Are there any good books on Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars?

by bingbongbizzle

Any good books on Sweden's involvement in the wars, militarily, diplomatically, its interests, etc.

kieslowskifan

One of the important facets of Scandinavia during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period is that much of the region's history in intertwined with internal domestic politics and intra-Scandinavian politics. For instance, the decision to offer Bernadotte the Swedish crown had as much to with factionalism between the Hats and the Caps within Stockholm as it did wanting a monarch knowledgeable about contemporary military affairs. As such it is helpful to examine books that are broader in focus to help grasp Sweden's Napoleonic interlude. Scandinavia in the Revolutionary Era: 1760 - 1815 by Hildor Arnold Barton is an example of one of these broader works that shows the intersection of the Enlightenment and Scandinavian politics in this era. The anthology Scandinavia in the Age of Revolution: Nordic Political Cultures, 1740–1820 covers some of the same ground as Barton, but with greater focus. Even though it is not about Sweden per se, Experiences of War and Nationality in Denmark and Norway, 1807-1815 by Rasmus Glenthøj and Morten Nordhagen Ottosen has a lot of information about Swedish-Dane relations as well as Denmark's relationship with France.

Moving on to Sweden itself, the essay "Decline and Consolidation: Sweden, the Napoleonic Wars and Geopolitical Restructuring in Northern Europe" by Martin Hårdstedt in the anthology Napoleon's Empire: European Politics in a Global Perspective offers a synthesis of Sweden's grand strategy. The anthology also has some good entries in Denmark and Finland as well. Jean-François Berdah's article examines the long-view of Swedish policy in this period and beyond as Sweden's latter involvement in the Napoleonic Wars was part of a larger bid to restore its regional strength. For purely military affairs, the Napoleon-series.org has a series of articles on the Swedish military, The Swedish Army in the Napoleonic Wars by Magnus Olofsson and The Union's Last War: The Russian-Swedish War of 1808-09 by Göran Frilund. Finally, the anthology Scripts of Kingship: Essays on Bernadotte and Dynastic Formation in an Age of Revolution edited by Mikael Alm and Britt-Inger Johannson has some fascinating material on Bernadotte's self-presentation as a Swedish king through his patronage of the arts and other elements of dynastic cultural policy.

DonaldFDraper

I did a quick look for English Language books on Amazon and I couldn't find any. In another post I did a whole ago but can't find, someone asked the same but about Denmark. The problem with Napoleonic (and generally Northern European) history is the restriction of language and interests. Most Napoleonic histories tend to focus on German, French, or English speaking nations and more so the focus is always on Napoleon or the French against the English. So I request our Sweden focused flair /u/vonadler to come if they have any useful sources.

ekErilaR

Sweden, in the context of the Sixth Coalition, is mentioned from time to time in Russia Against Napoleon by Dominic Lieven (2009). In the index, the references to Sweden are collected under the heading Bernadotte, Jean-Baptiste.

The Swedes were the smallest contingent of the Army of the North at the Battle of Leipzig, Oct. 16-19, 1813.

The subsequent Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814 is usually considered to be part of the Napoleonic Wars.