Concerning this Swedish Chapter, here is what I have thus far:
Tsar Charles’ Reforms
Upon seizing the Russian crown in 1712, Tsar Charles had one problem; what to do with his new kingdom. He knew he would have to placate millions of new, and potentially hostile subject. Some in the Swedish court suggested Charles should abdicate his Tsardom and establish a puppet upon the Russian throne. Charles feared that would cause future problems and only increase the likelihood of rebellion. After years of war, the Swedes knew that it was better to keep the Russians under control, or else they might grow in power until they can overcome Sweden itself. Charles could not contemplate surrendering the Baltic Coast or even Finland to a revitalized Russia.
The first issue addressed was that of the millions of Russian and Ukrainian serfs. Sweden Proper, with its ancient Viking traditions, never had serfdom. Slavery was known for centuries, but never was the population tied to the land. In that, Charles decided to free the serfs of Russia. In doing this, he would also have to free those in the Baltic lands that have been under the Swedish crown for decades. The serfs would become simple wage-earning and rent-paying peasants. In order to work the estates, the lords must pay their workers, and if they do not pay enough, then the peasants can up and move. Charles would not be sad to see have the Russians move eastwards, across the Urals and into the uncharted lands of Siberia. Fortunately, that was not to be. The Russian peasants and their economic producing potential, remained on their lands. The peasants were also given their own plots, which they could farm tax-free. Any addition lands would be taxed, and the peasantry was subjected to money taxes.
The peasantry was divided on their new lord. On one hand, the Russian Orthodox Church continued to incite the population against the heretics. Religion was deeply important in the Russian peasant’s life, but a large percentage were rather indifferent if their Tsar was in Moscow, Petrograd or Stockholm. For them, 1711 and 1712 saw one despot replaced by another. Yes, he was a Protestant, but he also did not tax them as bad. Not only that, but the dread army levee was no longer in effect. For decades, a balance would be maintained between those who were for their new freedoms, those against the foreigners, and the majority simply disinterested in distant politics and more worried about working their own fields. This apathy was one of the contributing factors for Swedish control over Russia.
Russian nobility was systematically dispossessed. Borås were either killed or exiled to Siberia. In 1713, fifty Borås and their loyal men attempted to organize a rebellion against the Swedes. Their plot was discovered and the Swedish Army descended upon them, massacring the plotters. Others simply fled, most into Poland-Lithuania, though some entered Prussian, Austrian and even Ottoman service. Officers of the Swedish Army that conquered Russia were granted the Boya’s former estates. With the Russian nobles removed, there was little threat from a largely unmotivated and unarmed peasantry.
The Cossacks were made an autonomous part of the Swedish Army. Charles was very pleased with their service in the Great Northern War, and their loyalty. Cossacks, when not in active service, were granted their own Cossack colonies, largely tax-free. Generals within the Swedish Army were not as enthusiastic as their king. They viewed the Cossacks as unreliable, and justifiably so. Cossacks tend to attack only when they know they can win, and retreat when they can not. They lack the military discipline required in an 18th Century Army. The Cossacks, in turn, resented the attempt to impose said discipline upon them. For the entire century, tension would remain between Swedish Generals and Cossack Chiefs.
The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church was deposed by Charles and replaced by somebody he considered more reliable. The priesthood was purged of those with clear loyalties to the Romanovs and replaced with those who were more sympathetic to their new overlords. Charles left the Russians to their own religion, under the advice of his court. It was feared that converting them too soon after conquest might only spark off a fire that would take years and cost thousands of soldiers’ lives to extinguish.
The largest problem with holding on to the Russian Empire was not its population, but its size and infrastructure. Or rather lack there of. Communications across the Russian Empire was slow and not always reliable. Such poor communications forced Sweden to decentralize, to grant broader mandates for distant governors, especially those east of the Urals. Months could pass for messages to reach governors and reports to return to Stockholm. The Swedes made great use of Russia’s rivers, and the Arctic Coast, but winter effectively shut down communication. These areas would remain isolated until the advent of the Age of Steam, one hundred and fifty years in the future.
Swedish Orthodox Church
The Swedish church is an evolution of the Russian Orthodox Church following the Swedish seizure of the Russian crown. It is a mostly Orthodox Christian sect with a great deal of influence from Lutheranism. The birth of this branch of Orthodoxy has its beginnings in the later 18th Century when King Charles XV of Sweden converted to Orthodoxy, and changed Swedish laws to allow all of his subjects. The reasoning for his conversion was to bring the King closer to his Russian and Ukrainian subjects. It caused much stir amongst his native and Finnish subjects. With so many language barriers, the King sought a way to unite all his subjects, and religion was the only other option.
