Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
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Would Westersjøn work. 🤔Vesterhavet is already on the west coast of Denmark.
Chapter 8: The Livonian War Part 1
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 8: The Livonian War Part 1
Chapter 8: The Livonian War Part 1
While Christian II was interested in overseas expansion, he obviously had interests that were closer to home. One of the reasons the Kalmar Union had been established in the first place was for Scandinavia to be a stronger competitor to the Hanseatic League when it came to trade in the North and Baltic Seas. In particular, the union wanted to dominate the Baltic Sea, to make it a Nordic Mare Nostrum. The 1520s had been spent either during or shortly after the Swedish revolt, the 1530s had been spent stabilizing the union and the 1540s were the period of the reformation. By the 1550s, however, the appetite for expansion had come back, and the now elderly Christian II was looking for a conquest to cap off his four decade plus reign. He considered expansion into the HRE, but that was ruled out for the time being. A campaign against the Duchy of Prussia was also considered, but that too was turned down. Instead, attention was turned towards Livonia, or Terra Mariana, the area on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. This region had been under the control of the Teutonic Order, before separating and becoming the Livonian Confederation. At one time, though, the northern half of Livonia had been under the control of the Danes with the Duchy of Estonia. This had lasted from 1219 to 1346, but even though it’d been two centuries since it had existed, Christian II still viewed it as a useful pretext for a campaign into the region. The Protestant Reformation also provided one, as the region was still largely Catholic, notably with the Livonian Order. So, in order to reclaim historic Nordic territory and to spread the Protestant Reformation, a campaign to conquer Livonia began in 1552.
Using both Nordic troops and Protestant German mercenaries, the Nordic conquest of Livonia began by taking the islands of Øsel and Dagø as forward operating bases, both of which didn’t take long to seize due to the low populations (some of whom were ethnically Nordic) and being cut off from the mainland by the Nordic Baltic Fleet. After that, they moved on to the Livonian mainland, taking the town of Hapsal in March of 1553. From there, the Nordic army was split in two for two different objectives. One was to head northeast towards the city of Reval, while the other was to head south towards Riga.
The army headed towards Reval was able to march through the forests, bogs and farmsteads was easy enough, as the terrain wasn’t too different from Scandinavia and it was only 50-60 miles. Taking the city itself, though, was going to be more of a challenge. The city of Reval was surrounded by thick defensive walls, and the city’s inhabitants were obliged to defend their city from any invaders. Fortunately for the Nordic troops, they had some help from the Nordic navy, who conducted a bombardment of the city’s walls, damaging them to a sizable degree. With naval dominance and troops right at the gates of the city, the Nordic military decided to avoid direct confrontation and simply keep food and water supplies from getting into the city, thus starving it into submission. After a four month siege during the summer and fall of 1553, Reval officially surrendered in October of that year. With the largest city having been taken, the remainder of Estonia soon capitulated as well, and by the spring of 1554, all of Estonia was under Nordic control.
For the troops headed south from Hapsal to Riga, it was a longer march of around 160 miles. For the most part, the area between Hapsal and Riga was your typical mix of forest, agricultural land and marshes that was typical of Terra Mariana. There was one notable town on the route from Hapsal to Riga, though, that being the Hanseatic trading post of Pernau. Being an important town, Pernau had a castle, one that would need to be taken in order to progress on to Riga. Now, it’s not like Pernau was some grand megacity, it was a regional hub of a few thousand people or so, but you’d bet that the Livonian Order was going to defend it. A fresh, well armed and well supplied garrison had cooped up in the castle, ready to combat the Nordic invaders.
This was quite a complicated situation for the Nordic army. They could raid the castle, but that would be incredibly costly, with the Livonian Order holding the high ground in the fortress. They could bombard it, but cannons and cannonballs were incredibly expensive at the time. What appeared to be the best option was just to siege it, with the navy blocking off the port and the army blocking off supplies from overland trade routes. The Livonian defenders could hold out for as long as they could, but they would eventually have to raise the white flag. Due to the numerical superiority of the Nordic fleet and the cut off supply lines for the defenders, the fortress at Pernau surrendered after a three month siege. Now it was on to the real prize, Riga.
