Danish-Swedish War (1808-1809)
| date | March 14, 1808 to December 10, 1809 |
|---|---|
| place | |
| output | Maintaining the status quo |
| Peace treaty | Peace of Jonkoping |
| Parties to the conflict | ||
|---|---|---|
| Commander | ||
|
King Friedrich VI. |
||
| Troop strength | ||
| 30,000 men of which 5,000 are operational | 36,000 men thereof 5,000 deployable | 23,000 men |
The Danish-Swedish War was fought in 1808 and 1809 . It was initiated by Denmark-Norway , which wanted to regain the former Danish province of Skåne . The Swedish war aims were the conquest of Norway and the achievement of customs exemption in the Oresund . The war ended in vain for both sides, so the status quo was maintained.
backgrounds
Since Sweden was at war with France and Denmark-Norway was linked to Napoleon , the Danish side hoped that the peace treaties of Brömsebro and Roskilde would be canceled . It was believed that the lost territories could easily be conquered, since Sweden was also involved in a war with Russia at the same time . On March 14, 1808 , a Danish minister brought the declaration of war in Stockholm . The Swedish King Gustav IV Adolf replied that he was planning to invade Zealand himself . However, this plan only existed on paper.
Involved armies
Danish-French Army
Napoleon initially intended to strengthen the Danish side with a considerable army. This was led by Jean Baptiste Bernadotte and consisted of about 45,000 men, including about 12,500 French, 14,000 Spaniards, 6,000 Dutch and a reserve force of 12,500 Danish mercenaries. Together with the Danish-Norwegian troops, the entire army would have been 81,000 strong. France also imposed the condition that this army should be under French leadership. Most of the Spanish units in Denmark mutinied.
On June 5, 1808, Bernadotte set out for Denmark, but Napoleon gave the order to return shortly afterwards. The Danes were now on their own.
Norwegian Army
The Norwegian army was about 36,000 men strong, but only 5,000 of them could be used to raid Sweden. These associations suffered from a lack of supplies and their training was poor. Since most of the units were deployed to protect the coasts against a feared attack by Great Britain , the Norwegian invasion never really got under way under their commander, Prince Christian August von Augustenburg. Instead, the Swedes tried to gain territory in Norway.
Swedish army
The Swedish army consisted of about 23,000 men. 7,000 in Skåne under Johan Christopher Toll , 14,000 on the Norwegian border under Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt and 2,000 in Norrland under Johan Bergenstråhle. These associations were quite well equipped and well trained.
The war
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1808
On April 1, 1808, Johan Bergenstråhle moved with his unit from Jämtland to Norway, but was repulsed and returned to Sundsvall . Prince Christian August was not yet able to attack Skåne as planned, but was waiting for a Swedish attack.
On April 13, 8,000 Swedes invaded Norway under Gustaf Armfelt and the first battle took place near Lier, about 10 km south of Kongsvinger . The Norwegian side had about 30,000 men in action, but of these only about 14,500 were soldiers, of whom only 5,000 were actively fighting. The battle ended with a Swedish victory and shortly afterwards Armfeldt was able to conquer more areas, but an attack on the Fredriksten fortress failed.
The counterattack by Prince Christian August pushed the Swedes back, but they continued to establish themselves in Norway. At the beginning of May the Swedes expected reinforcement by a British fleet with 11,000 men under the command of John Moore and 140 ships. When landing in Gothenburg Moore and King Gustav Adolf got into an argument, so that the former turned back on June 3rd.
Already at the end of April a Danish fleet with 27 small gunboats under the direction of Captain Motzfeldt set out for Strömstad , where they were repulsed by five Swedish ships under GH Nordberg with great losses. At about the same time, a 5,700-strong Swedish unit under Eberhard von Vegesack made another unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Fredriksten fortress. Gustaf Armfeldt now withdrew most of his troops from Norway.
Prince Christian August saw an opportunity and attacked Prestebakke, where only 420 Swedes were stationed. After a fierce battle in which 40 Swedes and 11 Norwegians died, 360 Swedes and their leader Lieutenant Colonel Lars Jacob von Knorring were captured. After Knorring was released to Sweden, he was temporarily suspended and sentenced to 160 Reichstalers. Just four days later, Swedish units rushed to regain the place.
Another battle took place on August 16 at the Hjerpe ski jump near Järpen in Jämtland. The attacking Norwegian troops were repulsed by the Swedes. In autumn and winter, with the exception of a battle at Berby near Prestebakke in Norway, in which both sides lost 50 men each, no further battles were fought. Finally, on December 7th, an armistice was signed.
1809
The first months in the Norwegian army were marked by a lack of food and other goods. Since Great Britain blocked the Norwegian ports, Prince Christian August could not start his planned offensive. The Swedes also waited and focused on the war in Finland . As King Gustav IV Adolf lost large areas to Russia, he was removed from his post on March 13th . Prince Christian August was a candidate for the Swedish throne and therefore withdrew his army from Sweden.
In the summer Christian August was from King Friedrich VI. but urged to attack Sweden. Since an invasion of Skåne was not considered feasible, the focus was now on the Norwegian territories, which were assigned to Sweden in the Peace of Brömsebro in 1648, mainly Jämtland and Härjedalen . These efforts were spurred on by the Russian successes in Finland. Russia was now the ruler of all of Finland and stood with its army in the Swedish Norrland . Friedrich believed that an alliance with Russia would make it easier for him to win against Sweden.
Prince Christian August was reluctant to implement Friedrich's plans, but was put under great pressure by him. On July 2, Christian August gave orders to attack the Swedish Jämtland from the Trondheim area. A 1,800-strong unit under Major General von Krogh marched across the border on July 10th. The Swedes gathered several associations under Georg Carl von Döbeln to defend themselves in the same area.
On July 16th, the Norwegian troops took the Hjerpe ski jump, which had been abandoned by a Swedish unit shortly before. A little later the towns of Mörsil and Mattmar in Jämtland were conquered. At the same time a rumor arose in von Krogh's army that Sweden had signed a truce with Russia. The major general therefore moved his troops from Jämtland to Härjedalen. On July 24, the Swedish troops under von Döbeln had grown to 900 men, which prompted him to attack, which forced the Norwegians to retreat. The armistice that was subsequently concluded meant that the Norwegians should leave Sweden by August 3, which is what happened.
Great Britain's expanded trade blockade against Denmark-Norway was becoming increasingly noticeable, especially in the lack of food. The government now feared a Swedish-British invasion of Norway more and more and decided to initiate peace negotiations, which began in November. Spokesman on the Danish side was Nils Rosenkrantz, while Carl Gustaf Adlerberg (Minister in London) headed the Swedish position. On December 10, 1809 , a peace treaty was concluded in Jönköping . It was agreed that there would be no border changes.
swell
- Article Dansk-svenska kriget 1808-1809 from Swedish Wikipedia ( January 21, 2007 ) with the following sources:
- Famous Swedish Battles, 19th Century (War Against Denmark)