The Northern Lion - a Swedish AAR

[thebigboss-89]

It's been years since I last wrote AAR's, other things got in the way. However, times have changed an I have found myself once again making an AAR. I decided to take a country close to my heart, my own homeland, Sweden.

My goals are not to conquer the world or even to build a massive empire, my goals are more humble; Create a fully centralized nation with a great deal of open-mindfulness and personal freedom, while playing as realistically as possible.
I also like to give myself some hand made events to make things more interesting, these could be both positive and negative.

Anyway, this was just the pretext, in the next post the story will begin...

[thebigboss-89]

Part I 1410-1429

A busy man
Eric VII Gryf was a busy man, busy with wars, busy with nobles, busy with money. This, however, is what to expect when being king over not one but four nations. The king could handle his own Danes, the Norwegians too, but found himself constantly being to busy for the Swedish. Differences between the two would more often be resolved through fighting then through debate, in which the Swedish nobles often found their position ever more compromised. Thus anger for the Danish king was never far away, in fact, a series of meetings had been held outside of Stockholm, in the shadows, these meetings were to find a way to overthrow the Danish monarch and declare independence. Though these meetings were nothing new in Sweden the gathering in 1410 would eventually prove vital in Sweden's restoration, all under the nose of Eric VII Gryf. Oh, how little the busy man knows...

An economy gone missing
Sweden's economy in 1410 was, to put it lightly, terrible.
The few coins and wares that managed to slip through the fingers of nobles and crooked bailiffs were mostly spent on making the province of Österbotten sustain for itself since Swedish influence over the region was still not completely solidified.

The first steps towards a greater economy was taken by centralizing the state further.

And even though some nobles cried out in despair over decreased influence the centralization policy held. Another important step was taken a few years later when the talented merchant Ludvig Dufwa offered his services, he immediately suggested that Sweden should embrace a more qualified merchant force instead of the low-cost merchants that were the standard before him.

He even managed to convince some of the more influential nobles to sponsor trading missions to the very lucrative markets in Lubeck, with great success.

Narrow-minded nobles
The Swedish nobles had many things to fear, most of which was in some way related to the Danish king. So when suggestions of reform came about, most of them became conservative. Especially when the reform could have an effect on their coin purses. Several land reforms were enacted in, and around, Stockholm to the great disappointment of land owners. This led some nobles to lower their high moral standards, and it soon came to attention that a large portion of the country's noblemen had one to many fingers involved in shady economic affairs leading the state to face severe consequences.

A slightly longer leash
The secret meetings held by nobles had started producing results; trade flowed with more ease and taxation of farmers close to the Danish border had, due to well placed bribes, ended up in Swedish hands for once. But the most significant event was when Swedish fur traders, without the intervention of Denmark, could sign exclusive trade rights with Hansa traders. It was not independence, but it was a step in the right direction.

[blsteen]

Oooh, unleash the power of the Swede...all over the Danes!

[Dafool]

I very much like the style and goals. I'll be reading.

[RGB]

I like the map. Very clean and to the point, nice borders, good texture.

Sweden as a trading power is certainly interesting, as well.

[thebigboss-89]

blsteen: hehe alot of power shall be unleashed, in one way or another.

Dafool: Thanks, I appreciate it. I like your AAR's.

RGB: Well thank you, I'm going to try and produce a special map for each update. Your Russia AAR is quite impressive.

[dinofs]

As a Dane, I cannot in good conscience condone the goals of this AAR.

But I will follow anyways.

[Colonel Bran]

Nice a Swedish Aar.

Just one thing. Isn't it the swedish tiger instead of a lion?

[thebigboss-89]

dinofs: thanks, I won't hurt Denmark so much... atleast not right now

Colonel Bran: thanks, Swedish Tiger was used during the 2nd world war as part of a national drive in order to keep citizens from talking to the potential enemy. ('Tiger' means both tiger and "is silent" in swedish so it's a play on words.)

Think I'll post an update soon.

[CatKnight]

Like others have said: Nice goals, and pretty map. Good luck!

[thebigboss-89]

Part II 1429-1436

New places to call "home"
Making the province of Österbotten sustain itself had been a long and expensive undertaking, hundreds of ducats had been spent on expeditions and development aid for settlers. All this seemed to vanish when in 1427 the population had grown large enough to maintain a profitable fur trade, which in turn could be taxed. Stories of thrilling adventures in Österbotten had spread like wildfire to all the major cities throughout Sweden. This resulted in a more positive attitude towards colonization of the northern parts of the land, among both nobles, who saw a potential extra income and national glory, and peasants, who often saw Österbotten as a place were they could start better lives, or at least fantasize about it.

Attention soon shifted from east to west, stories of gold, jewels and the slightly more realistic fur trade made the vast area known as Lappland seem very attractive for would-be settlers. Due to Sweden's restricted situation, still being officialy under Denmark's rule, this was an excellent time to expand the borders further.

Expeditions to clear land and negotiate with the natives were taken along the major rivers running through Lappland, especially River Ume and Lule.

It was possible to claim ownership over the region as early as 1431 when the first trade posts were established deep inland along the Lule River. The colonies continually grew over the years, much due to friendly cooperation with the indigenous Sami people, who often welcomed settlers since it sometimes created added incomes because of the ever increasing fur trade.

The Hansa war, part one
Lubeck was, in the 14th century, the wealthiest market in the world. And it was here that the Hansa had their main kontors. Many nations and individuals profited from the trade that the Hansa made possible, and Sweden with its interest in trade was no exception. Taxation of fur and iron trade had been a significant part of the Swedish revenue for quite some time, and if anything were to disrupt this trade Sweden would be badly hurt.

At the same time as a group of settlers leave for Lappland from Stockholm news reaches appointed officials that the danish king has declared war on the city of Lubeck, and thereby the Hansa and all its allies. The guards are summoned to handle the Turmoil that breaks out among the merchant families and in the German quarters, the grand plans of trade has just gotten compromised...

Norwegian nobles send their troops without haste and in small quantities, it seems like the Swedes are not the only ones disapproving this war. The Danes are left to fend for themselves, since Swedish troops are laying low, it is in these harsh times that one's true loyalty appears.

King Eric VII Gryf is struck by disaster when Denmark looses its main army close to Vorpommern after being routed by Austrian forces, now its only defence lays with the fleet which, to most peoples great surprise, is defeated some distance outside of the city Kiel. The road to Copenhagen, and Sweden, now lay open to the German armies!

[Dafool]

Nice. Once again the map is very cool looking. I'm not sure if this war is a good or a bad thing. A weakened Denmark is probably good, but hopefully they don't lose any or much territory.

[dinofs]

Why does Denmark always feel the need to declare war on HRE minors without a CB?

[RGB]

Pretty cool cropping on the Lappland map and I like the overlaying of the shades of blue.

I hear you regarding "gold, jewels and the more realistic fur trade" - spot on.

Re: Denmark and Hansa Wars - Denmark is just never as powerful as it should be vis a vis German minors.

[Auray]

Great AAR. I especially like that map in the first post!

[Najs]

You might want to consider lending the Danes a hand, otherwise they might lose provinces that really should have been yours to take.

Who managed to sink their fleet, anyway?

[wolfcity]

I agree the computer denmark is an idiot the only timess I attack the empire if im small (and not france or something like that) is when the emporor is first elected so he doesn't have a big army

[Wolfhashat]

Was it Hansa perhaps? And what do you mean outside Koln?

[thebigboss-89]

Wolfhashat: Sorry, not Köln. I meant to say Kiel. Both are german cities, however kiel is the only one along the coast of the baltic I've corrected the error

[Zitanier]

Seems promising.