriography, called theSwedish-Brandenburgian War (German:Schwedisch-Brandenburgischer Krieg).
The war was prompted by Swedish involvement in theFranco-Dutch War. Sweden had allied withFrance against several European countries. TheUnited Provinces, under attack by France, sought support from Denmark–Norway. After some hesitation, KingChristian V started the invasion ofSkåneland (Scania,Halland,Blekinge, and sometimes alsoBornholm) in 1675, while the Swedes were occupied witha war against Brandenburg. The invasion of Scania was combined with a simultaneous Norwegian front called theGyldenløve War, forcing the defending Swedes to fight atwo-front war in addition to their entanglements in theHoly Roman Empire.
The Danish objective was to retrieve the Scanian lands that had been ceded to Sweden in theTreaty of Roskilde, after theNorthern Wars. Although the Danish offensive was initially a great success, Swedish counter-offensives led by the 19-year-oldCharles 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 princessUlrike Eleonora, sister of Christian V. Peace was made on behalf of France with the treaties ofFontainebleau andLund (Sweden and Denmark–Norway) andSaint-Germain-en-Laye (Sweden and Brandenburg), restoring most of the lost territories to Sweden.[2]
In the 1660s and early 1670s, theSwedish Empire experienced a financial crisis. In hope of subsidies, the Swedish government, acting on behalf of kingCharles XI of Sweden during his minority, had entered the anti-FrenchTriple Alliance with theDutch Republic and theKingdom of England, which broke apart whenCharles II of England rapproached France in 1670, after theWar of Devolution.[4]
In April 1672, Sweden and France concluded an alliance, with France promising 400,000riksdaler of subsidies in peace time, to be raised to 600,000 in war time, for Sweden maintaining a 16,000 men strong army in herGerman dominions. Also, Sweden maintained good relations to theDukes of Holstein-Gottorp south ofDenmark.[4]
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 inSwedish 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 inBremen,Wismar andPomerania while the rest were free to operate underLord High Constable andfield marshalCarl Gustaf Wrangel.[5]
Another defensive alliance formed in September 1672 between Denmark–Norway,Emperor Leopold I, theElectorate of Brandenburg, and the duchies ofBrunswick-Celle,Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel andHesse-Cassel. This alliance maintained an army of 21,000 foot and 10,500 horse, and since May 1673, an additional 12,000 men and twenty vessels maintained with Dutch subsidies.[6] At that time in history, Brandenburg was the second most powerful German state (the most powerful beingAustria), and maintained its own standing army of 23,000 men.[7]
The Netherlands had been attacked by the French army in 1672, known as therampjaar, and the ensuingFranco-Dutch War would only be concluded by theTreaties of Nijmegen in 1678.Roi soleilLouis XIV intended to weaken the anti-French alliance by engaging them on their eastern frontiers: he supportedJohn Sobieski, candidate for thePolish throne, he also supported a contemporary revolt of nobles inHungary, and aimed at binding the Brandenburgian army in a war with Sweden.[3]
At the time of the Scanian War Sweden's 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 byRutger 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.[8]
In December 1674,Louis XIV of France called uponSweden to invade Brandenburg. Wrangel advanced into theUckermark, a region on theBrandenburg–Pomeranian frontier, securing quarters for his forces until the weather would permit him to turn westwards toHanover.Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg received the news in theRhine valley, and turned northeast to confront Wrangel. On 18 June(OS) or 28 June(NS) the armies met in theBattle of Fehrbellin.[5]
The Fehrbellin affair was a mereskirmish, with actual casualties amounting to fewer than 600 men on each side—but it was a defeat by a numerically inferior force from a territory for which Sweden had little regard. As a result of this defeat, Sweden appeared vulnerable, encouraging neighbouring countries that had suffered invasion by Sweden in the prior Swedish campaigns to join in the Scanian War. Wrangel retreated to SwedishDemmin.[9]
When theUnited Provinces initially asked for Danish–Norway support against the French and their allies in theFranco-Dutch War, Danish–Norwegian KingChristian V wanted to join them, and go to war withSweden immediately to recapture the historically Danish provinces ofScania andHalland. CountPeder Griffenfeld, an influential royal adviser, advised against it, and instead advocated a more pro-France policy. But when the numerically superior Swedes lost theBattle of Fehrbellin on 28 June 1675, it was the first such defeat of Swedish forces since theThirty Years' War. Christian V saw his chance, and overcoming Griffenfeld's opposition, attacked.[9]
The second largest Swedish garrison in North Germany, afterSwedish Pomerania, was the twin Duchy ofBremen-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 ofMünster and theDuchy 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 theImperial Ban it was forbidden to take up arms against member states of the Holy Roman Empire.
