Northern War of 1655–1660: Difference between revisions

| conflict = Second Northern War

| image = Second Northern War.jpg

| image_size = 300

| place = [[Denmark–Norway]], [[Swedish Empire]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[New Sweden]] and [[New Netherland]].

| territory = * Denmark–Norway cedes [[Scania]], [[Halland]], [[Blekinge]], [[Bohuslän]] and [[Ven (Sweden)|Ven]] to Sweden.

* Poland–Lithuania grants the [[Duchy of Prussia]] sovereign status.

* Dutch Republic acquires [[New Sweden]].

| result = ''See {{slink||Peace}}''

| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|1586}} [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]<br>{{flagicon|Denmark-Norway}} [[Denmark–Norway]] (from 1657)<br>{{flag|Habsburg Monarchy}}<br>{{flagicon|Tsardom of Russia}} [[Tsardom of Russia]] (1656–58)<br>[[File:Gerae-tamga.svg|22px]] [[Crimean Khanate]]<br>{{flagicon|Brandenburg}} [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] (1655–56, 1657–60)<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Courland (state).svg}} [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia|Duchy of Courland]] (1656–58)<br>{{flag|Dutch Republic}}

| casualties1 = 70,000 Swedes died<ref>Claes-Göran Isacson, ''Karl X Gustavs Krig'' (2002) Lund, Historiska Media. p. 265. {{ISBN|91-89442-57-1}}</ref>{{efn|Mercenaries not included.}}

| casualties2 =

{{Campaignbox Dano-Swedish Wars}}

{{Campaignbox Second Northern War}}

 

In 1655, [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden]] invaded and occupied western Poland–Lithuania, the eastern half of which was [[Russo-Polish War (1654–67)|already occupied by Russia]]. The rapid Swedish advance became known in Poland as the [[Deluge (history)|Swedish Deluge]]. The [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] [[Union of Kėdainiai|became]] a [[Swedish Lithuania|Swedish protectorate]], the Polish–Lithuanian regular armies surrendered and the Polish king [[John II Casimir Vasa]] fled to the [[Habsburgs]]. [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg]] and [[Duchy of Prussia|Duke of Prussia]] initially supported the [[Prussian estates|estates]] in [[Royal Prussia]], but [[Treaty of Königsberg (1656)|allied with Sweden]] in return for receiving the Duchy of Prussia as a Swedish fief. Exploiting the hurt religious feelings of the [[Roman Catholic]] population under [[Protestantism|Protestant]] occupation and organizing Polish–Lithuanian military leaders in the [[Tyszowce Confederation]], John II Casimir Vasa managed to regain ground in 1656. Russia took advantage of the Swedish setback, [[Russo-Swedish War (1656–58)|declared war on Sweden]] and pushed into Lithuania and [[Swedish Livonia]].

In the [[Treaty of Labiau]] on 20 November, Charles X Gustav of Sweden granted Frederick William of Brandenburg full sovereignty in the Duchy of Prussia in return for a more active participation in the war.<ref name=Frost178/><ref name=Press403>Press (1991), p. 403</ref> In the [[Treaty of Radnot]] on 6 December, Charles X Gustav promised to accept [[George II Rákóczi]] of [[Transylvania]] as king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in return for his entrance into the war.<ref name=Frost178/> Rákóczi entered the war in January 1657,<ref name=Frost178/><ref name=Press403/> crossing into the commonwealth with a force of 25,000 Transylvanian-Wallachian-Moldavian men and 20,000 Cossacks who reinforced Kraków before they met with Charles X Gustav, who had led a Swedish-Brandenburgian army southwards. The following month saw the Swedish-Brandenburg-Transylvanian-Romanian-Cossack forces play cat and mouse with the Polish–Lithuanian forces, moving about all of the commonwealth without any major engagements, except the capture of [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]] by Charles X Gustav in May, and the capture of [[Warsaw]] by Rákóczi and [[Gustaf Otto Stenbock]] on 17 June.<ref name=Frost178/>

 

 

==Austro–Brandenburgian–Polish alliance, Danish campaigns in Sweden==

In 1659, the war was characterized by Swedish forces defending their strongholds on the southern Baltic coast against allied assaults. A combined force of 17,000 Austrians and 13,000 Brandenburgers<ref name=Frost182/> led by general Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches invaded [[Swedish Pomerania]], took and burned [[Gryfino|Greifenhagen]], took [[Wollin]] island and [[Dąbie (neighborhood of Szczecin)|Damm]], besieged [[Stettin]] and [[Greifswald]] without success, but took [[Demmin]] on 9 November. Counterattacks were mounted by general [[Müller von der Lühnen]], who lifted the siege laid on Greifswald by the Brandenburgian prince-elector, and major general [[Paul Wirtz (Swedish Pomerania)|Paul Wirtz]], who from besieged Stettin managed to capture the Brandenburgian ammunition depot at Curau and took it to [[Stralsund]]. The Brandenburgians withdrew ravaging the countryside while retreating.<ref name=Buchholz273ff/>

 

 

In Royal Prussia (Eastern Pomerania in contemporary Poland), [[Toruń|Thorn]] had fallen already in December 1658, but [[Elbląg, Poland|Elbing]] and [[Marienwerder]] withstood. On 24 November, Sweden had to abandon [[Funen]] and [[Langeland]] after the defeat in the [[Battle of Nyborg]]. In January 1660, Sweden lost the [[Livonia]]n fortress [[Mitau]].<ref name=Frost182/>

On 15 September, while the bulk of the Dutch garrison was still in New Sweden, 500 [[Munsee]] occupied New Amsterdam in what in known as the [[Peach War]]. No bloodshed occurred until the Dutch opened fire as the Munsee were preparing to depart. In response the Munsee attacked [[Pavonia, New Netherland|Pavonia]] and [[Staten Island]]. Stuyvesant later reported 40 deaths and 100 captives taken. Many Dutch settlers from outlying farms took refuge at [[Fort Amsterdam]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ruttenber |first1=Edward Manning |title=The History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River |date=1872 |publisher=J. Munsell |location=Albany, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/ruttenberindians00ruttrich}}</ref><ref name="Trelease">{{cite book |last1=Trelease |first1=Allan W. |title=Indian Affairs in Colonial New York: The Seventeenth Century |date=1960 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/indianaffairsinc0000alle |url-access=registration}}</ref>

 

 

After renegotiating land rights and securing the release of the hostages, the Dutch resettled most of their abandoned territory and constructed several additional fortifications. Stuyvesant decreed that "like our neighbors of [[New England Colonies|New England]]," the New Netherland colonists must now "concentrate themselves... in the form of towns, villages and hamlets, so that they may be the more effectually protected" against future attacks.<ref>{{cite web | title = Old Bergen | publisher = GetNJ.com | url = http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/oldberg/chapter12.shtml | access-date = 2021-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland, 1638–1674|url=https://archive.org/details/lawsandordinanc00calgoog|year=1868|publisher=Weed, Parsons and Company, printers|pages=196–197, 206–207}}</ref> Notably, the [[Staten Island]] colony was not reoccupied for several years. Its [[patroon]] was [[Cornelis Melyn]], former chairman of the [[Eight Men|Council of Eight Men]] and a political rival of Stuyvesant; he had been imprisoned without trial earlier in the year. Melyn and his family defected to [[New Haven Colony|English New Haven]] soon after his release.

{{Authority control}}

 

[[Category:Northern Wars]]

[[Category:17th-century conflicts]]

[[Category:Wars involving the Holy Roman Empire]]

[[Category:Polish-Swedish war]]