Scanian War

Warbox
conflict=Scanian War
partof=the Franco-Dutch War


caption=The Danish capture Kristianstad in Scania during 1676: Painting by Claus Møinichen.
date=1675–1679
casus=Danish attempt to reconquer the Scanian lands
result=No result / French dictated peace
place= Scandinavia
territory=
combatant1=flagicon|Denmark Denmark-Norway flagicon|Netherlands|pri United Provinces
combatant2=flagicon|Sweden Swedish Empire,
flagicon|France|royal France
commander1=flagicon|Denmark Christian V flagicon|Denmark Ulrik Gyldenløve
commander2=flagicon|Sweden Charles XI
flagicon|Sweden Magnus De la Gardie
flagicon|Sweden Rutger von Ascheberg
flagicon|Sweden Simon Grundel-HelmfeltKIA

Scanian War (Danish: "Skånske Krig" Swedish: "Skånska kriget") was a war fought between the union of Denmark-Norway and Sweden, mainly on Scanian soil. It was a war with no definite victor; the Swedish navy lost at sea and the Danish army was defeated on land. The war and the hostilities ended when Denmark's ally the United Provinces settled with Sweden's stronger ally France and the Swedish king Charles XI married Danish princess Ulrike Eleonora, sister of Christian V. Peace was made by France on behalf of Sweden and Denmark failed to gain its objective, the provinces of Scania. [ [http://www.oresundstid.dk/dansk/engelsk/oresundstid/1600/side10.htm The Scanian War 1675-79] . Educational site for highschools created by [http://www.oresundstid.dk/dansk/engelsk/oresundstid/menubox/credits.htm Oresundstid] .]

Background

The war was prompted by the Swedish involvement in the Franco-Dutch War. Sweden had allied with France against several European countries. The United Provinces, under attack by France, sought support from Denmark-Norway. After some hesitation, King Christian V started the invasion of the Scania (Skåneland) in 1675, while the Swedish were occupied with a war against Brandenburg. The invasion of Scania was combined with a simultaneous Norwegian front called the Gyldenløve War, forcing the defending Swedes to fight a two-front war in addition to their entanglements in the Holy Roman Empire.

The Danish objective was to retrieve the Scanian lands that had been given to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde, after the Northern Wars. Although the Danish offensive was initially a great success, Swedish counter-offensives led by the 19 year old Charles XI of Sweden nullified much of the gain. Eventually, a French-dictated peace was negotiated at the Treaty of Fontainebleau on August 23 1679, stipulating that all territory lost by Sweden be returned.

War on land

Early Danish advances

When the United Provinces initially asked for Danish support against the French and their allies, Danish King Christian V wanted to join them, and go to war with Sweden immediately. Count Peder Griffenfeld, an influential royal advisor, advised against it, and instead advocated a more pro-France policy. But when the Swedes lost the Battle of Fehrbellin on June 28 1675, the Danish army saw its chance, and attacked.

The war started with the Danish invasion at Helsingborg in June 29, 1676. Danish king Christian V brought 15,000 troops against a defending Swedish army of 5,000 men, which were 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 and the Swedes had to retreat north to Sweden proper. In a month's time only the fortified town of Malmö remained under Swedish control.

The Gyldenløve War

Simultaneously with the Danish invasion, an attack against Sweden was also launched from Norway, to force the Swedes to fight a two-front war. It was named after general Gyldenløve, who led the Norwegian offensive.

Operations along the Norwegian-Swedish border were initially largely a stalemate, as mountain passes were guarded fiercely. Although a large contingent of 4,000 Norwegians was concentrated at Fredrikshald under the command of General Russenstein, it was nearly impossible to break through. The Swedish General Ascheberg had taken position at Svarteborg with 2,000 men.

In early August a Danish expedition was sent north to take the town of Halmstad and then advance along the Swedish west coast to seek contact with the General Gyldenløve. Charles XI of Sweden quickly rushed his small army to the west and defeated the Danish force at the Battle of Fyllebro. 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 Scania.

Despite the defeat at Fyllebro, the successful invasion of Scania allowed Norwegian troops to capture Bohuslän. During the winter of 1677, the Norwegian army was increased to 17,000 men, allowing operations to increase further. Gyldenløve captured the fortress at Marstrand in July and joined forces with General Løvenhjelm. The Swedes mounted a counteroffensive under the command of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, sending an army of 8,000 to expel the Norwegian forces. They were defeated by the Norwegians, and pushed further back into Bohuslän. Simultaneously, Norwegian forces also retook Jämtland.

The war in Scania

On October 24 1676, the Swedish king Charles XI marched back into Scania with an army of 12,000, forcing the Danes in the defensive. After a number of skirmishes the Danish army was badly beaten at the Battle of Lund. Despite gains by Gyldenløve in the north, the Swedish offensive of Charles XI tipped the scale. After failing to take Malmö and the defeat at the Battle 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 of Kristianstad besieged by the Swedes. After facing the whole Swedish army on the plain west of Kristianstad Christian V opted not to battle. On the way back to Landskrona the Danish army plundered all villages it passed, effectively destroying the last support it had from local peasants.

War at sea

Swedish defeat

The war was also fought at sea. In the Battle of Öland, June 1 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 the Baltic sea. The control was secured a year later, when the Danish fleet, lead by Niels Juel, again defeated the Swedish fleet at the Battle of Køge bay, near Copenhagen. The Swedes lost over 3,000 men in this engagement, while the Danish only suffered some 375 casualties. The Danish success at sea hindered the Swedish ability to move troops between northern Germany and Sweden.

Peace

After the retreat from Landskrona it was clear that the Danish front on land had failed. Christian V could no longer pay the mercenaries, that by then made up more than half of his army, and decided to evacuate his army in September 1678. A French-dictated peace was negotiated at the Treaty of Fontainebleau on August 23, 1679, stipulating that all territory lost by Sweden be returned. Thus the terms formulated at the Treaty of Roskilde remained in force. It was reaffirmed by the Treaty of Lund, signed by Denmark-Norway and Sweden themselves.

References