The Scandinavian History Podcast

The years following the French Revolution were plagued by seemingly endless wars. But the ... more

The French revolution was a cataclysmic event that changed the world forever, both politic... more

His war against Russia had shown Gustav III that the Swedish aristocracy was a real threat... more

A few years after his coup, the opposition against Gustav III was growing. In an attempt t... more

King Adolf Fredrik and queen Louisa Ulrika never managed to wrest power away from the Riks... more

If your system of government puts all the power in the hands of one man, you’d better hope... more

The Age of Liberty wasn’t only corruption, palace intrigues and failed wars. Thanks to a p... more

When the result of the War of the Hats became known in Sweden, it was met with dismay. Not... more

In 1741, the Hats finally got the war against Russia that they’d been working so hard to a... more

After the death of Karl XII, Swedish monarchs lost almost all their power. Instead, the Ri... more

From the 16th century onward, Denmark and Sweden increased their efforts to assert control... more

In the 18th century, when the triangular trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas was... more

In the 1600s, both Denmark and Sweden joined the race to establish colonies overseas. The ... more

In the early 18th century, Denmark was ruled by absolute monarchs, whose personalities lef... more

Karl XII had failed to get the Ottomans to ally with Sweden in the Great Northern War, but... more

After the disaster at Poltava, the Swedish empire started to unravel. But instead of hurry... more

After defeating Denmark and Poland, Karl XII only needed to crush the Russians in order to... more

In the year 1700, Sweden was ruled by an autocratic teenager with impulse control issues. ... more

After the Scania War, Karl XI realized that Sweden was too weak to defend its northern Eur... more

There had been a few witch trials here and there in Scandinavia since the Middle Ages, but... more

In the second half of the 17th century, Swedish authorities initiated a campaign to turn t... more

Christian V may not have been particularly interested in books, administration or the Fren... more