Gustav II Adolf was born on December 9, 1594, in Stockholm, Sweden. He died 1632, in Lutzen, near Leipzig. He was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, the son of Charles IX and Christina Holstein-Gottorp. He was often called “Snow King” and “The Lion of the North”.
His twenty-year reign is one of the most brilliant ages in the history of Sweden. Charles IX devoted a lot of care and work to educate Gustav and achieved what he wanted. Gustav was one of the most educated rulers of his time; spoke German, Dutch, French, Italian and Latin fluently; he understood both Russian and Polish. Gustav liked to study mathematics and history. He was also fond of fencing and horse riding. From the age of 11, Gustav participated in his father’s councils and received foreign ambassadors.
Governing Body
Gustavus Adolf inherited the throne from his father and inherited a hostile aristocracy and three wars with Denmark, Russia, and Poland. Gustav managed to sway the aristocracy to his side, bestowing many privileges. The king concluded the Danish (Kalmar) war in 1613. The Danes wished to retain the fortress of Elvsborg; Gustav purchased it.
Misunderstandings between Sweden and Russia arose under Charles IX. The Russo-Swedish war, which was intended to drive the Russians away from the Baltic Sea and put Swedish prince Karl Philip on the vacant Russian throne, began in 1611. A number of successes, such as the capture of Novgorod and other cities, were offset by the unfortunate siege of Tikhvin and an even more severe defeat during the siege of Pskov, led personally by Gustav II Adolf. The war ended in 1617 with the Stolbovo Peace, one of the provisions being the Swedes receiving Yam, Ivangorod, Koporye, Noteburg, and Keksholm.
At the end of the Russian war, Gustav’s attention was turned to Poland, which began a long dynastic struggle of pan-European importance (as the struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism). The Polish war was a prelude to the war with the Hapsburgs. Until 1618, the war was fought on Polish territory. In 1621, after a two-year truce, the Swedes took Riga (after which, on September 25, 1621, the city received the Privileges of Gustav II Adolf) and moved the war to Kurland. Gustav transformed the army and navy. Polish commander Stanislav Konetspolsky twice defeated Gustav Adolf, under Hammerstein (1627) and Tshtsyan (1629).
In 1626, the so-called Prussian War began. England, France and the Netherlands, intending to persuade Gustav to participate in the German war, offered their mediation to reconcile him with Poland. The latter was allied with Austria. At this time, Gustav began to actively build his naval fleet. On August 10, 1628, the VAZA galleon was launched – one of the largest and most expensive ships of that time. Incidentally, it sank in the harbor of Stockholm on its’ maiden voyage. In 1629, in the city of Altmark, near Danzig, a six-year truce between Poland and Sweden was established: Gustav retained Livonia, and in Prussia – the cities of Albing, Brownsburg, Pillau, and Memel. At the same time, Sweden lost all its acquisitions in Pomerania, surrendering it to the Poles.
Thirty Years’ War
In 1630, Gustavus Adolf entered the Thirty Years’ War. The reasons that prompted him to intervene in the all-European dispute were both political and religious. Noticing the desire of Ferdinand II to establish himself on the Baltic Sea and fearing that Ferdinand might achieve this, Sigmund III seized the Swedish throne. The victory of Catholics over Protestants undoubtedly threatened Protestant Sweden. “For secondary reasons that were political, and the Emperor’s interception of letters by Gustav Adolf, belittling his title, the Swedes were denied entrance to the Lubeck Congress, and assistance to Poland was withdrawn. Political and religious issues were closely connected and impossible to separate.
In Germany, Gustav fought against the best generals of the time. Gustav Adolf was killed in the Battle of Lutzen on November 6, 1632.
Family and Life
The king was married to Maria Eleanor of Brandenburg and had two daughters: Christina Augusta (1623-1624) and Christina (1626-1689), who after the death of her father, took the Swedish throne at the age of six. In addition, Gustav had an illegitimate son from the Dutch Margaret Slots, Gustav Gustavson of Vasa. The men’s line of Vasa house died out in 1754 after his grandson, and female line, died out in 1872.
Despite his short life, Gustav Adolf left a deep impression on the history of military art as an exceptional organizer the army’ commander. He proved himself to be an expert tactician and became a great military reformer, changing the existing methods of warfare. His reign was an important page in the history of the Swedes. During the Thirty Years’ War, the king strengthened Sweden’s influence on the rest of Europe, gave the country a new impetus to progress. He raised the Swedish national spirit and placed Sweden on a par with the leading powers.
The king simplified the tax code, established trade relations with Russia, the Netherlands, Spain, and France, and established schools. In the last year of his life, Gustav founded a University. The king also left a number of works of historical content and numerous letters after his death. He remains one of the greatest rulers of that time.
Sources:
- Hollenberg . Svea Rikes Historia under K. Gustav-Adolf den stores regering
- Cronholm . Sveriges Historia under Gustav II Adolf regering
- Droysen . Gustav-Adolf. – 1869-1870.
- Forsten GV Politics of Sweden in troubled times
- Gohdes, CB (Conrad Bruno) , Under the banners of the snow king; a story of the Lutheran hero, Gustavus Adolphus. Imprint 1915