4.30 Europe: a.d. 1601 to 1700  (Page 24/30)

At the Treaty of Broemsebra in 1645 Denmark lost the island of Gotland as well as Scania, across the sound. Between 1650 and 1660 Denmark lost more than 20% of its population from disease and starvation. (Ref. 222 ) The wars were continued later in the century when Sweden also tried to take control of Norway. At one point Sweden hired Scots mercenaries to attack the Norwegians, but the peasants rallied and killed most of them. All in all, as Sweden's star rose over Europe, Denmark's began to fall. (Continued on page 981)

Finland

Although a part of Sweden, the Finns maintained their own language and way of life. At the beginning of this 17th century Finland was made a Grand Duchy of Sweden and given orders of nobility. Their land served as a battle ground for the later Swedish-Russian wars for control of the Baltic. After a temporary peace with Russia in 1617, Gustavus Adolphus inaugurated the first Finnish Diet, with representatives from the new nobility, the clergy, the town dwellers (burghers) and the peasants. Peasant sailors were small traders, operating between Helsinki and Revel, across -the gulf. (Ref. 292 ) The University of Turko was founded in this period. Illustrating that the bad side of Europe was the East, however, was the Finnish famine of 1696-7 when perhaps 1/3 of the population died. That was said to be one of the most terrible events of European history. (Ref. 260 ) (Continue on page 982)

Eastern europe

While peasants of western Europe were freeing themselves gradually from serfdom (with the exception of Spain), feudal power grew and spread in eastern Europe, until the peasant state became almost slavery. Free peasants survived only in newly conquered lands where they substituted military service for rent. But eastern Europe's wheat and rye was in great demand in western Europe, some of ten going even to Portugal, Spain and Italy. (Continue on page 983)

Southern baltic area

As the century unfolded the great struggle for the Baltic continued with Sweden, Russia, Poland, Brandenburg and Denmark all being eager participants. From the Neva Delta southwest, the states lining the Baltic south shore were Ingria (Ingermanland), Estonia, Duchy of Courland, Lithuania, Prussia, Pomerania, Polish corridor to Danzig and Brandenburg. Livonia was now under Polish control, but the Livonian nobility were descendants of the Teutonic Knights and they were not at all happy with the Polish imposed Catholicism, so that late in the century (1660) they had no difficulty becoming aligned with Luthern Sweden. But Livonia, like all the southern Baltic countries, experienced almost a hundred years of being overrun by various armies, with shif ting borders with every treaty. Johann Reinhold von Patkul, of old Livonian nobility - a cultured, experienced military officer spoke to Charles XI of Sweden about his "reduction" policy (the policy of returning nobles’ lands to the crown of Sweden, as mentioned under SWEDEN, above), as Livonia had supposedly been guaranteed against such, but he not only got no relief but was later sought by Swedish officers for arrest. He eluded them and helped a little later to form the alliance which challenged Sweden in the Great Northern War. Thus, in the end when Sweden controlled almost all, the other concerned powers had already entered into an alliance to dismember Sweden by war. We shall have a special feature section on this Great Northern War which actually began in 1700, at the end of this section on Eastern Europe.