Abstract
The first Charles Gustav-war 1657-58 is often seen as a foolhardy Danish attempt to redress the Scandinavian powerbalance which during the Thirty Years War had tilted to the benefit of Sweden. The events of the war - the Swedish march over the frozen Belts and the humiliating peace of Roskilde 1658 - seem to point in this direction. During the second Charles Gustavus-war 1658-60 the Swedish forces were beaten by allied Polish, Brandenburg and Imperial troop, as they surely would have been during the first war if it had lasted long enough and the Danish government had not panicked and concluded peace too quickly. However, the intervention of the great powers France, the Netherlands and Britain secured that Sweden's position as a regional power was maintained and the Scandinavian balance between Denmark reestablished. Thus the wars 1657-60 illustrated two structural elements of foreign policy in the middle of the 17th century: That foreign policy consisted in the exploitation of favourable opportunities rather than the pursuit of long distance goals and that the great powers and the European power balance ultimately dominated local and regiopnal conflicts.
| Translated title of the contribution | The first Charles Gustavus-war 1657-58: The most stupid Danish war ever? |
|---|---|
| Original language | Danish |
| Journal | Siden Saxo. Magasin for dansk historie |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 26-39 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISSN | 0109-6028 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- Charles Gustavus-wars
- Denmark
- Sweden
- 1657-58
- 1658-60
- Frederik III
- Charles 10 Gustavus
- great powers
- power balance