By the end of the year only the Swedish headquarters town ofStade andCarlsburg were still in Swedish hands. In November the Allies sent their troops into winter quarters with the result that the conquest of the last remaining Swedish strongholds had to wait until the following year. Stade did not surrender until 13 August 1676. This theatre of war was nevertheless only of secondary importance for the Allies and for Sweden.
At this point, the Swedish empire in Germany began to crumble. In 1675, most of Swedish Pomerania and theDuchy of Bremen were taken by the Brandenburgers,Austrians, and Danes. In December 1677, the elector of Brandenburg capturedStettin.Stralsund fell on 11 October 1678.Greifswald, Sweden's last possession on the continent, was lost on 5 November. A defensive alliance withJohn III of Poland, concluded on 4 August 1677,[10] was rendered inoperative by the annihilation of Sweden's sea-power, theBattle of Öland, 17 June 1676;Battle of Fehmarn, June 1677, and the difficulties of the Polish king.
The Danish–Norway recapture ofScania (which had been captured by Sweden in 1658) started with the seizure ofHelsingborg on 29 June 1676. Danish kingChristian 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 toSweden proper. In a month's time only the fortified town ofMalmö remained under Swedish control.
Norwegian history records the campaigns in Norway (or in formerly Norwegian provinces) as the Gyldenløve War; it was named afterGovernor-GeneralUlrik Frederick Gyldenløve, who as commander-in-chief directed the Norwegian offensive. The Norwegian offensives were generally successful, but served only to offset the Danish setbacks elsewhere.[11]
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 atFredrikshald under the command of GeneralRussenstein, both protecting against any Swedish attempts to invade and threatening to retake the formerly Norwegian province ofBohuslän. The Swedish GeneralAscheberg took position atSvarteborg with 2,000 men. Operations along the Norwegian–Swedish border during 1675 were largely skirmishes to test strength, as mountain passes were well guarded. Gyldenløve then directed 1,000 men in galleys to proceed down the coast and cut off Ascheberg's supply route; as Ascheberg had intelligence of the effort, it was unsuccessful. Both armies went into winter quarters in the border districts.[11]
In 1676 Gyldenløve personally led Norwegian forces in the field. His Norwegian army took and fortified the pass atKvistrum and proceeded south, seizingUddevalla with minimal opposition. Swedish forces provided significantly more resistance to the attack onVänersborg, but Gyldenløve's forces captured it. From there his forces moved toBohus where they were supplemented by GeneralTønne Huitfeldt's army of 5000 men.[11]Gyldenløve subsequently besieged the fortress, but was forced to retreat due to dwindling supplies.[12]
In early August a Danish–Norwegian expedition was sent north to take the town ofHalmstad and then advance along the Swedish west coast to seek contact with GeneralGyldenløve's forces. This led to theBattle of Halmstad whereCharles XI of Sweden won a decisive victory over the Danish mercenary force led by a Scotsman, GeneralJacob Duncan [da], effectively preventing the linking of forces. The Swedes then retreated north to gather more troops. Christian V brought his army to Halmstad and besieged the town for a couple of weeks but gave up and returned to winter quarters in Scania.
