Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Michael Barnhart | Roxborough, Ian | Gary Marker | Alix Cooper | Daniel Levy.
Date
2010-05-01
Keywords
History, European -- History, Military -- Scandinavian Studies | Charles X Gustav, Denmark, Poland, Second Northern War, Sweden
Department
Department of History
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/70994
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
In 1655 Sweden was the premier military power in northern Europe. When Sweden invaded Poland, in June 1655, it went to war with an army which reflected not only the state's military and cultural strengths but also its fiscal weaknesses. During 1655 the Swedes won great successes in Poland and captured most of the country. But a series of military decisions transformed the Swedish army from a concentrated, combined-arms force into a mobile but widely dispersed force. Fiscal necessities also drove acts of violence which quickly angered the Polish populace. This sparked a religiously fueled partisan insurgency against Swedish occupation. This insurgency created a stalemate in the war. This stalemate allowed foreign powers, including Austria, Muscovy and Denmark, to intervene in the Swedish-Polish war to advance their own interests. This dissertation examines the dangers of a strong military power trying to occupy a culturally diverse and exotic state without adequate resources to obtain all of the military and political goals of the war.
Recommended Citation
Gennari, Christopher, "Invasions, Insurgency and Interventions: Sweden's Wars in Poland, Prussia and Denmark 1654-1658" (2010). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 202.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/202