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Two corrections - The Sun King of France was Louis the XIV, rather than Louis IV, and Charles XI would have been concerned with hypothermia in the dead of winter, rather than with hyperthermia.
I live in Scania, and it's interesting how mythologized this conflict is. I grew up in one of the areas where the Snapphanar were the most active, and even today we say when we see a large rock outcropping or a deep forest we'll "this is snapphane territory" or "this is a snapphane hideout". Where I live now, the city of Lund, there's plenty of plaques and monuments commemorating this battle. Recently me and a friend ventured onto the fields for a hike and found an inscription that basically said "this is where the danes camped". Cool stuff and an often overlooked period in european history. I stand by the fact that the snapphanar have massive hollywood movie potential.
Absolutely! One of the few things this video got wrong was that the snaphanar decreased after Lund...it was the contrary, they multiplied. The friskytter corps was established in the spring of 1677.
Perhaps you should be grateful that Hollywood hasn't decided to bastardize your history with political correctness... Now if instead there was a domestic film made by a dedicated person about this? I would watch that.
That's honestly amazing. I have never thought I would watch a video of this battle being discussed. Thank you, History Marche, for covering the Swedish history!
Charles XI would go on to preside over a significant period of peace after the Scanian war, and he would commemorate the battle of Lund every year. It is believed that the Battle of Lund actually traumatized Charles to the extent that he went on to avoid armed conflict as much as possible, even marrying a Danish princess to restore relations between the rival kingdoms.
It's pretty clear that he developed some serious PTSD from his experience, understandable considering he was only 21 at the time and in his first battle which also turned out to be increadibly vicious.
The Swedes were really traumatized after the Battle of Kircholm in 1605. Because that was really the bloodiest battle for Sweden in which the Polish winged hussars overran the Swedes in just 20 minutes with Sweden had 8,000 casualties and Poland had only 100 casualties. The Polish hussars launched a devastating charge against the enemy which ended the battle in the decisive victory of the Polish empire.
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@@GreatPolishWingedHussars It was also the battle that inspired Gustaf II Adolf to modernize the Swedish combat tactics, leading to the great victories in the 30 years war. And later to the Deluge, making it more of a Pyrrhic victory...
@@kristofferhellstrom Sveriges historia är storslagen, liksom hela Europas. Ja fram till mitten av 1900-talet ungefär. Synd det som hände sedan bara... 🙈🤮
Thank you for covering this battle! It's close to heart for me personally as I volunteered for the Swedish military service and was stationed in Karlsborg K3 with the Life Regiment Hussars who distinguished themselves with bravery in this battle. The regiments celebration day is the 4th of december in memory of this very battle. I am proud to say that, as my sergeants uttered many a time, "once a hussar, always a hussar". Pergite!
I went from India and stayed in Helsingborg, Lund and Landskrona for some time in 2009-2010 and the entire area still has numerous sites reminding people of this historic battle.
@@DeadAndAliveCat may be you need to revisit your English classes. Coming back to my comment, yeah I did visit Helsingborg when invited by a client who are one of the biggest business names in the world. Was there for a couple of months and came back to India once my assignment was complete.
@@subhasismukhopadhyay4758 "may be you need to revisit your English classes" Classic Indian behavior, not even understanding in the fucking slightest what is being said and then going on some random fucking tangent repeating information that's already been stated and that no one cares about.
Just sadly, they never had the population to ever maintain that empire. If Charles knew when to stop, he could have held so much of Russia at bay, and commanded all trade in the Baltic Sea.
@@AkodoGarouA Norwegian historian once told me that Scandinavia would've been the military powerhouse of Europe were it not for the black death. I guess it hit Scandinavia particularly hard.
@420JackG It was said to have killed a third of the population, and Sweden was not to recover fully for three hundred years (mid-17th century). It was noted that to it as the cause to why there were wilderness and forests where there had previously been villages and farms. In comparison, it would be eerily similar to how Adrianople took decades to recover & rebuild after Justinian's reign amid the bubonic plague that ravaged the Eastern Romans. The countryside took longer to come back (likely a century or more) amid the many conflicts and regime changes. When you include the multiple incursions by the Bulgarians and other groups its easy to see why the Byzantines couldn't muster a lot of manpower over the centuries to contest multiple fronts like Sweden was facing later on. Hence, why the overall agricultural & economy was sputtering to maintain long wars of attrition & trading disputes with other powers like the Italian states that leaned to Catholicism.
We were *this close* to a "Soldiers abandon the battlefield to raid the enemy camp". It's a small miracle the Swedish King managed to rally his cavalry for a final charge.
In any case, there was a cavalry final charge in the Battle of Kircholm in 1605 by the Polish winged hussars. By the way, this was actually the bloodiest battle for the Swedes. Because Sweden had 8,000 casualties and Poland had compared with that only 100 casualties. The Polish Hussars launched devastating charges against the Swedish troops which ended the battle in only 20 minutes with the decisive victory of the Polish empire.
The Danis/Swedish wars are fascinating because the rivalry was essentially an arms race over history. They'd periodically emerge under completely different tactics and armies in each respective generation. They've fought each other in approximately 30 wars, sort of like two magicians each showing up with a different bigger and badder animal out of their hat.
@@Lassemalten Depending on what you count as a single war, and from when you start counting, Sweden and Denmark have fought between 18 and 32 wars against each other.
As an alumnus of Lund University and a former employee of the local museum of history, I am thrilled to see this video. The university (founded 10 years earlier in 1666) that is there today was almost undone by professors fleeing from the possible sacking of the city. It's only through their private efforts years after the battle that Lund U was "restarted" in 1682.
Charles's rally at Lund is a close 2nd after only the 1583 Siege of Vienna where Poland's King and the Winged Hussars & infantry saved Western Civilization from the the Ottomans. Whether intentional or not by Tolkien, Rohan's role in ROTK at Pelennor fields was almost following the footsteps of King Sobieski & his legendary Winged Hussars in the final chapters of the Great Turkish wars - a period that saw the Christian world about to buckled from Islam in central Europe The men answered that call for aid by the Holy Roman Emperor & the people of Vienna like Gondor saw salvation over the horizon on great steeds that numbered almost 10,000 men about to charge into their enemy on their exposed flank.
Cool :) But the battle of Pelennor Fields is modelled on the battle of the Catalaunian Plains (in France) between Atilla the Hun and and alliance between the Romans lead by Flavius Aetius and the Visigoths lead by Theodoric I. Check it out if you have not already :) Theodoric falls in that battle, just as Theoden did in LoTR, and Theodoric's son leads the Visigoths to victory against the Huns.
@@karl-erikmumler9820 Well, I have to correct you there. Sweden had poor soil, but the region the battle took place and was fought over, namely Scania/Skåneland, had and has the most fertile land in the temperate zone, only rivalled by Ukraine. A big part of the stakes.
part of my heritage is from the county off Dalarna and this part of Sweden suffered beyond what any of us could think. In our family we still have a saying “ Orsa company lovar inget bestämt men gör så gott de kan” Translate ruffly to “ Orsa company doesn’t promise anything but we are trying to do our best” The answer came from the chef for recruiting soldiers countywide in Orsa. The horrible fact was that the country was drained and no men was available to go to war. Only women and children was still living in the villages. Thats one off the reasons we have hade peace for 200 years and why we made us neutral. But perhaps its all going to change to the worse now when we no longer will be neutral in Nato.
@@piafredriksson400 can’t know for sure. Could also be that joining nato will be the move that protected Sweden from an increasingly belligerent and expansionistic Russia. Time will tell.
Ja ni hade levt så jävla mycket bättre i Dalarna om ni inte hade haft starka kungar i Svealand som kallat ut er i krig istället för att vara ett invaderat gränsland mellan Danmark och Ryssland. Ni hade kunnat sitta och sjunga hippiesånger tillsammans i fred i 500 år. Horunge.
"Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?" - Achilles, Troy 2004 For Charles's rally at the latter stages of the Battle of Lund The Swedes's victory at Lund is often attributed to the composition of their army, as it contained far fewer mercenaries than the Danish army. The Finns/Kerelians played a major role in this battle for Charles XI. Not to mention that elements of the Danish leadership & generals were said to be developing an intense rivalry with one another that would later play a role at Landskrona. The Swedish mix of cavalry and infantry at Lund made it possible for the Swedes to mount swift counterattacks as soon as a friendly infantry unit buckled. The Danish still used the "Caracole tactic" (or the modern equivalent to the "Cantabrian Circle") - an already outdated cavalry tactic dating back to the 8th century BC that was developed in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, undermining the speed and agility of their cavalry in the expense of shooting pistols/projectiles from the horse against infantry yet it was met with mixed results against enemy cavalry who decide to tactically counterattack at the right moment. Many historians and military experts still debate its effectiveness in battle during the age of the musket. It was said by the legendary Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus that the Caracole was a technique that was "fairly useless" in battle, and he ordered that all cavalry under Swedish command not to use the caracole; instead, he instructed the Swedish army to charge aggressively like their Polish-Luthuanian rivals which ultimately at many battles like at Lund was enough to shatter the opposition. The last recorded traditional example of the use of the caracole against enemy cavalry ended in disaster at the battle of Klushino in 1610 when the Russians faced the Polish hussars. Some different variations of caracole were created in the later 17th & early 18th centuries due to how Western armies were still trying to adapt to the advancement of gunpowder & find that perfect balance of using cavalry - particularly in Eastern Europe where the horse still dominated the landscape and was embedded in the military idealities of many nations which included Russia, Poland, the Ottomans, and much later the German states. Still, the caracole was met with limited and, at times, a rare success in a new age of military warfare. Amid the growing military revolutions in both France & Sweden and the rise of Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick I of Prussia, Eugene of Savoy, Napoleon, and many others who help create the new modern age of warfare until the early 20th century. Love learning more about Scandinavian history. Keep up the amazing work, HistoryMarche
I think the success of the Cantabrian Circle in earlier times was because the forward momentum of the cavalry increased the force of the arrows as they hit the enemy (at least according to a book about Attila the Hun). That effect would be not be significant with pistols. However, it would allow the cavalry to maintain continuous fire (be it arrow or bullet), so I can see why historians debate it's effectiveness despite one of the advantages not being a factor with gunpowder weapons.
@@jeghaterdegforfaen agreed. Unlike arrows, pistols provided less flexibility (if the elements caused issues) and accuracy from a distance unless the cavalry was extremely close to their opponents to be more effective. Some armies found that using the tactic was more successful against low-morale cavalry units, but when you are dealing with nations like Poland-Lithuania and Sweden, they tend to know the pros and cons of the strategy more than most of their rivals in Eastern Europe. For example, during the battle of Gniew in 1626, the Polish light cavalry used it with success twice. The first time light cavalry units under Mikołaj Abramowicz fired at the Swedish cavalry rank by rank. Still, instead of withdrawing to reload, it immediately proceeded to charge the enemy with sabers. The Danes did slowly adjust from using the caracole's flaws, but the Swedes & the Poles had better morale and discipline to weather the storm of these attacks. Brandenburg-Pussia, Austria, and France only had a few cuirassier heavy cavalry units that could match both Sweden's & Poland-Luthuania's armored units, meaning they were most dependent on the caracole for their lighter cavalry units until the late 18th century due to the debate of how much armor a cavalryman should have with pistols being a major factor in battle. (some nations either made the pistol the new primary or still retained the saber as their to-go weapon) France eventually, by the time of Napoleon, got a handle on things and utilized more heavy cavalry that slowly outperformed Prussia, Austria, and Russia's cavalry arm (though by 1812, Russia's light cossacks were a major player that turned the war against Napoleon due to the fact he lost many experienced men, and horses during Borodino & the long retreat)
@AnonyMous-ql9nj that's true. Back in those days, they tended to call any regiment from/near Finland to be "Kerelian" regiments in the Swedish Battle orders. Thanks for the shout-out.
Fantastic to see you cover the Battle of Lund - your channel is truly one of the best covering battles and nice to see you covering the 30 year, Scanian and the Great Northern Wars :)
For 3 years, every day, I biked past the very place where the armies first clashed. And many times I walked past the monument raised by both countries much later to commemorate this battle. I have waited for so long to see someone cover it. Glad it finally was.
It’s extraordinarily seldom throughout history that a battle can be recovered after a mistake pursuit whence falsely assuming victory has already been achieved. The fact that Charles was able to rally and reengage effectively in a timely manner is nothing short of remarkable.
Especially when one has to remember that at this point he was still seen as mentally slow and emotionally weak by the not only be foreign but also his own royal court. He had extremely hard time reading and writing his entire life(believed to be dyslexic) and a hard time learning anything from his schooling. A Swedish documentary from 1995 about him mentions for example that he was expected to be able to know Latin, German, Finnish, French, Italian, Spanish, English and one unnamed slavic language(likely Poilish or Russian). And that does not include the myriad of trades he was expected to master as the ruler of one of europe's great states. But through sheer determination to do his best and making a his greatest effort to lysten and ask for help from his advicers made him one of Sweden's greatest Kings in history.
@@bolle9810 agree... so they all thought about him..... UNTIL he sat on his horse. Then he became a different person. No one could keep up with him then. He was a born military commander. But after the peace, he never got back to war again. After these bloody battles he saw what harm it done with an already small population. So he started to build his karoliner army to never be attacked again. Which succeded greatly. It came to good use when his son was attacked from 3 countries. How that ended is another story, but 2 out of 3 ain't that bad from a population of about 1 million....
@@bolle9810Charles XI seems to me like a genuine monarch. He supported the peasants against the nobility, earning the people's eternal trust. Proved himself personally in battle - unlike any leader today - but was so traumatized and taken that he pledged never to wage war again. You can't hate him
@@DestinationBarbarism Who wasn't in the 17th c.? Either you were seeking patronage, or if you were fortunate enough to be one of the people who could extend patronage, you were looking for candidates to tie to you as dependents. Dahlberg had to promote himself for patronage, same as everyone else.
I am impressed that the Swedish King returned to fight with his cornered troops. That must have been like a literal shot of adrenaline for them. Courageous!!
Thank you so much for making this video! Most of the time when swedish wars and battles are covered in media it is usualy very low resolution. Just yesterday this very battle was meantioned in this big production on tv and all of what was meantioned was how many people we lost, how bad it was and how it was basicly just a slugfest between unwilling and cowardly soldiers. So it is very nice to see someone explain what and why it happend.
me and my dad love this channel. my father cant really speak english that well, but because most of the information is shown my the video itself, he still understands almost everything. keep it up guys
Thanks for giving us a look at so much history that is really not well known by a lot of people. Always entertaining. The Swedes were real powerhouses in those days.
Wow, thanks for a lively reconstruction of this place' history. I have been living here, around Lund, for 13 years, traveling every day by Kävlinge and Nobellov and other places significant for this battle. They seem like most boring little vilages on Earth. Now, I'll imagine the smell of the gunpowder, when I pass them.
Another wonderful historical coverage video about Lund battle in 1676 between Sweden 🇸🇪 and Denmark 🇩🇰 where Dutch (Netherland warriors) participated besides Denise warriors. Thank you an excellent ( History Marche) channel for sharing this wonderful historical coverage video
For me this is local history. I am from Landskrona. We have something called the Citadell close to the center of town by the coast. Many danes and swedes have been killed around that place and then thrown in the moat around it. Served as a fort and a prison for many many years. today it's a museum. Was thaught about this in school aswell. Thanks for covering this. It's close to heart!
Great video! Thought it kind of nerfed the most spectacular part of the battle, that the king broke through the Danish lines with only two officers and three guardsmen. And that the Danes actually managed to turn and face down the new threat of the returning cavalry. It actually was the individual actions of the king that won the battle.
At first, I thought Charles was foolishly abandoning his army. But when he returned to charge through the enemy lines to join his exhausted troops, and then gave these weary men such a mental boost that they won the day for him, it gave me goosebumps. What a Legend 💯
We know it takes a lot of time and hard work to make these videos. So we always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love from Sri Lankan fan.❤
Wow, amazing to see the battle of my home on here! The ground was frozen solid, and the battle claimed so many lives that the corpses were stacked in big fozen piles outside the churches waiting for burial in the spring, a very gruesome detail from this battle!
This is very much living history to me. I was born in Lund and raised in Kristianstad. As a student in Lund, I lived right next to the battlefield. There is an old monument, but in recent years many landmarks have been added, with texts, maps and interactive content. I later moved to the countryside east of Lund. Here I lived in a village, Torna Hällestad, which whitnessed one of the worst massacres during the war. A swedish cavalry detachment rounded up the villagers, locked them inside the church and burnt it. Practically the whole population perished, about 300 people. These peasants were not Snapphanar and had not participated in the resistance. The same Swedish cavalry unit also slaughtered a scanian contingent of levied soldiers at the creek Borstbäcken. These farmboys had not been equipped yet and were practically unarmed. About 400 fell in the forest, with no losses to the swedes. The swedish war was conducted with utmost brutality against the civilian population, with the goal of exterminating and replacing it with swedish citizens. However, these plans were relatively quickly abandoned, as a more reasonable governor was appointed.
This is probably the most interesting era to me... post 30 years war, so you have all those innovations, but the bayonet is still not totally standardized. Sort of the waning days of the old pike and shot formations and the emergence of line infantry. The last gasp of the preeminence of private companies and the dawning of national regimentation. These battles would've been mind-blowing to watch.
STELLAR !....Never knew much aboot the Battle of Lund..gonna need to re-discover Skåne (Skania)soon again...moved from Bornholm to mid Jutland some months ago...TY!!!!!!
It always makes me wonder how armies in the past can identify their allies in such a chaotic fighting. Thank you for mentioning that detail to us, it helps with picturing the scene.
Flags and drums/music played very important roles as well. And battle cries. Walking in tight formations also helped. At least before there was too much gunsmoke and battle raging on. There are several examples in Swedish history with friendly fire happening such as Nördlingen 1648. And troops got separated and disconnected from each other such quite often such as Lützen 1632. Maybe this was why Charles the XI started to introduce the standardized uniforms, the famous blue and yellow carolean one. At Lund many Swedish troops had different uniforms depending on unit and regiments. And in the 30 years war it was not even any standardized outfits at all.
22:18 The Danish officer challenged a Swedish Major but it was Captain Bernard Von Liewen that did the duel. He slayed his "Tuborg smelling opponent" as he later recalled it.
@@guffeluffe5987 just wanted to fill in with more historical fact, it was the swedish captain that called him "Tuborg smelling" There are no hard feeling between swedes and danes even though they hold the world record of wars
@@guffeluffe5987 Not cleansed it was assimilated or "Swedification" in a record 80y. By forcing everyone to talk Swedish including the priest and teachers. But not "cleansing". 30 000 Danes was moved to the Baltic but not killed
@@Lassemalten There were plenty of mass-killings, dont try and distort history. Replace the word ''genoice'' with force ethnical displacement, if that makes you feel better. The result is the same.
Awesome video as usual, but extra special for me this time since I grew up and still live in the area! We were taught about the battle in school but I didn't know it in this kind of detail! Thanks!
Charles XI can, in many ways, be compared to historical giants like Hamilcar Barca and Philip II of Macedon. Their children all became great military leaders and it was largely due to their upbringing and their father's military reforms.
@@MrMaxEdelstahl Such a Danish take I've never heard its likeness before. Comparing one of the most peaceful swedish kings of the era to hitler is like comparing you to a functional human being. Maybe I've got it twisted though, and you actually like Hitler, which would make sense considering the 6-hour capitulation
@@jonatanlj747 FYI: Karl XI (24 November 1655 - 5 April1697), King of Sweden from 1660 was instrumental in the Danish defeat at Lund in 1676. He introduced absolute monarchy in 1680, and greatly reduced the influence of the nobility. The resources of the nobility were used for a major expansion of a civil and military organization under the leadership of Charles XI. He is also notorious for ordering the Oradour-sur-Glane-like massacre at Ørkened in Scania. All men between the ages of 15 and 60 were to be murdered, all houses and farms burned down. The resistance movement in the area gave the Swedes so much trouble that a warning example had to be set. However, the Swedes did not succeed in preventing some of the boys and men from the parish from escaping into the surrounding large forests when they saw the smoke from their neighbors' farms burning. Karl XI wrote in his diary, which is preserved in a museum, that he was planning a deportation of the entire population of Scania to the Baltic States. The plan was never carried out, however, thousands of Scanians were sent across the Baltic Sea to be used as cannon fodder in Charles XI's army, where they had to go into the line of fire because they were considered unreliable. In Scania, Karl XI is still called "Karl Genocide". Btw. Your pitiful attempt to use the nazi-slur against me only speaks volumes about your personal deficits.
Amazing video, I'm a local and had ancestors fight on both sides of the battle. Worth to know is that Charles Xi:s horse died during the battle and was replaced by black horse called Brandklipparen. The horse was so popular that Charles the XII inherited the horse after the death of Charles XI. It's believed to have existed more than one Brandklippare, one of the horses are in the museum in Stockholm.
As someone from Norra Nöbbelöv, now a suburb of Lund, I can tell you that a large portion of locals still feel hesitant to being under Swedish rule - despite the scorched earth tactics implemented by Christian V. The torturous execution methods the Swedes used against captured "Snapphanar" were horrific and included impalement on a wooden spike through the anus while the person was still alive. Their bodies were displayed in this gruesome fashion across southern Sweden to deter others to join Denmark's insurgent forces. Christian V is also known as "Christian the Tyrant" in Sweden, yet there is a large town in Scania bearing his father's name and the eastern and northern half of the province used to be called "Kristianstads Län" while the remainder was "Malmöhus Län". Charles XI is thought of as a celebrated warrior regent in the country but is still despised by many begrudging Scanians. I recall a large painted portrait of the king hanging in one of the old lecture halls of Katedralskolan in Lund.
I read about this ages ago and always found it interesting. However I had visualized it completely differently. Thanks for making it so clear how it all went down. Tbh losing so few kings on the battlefield is pretty lucky considering the shenanigans they got up to. My family has a summer-cabin close to Munkedal. It's fun to consider the topography in that perspective. It's full of choke-points even now and even for a modern army. Meanwhile Skåne(scania) isn't exactly known for it's abundance of elevation (nor forest).
one of the strangest aspects of reading about history that happened close to your home is that all those village names that you usually don't think much about on maps are suddenly the names of places you've been in
Very good narration, bravo. May I say, the comment field of this video actually adds information. I desire to show my appreciation and to sacrificed to the algorithm.
Generally I feel that Historymarche has a solid narration, Though as a swede I do have to point out 2 things: 1. The pronunciation of Öland by the narrator, with an O being uttered in the begining instead of the vowel Ö; makes it sound like he is talking about the, in contemporary times, finnish island Åland which is situated closer to the swedish archipilago Roslagen and Gotland than to Öland. 2. The word for the skanian guerilla fighters, snapphanar, does not have an f pronunciation after "snapp-", it has an actual 'h".
Great video! Impressed by your almost perfect pronunciation of Kävlinge. Nöbbelöv is a tricky one though - especially with the two "ö" being pronounced as two different sounds, the first one short like the "ou" in "nourish" and the second long like the "e" in "herb" when spoken in British received pronunciation.
It is said that during the battle the bishop of Lund was watching who would win in order to "give" scania to the winning king. After the battle, he rode over the battlefield and could not determined who had won since there were so many bodies on the battlefield. The battle is considered a "tie" in swedish history books since it was so bloody. However, since the swedish army was the one standing still on the field. The bishop decided that the winner of Scania, was indeed Sweden.
@@TheSlyngel Both sides lost the same amount of soldiers which is the basis of the claim. Some Historians considered it so because of comparisions with other Battles. That in most wins the Victor loses less than the defeated. The swedes Could not follow up the win as they needed to reconstitute the army as it was so bloodied. Also, they failed with the Main objektive of the campaign, fully expell the danes. Partly the reason why the swedish king went after the danish king so hard. King charles wanted the Battle to be a final decisive one. A long answer to you but, yes indeed the swedes won the field and Lund. But at the Cost in lives and that the danish army could withdraw to Landskrona some considered it a tie. But I agree with you, we swedes won!
This was an excellent look into a battle that I suspect few know about.
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There is nothing better than seeing battles from the 17th century, along with the 16th century, they are the two most overlooked centuries in the history of warfare. In this case, I like that you have chosen a battle from the Northern conflicts, since they are one of the least known (especially for those of us who have cultural connections with the Mediterranean countries of Europe).
One of the deadliest battles of all time, counting the percentages of casualties on both sides. They ground each other down. Great video! I have been waiting for your take on it and you delivered beautifully.
Weird description of Charles XI. Nothing medieval about him. He was however a minor, with a caretaker government, until coming of age at 19. And his first challenge as ruler was this war with Denmark. Which was an eventuality the caretaker government had not made provisions for.
Fascinating to hear this living just within the range of the war 350 years later, having walked through Nöbbelöv, Valkärra and Lerbäck and walked alongside the Kävlinge river/Höje å.
As someone who has lived in and around Lund my entire life, seeing the most famous (or perhaps infamous) battle of my area in a video like this is quite awesome. Pronunciation and spelling of most villages and such are a bit off, but that´s to be expected. However, something really went wrong with the word "snapphanar", which became "snappenahur" even in the subtitles (total gibberish).
Why didn't you give a casualty estimate of the battle? Seems like an odd oversight. Especially since Lund is infamous as the bloodiest battle fought in Scandinavia.
I was having the same thought. If Wiki is to be trusted these are the figures: Strength Sweden 8000 [2000 infantry; 6000 cavalry; 12 cannon] Denmark 13000 [6300 infantry; 6000 cavalry; 56 cannon] Casualties and losses Sweden 3-4000 [1000-1500 killed; 2000-2500 wounded; 70 captured] Denmark 8-9000 [2000-2500 killed; 4000-4500 wounded; 2000 captured; all cannons captured]
@@rhoddryice5412 Sources afterwards tells about up to 9000 dead, with about 6000 of them being Danes, and this is what Swedish Wikipedia also tells. The bloodbath was a shock back then, with around 50% of all who fought losing their life if this is the case. We have written texts afterwards from priests who write that soldiers calling it "a murder". The cold weather was probably one of the causes behind the high casualties, as many of the wounded froze to death on the battlefield. Diseases could also account for it, as both armies suffered greatly from it. It's a controversial number. More dead than gigantic battles such as Gettysburg, or D-day with a lot more people involved. The number comes from burials after the battle, and include all dead around Lund. Ascheberg writes that they buried 8993 in mass graves. It has been debated for hundred of years now and we will never know for sure.
According to historical sources ( the book Karolinerna by Alf Åberg. ) they found 8933 dead on the battlefield from both sides. They didn't sort them by nationality and they were buried together. Then there are those who drowned and those from the battle in the danish camp.
Thanks for this video! I'd just like to add that contrary to what you claim here the snaphaner/snapphanar multiplied after the Battle of Lund. The Danish king also started up a light horse corps called the King's friskytter (freeshooters) that was literally an attempt to legalise the snaphaner and put them under more direct command. There were about 2000 registered ones who were paid 1-2 rixdaler by the Danish War Commissariat and they played an important role in the small war. I think 1678 was the year that saw the highest number of snaphaner/friskytter attacks. However, that's just some additional information, I really appreciated this video!
@@habbomanish spelar mig ingen större roll i nutid faktiskt. Men jag tycker Danmark förtjänat att vinna den gången. Synd om befolkningen att de förlorade.
The long 17th Century ('The Century Of The Soldier' according to some) is quite fascinating for its political and military developments. I've avoided looking at the campaigns of Charles XI so far as time and money place constraints on how much I can read but that is a hole that needs filling one day. For now videos like this will have to suffice.
Amazing channel - I often reference your excellent material when I am re-creating battles with Bannerlord for my own channel. Thank you for your accuracy, consistency and stellar quality!
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Two corrections - The Sun King of France was Louis the XIV, rather than Louis IV, and Charles XI would have been concerned with hypothermia in the dead of winter, rather than with hyperthermia.
I live in Scania, and it's interesting how mythologized this conflict is. I grew up in one of the areas where the Snapphanar were the most active, and even today we say when we see a large rock outcropping or a deep forest we'll "this is snapphane territory" or "this is a snapphane hideout". Where I live now, the city of Lund, there's plenty of plaques and monuments commemorating this battle. Recently me and a friend ventured onto the fields for a hike and found an inscription that basically said "this is where the danes camped". Cool stuff and an often overlooked period in european history. I stand by the fact that the snapphanar have massive hollywood movie potential.
Absolutely! One of the few things this video got wrong was that the snaphanar decreased after Lund...it was the contrary, they multiplied. The friskytter corps was established in the spring of 1677.
PS. I'm Scanian too, grew up on the battlefield.
I was born and i still live in lund, there is a lot of history in this city
Perhaps you should be grateful that Hollywood hasn't decided to bastardize your history with political correctness... Now if instead there was a domestic film made by a dedicated person about this? I would watch that.
@@noreply-7069 lol...you are too late... they are already in Sweden. Watch "Historien om Sverieg"
That alone charge along the front line by Charles XI, to rally his troops, was badass.
Dude was like 20 years old, probably full of piss and vinegar.
"Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?"
- Achilles, Troy 2004
Yeah he had writen a letter to his mom the day before saying he would attack and that he would either win or die. So he was mentally prepared.
Its our Lord of The Rings moment.
Charles XI was an idiot in this battle, fucking about chasing Danes instead of directing his army
That's honestly amazing. I have never thought I would watch a video of this battle being discussed. Thank you, History Marche, for covering the Swedish history!
Same here
My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it!
And Danish.
There is a book "Slaget om Lund".
Dunno if you can Swedish😅.
@@koff41how modern is the Swedish? I can read Swedish but only modern really.. sounds really interesting
Charles XI would go on to preside over a significant period of peace after the Scanian war, and he would commemorate the battle of Lund every year. It is believed that the Battle of Lund actually traumatized Charles to the extent that he went on to avoid armed conflict as much as possible, even marrying a Danish princess to restore relations between the rival kingdoms.
It's pretty clear that he developed some serious PTSD from his experience, understandable considering he was only 21 at the time and in his first battle which also turned out to be increadibly vicious.
Livgardet still celebrates the battle at Lund every year with lundaspelen
Yes, that is all politics ever since the dawn of history.@@nordicpatriot
The Swedes were really traumatized after the Battle of Kircholm in 1605. Because that was really the bloodiest battle for Sweden in which the Polish winged hussars overran the Swedes in just 20 minutes with Sweden had 8,000 casualties and Poland had only 100 casualties. The Polish hussars launched a devastating charge against the enemy which ended the battle in the decisive victory of the Polish empire.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars It was also the battle that inspired Gustaf II Adolf to modernize the Swedish combat tactics, leading to the great victories in the 30 years war. And later to the Deluge, making it more of a Pyrrhic victory...
Having lived in and outside of Lund for most of my life, this is somewhat strange to see the Battle of Lund like this. Wonderful done.
Alltså vi behöver några storfilmer om vår krigshistoria. Idag är det så svårt att förstå att Danmark var vår ärkefiende.
nej bror bara kolla hur dom snackar@@kristofferhellstrom
@@rurlafriend9395 Vadå hur dem snackar?
@@kristofferhellstrom Sveriges historia är storslagen, liksom hela Europas. Ja fram till mitten av 1900-talet ungefär. Synd det som hände sedan bara... 🙈🤮
@@sweden_is_xxxx Det vore fortfarande intressant att se några storfilmer om Sveriges historia. Är du ett troll?
Thank you for covering this battle! It's close to heart for me personally as I volunteered for the Swedish military service and was stationed in Karlsborg K3 with the Life Regiment Hussars who distinguished themselves with bravery in this battle. The regiments celebration day is the 4th of december in memory of this very battle.
I am proud to say that, as my sergeants uttered many a time, "once a hussar, always a hussar".
Pergite!
scania should be danish
@@habbomanish Shouldn't have lost the battle for helsinborg then. Denmark should be Swedish
@@jonoxes8662 Well you never managed to conquer denmark. You did manage to capture Scania though, and now islamifying it. So congrats on that buddy.
@@Fpsmedia1337 Damn imagine responding to a joke about something 300 years ago by just being racist under a damn military history video.
@@jonoxes8662 Whats racist about my comment lmao? xD
I went from India and stayed in Helsingborg, Lund and Landskrona for some time in 2009-2010 and the entire area still has numerous sites reminding people of this historic battle.
Mjhe pata hai tu yahan kyu aya hai 😂😂
@@KanuniSuleyman4857 good 👍 be happy with that
Indians trying not to mention their nationality Challenge [IMPOSSIBLE]
@@DeadAndAliveCat may be you need to revisit your English classes.
Coming back to my comment, yeah I did visit Helsingborg when invited by a client who are one of the biggest business names in the world. Was there for a couple of months and came back to India once my assignment was complete.
@@subhasismukhopadhyay4758 "may be you need to revisit your English classes"
Classic Indian behavior, not even understanding in the fucking slightest what is being said and then going on some random fucking tangent repeating information that's already been stated and that no one cares about.
Love your content! Your narration and work are second to none! The swedish Empire was such an amazing force! Thanks For this🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪
Just sadly, they never had the population to ever maintain that empire. If Charles knew when to stop, he could have held so much of Russia at bay, and commanded all trade in the Baltic Sea.
@@AkodoGarouA Norwegian historian once told me that Scandinavia would've been the military powerhouse of Europe were it not for the black death. I guess it hit Scandinavia particularly hard.
@420JackG It was said to have killed a third of the population, and Sweden was not to recover fully for three hundred years (mid-17th century).
It was noted that to it as the cause to why there were wilderness and forests where there had previously been villages and farms. In comparison, it would be eerily similar to how Adrianople took decades to recover & rebuild after Justinian's reign amid the bubonic plague that ravaged the Eastern Romans.
The countryside took longer to come back (likely a century or more) amid the many conflicts and regime changes.
When you include the multiple incursions by the Bulgarians and other groups its easy to see why the Byzantines couldn't muster a lot of manpower over the centuries to contest multiple fronts like Sweden was facing later on. Hence, why the overall agricultural & economy was sputtering to maintain long wars of attrition & trading disputes with other powers like the Italian states that leaned to Catholicism.
He’s worse than many, also remember he’s a holocaust denier
@@420JackGIn Norway about 60% of the population died from the black plague.
We were *this close* to a "Soldiers abandon the battlefield to raid the enemy camp". It's a small miracle the Swedish King managed to rally his cavalry for a final charge.
Diabolical intervention no doubt 😄.
In any case, there was a cavalry final charge in the Battle of Kircholm in 1605 by the Polish winged hussars. By the way, this was actually the bloodiest battle for the Swedes. Because Sweden had 8,000 casualties and Poland had compared with that only 100 casualties. The Polish Hussars launched devastating charges against the Swedish troops which ended the battle in only 20 minutes with the decisive victory of the Polish empire.
It was highly unfortunate, imho
@@HappyCatholicDanecry
@@mannomorth 🥹
The Danis/Swedish wars are fascinating because the rivalry was essentially an arms race over history. They'd periodically emerge under completely different tactics and armies in each respective generation. They've fought each other in approximately 30 wars, sort of like two magicians each showing up with a different bigger and badder animal out of their hat.
I think it is 14 wars, which is a world record. And yet no hard feelings today
@@Lassemalten We have to ritually insult each other through jokes though.
@Lassemalten That's only counting the wars since the Swedish war of independence, which obviously ignores previous conflicts.
@@Lassemalten Depending on what you count as a single war, and from when you start counting, Sweden and Denmark have fought between 18 and 32 wars against each other.
@@Lassemalten Because Sweden won in the end and forced the Danes to stop attacking.
As an alumnus of Lund University and a former employee of the local museum of history, I am thrilled to see this video. The university (founded 10 years earlier in 1666) that is there today was almost undone by professors fleeing from the possible sacking of the city. It's only through their private efforts years after the battle that Lund U was "restarted" in 1682.
Erik dahlberg was such a badass haha.. he checked the ice for charles the 10th and also here for the 11th..
And defended Riga from the Saxons in 1700, serving under Charles X's grandson, Charles XII.
Wow, what a fantastic story. I can't help but feel Tolkienesque echoes of Return of the King and the battle of Pelennor Fields.
Except the side of evil won, in my perspective. 😉
@@henrikg1388 well not really a good guy move to invade in the first place is it haha
@@henrikg1388danskjävel😂❤
Charles's rally at Lund is a close 2nd after only the 1583 Siege of Vienna where Poland's King and the Winged Hussars & infantry saved Western Civilization from the the Ottomans.
Whether intentional or not by Tolkien, Rohan's role in ROTK at Pelennor fields was almost following the footsteps of King Sobieski & his legendary Winged Hussars in the final chapters of the Great Turkish wars - a period that saw the Christian world about to buckled from Islam in central Europe
The men answered that call for aid by the Holy Roman Emperor & the people of Vienna like Gondor saw salvation over the horizon on great steeds that numbered almost 10,000 men about to charge into their enemy on their exposed flank.
Cool :) But the battle of Pelennor Fields is modelled on the battle of the Catalaunian Plains (in France) between Atilla the Hun and and alliance between the Romans lead by Flavius Aetius and the Visigoths lead by Theodoric I. Check it out if you have not already :) Theodoric falls in that battle, just as Theoden did in LoTR, and Theodoric's son leads the Visigoths to victory against the Huns.
It’s crazy to think the Swedish empire essentially had about the population of Jacksonville. Seriously “punching above their weight” for sure!
That population being very spread out and having poor soil didn't exactly help either.
@@karl-erikmumler9820 Well, I have to correct you there. Sweden had poor soil, but the region the battle took place and was fought over, namely Scania/Skåneland, had and has the most fertile land in the temperate zone, only rivalled by Ukraine. A big part of the stakes.
part of my heritage is from the county off Dalarna and this part of Sweden suffered beyond what any of us could think.
In our family we still have a saying “ Orsa company lovar inget bestämt men gör så gott de kan”
Translate ruffly to “ Orsa company doesn’t promise anything but we are trying to do our best”
The answer came from the chef for recruiting soldiers countywide in Orsa.
The horrible fact was that the country was drained and no men was available to go to war.
Only women and children was still living in the villages.
Thats one off the reasons we have hade peace for 200 years and why we made us neutral.
But perhaps its all going to change to the worse now when we no longer will be neutral in Nato.
@@piafredriksson400 can’t know for sure. Could also be that joining nato will be the move that protected Sweden from an increasingly belligerent and expansionistic Russia. Time will tell.
Ja ni hade levt så jävla mycket bättre i Dalarna om ni inte hade haft starka kungar i Svealand som kallat ut er i krig istället för att vara ett invaderat gränsland mellan Danmark och Ryssland. Ni hade kunnat sitta och sjunga hippiesånger tillsammans i fred i 500 år. Horunge.
"Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?"
- Achilles, Troy 2004
For Charles's rally at the latter stages of the Battle of Lund
The Swedes's victory at Lund is often attributed to the composition of their army, as it contained far fewer mercenaries than the Danish army. The Finns/Kerelians played a major role in this battle for Charles XI.
Not to mention that elements of the Danish leadership & generals were said to be developing an intense rivalry with one another that would later play a role at Landskrona. The Swedish mix of cavalry and infantry at Lund made it possible for the Swedes to mount swift counterattacks as soon as a friendly infantry unit buckled.
The Danish still used the "Caracole tactic" (or the modern equivalent to the "Cantabrian Circle") - an already outdated cavalry tactic dating back to the 8th century BC that was developed in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, undermining the speed and agility of their cavalry in the expense of shooting pistols/projectiles from the horse against infantry yet it was met with mixed results against enemy cavalry who decide to tactically counterattack at the right moment. Many historians and military experts still debate its effectiveness in battle during the age of the musket.
It was said by the legendary Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus that the Caracole was a technique that was "fairly useless" in battle, and he ordered that all cavalry under Swedish command not to use the caracole; instead, he instructed the Swedish army to charge aggressively like their Polish-Luthuanian rivals which ultimately at many battles like at Lund was enough to shatter the opposition.
The last recorded traditional example of the use of the caracole against enemy cavalry ended in disaster at the battle of Klushino in 1610 when the Russians faced the Polish hussars.
Some different variations of caracole were created in the later 17th & early 18th centuries due to how Western armies were still trying to adapt to the advancement of gunpowder & find that perfect balance of using cavalry - particularly in Eastern Europe where the horse still dominated the landscape and was embedded in the military idealities of many nations which included Russia, Poland, the Ottomans, and much later the German states.
Still, the caracole was met with limited and, at times, a rare success in a new age of military warfare. Amid the growing military revolutions in both France & Sweden and the rise of Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick I of Prussia, Eugene of Savoy, Napoleon, and many others who help create the new modern age of warfare until the early 20th century.
Love learning more about Scandinavian history. Keep up the amazing work, HistoryMarche
I think the success of the Cantabrian Circle in earlier times was because the forward momentum of the cavalry increased the force of the arrows as they hit the enemy (at least according to a book about Attila the Hun). That effect would be not be significant with pistols.
However, it would allow the cavalry to maintain continuous fire (be it arrow or bullet), so I can see why historians debate it's effectiveness despite one of the advantages not being a factor with gunpowder weapons.
