Sweden in the Seventeenth Century

This is a survey of the point in history when Sweden rose to preeminence in Europe. Drawing on the latest literature in Swedish and other languages, Paul Lockhart examines the institutions of the Swedish 'empire' at the height of its influence, while focusing on the key historical questions: why did this impoverished state become a great power, how was it able to maintain this status, and what brought about its eventual decline?

Paul Lockhart is Associate Professor of History, Wright State University, Ohio.

Map of the Swedish Empire in the Seventeenth Century

ix

The Vasa and Pfalz-Zweibrücken Dynasties

x

Preface

xi

A Brief Chronology

xiv

Chapter 1: The Sixteenth-Century Inheritance

1

(21)

Resources, Demographics, and the Structure of Society

3

(2)

The Creation of the Vasa State

5

(8)

Geopolitics and War

13

(4)

The Vasa State in 1611

17

(5)

Chapter 2: The Reign of Gustav II Adolf

22

(16)

The Reconciliation: King, Nobility, and Nation

23

(3)

Constitutional and Administrative Reform

26

(6)

Military Reform

32

(6)

Chapter 3: Sweden on the World Stage: The Foreign Policy of Gustav II Adolf

38

(18)

Foreign Policy Goals

39

(2)

The Eastern Threats: Russia and Poland

41

(3)

The Background to the German War

44

(5)

The 'Lion of the North'

49

(4)

An Uncertain Goal

53

(3)

Chapter 4: The Interregnum and Queen Christina, 1632-54

56

(17)

Domestic Politics: The Regency and the 'Form of Government'

57

(3)

Changing Goals in Germany

60

(4)

Brömsebro and Westphalia

64

(3)

Christina: The Costs of War...and of Faith

67

(6)

Chapter 5: The Swedish 'Power State': Society, Culture, and the Burden of War

73

(18)

Paying for War: Economic Development and War Finance

74

(5)

Swedish Society at War

79

(6)

Cultural Life in the Stormaktstid

85

(6)

Chapter 6: Proto-absolutism or 'Military Monarchy'? The Brief Reign of Karl X Gustav, 1654-59

91

(15)

The Polish War

93

(4)

The Danish War, 1657-60

97

(4)

Karl X Gustav and the Swedish Constitution

101

(5)

Chapter 7: The Swedish Empire in Louis XIV's Europe, 1660-79

106

(17)

The Burden of Empire

107

(5)

Aristocratic Reaction: The Regency of Karl XI

112

(5)

The Early Reign of Karl XI: Constitutional Debates and War

117

(6)

Chapter 8: The Swedish 'Absolutist' State, 1679-97

123

(22)

The Imposition of Absolutism

124

(6)

The Absolute Monarchy at Work

130

(6)

Armed Neutrality

136

(3)

Absolutism and Swedish Society

139

(6)

Chapter 9: Epilogue

145

(8)

The Violent Death of an Empire

145

(2)

Analysis of Decline

147

(6)

Notes

153

(16)

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Sweden in the Seventeenth Century

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials