[POTN] 2.15 - The Lone Wolf by the Fjord

By October, the Swedish offensive from the north had largely lost their momentum. While the Swedes did manage to occupy most of Nordland, they failed to cross into Trøndelag, while suffering from guerilla attacks against their supply lines. Yet, King Gustav had travelled to Jämtland, about to direct a new offensive, that had been carefully planned by a General Staff in Stockholm, led by him personally. Over ten thousand soldiers, returning from Denmark and Scania, were made to join the offensive.

In mid-October, the Swedes crossed the border into Trøndelag, and began their race to the city of Trondheim on Gustav's command. Gustav's plan was to occupy Trondheim as soon as possible, in order to crown himself Gustav I, King of Norway.

Yet, upon entry into Norwegian lands, the guerilla activities began to take a toll on Gustav's army. Norwegian volunteers kept conducting surprise raids against the Swedes, severely affecting the Swedish morale and willingness to fight.

Gustav employed bloody tactics against the captured guerilla combatants, executing many in public, hoping to terrorise the Norwegians and stop their rebellious activities. Indeed, this tactic mostly worked when the Swedes occupied the island of Bornholm in summer. The Danes on the island first revolted against Swedish takeover, but a period of violence against the dissents by the Swedish military largely calmed the island down, with more and more Swedish personnel landing on the island to overwhelm any opposition.

Yet, the same tactic did not work too well against the Norwegians. With a far larger population and far more lands to operate on, Gustav's brutality against Norwegian guerrillas only angered their compatriots even more, prompting them to participate in anti-Swedish campaigns more eagerly. Thus, Gustav's army lost more and more men to guerilla campaigns, but Gustav would not give up so easily. For him, obtaining half of Norway would provide Sweden with the hegemony in all the North, enhancing future positions against Russian or Polish threats.

The westward journey to the coastal city of Trondheim proved to be very perilous for the Swedes. While the route was no more than fifty miles, the mountainous terrain and frequent guerilla activities claimed the lives of many Swedes and mercenaries serving Sweden alike. Gustav, meanwhile, remained steadfast, and kept marching westward with his army. By mid-November, the Swedes, now numbering around nine thousand, finally reached the outskirts of the city of Trondheim.

Yet, by that time, Trondheim had already been fortified extremely heavily, flooded with volunteer defenders from all over Norway, who were willing to die fighting the Swedes for their nation. The defenders in Trondheim were led by a stable, unified command, composing of Prince Christian and his brother-in-law, Jørgen Bjelke. This was much unlike the Norwegian resistance in other parts of the nation, who largely operated independently, with little cooperation or coordination.

By 18th November, Gustav's army had besieged Trondheim entirely. Yet, they lacked sufficient siege weapons, as the poor conditions and constant guerilla attacks in the months prior had largely neutralised any siege weapons the Swedes brought.

Despite having a slight numerical advantage, the Swedes were heavily demoralised after the journey, and had little determination to fight through the harsh winter in Trøndelag. Desertions and surrenders became frequent as the heavy snow began taking over. The situation was even worse among mercenaries, who were treated worse by Gustav than native Swedish soldiers. Hundreds and hundreds of mercenaries fled the siege after food became scarce, with many even surrendering to the Norwegians in exchange for a voyage back home to their native German lands.

With Christmas approaching, the Swedes were demoralised further. Many Swedes were eager to go home before Christmas, and the atmosphere in the Swedish camps became increasingly melancholic. Gustav tried to call for the Swedish forces in the North for assistance, but they were unable to move into Trøndelag with the harsh winter weather and the continuous Norwegian guerilla activities.

Meanwhile, the Norwegins in the city managed to re-establish contact with the outside world by early December, after a huge drop in the number of Swedish personnel following the endless desertion, as the encirclement became more and more fragile day by day. On 11th December, seeing how the Swedes had become weaker every day, Prince Christian decided to wage a counter-attack to repel the Swedes for once and for all.

King Gustav never expected a Norwegian counter-attack, and still wished to starve the Norwegians in the city despite the wavering Swedish might. Thus, no real preparations were made, and the Swedes were mostly sleeping as the Norwegian charge took place. Thousands of Norwegian volunteers rushed out of the city walls at three in the morning, racing into Swedish camps and burning everything in sight. While less well-armed and well-trained than the Swedes, the Norwegians took advantage of the surprise element, causing many casualties in the first minutes of the attack.

The Swedes did manage to regain control of the situation and pushed back, killing hundreds of Norwegians while injuring thousands with their superior arms. Still, the casualties that the Swedes suffered was deadly, and Gustav really had no way to continue forcing the siege anymore.

That evening, King Gustav, seeing how the momentum had shifted entirely, made the difficult decision to retreat back to Sweden in haste. The Norwegians started their counter-offensive, liberating all Trøndelag by the end of the year. Prince Christian delivered a speech in Trondheim at the turn of the year, calling for Norwegians all over the nation to unite, and to defend against any further Swedish attempts to subdue Norway.