@@jeghaterdegforfaen agreed. Unlike arrows, pistols provided less flexibility (if the elements caused issues) and accuracy from a distance unless the cavalry was extremely close to their opponents to be more effective.
Some armies found that using the tactic was more successful against low-morale cavalry units, but when you are dealing with nations like Poland-Lithuania and Sweden, they tend to know the pros and cons of the strategy more than most of their rivals in Eastern Europe.
For example, during the battle of Gniew in 1626, the Polish light cavalry used it with success twice. The first time light cavalry units under Mikołaj Abramowicz fired at the Swedish cavalry rank by rank. Still, instead of withdrawing to reload, it immediately proceeded to charge the enemy with sabers.
The Danes did slowly adjust from using the caracole's flaws, but the Swedes & the Poles had better morale and discipline to weather the storm of these attacks.
Brandenburg-Pussia, Austria, and France only had a few cuirassier heavy cavalry units that could match both Sweden's & Poland-Luthuania's armored units, meaning they were most dependent on the caracole for their lighter cavalry units until the late 18th century due to the debate of how much armor a cavalryman should have with pistols being a major factor in battle. (some nations either made the pistol the new primary or still retained the saber as their to-go weapon)
France eventually, by the time of Napoleon, got a handle on things and utilized more heavy cavalry that slowly outperformed Prussia, Austria, and Russia's cavalry arm (though by 1812, Russia's light cossacks were a major player that turned the war against Napoleon due to the fact he lost many experienced men, and horses during Borodino & the long retreat)
I think its more accurate to say that the Karelians played a major role in the battle, rather than the finns.
2 different people, even though similar.
@AnonyMous-ql9nj that's true. Back in those days, they tended to call any regiment from/near Finland to be "Kerelian" regiments in the Swedish Battle orders. Thanks for the shout-out.
Fantastic to see you cover the Battle of Lund - your channel is truly one of the best covering battles and nice to see you covering the 30 year, Scanian and the Great Northern Wars :)
ur right
For 3 years, every day, I biked past the very place where the armies first clashed. And many times I walked past the monument raised by both countries much later to commemorate this battle. I have waited for so long to see someone cover it. Glad it finally was.
It’s extraordinarily seldom throughout history that a battle can be recovered after a mistake pursuit whence falsely assuming victory has already been achieved. The fact that Charles was able to rally and reengage effectively in a timely manner is nothing short of remarkable.
Especially when one has to remember that at this point he was still seen as mentally slow and emotionally weak by the not only be foreign but also his own royal court. He had extremely hard time reading and writing his entire life(believed to be dyslexic) and a hard time learning anything from his schooling. A Swedish documentary from 1995 about him mentions for example that he was expected to be able to know Latin, German, Finnish, French, Italian, Spanish, English and one unnamed slavic language(likely Poilish or Russian). And that does not include the myriad of trades he was expected to master as the ruler of one of europe's great states. But through sheer determination to do his best and making a his greatest effort to lysten and ask for help from his advicers made him one of Sweden's greatest Kings in history.
@@bolle9810 agree... so they all thought about him..... UNTIL he sat on his horse.
Then he became a different person. No one could keep up with him then.
He was a born military commander. But after the peace, he never got back to war again.
After these bloody battles he saw what harm it done with an already small population.
So he started to build his karoliner army to never be attacked again. Which succeded greatly.
It came to good use when his son was attacked from 3 countries. How that ended is another story, but
2 out of 3 ain't that bad from a population of about 1 million....
@@bolle9810Charles XI seems to me like a genuine monarch. He supported the peasants against the nobility, earning the people's eternal trust. Proved himself personally in battle - unlike any leader today - but was so traumatized and taken that he pledged never to wage war again. You can't hate him
Erik Dahlberg was a bit more than "a soldier". He was a military engineer, and at the time the Quarter Master General of the army.
AND a shameless self promoter. I read everything by Dahlberg about Dahlberg with great scepticism, even if he is valuable for the general history.
@@DestinationBarbarism Who wasn't in the 17th c.? Either you were seeking patronage, or if you were fortunate enough to be one of the people who could extend patronage, you were looking for candidates to tie to you as dependents. Dahlberg had to promote himself for patronage, same as everyone else.
@@nomennescio4604 The problem is that most of the stories about Erik Dahlberg come to us by .. Erik Dahlberg.
I am impressed that the Swedish King returned to fight with his cornered troops. That must have been like a literal shot of adrenaline for them. Courageous!!
I live in this area north of Lund, and this is the first time i got to see a battle map like this.
I'm from Norra Fäladen. People don't realise what happened there...
why do you have danish last name?
Thank you so much for making this video! Most of the time when swedish wars and battles are covered in media it is usualy very low resolution. Just yesterday this very battle was meantioned in this big production on tv and all of what was meantioned was how many people we lost, how bad it was and how it was basicly just a slugfest between unwilling and cowardly soldiers. So it is very nice to see someone explain what and why it happend.
Turn off the TV?
I vilket tv program nämndes detta?
me and my dad love this channel. my father cant really speak english that well, but because most of the information is shown my the video itself, he still understands almost everything. keep it up guys
It's cool to hear the whole story behind this battle. I live in Nöbbelöv myself. We have a memorial to remember all the people that lost their lives.
Thanks for giving us a look at so much history that is really not well known by a lot of people. Always entertaining. The Swedes were real powerhouses in those days.
Wow, thanks for a lively reconstruction of this place' history. I have been living here, around Lund, for 13 years, traveling every day by Kävlinge and Nobellov and other places significant for this battle. They seem like most boring little vilages on Earth. Now, I'll imagine the smell of the gunpowder, when I pass them.
The battle of lund is a really well known battle in sweden since it was so incredibly bloody and a decisive battle.
Great video. Minor note Louis the 14th not the 4th was the sun king.
Yeah, sorry about the typo 😂
@@HistoryMarche The text on screen was correct. The narrator said "the forth".
@@HistoryMarche By the way, Snapphanar is pronounced Snapp - hanar (2 words into one). Highway men would be a close translation.
@@knowledgeisgood9645 No. 14 is XIV. The text said IV.
@@historyteacher73 At 8:30 and 10:50 the banner shows XIV
i love this channel so much, i swear to god. one time i was having a bad day only to see a historymarche upload and it lifted my spirits immediately
That's very kind of you to say. Thanks man!
Another wonderful historical coverage video about Lund battle in 1676 between Sweden 🇸🇪 and Denmark 🇩🇰 where Dutch (Netherland warriors) participated besides Denise warriors. Thank you an excellent ( History Marche) channel for sharing this wonderful historical coverage video
Although we've been enemies for hundreds of years, I am proud to consider by Swedish neighbors brothers and sisters of Denmark. Scandinavia Unite!
@@FuskerFisker-zn7zyDå ska du veta danskjävel att jag hade inte tvekat en sekund att ge mitt liv för erat urkalkat skit land ;)💙
For me this is local history. I am from Landskrona. We have something called the Citadell close to the center of town by the coast. Many danes and swedes have been killed around that place and then thrown in the moat around it. Served as a fort and a prison for many many years. today it's a museum. Was thaught about this in school aswell. Thanks for covering this. It's close to heart!
Thanks for another incredible history documentary! I always learn something new.
Glad you enjoyed it Thanks for the visit man
@@HistoryMarcheWell done. //10km from Lund
Great video!
Thought it kind of nerfed the most spectacular part of the battle, that the king broke through the Danish lines with only two officers and three guardsmen. And that the Danes actually managed to turn and face down the new threat of the returning cavalry. It actually was the individual actions of the king that won the battle.
Great video. Scandinavian topics are not handled enough, but you did it justice
Except the pronounciation. It is terrible for someone that comes from Sweden. There is no F sound in snapphanar for instance
Very nice video! I can't imagine how miserable it must have been to fight in this battle on either side.
Narration at its best.
This is HistoryMarche for you ❤
At first, I thought Charles was foolishly abandoning his army. But when he returned to charge through the enemy lines to join his exhausted troops, and then gave these weary men such a mental boost that they won the day for him, it gave me goosebumps. What a Legend 💯
I am from Sweden! Thanks for this video.
I am from Denmark ;-).
En skønne dag tager vi alt tilbage!
the arabs will take both denmark and sweden lol@@dritzzdarkwood4727
@@stayhungry1503no
Är född och uppvuxen i Lund. Sjukt intressant. Synd att man inte läste mer om detta i skolan
@@stayhungry1503 GERMANS TAKE OVER DENMARK NORWAY NOT SWEDİSH BUT RUSSİAN DESTORY SWEDİSH EMPİRE.
