In the previous episode
We briefly looked at the rise of the sweet Empire and this episode we will be looking at the fall of the Empire
three people looking at two main points
the first main point was that swing simply had a lack of population Sween as territorial apex in
1660 only had around 2.2 million people in the whole realm a quarter of that being in the German counties of Bremen in Verdun
Compare this to 11 million in the Polish Commonwealth and 13 million in Russia during earlier wars
Sween was able to use a much more effective form of raising supplying and train their military which allowed them great success on the battlefield
when states with better agricultural potential and greater population
Started to catch up to screen administration wise swing could only sink in relative power
Swing set to the ended land vice kit model of raising armies all throughout the 18th and 19th century
it was instituted in the late 17th century by King Charles xi and
Acted as a means to ensure stay supply if meant for the army
local communities were charged with providing a number of men for the army and
Land owning farmers were tasked with coming up with recruits and in return they enjoyed tax
Exemption these soldiers aside from their pay were given in the house and a patch of land
Other special provisions could be stipulated in the soldiers contract as well while this may not seem as much
For the poor folks of agricultural Sweden joined. The army was pretty attractive
This way armies could be raised without hurting agriculture production and taxes too much
regiments were variable connected in their local counties the soldiers being loyal with each other as they were drawn from the same place and
Obviously knew each other beforehand any misconduct or cowardice would also easily report it back home
So social expectations helps with performance
This system was cheap reliable and produced decent part-time soldiers slash part-time farmers
It was cheaper than hiring professionals didn't rely on minted coinage which was scarce at times and provided troops then some ways were more reliable
Its use of manpower was quite efficient prior to general conscription
It worked well enough to provide Sween with larmy for quite some time after the advent of junk conscription in France
1795 well the longer the nineteenth-century went on the more obviously outdated it became
secondly, it was has Sweden with the spinach provinces was relatively poor on its own compared to other states at the time and it was
the possessions of the Empire that Creed some of his largest wealth the largest cities around the time of the great northern war
Being Riga and thousand some of the biggest profits came from the tolls swing could collect being in control to major Baltic river trading routes
Even with those tolls screen was still primarily an expert oriented nation and liked to expand their economic
Opportunities this complicated things as long and costly Wars brought exports to a near halt
Especially when they liked neo superiority in the Baltic
Having the seed almost all bought the territory to its various enemies at the end of the great northern war
was massive hit on the switch economy and
allowed a greater competition for Baltic trade the Swedish economy have been falling for some time before the 18th century as well as
The peak of mining production has started to slow and adverse weather meet the otherwise self-sufficient farmers lose some of their wealth
from 1700 to 1720 cowan currency became extremely rare in the country and
prices rose steadily for years these prices stayed high for decades causing a complete collapse of the swish economy in
1740 with a recovery in a decade later
This left the nation as a whole rather poor and foreign loans
strengthening a good portion of the government after the death of Charles the 12th in
1719 so we never really had a great administrator or general for some time, which is one of its main advantages against foreign powers
The Wars of the nation had between snipers in the latter end of the 18th century were never decisive and didn't achieve much long term
This sync in power was something that the government Council tended to understand more than the Monarchs and war was largely used as a way
To distract from the dire situation that Sweden was in this became all more clear to the government during the Finnish war in 1808
Where the Russian armies were able to score a victory after victory against the Swedes?
This was nail and coffin force which desires for an empire in warfare in general the acquisition of Norway six years later
He hope to a select few for a return of the Empire
But the reality of the situation was far too strong against even the most ambitious dreams
Hope you enjoyed this brief look into the fall - sweet Empire if you haven't already
Check out this video for a brief look at the rise of the Empire
Don't forget to Like and subscribe and I'll catch you guys next time