THE WORLD ATLAS

Empire · 1611–1721 · Europe

Swedish Empire

Also known as Sweden, Sweden–Norway

Sweden left the Danish-led Kalmar Union under Gustav Vasa in 1523, and his heirs built a strong, Lutheran, centralised state rich in iron and copper. Gustavus Adolphus turned it into a great power: his reformed army won stunning victories in the Thirty Years' War, and by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 Sweden held lands around the Baltic in Finland, Estonia, Livonia, Pomerania and Bremen.

Charles X Gustav took Scania and other provinces from Denmark in 1658, and Sweden briefly had a colony on the Delaware River. With a small population stretched thin, the empire could not survive a coalition of Russia, Denmark and Saxony in the Great Northern War; Charles XII was crushed at Poltava in 1709, and the Treaty of Nystad in 1721 ended Swedish dominance. Finland was lost to Russia in 1809.

See it on the map

Carved stern of the warship Vasa, launched in 1628 at the height of Sweden's rise as a great power (Vasa Museum, Stockholm)
Carved stern of the warship Vasa, launched in 1628 at the height of Sweden's rise as a great power (Vasa Museum, Stockholm) Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0
Years
1611–1721
Capital
Stockholm
Greatest extent
1658, about 1.10 million km²
Region
Europe

c. 1.1M km² (Wikipedia: Swedish Empire), after the Treaty of Roskilde took Scania and other provinces from Denmark; not covered by Taagepera

Legacy

Sweden's century as a great power left an efficient state administration, and after losing its empire it turned toward the neutrality and prosperity it later became known for.

Rulers

Realms on the map

Wars

Chapters

Sources