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Despite the Danish forces' defeat at Fyllebro, the successful recapture of Scania allowed Norwegian troops to regain formerly NorwegianBohuslän. During the winter of 1677, the Norwegian army was increased to 17,000 men, allowing operations to increase further. Gyldenløve captured the fortress atMarstrand in July and joined forces with GeneralLøvenhjelm.[11]
The Swedes mounted a counteroffensive under the command ofMagnus 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 onlyBohus Fortress in Bohuslän.[11]
In August 1677, Norwegian forces of 2,000 men, led by GeneralReinhold von Hoven and GeneralChristian Shultz also retook formerly NorwegianJämtland.[11]
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.[11]
On 24 October 1676, the Swedish kingCharles XI marched back into Scania with an army of 12,000, forcing the Danes on the defensive. After a number of skirmishes the Danish army was badly beaten in theBattle of Lund on December 4. Despite gains by Gyldenløve in the north, the Swedish offensive of Charles XI tipped the scale. After failing to takeMalmö and the defeat at theBattle of Landskrona the Danish Army in Scania was still not beaten, but the morale was definitely broken.
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 ofKristianstad 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.
The war was also fought at sea. In theBattle of Öland, 1 June 1676, the Danish and Dutch fleet won a great victory over the Swedes, sinking one of the largest naval vessels at that time,Kronan. With the victory they got control of theBaltic Sea.
The Danes–Norwegian won another significant victory in theBattle of Fehmarn on 31 May 1677. The battle was located betweenFehmarn andWarnemünde, north of modern-dayGermany. TheDanes–Norwegian had been blockading aSwedish squadron in Göteborg (Gothenburg), and each side had been sending fleets out regularly in the hope of a decisive victory at sea. The Swedish ships, underErik Carlsson Sjöblad, left to return to theBaltic Sea and there met a larger Danish–Norwegian squadron under AdmiralNiels Juel. The action started in the evening of the 31st and continued until the next morning. It was an almost complete Danish–Norwegian victory. Several Swedish ships were captured, most as they tried to flee, and one was run aground and burned.
The control at sea was secured a year later, when the Danish–Norwegian fleet, led byNiels Juel, again defeated the Swedish fleet at theBattle of Køge Bay, nearCopenhagen. 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 was negotiated between France (on behalf of Sweden) and Denmark–Norway at theTreaty of Fontainebleau on 23 August 1679. The peace, which was largely dictated by France, stipulated that all territory lost by Sweden during the war should be returned. Thus the terms formulated at theTreaty of Copenhagen remained in force. It was reaffirmed by theTreaty of Lund, signed byDenmark-Norway andSweden themselves. Denmark received minor war reparations from Sweden and returned SwedishRügen. Likewise, theElectorate of Brandenburg had to return most of her gains,Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, with the exception of most of Swedish Pomeranian territory east of theOder, to Sweden on behalf of France in theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[13]
In Scania itself, however, the war had a devastating effect in raising the hopes of the pro-Danish guerilla known asSnapphane and their sympathisers, who thereupon suffered savage repression from the reinstated Swedish authorities.
The exact result of the war is disagreed upon by scholars. Some sources view the war as a Swedish defeat,[14] with other sources viewing the war as inconclusive.[15][16][17][18] Historian Michael Fredholm von Essen also claims that one could argue that the real winner of the Scanian war was the French king, Louis XIV along with Brandenburg.[16] There are also sources that claim the Swedes won the war.[19][20][21][22] The result of the war and the terms of the peace treaties were a large disappointment for Denmark, being referred to as "En skiden og skammelig fred" by a priest in Copenhagen.[23]
Nu, hösten 1679, går Sverige in i en lugn fredperiod. Även om man inte trodde på den eviga freden utan faktiskt började rusta upp igen syns inget nytt krig vid horisonten. Ändå skulle det bara ta 21 år innan danskarna kommer tillbaka med eld och brand.De hade förlorat detta krig men hoppet om Skåne tillbaka var ej släckt.
Käännekohta eteläisten maakuntien liittämisessä valtakuntaan oli Tanskan kanssa 1675–1679 käyty sota. Ruotsille annetusta uskollisuudenvalasta huolimatta nousi rahvaan joukosta avoin vastarinta, snapphane-liike eli "siepposissit". Snapphane liike motivoi sissitoimintansa ruotsalaisten toimeenpanemien uudistusten vastaisuudella.Ruotsi voitti sodan ja itsevaltiaaksi noussut Kaarle XI ryhtyi kovalla kädellä yhtenäistämään valtakuntaansa, myös eteläisissä maakunnissa.
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