Failed Empire: Sweden in the Early Moder

The geopolitical map of the world was in flux during the seventeenth century. As Spain was losing its control over Europe and the Atlantic world, a number of ambitious small states on the periphery of Europe set their sights on achieving imperial glory. By mid-century, The Dutch Republic, England, and Sweden were the primary contenders. Each nation developed a sense of manifest destiny and dedicated scarce resources to establish an imperial presence, from which they could conquer the world. While the former two nations succeeded in creating vast empires, the latter enjoyed only a brief stint as a world power. This failure had nothing to do with a lack of effort or moral considerations. This course explores Sweden’s imperial efforts and investigates its failures. It examines how military, political, religious, commercial, and scientific endeavors contributed to Sweden’s quest for riches and prominence. The seminar begins by discussing Sweden’s sudden military success during the Thirty Years’ War and the consequent formation of a Baltic empire. We next investigate Sweden’s presence on the west coast of Africa, where it built fort Carlsborg, and the east coast of North America, where it founded New Sweden. While these ventures failed relatively rapidly, Sweden continued to pursue a colonial presence through trade and the acquisition in 1784 of St. Barthélemy, a colony from which they engaged in trade, including the slave trade.