The Peace of Westphalia largely settles German affairs for the next century and a half.

It ends religious conflicts between the states and includes official recognition of Calvinism.

Its signatories alter the boundaries of the empire by recognizing that Switzerland and the Netherlands have become sovereign states outside the empire.

Portions of Alsace and Lorraine go to France.

Sweden receives some territory in northern Germany, which in the long run it cannot retain.

Brandenburg becomes stronger, as do Saxony and Bavaria.

In addition, states within the empire acquire greater independence with the right to have their own foreign policies and form alliances, even with states outside the empire.

As a result of these changes, the Holy Roman Empire loses much of what remains of its power and will never again be a significant actor on the international stage.

The Habsburgs will continue to be crowned emperors, but their strength will derive from their own holdings, not from leadership of the empire.

Germany is less united in 1648 than in 1618, and German particularism has been strengthened once again.

North Europe (1540–1683 CE)

Empires of Faith, War, and Learning on the Edge of the North Sea

Geography & Environmental Context

North Europe—spanning Scandinavia, the British Isles, Iceland, the Baltic shores of Finland, Sweden, and Denmark-Norway, and the Low North Sea rim—was a world defined by maritime corridors and cold resilience. The Little Ice Age brought longer winters, crop failures, and stormy seas, but trade, naval innovation, and political centralization propelled the region into prominence. From the Baltic grain ports of Riga and Stockholm to London, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, and Bergen, this northern arc bridged the Atlantic and the Baltic worlds.

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Northeast Europe: Baltic Wars and Imperial Rivalries

Political and Military Shifts

The Baltic became Europe’s most contested inland sea.

• Sweden’s ascent under Gustavus Adolphus and his successors transformed it into a great power. Victories in the Livonian War (1558–1583) and later in the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) secured dominance from Estonia and Livonia to northern Germany.

• Denmark-Norway, once the senior Nordic realm, waged recurrent wars with Sweden—the Northern Seven Years’ War (1563–1570) and Kalmar War (1611–1613)—but gradually lost supremacy.

• Russia, under Ivan IV and later the early Romanovs, pressed westward, seeking Baltic access, only to be checked by Swedish and Polish resistance.

• The Treaty of Roskilde (1658) marked Sweden’s Baltic zenith, granting control over much of Scandinavia’s southern rim and North German ports.

Reformation and Governance

The Lutheran Reformation redefined the political and cultural life of the north.

• Sweden-Finland codified Lutheran orthodoxy, promoting literacy through parish schooling. Mikael Agricola’sFinnish Bible (1548) inaugurated Finnish literature.

• Denmark-Norway became firmly Lutheran under Christian III, integrating church and crown.

• Baltic provinces retained local German-speaking elites under Swedish rule, creating hybrid governance combining Nordic administration with Baltic feudal hierarchies.

Culture and Education

• Sweden founded Uppsala University (1477, reformed 1595) and Tartu (1632); parish schools proliferated under the “school ordinance” system.

• Printing and Bible translation advanced vernacular literacy in Finnish, Estonian, and Swedish.

• Architecture blended Lutheran austerity with baroque royal splendor, while ballads and folk art preserved pre-Christian motifs beneath Protestant piety.

Economy and Society

Baltic commerce thrived through grain, tar, hemp, and timber exports; Stockholm, Riga, and Gdańsk were crucial hubs. Warfare and conscription, however, strained rural populations; Estonian and Latvian peasants suffered under expanding estates. The Baltic trade integrated deeply into Dutch and English shipping circuits.

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Northwest Europe: Reformation, Revolution, and Maritime Empire

Religious Upheaval

The Reformation’s turbulence reshaped England, Scotland, and Ireland.

• England’s monarchy oscillated between Catholic and Protestant faiths under Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, before the Anglican Settlement (1559) defined a Protestant state church.

• Scotland embraced Presbyterianism through John Knox, while Ireland resisted forced Protestantization, remaining a battleground for English control and Catholic identity.

• The Netherlands’ Calvinism inspired solidarity and migration across the North Sea, linking English Puritans and Dutch reformers.

War, Revolution, and State Formation

• The English Civil War (1642–1651) and Interregnum under Oliver Cromwell ended with the execution of Charles I (1649) and the establishment of a short-lived republic.

• Cromwell’s Irish conquest (1649–1653) devastated the island, displacing thousands through famine and forced migration.

• The Restoration (1660) reestablished monarchy, but tensions with James II’s Catholicism led toward the Glorious Revolution (1688) and a constitutional monarchy.

• Scotland’s Union of Crowns (1603) under James VI & I linked the kingdoms, though national institutions remained distinct.

Colonial and Maritime Expansion

• English and Dutch seafarers spearheaded the Age of Global Navigation:

  • The English East India Company (1600) and the Dutch VOC (1602) created global trade empires.

