The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs
Kapitel Ein: Die Macht eines Fans
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"1611 is when Gustavus Adolphus the Great ascended to the Swedish throne, and with his ascent he inherited a couple of wars left over from his predecessors against Denmark, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Russia," Gustav began one day in class while standing behind his desk. "All of those were quickly ended, though the Polish war took longer to resolve, and then in 1630 he brought Swedish forces in to intervene in the ongoing Thirty Years' War on the anti-Imperial side. The Swedish forces under their king's command quickly turned the tide in the war by greatly strengthening the Protestants' fighting abilities and giving their campaign against the Empire a clear direction. The war itself had the initiative change hands various times after Gustavus Adolphus was killed in action in Lützen in 1632, but the Protestant side gained a great ally when France intervened on the same side as Sweden in 1636 when they declared war on the Holy Roman Empire. The Protestants gained the advantage initially, but the Empire bitterly resisted until in 1642 when Sweden regained the initiative, but by the middle of the decade everyone was getting tired of the war, and there were ongoing talks seeking to end it. The Peace of Westphalia that soon came in 1648 granted Sweden many territories as war reparations, which gave Sweden the third-largest area of control in Europe by land area. By 1658 after signing the Treaty of Roskilde with Denmark, Sweden's territory extended to its absolute height during the empire's time. The Swedish Empire extended out to about 1.1 million square kilometers, more than twice as large as the modern-day Sweden."
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A few minutes later, Gustav was still talking about Sweden's era of great power.
"By the late 1600s, Sweden had made many enemies on the continent from the actions of its rulers, and its own internal politicking had weakened the country to the point that the king himself had to intervene to keep order," he continued on. "In 1697 came the ascendancy of Charles XII to the throne. Then, in 1700, Denmark, Poland, and Russia all declared war together on Sweden, seeking an opportunity to end Sweden's dominion of the Baltic Sea in the wake of a young, inexperienced king ascending to power. But what followed afterwards was a complete surprise to everyone. Denmark quickly sued for peace after England and The Netherlands jointly invaded it alongside Sweden, and the Russian pillaging of the Baltic coastal towns was crushed soon after Charles sent the rest of the Swedes there, even though the Caroleans were outnumbered at least four to one by the Russians. The war against Poland was then taken care of with the dethroning of the Polish king. During that time, Russia had recovered from their previous defeat and had taken several of the towns along the Baltic coast, but they soon offered peace to avoid starting an all-out war. Charles refused the proposal, and he next moved to march directly on Moscow. The Russian scorched earth policy and the bitter winter of 1708-1709 forced him to divert to Poltava in Ukraine, where the Swedes were decisively defeated by the Russians."
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Even later, Gustav was still talking on about the Swedish empire with a passion.
"After his disastrous defeat in Poltava, Charles XII had fled to the Ottoman Empire," he continued on. "If only they weren't discovered in the early morning, what could've happened then…!" he clenched a fist at his words in bitterness, but he quickly calmed down and continued. "But even though things looked bleak and hopeless with almost all of Europe against the Swedes, Charles did not once consider peace, and upon returning to Sweden in 1715, he immediately resolved to try and force Denmark-Norway out of the Great Northern War. He invaded in 1716 through Basmo and besieged Fredriksten, but the Norwegians resisted bitterly and continuously harassed his supply lines. Later that year, the Swedish transport fleet was destroyed and forced the Caroleans to retreat back into Sweden. Later in 1718, Charles invaded again with a rebuilt army and besieged Fredriksten yet again that November, but Charles himself was killed when a stray bullet pierced the left of his head and exited through the right when he was inspecting the front-line preparations being made to assault the fortress. To this day, uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of his death. Afterwards followed the general retreat of the Carolean army back into Sweden proper, which included the disastrous retreat across the Tydal mountain range that froze thousands to their deaths from the extremely cold weather. By 1721, the Swedish Empire had come to an end with the signing of various treaties that forced Sweden to give up its holdings, and it ceased to be a great power."
Gustav then took a breather for a few seconds to regain his breath from his very long speech. He was wearing his usual school outfit that combined the school uniform with a Gustavian-era cuirass that held the distinct Swedish variant of the Scandinavian Cross painted across it. "And that was a brief overview of the Swedish Empire, or stormaktstiden, as we like to call it," he concluded in a notably more relaxed tone. "That effectively translates to 'the era of great power.' To answer your question about which country became a great power as a result of the Thirty Years' War, it was Sweden."
"Okay, okay, I understand," the instructor relented as they spoke up again. They had, ironically, just been schooled by a student. "I won't ask any more questions relating to Sweden in your presence."
The rest of the class was stunned into silence by the sudden fifteen minute detour in instruction. They certainly knew far more about the Swedish Empire now than they ever would have wished to know, all thanks to the fact that one of their fellow students just so happened to be Swedish and loved its history so extensively.
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Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
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