1.
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
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The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet, during the Napoleonic Wars. The incident led to the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War of 1807, britains first response to Napoleons Continental system was to launch a major naval attack on the weakest link in Napoleons coalition, Denmark. Although ostensibly neutral, Denmark was under heavy French and Russian pressure to pledge its fleet to Napoleon. In September 1807, the Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen, seizing the Danish fleet, a consequence of the attack was that Denmark did join the war on the side of France, but without a fleet it had little to offer. The attack gave rise to the term to Copenhagenize, the majority of the Danish army, under the Crown Prince, was at this time defending the southern border against possible attack from the French. There was concern in Britain that Napoleon might try to force Denmark to close the Baltic Sea to British ships, perhaps by marching French troops into Zealand, the British thought that after Prussia had been defeated in December 1806, Denmarks independence looked increasingly under threat from France. George Cannings predecessor as Foreign Secretary, Lord Howick, had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Denmark into an alliance with Britain. He refused to publish the source because he said it would endanger their lives, some reports suggested that the Danes had secretly agreed to this. The Cabinet decided on 18 July to send Francis Jackson on a mission to Copenhagen to persuade Denmark to give its fleet to Britain. That same day, the Admiralty issued an order for more than 50 ships to sail for service under Admiral James Gambier. On 19 July, Lord Castlereagh, the Secretary of State for War, nay, the fact that he has openly avowed such intention in an interview with the E of R is brought to this country in such a way as it cannot be doubted. Under such circumstances it would be madness, it would be idiotic. to wait for an overt act, the British assembled a force of 25,000 troops, and the vanguard sailed on 30 July, Jackson set out the next day. On 31 July, Napoleon ordered Talleyrand to tell Denmark to prepare for war against Britain or else Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte would invade Holstein, neither Talleyrand nor Jackson persuaded the Danes to end their neutrality, so Jackson went back to the British fleet assembled in the Sound on 15 August. The British published a proclamation demanding the deposit of the Danish fleet, on 12 August, the 32-gun Danish frigate Frederiksværn sailed for Norway from Elsinor. Admiral Lord Gambier sent the 74-gun third rate Defence and the 22-gun sixth rate Comus after her, Comus was much faster than Defence in the light winds and so outdistanced her. On 15 August, Comus caught Frederiksværn off Marstrand and captured her, the British took her into service as Frederikscoarn. 1/95th, 2/95th KGL Division, Major General van Drechel 1st Brigade, Colonel du Plat, 2nd Brigade, Colonel von Drieburg, 3rd, 4th, 5th Line Batts. 3rd Brigade, Colonel von Barsse, 1st and 2nd Line Batts, 4th Brigade, Colonel von Alten, 1st and 2nd Light Batts
2.
Second Northern War
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The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway. The Dutch Republic often intervened against Sweden, in 1655, Charles X Gustav of Sweden invaded and occupied western Poland–Lithuania, the eastern half of which was already occupied by Russia. The rapid Swedish advance became known in Poland as the Swedish Deluge, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became a Swedish fief, the Polish–Lithuanian regular armies surrendered and the Polish king John II Casimir Vasa fled to the Habsburgs. Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia initially supported the estates in Royal Prussia, Russia took advantage of the Swedish setback, declared war on Sweden and pushed into Lithuania and Swedish Livonia. John II Vasa found an ally in Leopold I of Habsburg and this triggered Frederick III of Denmarks invasion of the Swedish mainland in the spring of 1657, in an attempt to settle old scores from the Torstenson War while Sweden was busy elsewhere. Brandenburg left the alliance with Sweden when granted full sovereignty in the Duchy of Prussia by the Polish king in the treaties of Wehlau, Frederick IIIs war on Sweden gave Charles X Gustav a reason to abandon the Polish–Lithuanian deadlock and fight Denmark instead. In the Treaty of Roskilde, Denmark had to abandon all Danish provinces in what is now Southern Sweden, the anti-Swedish allies meanwhile neutralized the Transylvanian army and Polish forces ravaged Swedish Pomerania. In 1658 Charles X Gustav decided that instead of returning to the remaining Swedish strongholds in Poland–Lithuania and this time, Denmark withstood the attack and the anti-Swedish allies pursued Charles X Gustav to Jutland and Swedish Pomerania. Throughout 1659, Sweden was defending her strongholds in Denmark and on the southern Baltic shore, while little was gained by the allies and a peace was negotiated. When Charles X Gustav died in February 1660, his successor settled for the Treaty of Oliva with Poland–Lithuania, Habsburg and Brandenburg in April and the Treaty of Copenhagen with Denmark in May. Sweden was to keep most of her gains from Roskilde, the Duchy of Prussia became a sovereign state, Sweden had already concluded a truce with Russia in 1658, which gave way to a final settlement in the Treaty of Cardis in 1661. In English language, German, Russian and Scandinavian historiography, these conflicts were traditionally referred to as First Northern War, the term Second Northern War, coined in Polish historiography, has lately been increasingly adopted by German and English language historiography. Another ambiguous term referring to the Second Northern War is the Little Northern War, in Poland, the term The Deluge is also ambiguous, as it is sometimes used for a broader series of wars against Sweden, Brandenburg, Russia, Transylvania and the Cossacks. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia had ended the Thirty Years War, in the Torstenson War, a theater of the Thirty Years War, Sweden had defeated the former Baltic great power Denmark. Sweden had been at peace with Russia since the Treaty of Stolbovo had ended the Ingrian War in 1617, Sweden had remained in a state of war with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth since the Polish–Swedish War, which was concluded by the repeatedly renewed truce. As a consequence, the Commonwealth lacked a sufficient defense, seeing the great success on the Russian side, Sweden also decided to intervene, among other reasons using the explanation that it was to protect the Protestant population in Poland. Having a close relationships with the Prince of Transylvania, Sweden had intentions to defeat the Catholic Poland, Sweden also drew the rising Cossack Hetmanate to its side that stood in the strong opposition to the Polish government and promised military support if the Cossacks will break with the Russians. Bohdan Khmelnytsky sent an expedition headed by the Kiev colonel to Halychyna which soon turned back due to mutiny within its ranks, the leader of Hetmanate did not participate in actions due to poor health conditions
3.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
4.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
5.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
6.