While Pernau was a minor regional trade center, Riga was one of the largest and most important cities on the Baltic Sea. Merchants from all across Northern Europe flocked to Riga to do business, so having control over the city would only boost the already significant Nordic presence in Baltic trade and weaken the Hanseatic League. From Pernau it was about a 100 mile march to Riga, with the only real obstacle along the way being Lemsal, a fortified town about 20 kilometers inland from the Baltic. After resupplying in the captured Hapsal, the Nordic army continued on to Lemsal, reaching it in 10 days. Upon their arrival, they met a fortified garrison like in Pernau, but unlike in Pernau, it was small enough to where they decided to take it on directly. With numerical superiority and an early cannon or two (I imagine the large mines in Bergslagen will help with that), the Nordic troops were able to take Lemsal quite handily. After this quick victory, it was finally time to take Riga. Knowing that the Nordics were coming, the Livonian Order put in a good deal of effort to protect the city, stockpiling significant amounts of supplies and preparing the local forces to fight to defend their city. The Livonians knew that the Nordic army was to the north of the city, and thus sent troops in that direction. The Kalmar Union’s military command realized this and decided to land a second invasion force in Livonia. Thus, in August of 1554, a second invasion force was landed near the town of Windau. Windau was an important fortified coastal town, so there had been some preparation on the part of the Livonians. With it being on the coast, though, the Nordic Navy could blockade the port and/or bombard the castle. Windau would be taken within a month, thus providing the Nordic military with a second foothold in Terra Mariana.
Now the Livonian Order was dealing with a two-front war, which would make it all the more difficult. Nordic troops were coming from both the North and the West, which would make the Livonians split their forces into two. Soon enough, the army coming from the North was approaching the outskirts of Riga, while the army coming from the west had taken the town of Talsen and was also approaching the Livonian Order’s premier city. By November of 1554, the two Nordic armies in Livonia met up and surrounded Riga, and when combined with a blockade from the Nordic navy, the city was basically surrounded. As mentioned previously, the city had been stockpiling both food and weapons, hoping to at least be able to make it through the winter. Thus, the 1554-55 Siege of Riga would begin…
I was going to do the Livonian War in one big update, but I decided that it was taking too long and that I had a good place to split it at, so this is a two parter now.
Nice chapter, the Kalmar Union is expanding and moving into Livonia, wonder were else they will look to conquer? Could we have a map of the Kingdom if possible? Would like to see what butterflies if possible have happened in Europe. Keep up the good work.
Great chapter I am looking forward for more. If you want you can make a family tree for Christian so that we can easily see how his family looks like. Family echo is a good website that you can use if you want.
I'm assuming they'd want to expand into Northern Germany, but that would involve expansion into the HRE. Granted, my only knowledge about the HRE comes from EU4, but in that game attacking a member state as a non-HRE country will bring you into a war with the emperor. I doubt that's how it worked in real life, but attacking HRE member states would likely piss off Austria. They do already have a foothold in the HRE via the County of Oldenburg, though, and Sweden expanded into Pomerania IOTL, so I find some sort of Nordic expansion into Northern Germany likely. Other than that, they could expand into Poland and more of Eastern Europe, or take Kola and Karelia, both of which were done or attemped by Sweden IOTL.
As for other European butterflies, I'll have to work on that. I'm particularly interested in whether the Dutch revolt still happens, as the Dutch had a huge impact on this time period and on the colonial game. I don't know all that much about early modern European geopolitics, though, so I'll have to work on it when I get there.
I would say that the best way to expand into the HRE is during the 30 years war. Sweden got some territory during the war but I am not sure if the union will get more land because of their more powerful army. Or if it is less likely because they don’t want more of their land gets into nordic hands. It will probably depend on how the war goes. Another way is if either the king or a noble inherite the territory.
When it comes to Russia it was both conflicts between Sweden and Russia when Sweden got territory in Karelia. The king of Denmark-Norway Frederick 2 demanded also that Russia would give them the Kola peninsula but they refused but it seemes that it didn’t evolve into a war. Maybe Russia feels threatened by the unions expansion and attack when the son of Christian takes power becouse they believe him weak and unable to defend against them. This would also give the soldiers and new king good experience before the 30 years war.
I do think Kalmar Union will do better then Sweden and succeed in taking all of Karelia and Kola in addition to maintain control of Estonia, Latvia and the St Petersburg region
Maybe there is an earlier Great Northern War of sort? The capture of Livonia and other territory near Russia causes war to break out? A Russian defeat to Scandinavia and other factors could maybe cause a more destabilizing Time of Troubles for Russia? Russia will be any interesting country to look at in the coming years.
