Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Reign of Gustavus Adolphus, 1611–1632 - A. Introduction - B. The Early Wars
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Gustavus Adolphus 147
among his devoted supporters the sons and kinsmen
of the nobles his father had executed. There was no
longer any danger of civil war. Never before had there
been such unity and harmony in the kingdom. All
classes of society loved their young king and willingly
complied with his exhortation to labor and sacrifice for
their beloved country.
B. THE EARLY WARS
The Danish War. Wild border ’wars with fire and
sword, but no considerable battles, such was still the
warfare between the Scandinavian lands. The Danes
captured Kalmar and Elfsborg, the keys of the king-
dom. The interior of the country, between these two
strongholds, now lay defenseless. From Elfsborg in
the west and Kalmar in the east, Danish armies ad-
vanced into the interior. They planned to meet in the
heart of Sweden and there direct the death thrust
against the independence of the country.
Through dark and dreary forests the Danish armies
moved. When out of the forests the invading armies
reached a community where they expected to find food,
they found the houses burned and all food supplies de-
stroyed. This was the work of the Swedish people
themselves, who blocked the roads, built obstructions,
tore down bridges, and took every opportunity to worry
the enemy on all sides. Gustavus Adolphus had sum-
moned all his people to arms and by his example en-
couraged them to fight and sacrifice. A war of such
hardships was more than Christian’s soldiers could en-
dure. They threatened mutiny. The two Danish armies
were forced to retreat.
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