Taking advantage of the harsh weather in winter, the Norwegians continued their counter-offensive to the north in January 1659, pushing the Swedes further and further away from Trøndelag. As Gustav returned to Stockholm in January, the Riksdag became less in favour of the ongoing war against the Norwegians. After almost four years of constant warfare, many in the capital had had enough and wished for a lasting peace, even if that meant slightly less Swedish gains. Still, Gustav sent Prince Karl to stabilise the situation on the front in Northern Norway, in order to achieve a better negotiating positions in the inevitable peace talks.

Meanwhile, Princess Kristina, who had been in charge of the capital since Gustav left for war, had amassed supporters for peace in the Riksdag and beyond, pressuring Gustav to begin peace negotiations with the Norwegians.

By late February, the two sides had largely entered a stalemate again. The Norwegians managed to retake some territories in Nordland, but failed to totally evict Karl's forces from the province. Still, Gustav, despite being pressured, was unwilling to negotiate for peace, believing the Treaty of Roskilde should hold, and thus, he continued sending reinforcements to Prince Karl, hoping to wage an offensive in the following summer.

Yet, in April, the Dutch Republic, headed by Johan de Witt, began to intervene. The Dutch merchants complained that the Dano-Swedish War and its aftermath hindered their trades in the area, and pleaded for the government to intervene on peace's behalf. Pressure was put on Gustav to take the initiative for peace, with some Dutch diplomats even threatening naval warfare otherwise. By May, the Dutch had sent a few battleships to the Belt, apparently threatening the Swedes.

Meanwhile, Prince Karl's forces failed to make any meaningful impact even after receiving the reinforcements. While he did hold onto the frontline in Nordland, the determined Norwegian defense, headed by Prince Christian, managed to neutralise any Swedish offensive attempts. By June, the internal and external pressure, coupled with the military stalemate, forced King Gustav to initiate peace negotiations. Swedish and Norwegian diplomats met in Frederikshald in early July, with Danish representatives intentionally left out of the talks on Norwegian request.

The Swedish side, influenced by King Gustav, was originally unwilling to return anything more than the province of Møre and some parts of Trøndelag. Yet, the Norwegian insisted to decide on the new border based on the current frontline, demanding the return of all Trøndelag and parts of Nordland. The Dutch, in the meantime, began exerting more pressure on Stockholm, urging for a peace as soon as possible. The Dutch naval threat forced King Gustav to essentially yield more and more in the negotiations.

On 11th July, 1659, the Norwegians and the Swedes signed the Treaty of Frederikhald, overriding the Treaty of Roskilde in terms of the new Swedish-Norwegian border. The Treaty detailed the following:

1) The Kingdom of Sweden shall recognise the Norwegian party signing this Treaty as legal and legitimate representatives of the Kingdom of Norway.

2) The Kingdom of Norway shall recognise the cession of the provinces of Bohüslan, Troms, and Finnmark to the Kingdom of Sweden.

3) The Kingdom of Sweden shall return immediately the entirety of the provinces of Møre and Trøndelag to the Kingdom of Norway.

4) The Kingdom of Norway shall recognise the cession of the northern parts of the province of Nordland to the Kingdom of Sweden. The remainder of the province, which corresponds largely with the region of Helgeland, shall be returned to the Kingdom of Norway immediately.

5) Prisoners of war from both sides shall be released as soon as possible, with the prisoner exchange to be completed by the end of September.

The Treaty was signed by King Gustav with much reluctance, mixed with bitterness against the Dutch government. From then on, Gustav distanced himself from Johan de Witt, while beginning supporting the Orangists more actively.

The Norwegians, while still unwilling to lose their northern territories, largely saw the Treaty as necessary evil for peace. Prince Christian publicly spoke in favour of the Treaty, urging the Norwegians to cease hostilities against the Swedes. In Copenhagen, meanwhile, King Frederik was unable to re-assert his authority in Norway, with many parts of Denmark still under Swedish occupation. Thus, he had no choice but to grant royal assent to the Treaty unilaterally, in an attempt to act like he could still exert his rights as King of Norway.

In the meantime, the Norwegians began forming their own government in Bergen, to be ready to govern themselves, ridding the nation of Danish influence. Prince Christian dispatched diplomats to negotiate with his half-brother, hoping to settle the issue without having to cut ties with Frederik entirely, ensuring international acceptance.

As Christian's father-in-law, Jens Bjelke, Chancellor of Norway, passed away on 7th November 1659 at 79 years of age, a solution was also reached accordingly, after some heated debates between the Norwegians and the Danes. Christian was officially appointed by Frederik as the new Chancellor of Norway on 14th November 1659, representing the King in Norway when the King is absent in the Kingdom.

Christian soon formed his government and selected the city of Bergen as his capital, which would also function as the de facto capital of Norway, with Christian ruling there as the highest authority figure in the nation. Christian thus began to consolidate his power while continuing to rid of Danish influence, prompting Norway to function more like an independent nation gradually.

Treaty of Frederikshald (1659)