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A chronological journey through the history of Scandinavia. Geographically, we cover the five modern Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland—as well as a few other b...
In March 1848, the new Danish government wanted a radical break from the previous way the Unitary State had been governed. But the politicia...
In 1848, Denmark faced uncertainty after king Christian VIII’s sudden death, just as political unrest started to spread across Europe. Would...
During the Golden Age, pressure mounted for political reforms in Denmark. The absolute monarchy was threatened by liberalism and nationalism...
After the disasters of the Napoleonic Wars, state bankruptcy and losing Norway, Denmark was in bad shape. But even though the future looked...
In 1818, Bernadotte became king of Sweden and Norway under the name Karl Johan. He was eager to develop his kingdoms economically and social...
In the fall of 1814, Norway had lost the war against Sweden. The defeat had come as an unpleasant surprise to many Norwegians, who had belie...
In the first half of 1814, Bernadotte had been busy wrapping up the war on the continent. But as summer arrived, the Swedes turned their ful...
During a few intense spring weeks in 1814, 112 representatives of the Norwegian people came together at Eidsvoll to draw up a constitution f...
The Napoleonic Wars strained the Danish-Norwegian union bringing starvation, unrest and a crisis of legitimacy. Even worse, Sweden exploited...
After the death of Karl August, only five months after he had been elected crown prince, the Swedes needed to find another heir to the thron...
King Gustav IV Adolf was blamed for the loss of Finland, and even before the war against Russia ended, he was ousted in a coup. His uncle Ka...
When peace returned in 1809, the population of Finland found themselves to be the newest subjects of the Russian emperor. In the years that...
The Franco-Russian treaty at Tilsit in 1807 spelled trouble for Sweden as well as for Denmark. Just like the Danes, the Swedes underestimate...
The years following the French Revolution were plagued by seemingly endless wars. But the governments in both Copenhagen and Stockholm prefe...
The French revolution was a cataclysmic event that changed the world forever, both politically and culturally. Even though it was far away,...
His war against Russia had shown Gustav III that the Swedish aristocracy was a real threat to his reign. He thought he could eliminate the t...
A few years after his coup, the opposition against Gustav III was growing. In an attempt to improve his popularity–and to reclaim some of th...
King Adolf Fredrik and queen Louisa Ulrika never managed to wrest power away from the Riksdag during the Age of Liberty. But Louisa Ulrika h...
If your system of government puts all the power in the hands of one man, you’d better hope the man holding all that power knows what he’s do...
The Age of Liberty wasn’t only corruption, palace intrigues and failed wars. Thanks to a policy encouraging science and industry, significan...
When the result of the War of the Hats became known in Sweden, it was met with dismay. Not only did the Russians take even more territory, b...
In 1741, the Hats finally got the war against Russia that they’d been working so hard to achieve. Finally, they’d be able to recapture the t...
After the death of Karl XII, Swedish monarchs lost almost all their power. Instead, the Riksdag asserted itself as the most influential body...
From the 16th century onward, Denmark and Sweden increased their efforts to assert control over northern Scandinavia, a territory where few...
In the 18th century, when the triangular trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas was booming, Denmark and Sweden established footholds...
In the 1600s, both Denmark and Sweden joined the race to establish colonies overseas. The Danes returned to Greenland, but also set up outpo...
In the early 18th century, Denmark was ruled by absolute monarchs, whose personalities left their marks on the country. When Frederik IV was...
Karl XII had failed to get the Ottomans to ally with Sweden in the Great Northern War, but that didn’t mean he was willing to throw in the t...
After the disaster at Poltava, the Swedish empire started to unravel. But instead of hurrying home to try and save what he could, Karl XII s...
After defeating Denmark and Poland, Karl XII only needed to crush the Russians in order to declare victory in the Great Northern War. So as...
In the year 1700, Sweden was ruled by an autocratic teenager with impulse control issues. That could have been bad enough, but then Denmark,...
After the Scania War, Karl XI realized that Sweden was too weak to defend its northern European empire. To change this, he pushed through th...
There had been a few witch trials here and there in Scandinavia since the Middle Ages, but it was only after the Reformation that they becam...
In the second half of the 17th century, Swedish authorities initiated a campaign to turn the formerly Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland...
Christian V may not have been particularly interested in books, administration or the French language. He didn’t care much about governing D...
In a few days Christmas will be upon us. To mark the occasion, this episode of the Scandinavian History Podcast is dedicated to quirks of No...
The peace in Roskilde had been a triumph for Sweden. But Karl X Gustav wanted more, so he renewed hostilities hoping to capture Copenhagen a...
When Frederick III became king of Denmark, he was determined to get revenge. Revenge on the scheming nobility, including his own extended fa...
Gustavus Adolphus’s daughter and successor Queen Christina had no time for fashion or suitors, but she loved culture and intellectual pursui...
When Gustavus Adolphus died, Axel Oxenstierna was left to handle several thorny issues. One of the thorniest was what to do with the king’s...
Christian IV was a real family man. In fact, he had multiple families. He was married twice, and had a string of mistresses to boot. He had...
In the late 1630s, tensions were once again rising between Denmark and Sweden. The Danish king was spoiling for a war, and in 1643 he got it...
The Swedes spent the early 1640s trying to win the war, but even if they were successful on the battlefield, every campaign season seemed to...
After the death of Gustavus Adolphus, his trusted advisor and chancellor Axel Oxenstierna was left to pick up the pieces. In the years that...
1632 was a year of victories and triumphs for the Swedes. They moved through the Holy Roman Empire capturing everything in their way. In the...
In September 1631, the Swedish and the Imperial armies finally stood face to face. The battle took place just north of Leipzig, close to the...
Most German Protestants weren’t particularly happy about the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War. But Gustavus Adolphus didn’t car...
After the wars in Russia and Poland finally started to wind down, the thrill-junkie on the Swedish throne decided he also wanted to try his...
Encouraged by his success in the war against Sweden, Christian IV decided to get involved in the developing conflict in the Holy Roman Empir...
Christian IV of Denmark wanted to prove that he was a proper king. So he started a war against Sweden to win glory and, hopefully, reestabli...