Fantastic video!
Minor thing, but would be nice to include the causality figures at the end (given how huge they were percentage-wise)
We know it takes a lot of time and hard work to make these videos. So we always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love from Sri Lankan fan.❤
Wow, amazing to see the battle of my home on here! The ground was frozen solid, and the battle claimed so many lives that the corpses were stacked in big fozen piles outside the churches waiting for burial in the spring, a very gruesome detail from this battle!
Congratulações do Brasil, obrigado pelo vídeo !!
This is very much living history to me. I was born in Lund and raised in Kristianstad. As a student in Lund, I lived right next to the battlefield. There is an old monument, but in recent years many landmarks have been added, with texts, maps and interactive content.
I later moved to the countryside east of Lund. Here I lived in a village, Torna Hällestad, which whitnessed one of the worst massacres during the war. A swedish cavalry detachment rounded up the villagers, locked them inside the church and burnt it. Practically the whole population perished, about 300 people. These peasants were not Snapphanar and had not participated in the resistance. The same Swedish cavalry unit also slaughtered a scanian contingent of levied soldiers at the creek Borstbäcken. These farmboys had not been equipped yet and were practically unarmed. About 400 fell in the forest, with no losses to the swedes.
The swedish war was conducted with utmost brutality against the civilian population, with the goal of exterminating and replacing it with swedish citizens. However, these plans were relatively quickly abandoned, as a more reasonable governor was appointed.
Wow...i was on the edge of my seat for this battle...impressive..
This battle is so brutal
This is probably the most interesting era to me... post 30 years war, so you have all those innovations, but the bayonet is still not totally standardized. Sort of the waning days of the old pike and shot formations and the emergence of line infantry. The last gasp of the preeminence of private companies and the dawning of national regimentation. These battles would've been mind-blowing to watch.
I'm from Gotland and would love a video about the Battle of Visby, it's a massive slaughter almost never heard of.
STELLAR !....Never knew much aboot the Battle of Lund..gonna need to re-discover Skåne (Skania)soon again...moved from Bornholm to mid Jutland some months ago...TY!!!!!!
Skåneland is probably the best term. Including Skåne, Halland och Blekinge.
Very interesting! 👍
It always makes me wonder how armies in the past can identify their allies in such a chaotic fighting. Thank you for mentioning that detail to us, it helps with picturing the scene.
Flags and drums/music played very important roles as well.
And battle cries.
Walking in tight formations also helped.
At least before there was too much gunsmoke and battle raging on.
There are several examples in Swedish history with friendly fire happening such as Nördlingen 1648.
And troops got separated and disconnected from each other such quite often such as Lützen 1632.
Maybe this was why Charles the XI started to introduce the standardized uniforms, the famous blue and yellow carolean one.
At Lund many Swedish troops had different uniforms depending on unit and regiments.
And in the 30 years war it was not even any standardized outfits at all.
22:18 The Danish officer challenged a Swedish Major but it was Captain Bernard Von Liewen that did the duel. He slayed his "Tuborg smelling opponent" as he later recalled it.
Angry swedistani spotted
@@guffeluffe5987 just wanted to fill in with more historical fact, it was the swedish captain that called him "Tuborg smelling" There are no hard feeling between swedes and danes even though they hold the world record of wars
@@Lassemalten Us danes are plenty mad you ethnically cleansed Danish Scania only to give it to islamic fighters.
@@guffeluffe5987 Not cleansed it was assimilated or "Swedification" in a record 80y. By forcing everyone to talk Swedish including the priest and teachers. But not "cleansing". 30 000 Danes was moved to the Baltic but not killed
@@Lassemalten There were plenty of mass-killings, dont try and distort history. Replace the word ''genoice'' with force ethnical displacement, if that makes you feel better. The result is the same.
Awesome video as usual, but extra special for me this time since I grew up and still live in the area!
We were taught about the battle in school but I didn't know it in this kind of detail! Thanks!
having grown up in Lund it's fun seeing a video from you about such an important part of our history!
Charles XI can, in many ways, be compared to historical giants like Hamilcar Barca and Philip II of Macedon. Their children all became great military leaders and it was largely due to their upbringing and their father's military reforms.
And Hitler.
@@MrMaxEdelstahl ???
@@jonatanlj747 Chuck the 11th was like Hitler. Get it?
@@MrMaxEdelstahl Such a Danish take I've never heard its likeness before. Comparing one of the most peaceful swedish kings of the era to hitler is like comparing you to a functional human being. Maybe I've got it twisted though, and you actually like Hitler, which would make sense considering the 6-hour capitulation
@@jonatanlj747 FYI:
Karl XI (24 November 1655 - 5 April1697), King of Sweden from 1660 was instrumental in the Danish defeat at Lund in 1676. He introduced absolute monarchy in 1680, and greatly reduced the influence of the nobility. The resources of the nobility were used for a major expansion of a civil and military organization under the leadership of Charles XI.
He is also notorious for ordering the Oradour-sur-Glane-like massacre at Ørkened in Scania.
All men between the ages of 15 and 60 were to be murdered, all houses and farms burned down. The resistance movement in the area gave the Swedes so much trouble that a warning example had to be set. However, the Swedes did not succeed in preventing some of the boys and men from the parish from escaping into the surrounding large forests when they saw the smoke from their neighbors' farms burning.
Karl XI wrote in his diary, which is preserved in a museum, that he was planning a deportation of the entire population of Scania to the Baltic States. The plan was never carried out, however, thousands of Scanians were sent across the Baltic Sea to be used as cannon fodder in Charles XI's army, where they had to go into the line of fire because they were considered unreliable. In Scania, Karl XI is still called "Karl Genocide".
Btw. Your pitiful attempt to use the nazi-slur against me only speaks volumes about your personal deficits.
Amazing video, I'm a local and had ancestors fight on both sides of the battle. Worth to know is that Charles Xi:s horse died during the battle and was replaced by black horse called Brandklipparen. The horse was so popular that Charles the XII inherited the horse after the death of Charles XI. It's believed to have existed more than one Brandklippare, one of the horses are in the museum in Stockholm.
As someone from Norra Nöbbelöv, now a suburb of Lund, I can tell you that a large portion of locals still feel hesitant to being under Swedish rule - despite the scorched earth tactics implemented by Christian V. The torturous execution methods the Swedes used against captured "Snapphanar" were horrific and included impalement on a wooden spike through the anus while the person was still alive. Their bodies were displayed in this gruesome fashion across southern Sweden to deter others to join Denmark's insurgent forces. Christian V is also known as "Christian the Tyrant" in Sweden, yet there is a large town in Scania bearing his father's name and the eastern and northern half of the province used to be called "Kristianstads Län" while the remainder was "Malmöhus Län". Charles XI is thought of as a celebrated warrior regent in the country but is still despised by many begrudging Scanians. I recall a large painted portrait of the king hanging in one of the old lecture halls of Katedralskolan in Lund.
If you are not a swedish speaker (which I suspect), your pronounciations of swedish regions is very very good! 👍
Charles XI, one of Sweden’s greatest kings.
Really was, remember the grey-coat legend of him incognito checking up on officials making sure they behaved good and Godly towards the populace.
@@PappaKnugenGamle Gråkappa 😂
@@arawn1061 Exxaakt :D
I read about this ages ago and always found it interesting. However I had visualized it completely differently. Thanks for making it so clear how it all went down. Tbh losing so few kings on the battlefield is pretty lucky considering the shenanigans they got up to.
My family has a summer-cabin close to Munkedal. It's fun to consider the topography in that perspective. It's full of choke-points even now and even for a modern army. Meanwhile Skåne(scania) isn't exactly known for it's abundance of elevation (nor forest).
one of the strangest aspects of reading about history that happened close to your home is that all those village names that you usually don't think much about on maps are suddenly the names of places you've been in
That final charge reminds me of the army of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings but probably way more incredible to witness.
Very good narration, bravo. May I say, the comment field of this video actually adds information. I desire to show my appreciation and to sacrificed to the algorithm.
Best part of Saturday is getting a historymarche video
Fun fact, Today at the place where the first engagements toke place just north of the old city wall you will find a: funeral home.
