Torstenson War | |||||||||
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Part of the Thirty Years' War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Sweden |
Denmark–Norway Holy Roman Empire |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Gustav Horn Carl Gustaf Wrangel Lennart Torstenson Maerten Thijssen |
Christian IV of Denmark Hannibal Sehested Anders Bille Ebbe Ulfeldt Matthias Gallas |
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Strength | |||||||||
24,600 Swedes | 26,000 Danes and Norwegians 6,000 Germans |
The Torstenson war, Hannibal controversy or Hannibal War (Norwegian: Hannibalsfeiden) was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark–Norway from 1643 to 1645 towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The names refer to Swedish general Lennart Torstenson and Norwegian governor-general Hannibal Sehested.
Denmark had withdrawn from the Thirty Years' War in the Treaty of Lübeck (1629). In the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645), which concluded the war, Denmark had to make huge territorial concessions and exempt Sweden from the Sound Dues, de facto acknowledging the end of the Danish dominium maris baltici. Danish efforts to reverse this result in the Second Northern, Scanian and Great Northern wars failed.
Sweden had been highly successful in the Thirty Years' War, having defeated Imperial armies in Germany and seen substantial victories under Gustavus Adolphus and after his death, under the leadership of Count Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. At the same time, Sweden was continually threatened by Denmark–Norway, which almost completely encircled Sweden from the south (Blekinge, Scania and Halland), the west (Bohuslän) and the north-west (Jämtland). The Danish Sound Dues were also a continuing source of irritation and a contributing factor to the war. In the spring of 1643 the Swedish Privy Council determined that their military strength made territorial gains at the expense of Denmark likely. The Count drew up the plan for war and directed a surprise multi-front attack on Denmark in May.