The Nordic Wars: Siege of Copenhagen

Hello. I am Vavva, and this will be an interruption in the normal plan, as Winter War pt. II will be delayed. Instead, I thought of starting up on a new collection where I'll find some of my favourite stories: The trouble of the Nordic through the 17th, 18t and 19th century.

The first part will be about the siege and charge of Copenhagen during the winter of 1658.

Denmark and Sweden of course were the main parts of the conflict, as another meaningless war in Scandinavia broke out by Sweden declaring war (Denmark and Sweden has the doubtful record of being the nations fighting the most wars through history, about 50(!)) in 1658. This maybe was one of the most meaningful, though, as the Swedish king Gustav saw an opportunity to conquer his rival through 150 years: Denmark and its king Frederik III, then controlling Scania (Skåne in Danish and Swedish, the southernmost tip of the Swedish peninsula), Norway and parts of Germany.

A strategic blow to the most vulnerable part would immediately end this kingdom once and for all, and the Swedish king knew where to start: Jutland ( Jylland in Danish, the main part of Denmark). As Scania bordered to Sweden itself, the Danish  main army was lined up there. The Swedish army, however, was in Poland on a less fortunate campaign the Swedish king wanted to bail from. This was a golden opportunity, to strike the Danish where the Swedes were the least expected. The Swedish king and army met almost no resistance in Denmark, as they also were lucky on weather.

The Danish sounds (known as "bælts") froze very rarely, and the greatest hadn't in over a hundred years when they all suddenly did in the winter of 1658. The Swedish army could almost walk the Danish straits and sounds straight down, both due to lack of manned forts and ice over the moats and trenches of the manned Danish forts. As the Danish capital Copenhagen is situated on an island, Zealand (Sjælland in Danish), the Swedish army had to walk down the Great Belt (Storebælt in Danish) in order to reach it, which he did. In the meantime, the Danish king Frederik stood in Scania, unable to cross the icy sound of Øresund to reach his capital, as the ice wasn't safe here. Instead, he went for diplomacy and sent representatives to Roskilde outside Copenhagen to negotiate and offered almost half the Danish kingdom in order of peace. The Swedes wanted it all, however, and refused the offer. They planned the siege and charge of Copenhagen. And it all went down to this, would the Danish monarchy, stable for 800 years, die here? Or would Denmark prevail?

The Swedish army lined up in a giant camp at the size of Copenhagen itself, and promised three straight days of looting and raping to the soldiers if Copenhagen fell. This obviously inspired the Copenhageners to defend their homes and wives, and almost all able citizens entrenched themselves. It was a harsh battle, but turned out to be a crushing Danish victory!

The Swedish attack massively failed due to bad luck, a lot of unfortunate circumstances such as too short moat bridges, a burning ship providing sight to the Danes, and many other happenings which led to over 1000 fallen Swedes and a broken army. Less than 20 Copenhageners fell. The Danish government accepted a slightly milder variety of the treaty of Roskilde, which still counts it all as a loss, but a survival for the Danish nation.

Vavva