4/27/02 His. 467 Prof. IkaolewskiCentralization of Scandinavian States During the mid-17 th century, wars between the Scandinavian states caused several changes to take place within each Nordic country. These changes restructured the legislative authority of the Monarchial rulers. In several Scandinavian states, the Monarchy became very powerful and had the utmost authority on most governmental decisions.
Why did these Scandinavian nations change their rule to basically an absolute monarchy? What transpired throughout these wars to warrant such a change? The answer can be drawn from the different circumstances, which the war’s caused. Simply, the war’s caused each nation to reevaluate their government and their structure of power. To properly observe these legislative changes, which occurred throughout Scandinavia in the mid 1600’s, one must examine the happenings of the two most powerful Scandinavian nations; Denmark, and Sweden. The first nation, which will be examined, is Denmark and it lost semblance of democracy after the wars of the mid 17 th century.
In the coming years, the monarchy was strengthened and the burghers also achieved certain formal improvements. One the other hand, the nobility effectively lost the greater part of their political and economic privileges. These changes were due to a lengthy political crisis and an acute state of emergency, which resulted from the last of the Karl Gustav wars against Sweden in 1657-60. Initially, one must attribute Frederick III’s actions throughout the war, as a main catalyst for the shifting power toward the monarch. The king’s heroic conduct during the siege of Copenhagen in the winter of 1659 made him widely popular. During this vicious Swedish siege, Frederick III attained victory by soliciting a citizen reserve.
Frederick seized this manpower by granting privileges to the citizens of Copenhagen. Along with Frederick III’s heroic actions, the war’s caused many to distrust the nobility and the Rigsrad. This was due to the nobility’s monopoly over free landed property and their reluctance to accept new taxes. Finally, one must attribute Danish absolutism to the need for quick decisions.
The nation could no-longer wait for the approval of the majority and this meant enabling the monarch to have absolute authority. Eventually these events led the estates – the nobility only reluctantly – to create a hereditary monarchy. The new system meant that the king was no longer dependent on the Rigsrad, and he immediately used his new power to introduce absolutism, which was temporarily established on 10 January 1661 in the Hereditary Monarchy Act before being fully set out in Kongeloven (the King’s Law) of 1665, the basic law of Danish absolutism. The King of Sweden obtained almost absolute control of all the lands included in the Empire (Norway). The wars of the mid 17 th century affected Sweden in a unique way, and like Denmark, their notion of government was rearranged.
Throughout the wars, the Swedish nobility gained about two-thirds of Swedish and Finnish soil through the transfer of crown property and royal ground taxes. The nobles wanted to perpetuate this process and to introduce the same feudal structure that they had seen and used in their annexations in the Baltic area. The power of the nobility was checked by Charles XI (ruled 1672-97) who won respect for his courage in war and established absolutism beyond doubt or precedent by persuading the Riksdag to accept an extreme definition of his powers. To prevent the nobles from attaining great power, Charles XI, instituted Carolingian absolutism. This system, which remained in force throughout the 18 th century and far into the 19 th, made the crown less dependent on the Diet in matters of finance.
The income of public properties was recaptured from the nobility and it was permanently allotted to public servants, officers, and soldiers. Along with changing the economic structure of Sweden, the wars of the middle 17 th century brought more power to the monarch by readdressing the need for military leadership. With Sweden at war with Denmark and later France, Charles decided that the country needed firm leadership. He dispensed with the nobles and assumed full authority himself. By doing this, he was playing the patriot’s card – if the nobles objected to what Charles was doing, then they could not have Sweden’s best interests at heart. If they agreed, as they did, to his sole rule, then they were playing into his hands.
They ultimately agreed. With the reduction of the power of the nobility, Sweden returned to the political structure of the early Vasa kings. The King was by the grace of God the all-powerful ruler and commander of Sweden and it’s territories. The wars of the mid- 17 th century led the Scandinavian states to centralize monarchial power by creating problems within each society. These dilemmas included; Discrepancy in regards to power, economic stability, and military authority.
The Scandinavian monarchs recognized these problems and decided that it was in their best interest to lay the blame on the semi-democratic nature of their governments. Nobles and other officials were deemed an impediment to functional society. Therefore, the Monarch’s gained absolute authority decreeing that their actions were based on god’s will.