Pomerania during the Early Modern Age
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Pomerania during the Early Modern Age covers the History of Pomerania in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means Land at the Sea, the Duchy of Pomerania was fragmented into Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Wolgast in 1532, underwent Protestant Reformation in 1534, and was even further fragmented in 1569. In 1627, the Thirty Years War reached the duchy, since the Treaty of Stettin, it was under Swedish control. During the war, the last duke Bogislaw XIV died without an issue, garrison, plunder, numerous battles, famine and diseases left two thirds of the population dead and most of the country ravaged. In the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, the Swedish Empire and Brandenburg-Prussia agreed on a partition of the duchy, Western Pomerania became Swedish Pomerania, a Swedish dominion, while Farther Pomerania became a Brandenburg-Prussian province. A series of wars affected Pomerania in the following centuries, as a consequence, most of the formerly free peasants became serfs of the nobles. Brandenburg-Prussia was able to integrate southern Swedish Pomerania into her Pomeranian province during the Great Northern War, in the 18th century, Prussia rebuild and colonised her war-torn Pomeranian province. Throughout this time, Pomerelia was within Poland as province of Royal Prussia with certain degree of autonomy until 1569 when it was integrated with Polish state. In the late 18th century, it was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia. Royal Prussia enjoyed a certain degree autonomy in its affiliation to the Crown of Poland - it had its own Diet, treasury and monetary unit and it was governed by a council, subordinate to the Polish king, whose members were chosen from local lords and wealthy citizens. Prussians had also provided for them in Polish Diet. In the Union of Lublin, Pomerelia became reorganized in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in 1772 and 1793 Partition of Poland, it was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia, which created out of the conquered territories province of West Prussia. The Protestant Reformation reached Pomerania in the early 16th century, Bogislaw X of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1518 sent his son, Barnim IX, to study in Wittenberg. In 1521, he attended a mass of Martin Luther in Wittenberg. In Belbuck, a circle had formed before, comprising not only Bugenhagen and these persons, and also Johannes Knipstro, Paul vom Rode, Peter Suawe, Jacob Hogensee and Johann Amandus spread the Protestant idea all over Pomerania. At several occasions, this went along with outrage, plunder. The dukes role in the process was ambitious. Bogislaw X, despite his sympathies, forbade Protestant preaching and tumults shortly before his death, of his sons, Georg I opposed, and Barnim IX supported Protestantism as did Georgs son, Phillip I
7.
Frederick III of Denmark
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Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, and he instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark-Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in Western historiography. He also ordered the creation of the Throne Chair of Denmark and he was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg. Frederick was only considered an heir to the throne after the death of his older brother Prince Christian in 1647, in order to be elected king after the death of his father, Frederick conceded significant influence to the nobility. As king, he fought two wars against Sweden and he was defeated in the Dano-Swedish War of 1657–1658, but attained great popularity when he weathered the 1659 Assault on Copenhagen and won the Dano-Swedish War of 1658–1660. Later that year, Frederick used his popularity to disband the elective monarchy in favour of absolute monarchy and he married Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with whom he fathered Christian V of Denmark. Frederick was born at Haderslev in Slesvig, the son of Christian IV, in his youth and early manhood, there was no prospect of his ascending the Danish throne, as his older brother Christian was elected heir apparent in 1608. Frederick was educated at Sorø Academy and studied in the Netherlands, as a young man, he demonstrated an interest in theology, natural sciences, and Scandinavian history. He was a reserved and enigmatic prince who seldom laughed, spoke little, and wrote less, even though he lacked the impulsive and jovial qualities of his father, Frederick possessed the compensating virtues of moderation and self-control. On 1 October 1643 Frederick wed Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter of George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had an energetic, passionate and he was an enthusiastic collector of books and his collection became the foundation for the Copenhagen Royal Library. In his youth, Frederick became the instrument of his fathers political schemes in the Holy Roman Empire and he was granted administration of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, and named coadjutor of the Bishopric of Halberstadt. Thus, from an age, he had considerable experience as an administrator. At the age of eighteen, he was the commandant of the Bremian fortress of Stade. During the Torstenson War of 1643–45, Frederick lost control of his possessions within the empire and he was then appointed commander in the royal shares in the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein by his father. His command was not successful, chiefly owing to his quarrels with the Earl-Marshal Anders Bille and this was Fredericks first collision with the Danish nobility, who afterwards regarded him with extreme distrust. The death of his elder brother Christian in June 1647 opened the possibility for Frederick to be elected heir apparent to the Danish throne, however, this issue was still unsettled when Christian IV died on 28 February 1648. After long deliberation among the Danish Estates and in the Rigsraadet, on 6 July, Frederick received the homage of his subjects, and he was crowned on 23 November. The Haandfæstning included provisions curtailing the already diminished royal prerogative in favour of increased influence for the Rigsraadet, in the first years of his reign, the Rigsraadet was the main power center of Danish politics
8.
