[POTN] 3.1 - Newfoundland War

Chapter 3 - The Swan at Eventide

3.1 Newfoundland War

The colony of Nyfunnenland experienced a period of relative peace and prosperity in the decade following the Swedish takeover in 1652. Constant supplies and new colonists arrived regularly from the Swedish mainland, and coupled with the high birth rate, caused a drastic increase in the Swedish population on the island in the 1650s.

Authorities in Stockholm made sure that major vessels, carrying tens or even hundreds of new colonists, achieve a rough balance in gender distribution, so to ensure the sustainability of the populace on Nyfunnenland. Even as Swedish went to war with various nations starting from 1655, new arrivals, while dwindling in numbers, did not cease entirely. This allowed Nyfunnenland to expand gradually, with new settlements being founded further away from the easternmost coast of the Avalon Peninsula.

By 1660, the Swedish population on Nyfunnenland had grown to the range of two thousand, with the rate of new arrivals again accelerating due to the end of the war in the mainland. Stockholm also decided to focus on the Nyfunnenland area, largely dropping plans for establishing colonies elsewhere for the time being.

The colony of Swedish Gold Coast in Africa, established in 1650 with several ill-supplied Swedish forts on the West African coast, was already taken over by the Danes and Dutch by 1659. While Stockholm did not acknowledge this, King Gustav's administration largely treated this as a fait accompli, refraining from pressuring the Dutch to return the forts.

In April 1660, Swedish adventurers from Nyfunnenland landed on a few small islands off the coast of southeastern Nyfunnenland. The islands, called Saint-Pierre by French merchants and Miquelon by Basque fishermen, only had a few European fishing families as inhabitants. The Swedes swiftly occupied the islands, and officially named the archipelago "Saint Bridget's Islands", in honour of Sweden's patron saint. The fort of Saint Bridget was established on the southernmost island of the archipelago, with the foreign fishermen largely allowed to visit the islands on a seasonal basis like they did previously.

Meanwhile, on the western coast of the Avalon Peninsula, the French had established a permanent settlement in 1655, which they named Placencia. Having never recognised the English colonisation of the island prior to 1652, France also refused to recognise the Swedish authority on the island. The entire island of Nyfunnenland was claimed as French territory by Paris, but due to insufficient manpower, they did not make any attempts to attack the Swedish settlements in the East.

In late 1660, another fleet carrying over two hundred new settlers arrived in Nyfunnenland from the mainland. Scouts on the fleet reported to the leaders in Gustavia that the French population in Placencia was increasing, and could very well emerge as a threat in a few years' time. While the Swedes decided against an attack amidst the freezing whether, various Swedish settlements still began military trainings for their inhabitants, preparing for a French attack anytime.

As spring came in 1661, the Swedes became restless, with several leading figures in the settlements calling for an attack. From a Swedish point of view, the entirety of the island of Nyfunnenland was rightful Swedish territory, and the French were settling on Swedish soil without permission. In the morning of 3rd April, 1661, hundreds of Swedish men, gathered in Gustavia the night before, marched west onto Placencia without any prior notice. The French settlers, blissfully unaware, were continuing their day as usual. By noon, the entire settlement of Placencia was besieged by the hundreds of Swedish fighters. The Frenchmen inside refused to surrender, and the Swedes were unable to breach the walls of the French fort due to the lack of siege equipment.

Still, the Swedes cut the French fort from any outside supplies and intended to starve the French into submission. After a fortnight of resistance, the French eventually surrendered, and the Swedes, frustrated by the lengthy siege by colonial standards, raced into the fort with nothing but fury and vengeance in mind. Tens of French colonists were taken captive, and forced to sign as indentured labourers at gunpoint. Many of the Frenchmen's slaves were slaughtered by the Swedes, with the remaining to be sold to the English in Massachusetts Bay in a few weeks' time. After a few days, the French settlement of Placencia, now with the Swedish ensign flying over it, was partially destroyed. The remaining part was renamed by the Swedes as the settlement of Karlsborg, after the Swedish war hero, Prince Karl, who subdued Denmark three years prior.

The news reached the court in Stockholm after a couple of months. Many Swedish officials were afraid of the possibility of a souring relationship with Paris thanks to colonial disputes, but King Gustav was very pleased with the attack. He personally decreed the name-change of Placencia to Karlsborg, and issued an official statement congratulating the Swedish colonists' victory.

While Nyfunnenland was not very well-known across Europe, Gustav's high-profile congratulation caught the attention of many in courts across the continent. King Louis XIV, 22, the young King of France who just began his personal rule, was soon notified of the event. With the Franco-Swedish alliance in the war in the Empire before 1648, Louis initially viewed Sweden as a potential military ally. Thus, Stockholm's support for the colonists shocked Louis, who thought Sweden would be in favour of a renewed alliance with France.

In June 1661, Louis formally demanded an apology from Stockholm, calling the Swedes' attack on Placencia entirely unwarranted and unjustified, and Gustav's congratulation unbecoming of a monarch. Gustav, however, responded with another announcement with harsh wordings. The entirety of the island of Nyfunnenland was described as rightful Swedish territory, and the French settlement on the island was claimed to be illegal. Gustav also refused to let the French return to the settlement of "Karlsborg", and refused to negotiate with the French concerning the affairs of an island considered to be entirely Swedish.

The statement enraged Louis, who attempted to call for an embargo against Sweden and her vassals. While he was convinced to refrain from such drastic measures over a tiny settlement by his advisors, Louis still began plotting against the Swedes, no longer treating Stockholm as a crucial ally against the Habsburgs. Louis' government soon approached Friedrich Wilhelm, the Elector of Brandenburg, and offered him a possible alliance. The two nations signed the Treaty of Magdeburg in secret in October 1661, with the alliance kept strictly confidential.

While the Treaty did not outline a full defensive alliance, France still promised Brandenburg a quarterly allowance sent directly to the Elector, as long as Brandenburg maintained a standing army of a certain size on its border with Swedish Pomerania. A treaty was also signed between Louis' envoys with King Frederik in late 1661, detailing an alliance between France and Denmark. The anti-Swedish aim of the treaty was thinly veiled, with Denmark being required to maintain a standing navy in the Øresund in order to receive the monthly allowances from Paris.

In response, Sweden began negotiating a renewed alliance pact with Johann Georg II, the Elector of Saxony, which itself was a staunch Swedish ally in the 1630s and 1640s, in order to divert Brandenburg's forces should a conflict begin.

After the Danish alliance with France, Prince Christian, the Goveror of Norway, declared Norway's neutrality in the Franco-Swedish feud, refusing to take sides and alienate Stockholm any further.

The statement was condemned by Copenhagen, with King Frederik asking Norway for "co-operation" in any possible future conflicts. Still, after the disastrous Danish performance against Sweden in the previous war, the Norwegians were overwhelmingly against another Northern War, preferring to stay out of any conflicts in the region for the time being.

This heightened tensions between the central government in Copenhagen and the local autonomous government in Bergen, but Frederik decided against any military intervention in his own realm. Meanwhile, Prince Christian began reforming the Norwegian military, ridding it of Danish influence while ensuring the units are loyal to Norway and Norway only.