  • English colonies in Virginia (1607) and New England (1620)**, Dutch New Amsterdam (1625), and later Caribbean holdings expanded Atlantic wealth.

• Maritime trade made London, Amsterdam, and Bristol centers of finance and empire. The Dutch Stock Exchange and Bank of Amsterdam modeled modern capitalism.

Science and Culture

• The Scientific Revolution reshaped thought: Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton revolutionized natural philosophy; the Royal Society (1660) institutionalized inquiry.

• Literature and art flourished: Shakespeare, Milton, and Donne in England; Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Spinoza in the Netherlands.

• High literacy and printing fueled public discourse; coffeehouses and pamphlets became laboratories of early Enlightenment debate.

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Environmental and Social Conditions

The Little Ice Age caused frequent harvest failures and fisheries decline, yet maritime economies and trade offset scarcity. Scandinavian forest exports and North Sea fisheries (cod, herring) sustained food supplies. Urbanization and commercial wealth widened social divisions: prosperous merchants contrasted sharply with impoverished rural tenants displaced by enclosures and war.

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Legacy and Transition (1540–1683)

By the late 17th century, North Europe had emerged as a powerhouse of Protestant monarchies, maritime empires, and scientific thought.

• Sweden dominated the Baltic but faced overstretch; Russia prepared for resurgence.

• Denmark-Norway remained cohesive yet overshadowed.

• England, recovering from civil war, stood poised for imperial expansion and scientific leadership.

• The Dutch Republic epitomized commercial modernity, with Amsterdam as Europe’s financial capital.

Religious consolidation, constitutional experimentation, and transoceanic ambition defined the age. The North had transformed from a peripheral frontier into a driving force of modern Europe—anchored in trade, literacy, and the restless winds of the Atlantic and Baltic seas.

Northeast Europe (1540–1683 CE): Wars, Imperial Ambitions, and Cultural Transformations

Introduction

Between 1540 and 1683 CE, Northeast Europe experienced considerable upheaval marked by wars, shifting alliances, imperial ambitions, and profound cultural transformations stemming from the Reformation's aftermath. This era redefined regional power structures, intensified international rivalry, and significantly influenced the cultural and economic trajectories of Northeast European states.

Political and Military Conflicts

Sweden emerged as a major power under dynamic leaders such as Gustavus Adolphus and expanded aggressively throughout the Baltic region. The Livonian War (1558–1583) saw Sweden, Denmark-Norway, Poland-Lithuania, and Russia competing fiercely for control over Livonia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia). Ivan IV of Russia nearly succeeded in conquering the region before being pushed back by Swedish and Polish interventions, resulting in heavy population losses and territorial shifts. Sweden eventually secured significant territories, boosting its regional influence.

Denmark-Norway frequently clashed with Sweden in multiple conflicts, notably the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570) and the Kalmar War (1611–1613), as it struggled to maintain Baltic dominance. Finland, under Swedish rule, experienced devastating military campaigns, particularly the Long Wrath (1570–1595), causing widespread destruction.

Imperial Expansion and Rivalries

Sweden’s imperial ambitions peaked during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), where, under Gustavus Adolphus, Sweden significantly expanded into the Holy Roman Empire. Swedish territories included northern German lands such as Swedish Pomerania, Bremen-Verden, and the port of Wismar. Although Gustavus Adolphus died at the Battle of Lützen (1632), Sweden continued to dominate the Baltic Sea, reaching its territorial zenith after the Treaty of Roskilde (1658).

Denmark-Norway sought limited expansion, while Russia, under Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible," continued westward ambitions, repeatedly clashing with Sweden for Baltic access and territories.

Reformation's Continued Impact

The Protestant Reformation entrenched Lutheranism firmly across Northeast Europe, reshaping social, political, and cultural institutions. Sweden-Finland's Lutheran orthodoxy solidified with ecclesiastical laws, significantly promoting literacy through mandatory religious education. Mikael Agricola, bishop of Turku, translated the Bible into Finnish (1548), laying foundations for Finnish literary culture. Åbo Academy, founded in 1640, became Finland's premier educational institution.

Cultural and Intellectual Developments

The period saw remarkable cultural flourishing. Sweden’s educational initiatives, including founding the University of Tartu (1632) in Estonia, significantly enhanced regional education. Estonia’s parish schools began in the 1680s, under Swedish rule. The cultural landscape in Lithuania, united politically with Poland in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569), was influenced significantly by Polish institutions, introducing Western education and cultural models.

Literature, architecture, music, and visual arts thrived, reflecting Renaissance and early Enlightenment influences. Royal and noble patronage significantly fostered artistic and intellectual advancements across the region.