From my very, very basic understanding of the 30 Years' War, it was due to a mix of both religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and the rivalry between the Habsburgs (I.E. Spain and Austria) and France. From a cursory look on Wikipedia, the Habsburgs ascended to the Spanish throne in 1516, four years before the POD, and the Reformation still happens here as well, so both the main factors are still around. However, with a nearly 100 year span between the POD and the beginning of the 30 Years' War, there are sure to be some butterflies. As for a Russo-Nordic War, it's bound to happen at some point. I think the Kalmar Union would win a war at this point in time, but the further we get along in the TL, the stronger Russia will get, if only due to sheer demographic weight. Then again, we may not get some sort of Peter The Great figure that turns Russia into a modernized state. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Russia's ascendancy is not a guarantee. Many factors led to it and many factors can prevent it. The PLC not declining would also likely prevent Russia's rise as PLC + Kalmar will block Russia's expansion westward.
Chapter 9: The Livonian War Part 2
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 9: The Livonian War Part 2
Chapter 9: The Livonian War Part 2
By late Autumn of 1554, the Nordic army had surrounded the Livonian capital of Riga. One of the most important trading cities on the Baltic, conquering and annexing Riga would greatly benefit the union’s economy and further solidify their hold over Baltic trade. The city had prepared well in advance, stockpiling food and military supplies. They hoped to at least stick it out through the winter, so that they could successfully fight back in the spring. The Kalmar Union had troops advancing from both the north and the west as well as a naval blockade of the city, which meant that the city was pretty much cut off from everything else. So long as they could keep the supplies out of Riga, they could very easily starve the city into submission. Thus, the siege began…
As 1554 passed into 1555, the siege began to take a toll on both the defenders and attackers. With the winters in Terra Mariana being quite chilly, hypothermia was a problem, as was hunger and disease. Due to being lower on the list for supplies, the civilian population of Riga was hit hard by these factors. With the corpses beginning to pile up and limited room to bury them, dead bodies were either piled into mass graves, burnt or thrown outside of the city walls, sometimes into the Duna River. With that said, combatants within the city walls were also beginning to suffer attrition, as supplies kept decreasing and disease spread. Still, the garrison within the city was holding up heading into late winter.
By the time we got towards the end of February, though, things were starting to get a bit shakier. The food supplies that had been stored the previous fall were just about running out, troops were losing morale and the cause was looking increasingly hopeless. While the Nordic army was also experiencing some hunger and cold, it wasn’t to nearly the same extent. Spring was getting closer, but it’d take until April for the average temperature to rise above freezing. They wouldn’t have to wait that long, though, as the Riga garrison officially ran out of food in late March. With this, they figured that the cause was hopeless, and thus the city of Riga officially surrendered on March 25th. With the capital gone, it didn’t take too long for the rest of Livonia to be conquered, and by the beginning of July, the Livonian Order officially capitulated to the Kalmar Union.
Now that the war was over, it was time to draft a peace treaty. The drafting of the treaty would take place in Visby, the largest city on the island of Gotland, as Livonia was currently too damaged by the war to hold any sort of peace conference. Considering that the Livonian Order had completely and totally lost the war, it was a given that the Kalmar Union was going to completely annex the order’s territories. The Livonian Order was split up into two separate entities, the Duchies of Estonia and Livonia. The existing nobility would be allowed to keep their land and titles, provided that they convert to Protestantism if they weren’t already Protestants. If not, their lands would be seized and distributed to Nordic Protestant nobles looking for new domains. Most of the existing nobility were Germans, thus making it easy to co-opt them into the Nordic structure, and Germans would maintain a strong presence in Terra Mariana. In order to quell the remaining Swedish dissatisfaction with the Kalmar Union, Christian II would put the Swedes in charge of the two duchies, although Danes would also have a presence in the region as well. Christian II would die shortly after the conquest of Terra Mariana, but this final accomplishment would cement his legacy as an important monarch. One of the main geopolitical goals of the Kalmar Union, securing the eastern Baltic region, was now accomplished, so they could now focus on other things. I’ll do another colonial update before I get back to more European affairs, hopefully the update will be out in early August. Until then, take care everyone, I’ll see you next time.
The Danish Oldenburgs only had the title of their County of origin, Oldenburg itself is (unless that's changed) is ruled by Christian's second cousins, including the otl instigator of the Count's feud. But the union does still have imperial territory in the form of Holstein, albeit shared with Christian's first cousins (again unless something changed there as well). Danish Kings can always pull on the old title of "King of the Wends" if they need a justification to expand into Mecklenburg or Pomerania, although they otl practiced more of a "soft influence" strategy in the region, using marriages and economic means to keep the Dukes there on their good side. Since Christian here is clearly leading the union in a more expansionist direction it's probably likely he and his descendants will take a more direct approach to this though.
Anyone here who speaks Danish, Swedish or Norwegian? If so, could you help with place names. I'm trying my best using Google Translate, but they're probably not that good.