Skriv ut sidan - SV: Pommerska kriget (1757-1762)

"It is not surprising that, after two wars lost in succession, at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756 the Swedish economy was not in a very good shape. The Army was not very well equipped and, during the war of 1741-43, had proven to be in a very bad condition. Furthermore, there was widespread corruption among the leading politicians of the "Hats Party" who equipped the cavalry with useless rifles and bad swords made from brittle steel that often broke in the middle of a fight. But maybe worst was the unusable bridge material that jeopardized General Gustaf David Hamilton (http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Hamilton,_Gustaf_David)'s offensive against Berlin during the campaign of 1758 (http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=1758_-_Swedish_campaign_in_Pomerania). Finally, the Swedish Army started the war without a single light troop unit. Measures were taken in December 1757 to raise a small unit of hussars. Gradually, the Swedes were able to field a light brigade which proved to be very effective against the Prussians. [/size][/font]

Another factor who impeded the effectiveness of the Swedish Army was the pseudo-democratic "seniority system" which remained in effect until General Augustin Ehrensvärd (http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Ehrensv%C3%A4rd,_Augustin), the best and last commander of the Swedish field army, took command. Ehrensvärd promptly broke with the seniority system. He chose young and elite officers for the newly formed light brigade and put it under the command of a brilliant young officer of Swedish-Finnish descent: Major Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten."[/size][/font]

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