Social and Economic Transformations

Urban centers expanded due to Hanseatic trade and merchant activities, with cities such as Tallinn, Tartu, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Riga flourishing economically and culturally. Rural regions faced hardship due to warfare, taxation, and feudal demands, with Estonian peasants notably suffering increasing land appropriations by seigniorial estates under Swedish governance.

Expansion and Colonization

Sweden pursued overseas colonial ambitions, briefly establishing the colony of New Sweden in North America (1638–1655). Denmark-Norway also ventured into colonial endeavors in the Caribbean and West Africa, enhancing their trade-based wealth.

Baltic States under Foreign Rule

Estonia was divided into northern (Duchy of Estland) and southern regions (Livland) under Swedish rule. The local German nobility strengthened their position, significantly impacting the region’s social hierarchy. Latvian territories faced similar foreign dominance by Sweden and Poland, profoundly shaping social and economic structures.

Legacy of the Age

The period from 1540 to 1683 CE profoundly reshaped Northeast Europe through sustained military conflicts, ambitious imperial expansions, and significant cultural and intellectual developments. These transformations created enduring patterns of political authority, religious identity, cultural achievements, and socio-economic conditions, fundamentally shaping Northeast Europe’s historical trajectory.

Sweden's ambitious foreign policy brings it into conflict beginning in the mid-sixteenth century with the three other main powers that have an interest in the Baltic: Denmark, Poland, and Russia.

These three powers fight numerous wars with Sweden, which is at war for more than eighty of the last three hundred years it ruled Finland.

Finland itself is often the scene of military campaigns that are generally conducted as total war and thus include the devastation of the countryside and the killing of civilians.

One example of such campaigns is the war between Sweden and Russia that lasts from 1570 to 1595 and is known in Finland as the Long Wrath, because of the devastations inflicted on the country.

Sweden is also heavily involved in the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), in which the Swedes under King Gustavus II Adolphus thwarts the advance of the Habsburg Empire to the shores of the Baltic and thereby secure the Swedish possessions there.

Finnish troops are conscripted in great numbers into the Swedish army to fight in this or in other wars, and the Finns often distinguish  themselves on the battlefield.

Sweden conquers approximately half of the Holy Roman states during the Thirty Years' War.

Gustav Adolphus plans to become the new Holy Roman Emperor, ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, but he dies at the Battle of Lützen in 1632.

After the Battle of Nördlingen, Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states fades.

These German provinces exclude themselves from Swedish power one by one, leaving Sweden with only a few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania, Bremen-Verden and the port city of Wismar.

Sweden emerges as a European great power during the seventeenth century.

Before the emergence of the Swedish Empire, Sweden had been a poor and scarcely populated country on the fringe of European civilization, with no significant power or reputation.

Sweden risse to prominence on a continental scale during the tenure of king Gustavus Adolphus, seizing territories from Russia and Poland–Lithuania in multiple conflicts, including the Thirty Years' War.

Ferdinand, in his time of triumph, overreaches himself by publishing in 1629 the Edict of Restitution, which requires that all properties of the Roman Catholic Church taken since 1552 be returned to their original owners.

The edict renews Protestant resistance.

Catholic powers also begin to oppose Ferdinand because they fear he is becoming too powerful.

Invading armies from Sweden, secretly supported by Catholic France, march deep into Germany, winning numerous victories.

The Catholic general Tilly and Sweden's Protestant king, Gustavus Adolphus, are killed in separate battles.

Wallenstein is assassinated on Emperor Ferdinand's orders because he fears his general is becoming too powerful.

After the triumph of the Spanish army over Swedish forces at the Battle of Nordlingen in 1634, a truce is arranged between the emperor and some of the German princes under the Treaty of Prague.

France now invades Germany, not for religious reasons but because the House of Bourbon, the dynastic family of several French and Spanish monarchs, wishes to ensure that the House of Habsburg does not become too powerful.

This invasion is illustrative of the French axiom that Germany must always remain divided into small, easily manipulated states. (Indeed, preventing a united Germany will remain an objective of French foreign policy even late in the twentieth century.)

Because of French participation, the war continues until the Peace of Westphalia is signed in 1648.

The short reign of Charles IX of Sweden has been one of uninterrupted warfare.

The hostility of Poland and the breakup of Russia has involved him in two overseas contests for the possession of Livonia and Ingria, while his pretensions to claim Lappland has brought upon him a war with Denmark in what is to be the last year of his reign.

In all these struggles, he has been more or less unsuccessful, owing partly to the fact that he and his forces have had to oppose superior generals (e.g., Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Christian IV of Denmark) and partly to sheer ill-luck.

Compared with his foreign policy, the domestic policy of Charles IX has been comparatively unimportant, aimed at confirming and supplementing what had already been done during his regency.

