Chapter 29 – The League Shattered (1618)
Gray - Non-member Justifier states
After taking control of the League of Darmstadt from the Netherlands in 1596, Sweden began to push an aggressive policy at League Councils, calling for the seizure of “border territories” to secure the frontiers of Justification. It also began to disparage non-member Justifier kingdoms, in particular its long-time rival, Denmark. The Netherlands headed the opposition, arguing against attacks on fellow brothers of the faith, regardless of their political orientation. With the third largest member Hesse siding more and more with Sweden, though, the Dutch found themselves increasingly in the minority. The increasing friction between the Dutch Evangelical Church and the Swedish Thomists only exacerbated the matter.
In 1506 and 1512, the Swedish King Johan VI took the League to war with the Catholic principality of Götland, a strategic island in the center of the Baltic and a protectorate of Denmark. The Dutch States-General reluctantly supported each campaign, which Johan claimed were retaliation towards Götland-funded privateering in the Baltic. However, the bulk of the fighting was against Götland’s Justifier protector, Denmark, which resulted in the transfer of the Duchy of Norway to Swedish control. Norway was admitted to the League under Sweden’s sponsorship, and a Thomist Church was established in the Duchy.
While King Johan celebrated the campaigns as a triumph of Justification, the States-General were fed up with his belligerence. The constant fighting was disrupting Dutch trade in the Baltic, while Dutch merchants were meeting with more and more hostility from Swedish authorities in Danzig and Novgorod. In 1513 the United Provinces extended their own pledge of protection over both Götland and Denmark, and warned King Johan against further frivolous wars.
Filled with confidence from his string of victories, Johan brushed off the Netherlands threats as idle posturing. He believed that the Dutch were simply jealous of Sweden’s new prominence, with its vastly larger Swedo-Bohemian Army and new Baltic navy. When push came to shove, they would continue to follow Sweden’s lead, rather than destroy the League that they had so carefully built. He could not have been further from the truth.
The prosaically named Third Götland War started in March 1618, as Johan once again initiated hostilities with the Catholic island. Swedish and Bohemian forces began gathering to assault Copenhagen before Denmark even announced that it would aid its protectorate, while King Johan issued a general summons to the other League members.
When news arrived in s’ Hertogenbosch of the Swedes’ declaration of war, the States-General was thrown into an uproar. “The Swedish King thinks so little of his allies, we may as well be thralls toiling in his fields!” exclaimed one furious representative. The States-General responded by ejecting the startled Swedish embassy from the country, and seizing Swedish merchant vessels in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Rotterdam. Anti-Swedish riots erupted throughout the provinces, causing several deaths and the destruction of dozens of Swedish businesses. The Stadtholder it would provide immediate military assistance to Götland and Denmark, dispatching the Grand Fleet from Amsterdam and mobilizing both Commonwealth armies.
An irate King Johan demanded a Dutch apology, only to receive word that the Grand Navy had fired upon Swedish ships transferring troops across the Øresund to Copenhagen. He declared the Dutch to be enemies of the faith, and expelled them from the League. Hesse and Norway were quick to follow his lead, declaring war on the rebellious Netherlands.
However, the rest of the League was shocked by the sudden schism, and were much more hesitant to take sides. Lorraine and Cleves, both members of the Evangelical community, decided to provide the States-General with funding and diplomatic support, but did not go as far as join them in fighting the Swedish alliance. Alarmed by the storm gathering around itself, the city of Lunenburg announced its neutrality and quickly left the League, joining with the other independent Justifier communities of Cologne, Hainault and Brunswick. With battle lines drawn, the Dutch Grand Fleet entered the Baltic, while the Army of Brabant was rapidly diverted towards neighboring Hesse.
Stadtholder van Pallandt was determined to end the war quickly and decisively, before Sweden’s superior manpower could be brought to bear. He ordered the smaller Army of Flanders north to capture the Hessian port of Oldenburg, while he personally led the larger Army of Brabant east into the Landgraviate itself. This risky strategy would leave the Netherlands defenseless to land attack, but the Stadtholder trusted that the Coastal Fleet would prevent the Swedes from making a landing.
