| Dano-Swedish War 1813-1814 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Napoleonic Wars, English Wars and the Dano-Swedish War | |||||||||
 Battle of Bornhöved by Per Krafft the Younger | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sweden Russian Empire HanoverSupported by:  United Kingdom |  Denmark-Norway | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Charles John Anders SkjöldebrandLudwig Wallmoden | Frederik VI Frederik of Hesse | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Russian–German Legion | Danish auxiliary corps | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 43,000-65,000 men[1] [2] | 10,200-12,500 men[3][4] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
The Dano-Swedish War (1813–1814) (Danish: Kampen om Norge)[5] was the last major conflict between Denmark and Sweden and would lead to the collapse of Denmark–Norway.
Background
In 1808, Denmark-Norway and Sweden fought a fought a war. The outcome was mostly inconclusive, due to Sweden being tied up in the east in a war with Russia, where they would lose Finland. In the peace negotiations, Russian diplomats pointed to Norway as being an “obvious territorial compensation” for Finland. Although Denmark and Russia had an alliance, it was becoming clearer that Denmark was more dependent of Russia than Russia was on Denmark.[6]When Sweden tried to invade Norway in 1809 , it was defeated, partly due to the harsh Norwegian weather. This time, it would try to conquer Norway through Denmark-Norway’s german duchies. The idea was to try to establish a good relationship with the Norwegians, as well as avoiding a Norwegian front. When Denmark found out about this, it sent theDanish crown prince to Norway. This was partially done to prepare him to take the throne, but also in part to secure the Norwegian's loyalty. [7]
Denmark-Norway was weakened by the Napoleonic Wars. they’d been at war with the United Kingdom for the last 6 years, and saw no other way than to strengthen its ties with Napoleon.[8]
Foreign support
Denmark was by 1812 still allies with Napoleon, and the Danish king Frederik VI had signed a secret defense agreement with France in a treaty at Fontainebleau, in which he put 10,000 soldiers at his disposal. The treaty was never honored, however.[6]
Sweden could count on support from both Russia and Britain. Sweden and Russia signed a treaty at Saint Petersburg and Sweden and England signed one at Stockholm both of them supported the Swedish claim to Norway.[9]
France had begun retreating from Russia in 1812, and Russia was now on a march through Central Europe and thus wanted allies. Russia proposed that Denmark join the coalition. In compensation for Norway, Denmark would get the Hanseatic cities, the German north coast, and the Netherlands. This was mostly done because Austria had sought new allies to become the leading power in the coalition. Denmark rejected all these to keep its territorial integrity.[9][10]
War
The Swedish Crown Prince Charles John had left Sweden and assembled an army of 50,000 troops to invade Denmark over the Elbe through Holstein, and with that conquer the last ally of Napoleon. He faced a smaller force commanded by Prince Frederik of Hesse, that had taken defensive positions near Oldeslog.[11]
Before the Swedish Crown prince came, the Russian general Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn engaged in a battle with the Danes at Boden. The battle pushed the Danes back to Tonnendorf.[12] Prince Frederik of Hesse moved his troops to Segeberg on the way to Kiel. On the 7. December, Danish troops under Prince Frederik of Hesse fought the Swedish troops under Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand. The battle ended inconclusively, and Danish troops managed to get to Kiel.[11]
While they were in Kiel, they got news about the North Army closing in on Rendsburg. Prince Frederik decided to meet the north army at Rendsburg, but on the way he met Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn at Sehested, with an army of about 10,000 men. The Danes won the Battle of Sehested and secured the way to Rendsburg. A ceasefire was signed Between the coalition and Denmark on the 15. December and lasted until the 29. December.[11]
Aftermath
It was first when Swedish troops reached Holstein that Frederik VI agreed to peace talks. Since the Swedish troops were in Kiel, then that was also where the peace negotiations would take place.[13]
In the negotiations between Denmark and Great Britain, it was decided that Denmark-Norway was to cede the island of Heligoland to the United Kingdom. In return, the United Kingdom would retreat from the occupied territories of Anholt, Danish India, and the Danish West Indies.[14] Denmark was also forced to join the Coalition and send an army of 10,000 troops to be under the command of Marshall Bernadotte, which they would receive a subsidy of 400,000 pounds for. [15]
In the negotiations between Denmark and Sweden, it was decided that Denmark would cede Norway (without its dependencies) to Sweden. In return, Denmark would gain Swedish Pomerania and Rügen – which they then traded with Prussia for the Duchy of Lauenburg in the Congress of Vienna – and an indemnity of 1 million rixdollars.[13]
References
Bibliography
- Barton, Sir D. Plunket (1925). Bernadotte: Prince and King 1810–1844. John Murray.
- Sørensen, Carl Theodor (1871). Kampen om Norge i årene 1813 og 1814. Bind 2: Et bidrag til de nordiske rigers krigshistorie (in Danish).
- Gravensten, Eva (2014). Det blinde skæbnespil [The blind fate game] (in Danish).