Join our Discord:   / discord  
Support me on Patreon:   / balticempire  

Gustavus Adolphus is celebrated today as the Father of Modern Warfare. By focusing on infantry firepower rather than melee troops or heavy cavalry, he was able to score victories across Poland and Germany. He was posthumously entitled "The Great" by the Swedish parliament, much in the vein of Alexander. Later on, he was celebrated by great generals like Napoleon Bonaparte and George S. Patton. Historians have attributed to him major military inventions, like the paper cartridge and uniforms. Some even call him the inventor of "total war".

Ofcourse, these attributions are much too dramatic. Paper cartridges were used almost a hundred years before Gustavus hayday. He didn't really invent anything, but was very good at combining different things that he learned, ranging from the tactical to technological. In this video we'll be taking a look at how these innovations were combined together into what has been considered the most effective military force of its day.


Sources:
War And The State In Early Modern Europe Jan Glete
Gustav II Adolf och hans folk Göte Göransson
The Army of Gustavus Adolphus (Vol 1) Osprey Publishing
The Army of Gustavus Adolphus (Vol 2) Osprey Publishing
Gustav II Adolf Sverker Oredsson
Bondenöd och stormaktsdröm Axel Strindberg
Trettioåriga kriget Wolke, Larsson, Villstrand

0:00 Introduction
1:01 Recruitment
4:08 Organization
6:19 Equipment
11:32 Uniforms
14:39 Tactics
15:51 Articles of War
18:54 Collapse
22:16 Outro