The Grand Navy traveled north, where it arrived in the Øresund just in time to prevent a Swedish assault on Copenhagen. The surprised Danish authorities were hesitant to trust their one-time Dutch adversaries, but were grateful for the much needed naval assistance. Leaving a squadron to block the straits, the rest of the fleet headed north, hunting for the Swedish Baltic Fleet. The Dutch force finally engaged the Swedish ships off the Åland Islands. King Johan had lavished money upon his state-of-the-art galleass’, but they were no match for the heavy Dutch men-o-war and galleons. After a short battle, all twenty Swedish ships lay at the bottom of the sea, while only a handful of the 26 Dutch ships had taken moderate damage.
The Army of Brabant entered the Landgraviate only to find it relatively deserted, with only a handful of garrison forces defending Darmstadt and Kassel. Landgrave Philipp was attempting to surprise the Dutch by marching north to Oldenburg, outflanking the Stadtholder and his larger army. Unfortunately, Ludwig didn’t account for the Army of Flanders, which was already besieging Oldenburg when he arrived in the province. Attempting to drive off the Dutch attackers, Philipp was killed in battle, causing his forces to retreat in disarray. The crushing defeat, coupled with Pallandt’s capture of the Hessian capital, forced the deceased Landgrave’s ministers to surrender unconditionally to the Dutch. The Dutch installed a new puppet Council over the territory, and confiscated the Landgrave’s extensive estates as reparations. The Stadtholder’s army continued onwards towards Bohemia, while the Army of Flanders marched along the coast to reinforce the Danes in Jylland.
King Johan had amassed his forces on the Swedish side of the Øresund in preparation for an invasion of Denmark, only to find the way blocked by the Grand Fleet. Until recently a Swedish Lake, the Baltic was now a Dutch Cauldron, with the Swedish fleet scattered and destroyed. His only option now was to march his army on the grueling nine month long trip around the sea, while his lieutenants in Wielkopolska and Bohemia raised additional armies to stem the Dutch advance. Johan’s Chief Magistrate of Bohemia, Bonifác Prazak, mustered eight regiments and sent them to block the Fulda Gap, the main route from Hesse into Saxon Bohemia.
The Army of Brabant marches through the Fulda Gap
The Army of Brabant ran into the Bohemian force as it left the top of the Gap, near the university town of Erfurt. The ill-equipped Bohemian infantry was unable to stand up to the Dutch artillery facing them, and the battle turned into a full fledged rout when the Stadtholder’s reiter cavalry charged their lines. All 8,000 Bohemians were killed or captured in the span of a few hours, allowing the Dutch army to fan out across Saxony unopposed.
As a final strike against the Swedes, Admiral Filip Daendels launched an audacious raid on Danzig to destroy the remnants of the Swedish fleet. Reminiscent of the landings at Alexandria and the Vistula undertaken by his great-grandfather in the Turkish War, Daendels shipped the Army of Flanders from Jylland to Pomerania, where it was able to land unopposed outside of Danzig. The army captured the town just long enough to destroy the Swedish merchant fleet docked there, before marching on Poznan to defeat the Polish knights assembling there. Once one of the foremost cavalry forces in western Europe, the Knights of Danzig now found themselves matched by the Flemish Lancers, newly trained in “gallop” tactics.
With the Baltic firmly under Dutch control and his Continental possessions open to attack, Johan was forced to surrender to the States-General. Sweden and Norway were expelled from the League, which was now just the Netherlands and its German dependencies. The Swedish King was also forced to pay indemnities for its hostile actions against fellow Justifiers in Denmark, driving Johan close to bankruptcy. It would take several years for Sweden to recover from its naval losses, by which time it had found a new ally – France. With the League destroyed in all but name, the Netherlands moved towards closer ties with Portugal, solidifying their dominance of American and Asian trade. Despite the fact that it had just lost its closest ally, the victorious Dutch were poised to enter a new Golden Age.
Next – A Golden Age