King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweeden, the great strategist

King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, also known as Gustavus Adolphus, was a major figure in the Thirty Years’ War. He is widely commemorated by Protestants in Europe as the main defender of their cause during the war . In July 1630, he landed in the Duchy of Pomerania to intervene in favor of the German Protestants.

 

The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars fought by various nations for various reasons, including religious, dynastic, territorial, and commercial rivalries. It lasted from 1618 to 1648 and was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history . Its destructive campaigns and battles occurred over most of Europe, and when it ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the map of Europe had been irrevocably changed.

 

 King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweeden in June 1630, landed in Germany, marking the Swedish intervention in the war . He had an army of unusual quality, fighting in a style new to Germany, and he combined tactical innovations with a grander concept of strategy than Europe had seen for many years . By reducing the size of the tactical unit, by opposing a flexible linear formation to the cumbrous massive formations of his opponents, by solving (at least for his time) the perennial problem of combining infantry and cavalry, missile weapons and shock, and, lastly, by producing the first easily maneuverable light artillery, he completed the transformation of the art of war begun by the Dutch commander Maurice of Nassau earlier in the century . In September 1631, at Breitenfeld, the Swedish-Saxon forces shattered Tilly’s army in a battle that was a landmark in the art of war and a turning point in the history of Germany.

 

King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden died at the Battle of Lützen on November 6, 1632. He was leading a cavalry charge when he was separated from his fellow riders and killed by several shots in the thick mix of gun smoke and fog covering the field . Although the Protestants won the battle, they lost a great leader . Gustavus Adolphus Day is celebrated in Finland and Sweden on November 6 every year to commemorate his death .