As more Swedes converted, more Lutheran teachings were being absorbed by the new church, and accepted by the Patriarch of Moscow. By 1870, the new Swedish Orthodox Church was proclaimed, with its religious center in Moscow. By the start of the 20th Century, it was declared Sweden’s state religion. Its conception and continued existence shows that though Sweden might control the Russian lands politically, Russian culture seeped back to Stockholm, gradually assimilating the ruling people.
Revolution of 1878
The vast Swedish Empire was nearly torn asunder in the 1870s. Revolutions were sweeping through the Slavic populations of both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. Both empires ruthlessly crushed the revolutions, imprisoning or exiling tens of thousands of revolutionaries. The same fervor swept across the border into Sweden’s Ukrainian and Russian provinces in 1878. At the time, Sweden had a strong king and relatively weak parliament which was dominated by the nobility of Sweden. These were of primarily Swedish decent. The nobles in Russia were descended from officers in the Army of Charles XII, which conquered the Russian Empire and took the crown of the Tsar for Sweden. Elections were limited to land owners. In this case it was not a solely Swedish affair, though ethnic Swedes did have a disproportional high percentage of the votes.
Some of the more radical revolutionaries sought independence of their own states and even reviving the Russian Empire. A majority of the dissatisfied desired more home rule and a new constitution. Only a few years earlier, the Swedish King, Charles XV had proclaimed the founding of the Swedish Orthodox Church, an attempt to unite his subjects, to bring unity to a diverse population. Swedish Nobles wished to quash the revolution, but the King, being a recently converted Orthodox, was sympathetic to the peasants. When petitioned, the King granted an audience to representatives from the east. On August 24, he opened and presided over a Constitutional Convention. For three months, delegates from Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and the Ukraine met in Stockholm to debate over a new government. The in-fighting within the convention was almost as fierce as any civil war.
Many of the finer points of the new Constitution borrowed from the established Constitutions from the United States and the United Provinces. The Constitution abolished all hereditary titles save that of the King. It further established universal manhood suffrage for those above the age of twenty-four. Most critical is that the unicameral elected parliament would have complete control over the budget and can no longer be dissolved arbitrarily by the King. Parliament must vote its own consent to be dissolved. It was not a perfect solution, but it did prevent Sweden from collapsing the way of the Austrians and Turks would in 1916.
Cossacks
The Cossacks became an essential part of the Swedish Army during the Great Northern War, when they sided with Charles XII against Tsar Peter. Upon defeating the Russians and taking the crown for his own, Charles ended serfdom and stripped the bouyars of their lands. The Cossacks were freed, and swore undying loyalty to the Swedish crown. They fought valiantly in the wars of the 18th Century, and against Napoleon in the early 19th Century. The horsemen were cut to pieces during the initial days of the Great War, when attempting to ride forth into German machine gunfire. The Cossacks were relegated to reserves, in the event that a breakthrough allowed cavalry to roll up the lines.
With the changing face of war during and following the Great War, the Cossacks gave up their warhorses for armored cars and tanks. The new Cossack Armored Cavalry fought the Fuhrer Germans and their allies during World War II. Many Ukrainian Cossacks were victims of the National Socialists. After such a massacre was discovered near the Volga, the Cossack General declared that they would retreat not a step further. In disregard to orders, the Cossacks blunted the German drive on the Volga. The General in question did not survive the battle to face disciplinary reactions. Four Cossack Armored Divisions were in the spearhead of the Swede’s counter-offensive, climaxing with the 1st Cossack Armor storming Berlin, and dismounted tankmen raising the Swedish flag over the Reichstag.
Today, the Cossacks still serve the Swedish Crown. All Cossack men volunteer for service, and serve in their respected Armor Division for at least one tour of duty. Horse riding is still popular in the towns on the steppe where the Cossacks live, but mechanized transportation has largely supplanted any applications. Whereas Cossacks could once ride by the time they could walk, they are now able to drive a car by the age of ten, and are adept mechanics. They know their cars and tanks as well as they know their horses. When not at war, the most skilled Cossacks participate in various races around the world, including the Jacksonville 500.
Cossack society is a warrior society. Their communities value bravery, honor and loyalty. One’s honor is so important in Cossack communities, the slightest insult can spark off a feud. They view not taking revenge as weakness, and this sometimes brings them into conflict with Swedish law. Cossacks also have problems when dealing with the more liberal elements of Swedish society, including pacifists. With so little war involving Sweden at the dawn of the 21st Century, there is serious question about keeping Cossack Armored Divisions. What is the point in a warrior society when there are no wars to fight?