King Gustav II Adolf (1611–1632) Queen Christina (1632–1654) King Charles X Gustav (1654–1660) King Charles XI (1660–1697) King Charles XII (1697–1718)
Field marshal
Johan Banér (1634-1641) Carl Gustaf Wrangel(1646-1676) Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck (1676–1685) Rutger von Ascheberg (1678–1693) Erik Dahlberg (1693-1702) Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld (1706–1721)
Notable commanders
General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt
From 1611 to 1721, Sweden was a European great power, becoming a dominant faction in the quest for control of the Baltic Sea and a formidable military power.[1] During this period, known as Stormaktstiden (Swedish: "The Great Power Era"), the Swedish Empire held a territory more than twice the size of its modern borders and one of the most successful military forces at the time, proving itself on numerous occasions on battlefields such as Wallhof, Narva, and Düna. The military of the Swedish empire is commonly (and wrongfully) recognized only as the Caroleans, which were in fact not in service until the late 17th century under Charles XI and his successor. The Swedish Empire and its modern military force was founded by Gustavus Adolphus, who inherited the throne in 1611 at age 17. He immediately reformed the common European military based on mercenaries to a professional national army.[2] However, before completing his vision of conquering the Holy Roman Empire, the warrior king was killed in action in 1632. His daughter and successor did little to improve Sweden's military position and abdicated early, providing the Swedish Empire with a more warlike ruler. Charles X Gustav was only king for 5 years, but conquered large amounts of territory that still belong to Sweden today (including Blekinge, Bohuslän, Skåne, and Halland).[3] His son Karl XI would further strengthen the army by introducing the Caroleans, which were also used by Karl XII in the Great Northern War.
However, despite great successes on the battlefield, inadequate economy and small manpower caused the demise of the Swedish Empire, which ended its 110-year period as a great power in 1721.
Finland was an integral part of Sweden during the Swedish Empire. At the time of the Thirty Years' War, Finns represented an essential part of the Swedish army. Roughly 2/5 from the infantry and 3/7 from the cavalry in the army were from Finland.[4] They served in their own units which used Finnish as their main language. Commands were also given in Finnish.[5] The Finnish cavalry in the Swedish army was called Hakkapeliitta after their battle cry "Hakkaa päälle!". Approximately 110,000 soldiers from Finland lost their lives serving the Swedish Empire between 1617–1721; taking into account the contemporary number of inhabitants in Finland, this is roughly equivalent to 1,000,000 20th century casualties.[6]
^Frost 2000, pp. 133–134
^Isacson, Göran http://www.militarhistoria.se/serier/krigforingens-mastare/gustav-ii-adolf/. Militär Historia, nr 3, 2010.
^Frost, Robert I (2000). The Northern Wars. War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe 1558–1721. Longman. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-582-06429-4.
^Karonen, Petri and Räihä Antti (edit.) (2014). Kansallisten instituutioiden muotoutuminen – Suomalainen historiakuva Oma Maa -kirjasarjassa 1900-1960. Vantaa: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura. p. 160. ISBN 978-952-222-606-8.
^Jutikkala Eino & Kauko Pirinen. Translated by Paul (1988). A History of Finland. New York: Dorset Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780880292603.
^Keskisarja, Teemu (2019). Murhanenkeli. Helsinki: Siltala. p. 246. ISBN 9789522346384.
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