He had not officially become king until March 6, 1604.

Charles dies at Nyköping four-and-a-half years later, on October 30, 1611; he is succeeded by his oldest son, the seventeen year old Gustavus Adolphus, who, on ascending the throne, sues for peace with the Commonwealth and with Denmark, but Christian IV sees an opportunity for larger victories, and strengthens his armies in southern Sweden.

Northeast Europe (1612–1623 CE): Military Confrontations, Territorial Realignments, and Cultural Flourishing

Between 1612 and 1623 CE, Northeast Europe experienced intensified military confrontations, strategic territorial realignments, and continued cultural and intellectual vibrancy. This period, marked by significant regional conflicts such as the Kalmar War, reshaped political boundaries and further defined the roles of major powers like Sweden, Denmark–Norway, Poland–Lithuania, and Muscovy.

The Kalmar War and Swedish-Danish Rivalry

The Kalmar War (1611–1613) between Sweden under King Gustavus Adolphus and Denmark–Norway under King Christian IV significantly heightened regional tensions. Though brief, the conflict centered on control of Baltic trade routes and territorial dominance. The resulting Treaty of Knäred (1613) forced Sweden into substantial monetary concessions, temporarily enhancing Danish–Norwegian influence but leaving underlying rivalries unresolved.

Swedish Reforms and Expansion under Gustavus Adolphus

Following the Kalmar War, King Gustavus Adolphus (r. 1611–1632) undertook major military and administrative reforms, significantly strengthening Sweden’s capabilities. He modernized the army, enhanced central governance, and promoted aggressive territorial expansion in Livonia and Ingria, fortifying strategic cities like Reval (Tallinn) and Narva. These reforms laid foundations for Sweden’s rise as a major European power.

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s Continued Influence

Under King Sigismund III Vasa, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth solidified its administrative presence in Livonia and maintained diplomatic influence throughout the region. Persistent tensions with Sweden, particularly regarding Sigismund’s claims to the Swedish throne, sustained political rivalries, influencing diplomatic negotiations and military strategies.

Muscovy’s Stabilization and Reforms

Muscovy, emerging from the tumultuous "Time of Troubles" with the establishment of the Romanov dynasty under Tsar Michael I (r. 1613–1645), stabilized internally through administrative reforms and diplomatic realignments. Though cautious, Muscovy gradually reasserted influence, preparing strategically for renewed territorial and diplomatic engagements in the Baltic region.

Economic Stability and Political Neutrality in Prussia

The secularized Duchy of Prussia, under Duke Albert Frederick, maintained political neutrality, economic stability, and robust governance. Königsberg continued as a key economic hub, sustaining regional prosperity despite surrounding geopolitical tensions and conflicts.

Continued Economic Prosperity in Major Urban Centers

Urban centers such as Reval (Tallinn), Riga, Königsberg, and Visby maintained robust economic growth, driven by maritime commerce, strong merchant networks, and stable urban governance. These cities remained economic anchors, buffering the region against disruptions caused by military conflicts and political rivalries.

Cultural and Intellectual Flourishing

Protestantism, especially Lutheranism, further stimulated cultural and educational growth, expanding universities, scholarly institutions, and literacy rates across Northeast Europe. Religious education fostered intellectual innovation and cultural production, significantly shaping societal structures and identities.

Advancements in Science and Scholarship

Scientific and intellectual activities continued to thrive, inspired by earlier scholars like Tycho Brahe. Northeast Europe advanced as a key center of astronomical research and scientific inquiry, contributing significantly to early modern Europe's intellectual heritage.

Diplomatic Realignments and Strategic Alliances

Diplomatic negotiations intensified significantly during this period, characterized by shifting alliances, territorial claims, and cautious strategic maneuvering. The complex diplomatic interplay among Sweden, Denmark–Norway, Poland–Lithuania, Muscovy, and Prussia reflected persistent regional uncertainty and efforts toward stability.

Legacy of the Era

The era from 1612 to 1623 CE profoundly impacted Northeast Europe through significant military confrontations, territorial realignments, and continued cultural and intellectual vibrancy. These developments significantly shaped the region’s political landscape, economic resilience, and cultural identities, laying critical groundwork for subsequent historical trajectories.

Sweden’s seventeen-year-old King Gustavus Adolphus has inherited from his father the throne and the war with Denmark as well as an ongoing succession of occasionally belligerent dynastic disputes with his Polish cousin Sigismund III of Poland.

The controlling, organizing hand of Axel Oxenstierna, who in January 1612 becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, soon becomes apparent in every branch of the administration.

Gustavus Adolphus sues for peace, but Denmark’s Christian IV sees an opportunity for larger victories, and strengthens his armies in southern Sweden.