Torstensson War

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Sea battle between Sweden and Denmark off Fehmarn in October 1644

The Torstensson War (in Norway Hannibalfehde ) between the two Baltic Sea powers Sweden and Denmark-Norway from 1643 to 1645. It is named after the Swedish general Lennart Torstensson and the Danish governor in Norway Hannibal Sehested .

background

The intervention of the Danish King Christian IV in the Thirty Years' War led in 1626 to the defeat against the imperial troops under Tilly in the battle of Lutter . This defeat meant the military collapse of Denmark. The humiliating peace treaty of 1629 and the military successes of the Swedish King Gustav Adolf II from 1630 in Germany made it clear that Sweden was now the dominant Baltic power. As a result, Sweden tried to incorporate Denmark into its Baltic region. The defeat of Denmark in the siege of Hamburg (1641-1643) showed Denmark's weakness again.

course

The war began on December 12, 1643 without a formal declaration of war with a surprise attack still in northern Germany located Swedish troops to the Danish parts of the country in Holstein . In January, Swedish troops under Lennart Torstensson's command finally conquered the entire Jutland peninsula . In February 1644, Swedish troops under Gustaf Horn's command also moved into Danish Skåne and captured Helsingborg and Landskrona , among others , while the fortresses in Malmö and Kristianstad (Danish: Christiansstad ) withstood the attackers. This partial war is also known as the horn war . On July 1, 1644, the Danish King Christian IV won the sea ​​battle on the Kolberger Heide in front of the Kiel Fjord , in which he lost an eye. His Imperial Admiral Jørgen Vind was fatally wounded. The Danish royal anthem Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast still refers to this event today .

On October 13 of the same year 1644, however, the Danish fleet lost a sea ​​battle at Fehmarn against a united Swedish - Dutch fleet .

On the Norwegian-Swedish border, the Danish governor in Norway , Hannibal Sehested , raised a peasant army and attacked Swedish troops from the then still Norwegian Jämtland (Norwegian: Jemtland ). The partial successes of Sehested could not achieve a decisive turning point in the war.

Peace treaty

The war ended in 1645 with the Peace of Brömsebro . Denmark-Norway had to cede the Baltic islands Gotland and Saaremaa (German and Swedish: Ösel ) and the Norwegian parts of Jämtland and Härjedalen to Sweden. Halland was mortgaged to Sweden for 30 years. Swedish ships were also exempted from the sound tariff on the Oresund .

literature

  • Stefanie Robl Matzen: The Swedish-Danish War 1643–45 . In: Handbook on North Elbe Military History. Armies and wars in Schleswig, Holstein, Lauenburg, Eutin and Lübeck 1623–1863 / 67 , ed. by Eva S. Fiebig and Jan Schlürmann , Husum 2010, pp. 289–308.

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