Charles X Gustav of Sweden
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Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg, after his fathers death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and successor and he led Sweden during the Second Northern War, enlarging the Swedish Empire. By his predecessor Christina, he was considered de facto Duke of Eyland before ascending to the Swedish throne and his numbering as Charles X derives from a 16th-century invention. The Swedish king Charles IX chose his numeral after studying a fictitious history of Sweden and this king was the fourth actual King Charles, but has never been called Charles IV. In his early childhood raised in the Swedish court alongside Queen Christina he received an excellent civil education, later Charles X learned the art of war under Lennart Torstenson, being present at the second Battle of Breitenfeld and at Jankowitz. In 1648 he gained the appointment of commander of the Swedish forces in Germany, as the recognized heir to the throne, his position on his return to Sweden was dangerous because of the growing discontent with the queen. He therefore withdrew to the isle of Öland until the abdication of Christina on 5 June 1654 called him to the throne, Charles Gustav was crowned on 7 Jun 1654, the day after Christina abdicated. The beginning of Charles Xs reign concentrated on the healing of domestic discords, on the recommendation of his predecessor, he contracted a political marriage on 24 October 1654 with Hedwig Eleonora, the daughter of Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. He was hoping to secure a future ally against Denmark, the Riksdag which assembled at Stockholm in March 1655, duly considered the two great pressing national questions, war, and the restitution of the alienated crown lands. In 1659 he proclaimed severe punishment for anyone hunting in the game reserve in Ottenby, Öland, Sweden. On 10 July 1655, Charles X left Sweden to engage in a war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, by the time war was declared he had at his disposal 50,000 men and 50 warships. Hostilities had already begun with the occupation of Dünaburg in Polish Livonia by the Swedes on 1 July 1655, on 25 July the Polish noble levy army capitulated, and the voivodeships of Poznań and Kalisz placed themselves under the protection of the Swedish King. Thereupon the Swedes entered Warsaw without opposition and occupied the whole of Greater Poland, the Polish king, John II Casimir of Poland of the House of Vasa, eventually fled to Silesia after his armies had suffered defeats. A great number of Polish nobles and their personal armies joined the Swedes, many Poles saw Charles X Gustav as a strong monarch who could be a more effective leader than John II Casimir. Meanwhile, Charles X Gustav pressed on towards Kraków, which the Swedes captured after a two months siege, the fall of Kraków followed a capitulation of the Polish Royal armies, but before the end of the year a reaction began in Poland herself. On 18 November 1655 the Swedes invested the fortress-monastery of Częstochowa and this success elicited popular enthusiasm in Poland and gave rise to a nationalistic and religious rhetoric concerning the war and Charles X. He was depicted as tactless and his mercenaries barbaric and his refusal to legalize his position by summoning the Polish diet and his negotiations for the partition of the very state he affected to befriend, awoke a nationalistic spirit in the country
9.
Battle of the Sound
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The naval Battle of the Sound took place on 8 November 1658 during the Second Northern War, near the Sound or Øresund, just north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Sweden had invaded Denmark and an army under Charles X of Sweden had Copenhagen itself under siege, the Dutch fleet was sent to prevent Sweden from gaining control of both sides of the Sound and thereby controlling access to the Baltic Sea as well as of its trade. The Dutch were grouped into three squadrons, while the Swedes separated their ships into four, the seven Danish ships with about 280 guns were unable to assist their Dutch allies because of adverse northern winds and could only watch. This was a reference to the English, whose powerful fleet had recently defeated the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War, in the event, however. The Swedes attacked aggressively, but failed to gain the upper hand, the Dutch forced the Swedish fleet to end the blockade of the Danish capital, enabling its resupply by Dutch armed transport ships, which eventually forced Charles to abandon the siege entirely. The Swedes lost five ships in the action compared to one Dutch ship, however, also, considering the slightly fewer losses of men in the Swedish army,1,200 compared to 1,400, the battle is considered a tactical draw. Strategically, however, it was an allied victory. Naval Wars in the Baltic 1522-1850 - R. C. Anderson Svenska slagfält - Lars Ericson, Martin Hårdstedt, Per Iko, Ingvar Sjöblom, Gunnar Åselius List of sailing warships
Denmark-Norway
Dutch Republic
Sweden
