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Thread: The Slumbering Powers of the North - 19th Century Scandinavia pt. 1

  1. #1
    Pazu the Kitsune's Avatar Shopkeeper
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    Default The Slumbering Powers of the North - 19th Century Scandinavia pt. 1

    We are now in mid January, which for many of us here in the US is traditionally the coldest month of the year. This wasn't the case this year, but for most of the winters I can remember in my short lifetime it has been. In the northern parts of the US it can get very cold, often single digit temperatures, and we also get quite a bit of snow, which usually picks up in December, continues in January, then drops off in February before eventually turning to rain in March or April, and the snow on the ground is usually entirely melted by mid spring.

    I decided to make this post now because I felt that Scandinavia, which is known for its snow and cold temperatures, is a fitting topic to discuss this time of year. More specifically of course I wanted to make a post about the Scandinavian countries during the timeframe that our mod covers. This will essentially be a brief overview of the situation with each of the countries during this period in history. Enjoy.

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    The Slumbering Powers of the North - 19th Century Scandinavia pt. 1

    The Napoleonic Wars flung Europe into conflict, and they were unique in their scale, essentially involving the entirety of Europe, from Portugal to Russia and from Britain to the Ottoman Empire. They were indeed the first wars that involved all of Europe and if they spilled outside of Europe then they would have been true World Wars, a century before the ones we know of as such today. Scandinavian countries, which typically prefer neutrality, were involved as well. Denmark sided with Napoleonic France, and Sweden sided with Britain and (very surprisingly) Russia. The result of Napoleons defeat and Denmark's decision to side with him was that the victorious alliance forced Denmark to give their possession of Norway to Sweden. This eventually led to the creation Sweden-Norway, a joint monarchy similar to Austria-Hungary, with both nations having their own governments, but with the Swedish King being the monarch of both, and the Swedish government handling external and military affairs. 'Sweden-Norway' would last for less than 100 years, with Norway becoming fully independent in 1905.

    The Napoleonic Wars reaffirmed the Scandinavians general policy of neutrality. They remained neutral throughout World War I, and World War II saw the last battles ever fought on Scandinavian soil. Their disposition towards neutrality, however, did not mean that they were militarily inept, at any time from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the present. Scandinavian countries in the 19th century had some of the most modern militaries in Europe, and their Germanic character lended well to industrialization and subsequent arming of their troops with some very modern weapons.

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    Denmark

    In 1864, Denmark received a crushing defeat at the hands of Prussia in the Second Schleswig War. They lost the territories of Schleswig-Holstein, they navy was decimated, their ports bombed into disuse, and much of their army was either killed or captured by the Prussians. The Prussian army consistently defeated the Danes on the battlefield in large part due to their superior armament, which consisted of breech loading Dreyse needle rifles, against the Danish rifled muskets, which could not achieve anywhere near the rate of fire of the Dreyse rifles. The years following this defeat saw Denmark rebuilding its nation and military, and also modernizing its military. Denmark, along with Sweden-Norway, was among the first nations to adopt the Remington Rolling Block Rifle for military use, a powerful American breech loading rifle which ended up being used by countless armies and quasi-armies throughout the world. Both Denmark and Sweden-Norway adopted the rifle in 1867, almost immediately after its introduction the same year. By the 1870s they had become the standard rifle for all ranks of the Danish military. Denmark also had two 'overseas colonies' as it were, Iceland and Greenland, both of which were still being settled and explored in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The turn of the century saw Denmark produce two significant pieces of military technology. The first is the Krag-Jorgensen rifle, which was adopted by the United States as its first modern repeating bolt action rifle and was used by the US army against the Spanish in the Spanish American War. The second is the Madsen Light Machine Gun, which is the first machine gun ever produced that could be operated by a single user, and was used in both World War I and World War II.

    Sweden-Norway

    Sweden-Norway, and subsequently both Sweden and Norway, were able to enjoy a long period of peace after the Napoleonic Wars, which was not interrupted until World War II. Military wise, during this timeframe much of the activity involved guarding the border with Finland (which was still under the control of Russia), and also certain expeditions into the Arctic Circle, which were made possible during this timeframe due to an advance in cold climate technology. The turn of the century saw the first extensive exploration of the Arctic Circle and the area around the north pole. It is natural that many of the ones who did this exploration were Norweigans and Swedes. Like Denmark, the Sweden-Norway military was among the first to adopt the Remington Rolling Block Rifle, which would become one of the most widely used weapons of the era. A very significant piece of military technology made during this timeframe is the Bofors M1910 howitzer. This was the first artillery piece created by Bofors, a Swedish artillery manufacturer. Although Bofors artillery did not see much use in World War I, Bofors became a staple of World War II and produced some of the most modern howitzer-cannons used in that conflict, and they were used extensively by the Germans and others.

    Finland

    Finland during this timeframe was part of the Russian Empire. Finnish nationalism, however, was very much alive. Finland quite literally seized its independence during the Russian Revolution, and had to fight many wars afterwards to maintain it. The Finnish make excellent soldiers, and Imperial Russia fully realized this. During this time, Russia had multiple Finnish military units, and even had a Finnish regiment of Imperial Guards.

    "If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,"

    -First lines to the poem "If-" (by Rudyard Kipling)


  2. #2

    Default Re: The Slumbering Powers of the North - 19th Century Scandinavia pt. 1

    As usual, an excellent read

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