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CASTLE ON THE BALTIC​
A Hansa Survives TL​
By Wiiguy


Professor Janis Kettner said:
"No nation, no republic, no kingdom, no army, and no navy has had a richer, more insane, more double-sided, and more complex history than the Hanse."

Author's Note: Alright, I'm back to make a fool of myself on the before-and-after 1900 forums. If I get anything wrong, do not hesitate to correct it. I will try to be less of a dick about criticism as I was during my ill-fated Affair of States TL. I'm not very good with PODs, so if anyone spots something wrong, help me correct it.

Chapter I:
Decades of Peril
1566-1591

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By the 1560s, the Hanseatic League was on the verge of collapse. Denmark had taken back its trade network, and the Hanse had been ejected from Russian ports. The once-great trade union had faded into the background of the Baltic, its ports in disrepair and its ships rotting. Meanwhile, bigger and better powers began to seize trade routes and territory for themselves. The rising Swedish Empire was embroiled in the Northern Seven Years War against Denmark, a war that King Frederick II of the Danes did not seem to be able to win. And then everything changed. In 1563, a large contingent of Swedish ships was patrolling between the coasts of Gotland and Öland.


Herluf Trolle

The battered Danish navy, commanded by national hero and admiral Herluf Trolle, caught them by surprise. Trolle's descision to attack, rather than wait for the Swedish, probably influenced the end of the battle. The Swedish navy, caught completely off guard by the sudden ambush, was unable to maneuver correctly in the close-quarters battle. Trolle's ships adopted a bold strategy: Smaller Danish ships sailed right behind the big, slow Swedish vessels, such as the Makalös, and drove them towards the big guns of Trolle's main task force. In the resulting carnage, two Swedish ships were sunk and three were captured. Six hundred men died on both sides. The Swedish navy was scattered, its survivors easy prey for the now-dominating Danish navy. Thus ended the Battle of Gotland-Öland.


The Battle of Gotland-Öland

Invigorated by this crushing victory, Frederick II used Denmark's newfound control over the Baltic to launch a daring invasion of the Swedish mainland in 1565. Most of both the Danish and Swedish armies were fighting in Norway, but Frederick used Trolle's victorious fleet to ferry him and a hastily-assembled 10,000-strong invasion force across the strait to Sweden. By the time the news of Frederick's invasion reached Stockholm, it was too late. The 3,000-man city garrison was overwhelmed by the Danish invaders at the Battle of Gota Landsvag.



The Swedish defenders were arrayed in lines at the village of Gota Landsvag, with their archers and cannon in the rear. When the Danish pikemen advanced, the archers funneled them into a compact formation with their arrows. Then, once they were bunched up, the Swedish cannons opened up, tearing bloody swaths through the Danish lines. This went on for an hour, until the Swedish commander, Klas Horn, ordered an assault on the attackers. The Swedish cavalry and infantry charged forward, pushing the Danes back in a fierce melee. Then, King Frederick's real plan was revealed: The fire from archers, muskets, and cannons abruptly ended as three dozen Danish curiassiers cut the gun crews and bowmen to ribbons in a surprise cavalry charge. The cavalry turned and charged the unguarded rear of the Swedish pikemen. Before long, the Swedes broke and ran, missing nearly a quarter of their men. Frederick entered Stockholm triumphantly. The Battle of Gota Landsvag cost the lives of 1500 men on both sides.


The Battle of Gota Landsvaag

The Swedish king, Eric XIV, was fighting Danish forces in Norway when he learned of Stockholm's fall two weeks later. Eric famously went into hysterics, swearing revenge and ordering the death of Frederick II at any cost. However, the Swedish were unable to dislodge the Danish army from the Swedish capital, and another two thousand Danish troops had landed to reinforce Eric's army. After six months of siege with no result in sight, Eric finally accepted Frederick's peace terms. The Northern Seven Years War ended in a crushing Swedish defeat. Sweden had to give up all claims on Norway and it had to surrender most of its fleet to the Danish navy.


Eric XIV

The member states of the Hansa looked on in a mixture of relief and apprehension. A major threat to the League's safety had been crippled, if not subjugated and toothless. However, Denmark had replaced Sweden as the most powerful kingdom on the Baltic, and the object of the Hansa's fears. And this time, there was no body of water to separate Denmark from the Hansa.


Heinrich Sudermann

In September of 1590, these fears came true as Danish forces under King Christian IV crossed the border into the long-contested Duchy of Holstein. The rest of the Hanseatic League sent supplies and money, but the Syndic of the League, Heinrich Sudermann, held a strict policy of neutrality. The trade output of the League dropped with the invasion, but it was not stifled, and that was what mattered to the Hanse's bigwigs.


Adolph I of Holstein

1591 opened with Adolph, the Duke of Holstein, putting up bitter resistance, but slowly falling back on all fronts. None of the other Hansa member states leaped to the aid of the struggling duchy. None of them intended to as they all thought Holstein was doomed. Nobody knew how wrong they would be.
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