Always love coming home to a new video
Generally I feel that Historymarche has a solid narration,
Though as a swede I do have to point out 2 things:
1. The pronunciation of Öland by the narrator, with an O being uttered in the begining instead of the vowel Ö; makes it sound like he is talking about the, in contemporary times, finnish island Åland which is situated closer to the swedish archipilago Roslagen and Gotland than to Öland.
2. The word for the skanian guerilla fighters, snapphanar, does not have an f pronunciation after "snapp-", it has an actual 'h".
Cheers from Lund, great video!
(PS, great work on the pronunciation, much above average!)
Där va du snäll ändå
Great video! Impressed by your almost perfect pronunciation of Kävlinge. Nöbbelöv is a tricky one though - especially with the two "ö" being pronounced as two different sounds, the first one short like the "ou" in "nourish" and the second long like the "e" in "herb" when spoken in British received pronunciation.
It is said that during the battle the bishop of Lund was watching who would win in order to "give" scania to the winning king. After the battle, he rode over the battlefield and could not determined who had won since there were so many bodies on the battlefield. The battle is considered a "tie" in swedish history books since it was so bloody. However, since the swedish army was the one standing still on the field. The bishop decided that the winner of Scania, was indeed Sweden.
i have never heard it refered as a tie before. It was very bloody and costly but an obvious Swedish victory. just look at what happend after
@@TheSlyngel Both sides lost the same amount of soldiers which is the basis of the claim. Some Historians considered it so because of comparisions with other Battles. That in most wins the Victor loses less than the defeated. The swedes Could not follow up the win as they needed to reconstitute the army as it was so bloodied. Also, they failed with the Main objektive of the campaign, fully expell the danes. Partly the reason why the swedish king went after the danish king so hard. King charles wanted the Battle to be a final decisive one. A long answer to you but, yes indeed the swedes won the field and Lund. But at the Cost in lives and that the danish army could withdraw to Landskrona some considered it a tie. But I agree with you, we swedes won!
Thus, by keeping Scania, Sweden gave the ultimate victory to the Danes : )
My forefarther fought in this battle and survived.. mindblowing to think about
very cool. Looking at google maps, you can see all the village names are still there and the roads are pretty much now as they were then
That "snappenahur" pronunciation at the end hit me hard. Interesting video!
This was an excellent look into a battle that I suspect few know about.
There is nothing better than seeing battles from the 17th century, along with the 16th century, they are the two most overlooked centuries in the history of warfare. In this case, I like that you have chosen a battle from the Northern conflicts, since they are one of the least known (especially for those of us who have cultural connections with the Mediterranean countries of Europe).
I'm stunned to see you support better help. Sad to see my favourite channel gone
One of the deadliest battles of all time, counting the percentages of casualties on both sides. They ground each other down.
Great video!
I have been waiting for your take on it and you delivered beautifully.
I'm really glad that you made a video about the battle in one of the "Northern Wars"! Please do more 17th century battles!
I live in Lund. Happy to see this video :)
Thank you for watching.
@@HistoryMarcheyou're amazing
Hello lundwasi 😂
@@stormshadow5283😂😂😂😂
Great, engaging ,and thorough video. Also, quite fun to hear all the bold attempts at pronouncing "snapphanar"
Weird description of Charles XI. Nothing medieval about him. He was however a minor, with a caretaker government, until coming of age at 19. And his first challenge as ruler was this war with Denmark. Which was an eventuality the caretaker government had not made provisions for.
Awesome narration and a cool presentation as well!
Goated history channel 🐐
Fr
Please make more great videos of historical Swedish battles 🫡
Hey nice!
Make more of these. Also more Viking battles of Sweden vs Danes wars.
Fascinating to hear this living just within the range of the war 350 years later, having walked through Nöbbelöv, Valkärra and Lerbäck and walked alongside the Kävlinge river/Höje å.
As someone who has lived in and around Lund my entire life, seeing the most famous (or perhaps infamous) battle of my area in a video like this is quite awesome. Pronunciation and spelling of most villages and such are a bit off, but that´s to be expected. However, something really went wrong with the word "snapphanar", which became "snappenahur" even in the subtitles (total gibberish).
Chill bruh, not everyone knows how to pronounce city names of an exotic language
@@lollius88 Everyone can try. Finding someone to read a list of names to you is not hard if you've got a channel with a million subscribers.
Maybe snappenahure is the danish spelling for it..
Yeah, the pronunciation of "snapphanar" got progressively weirder as the video went on. The rest was good enough, I'd say.
Super information; well presented!
Lot's of Finnish "Hakkapelitas" was therw too🇫🇮✌️
Excellent narration and animations as always.
And two thumbs up for prounouncin the region names
Why didn't you give a casualty estimate of the battle? Seems like an odd oversight. Especially since Lund is infamous as the bloodiest battle fought in Scandinavia.
I was having the same thought. If Wiki is to be trusted these are the figures:
Strength
Sweden 8000 [2000 infantry; 6000 cavalry; 12 cannon]
Denmark 13000 [6300 infantry; 6000 cavalry; 56 cannon]
Casualties and losses
Sweden 3-4000 [1000-1500 killed; 2000-2500 wounded; 70 captured]
Denmark 8-9000 [2000-2500 killed; 4000-4500 wounded; 2000 captured; all cannons captured]
@@rhoddryice5412 Sources afterwards tells about up to 9000 dead, with about 6000 of them being Danes, and this is what Swedish Wikipedia also tells. The bloodbath was a shock back then, with around 50% of all who fought losing their life if this is the case. We have written texts afterwards from priests who write that soldiers calling it "a murder". The cold weather was probably one of the causes behind the high casualties, as many of the wounded froze to death on the battlefield. Diseases could also account for it, as both armies suffered greatly from it. It's a controversial number. More dead than gigantic battles such as Gettysburg, or D-day with a lot more people involved. The number comes from burials after the battle, and include all dead around Lund. Ascheberg writes that they buried 8993 in mass graves. It has been debated for hundred of years now and we will never know for sure.
Thank you for posting the numbers@@rhoddryice5412
According to historical sources ( the book Karolinerna by Alf Åberg. ) they found 8933 dead on the battlefield from both sides.
They didn't sort them by nationality and they were buried together.
Then there are those who drowned and those from the battle in the danish camp.
Probably because there's a very inflamed debate about the casualty numbers in Sweden. It's probably easier to say that we don't know.
Thanks for this video! I'd just like to add that contrary to what you claim here the snaphaner/snapphanar multiplied after the Battle of Lund. The Danish king also started up a light horse corps called the King's friskytter (freeshooters) that was literally an attempt to legalise the snaphaner and put them under more direct command. There were about 2000 registered ones who were paid 1-2 rixdaler by the Danish War Commissariat and they played an important role in the small war. I think 1678 was the year that saw the highest number of snaphaner/friskytter attacks. However, that's just some additional information, I really appreciated this video!
Var du med i snapphanarnas krig och kollade i danska riksarkivet?
@@habbomanishjo, det var jag.
@@joannavandenbring1725 Tycker du skåne ska vara del av danmark istället?
@@habbomanish spelar mig ingen större roll i nutid faktiskt. Men jag tycker Danmark förtjänat att vinna den gången. Synd om befolkningen att de förlorade.
The long 17th Century ('The Century Of The Soldier' according to some) is quite fascinating for its political and military developments. I've avoided looking at the campaigns of Charles XI so far as time and money place constraints on how much I can read but that is a hole that needs filling one day. For now videos like this will have to suffice.
Amazing channel - I often reference your excellent material when I am re-creating battles with Bannerlord for my own channel. Thank you for your accuracy, consistency and stellar quality!
As a Dane, this was interesting
Det bare ærgerligt vi havde sådan kujon-konge. Christian the Coward.
ærgrer du dig ikke over at vi tabte Skåne?
@@habbomanish Ikke rigtigt, må jeg erkende.
@@LarsRyeJeppesen hvorfor?
@@habbomanish dunno
Thank you.
Cheers
@@HistoryMarcheyou're the Best fr😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤
The return of charles feels like the charge of WINGED HUSSARS.
The Winged Hussars had Danish/Scanian veterans and expats in their lines at that famous charge at Vienna, but arguably no Swedes.
@@henrikg1388 maybe but winged hussars were mainly composed of polish.
@@TheRizzIsOn5938 Yes, and Lithuanians.
It is good to hear that someone tells about my countrys history to people that don't speak swedish or danish😊
What a bizarre but awesome battle.
My money was on the Swedes at the start but for a second, around 3PM, I thought I would be separated from my bet.