The
Scanian War (, , ) was a part of the
Northern Wars involving the union of
Denmark-Norway,
Brandenburg and
Sweden. It was fought mainly on
Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany. While the latter battles are regarded a theater of the Scanian war in English, Danish and Swedish historiography, they are seen as a separate war in German historiography, called the
Swedish-Brandenburgian War ().
The war was prompted by the Swedish involvement in the
Franco-Dutch War. Sweden had allied with
France against several European countries. The
United Provinces, under attack by France, sought support from
Denmark-Norway. After some hesitation, King
Christian V started the invasion of the
Scania in 1675, while the Swedish were occupied with a war against
Brandenburg. The invasion of Scania was combined with a simultaneous Norwegian front called the
Gyldenløve War, forcing the defending Swedes to fight a two-front war in addition to their entanglements in the
Holy Roman Empire.
The Danish objective was to retrieve the
Scanian lands that had been ceded to Sweden in the
Treaty of Roskilde, after the
Northern Wars. Although the Danish offensive was initially a great success, Swedish counter-offensives led by the 19-year-old
Charles XI of Sweden nullified much of the gain.
It was a war with no definite victor; the Swedish navy lost at sea, the Danish army was defeated in Scania by the Swedes, who in turn were defeated in Northern...
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