| Dano-Swedish War (1657–58) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Northern War | |||||||||
March across the Belts |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Sweden | Denmark–Norway | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Charles X Gustav Carl Gustaf Wrangel Gustaf Otto Stenbock Per Brahe the Younger |
Frederick III Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve Anders Bille † Iver Krabbe |
||||||||
|
|
|||||
The Dano-Swedish War of 1657–58 was a war between Sweden and Denmark. In 1657 Charles X of Sweden and his Swedish army was bogged down in Poland. Frederick III saw this as an opportunity to recover the territories lost in 1645 and attacked Sweden. The outbreak of war with Denmark provided Charles with an excuse to withdraw from the Polish campaign and move against Denmark.
A harsh winter had forced the Dano-Norwegian fleet in port, and frozen the Great Belt and Little Belt. After entering Jutland from the south, a Swedish army of 7,000 battle-hardened veterans marched across the icy Little Belt on January 30, 1658. It captured the island Funen within few days, and soon thereafter Langeland, Lolland-Falster. The Swedish army continued to Zealand, threatening the Danish capital Copenhagen. The rapid Swedish attack across the frozen Belts was completely unexpected; Frederick III was compelled to surrender and signed the Treaty of Roskilde on February 26, 1658.
Sweden had won its most prestigious victory, and Denmark had suffered its most costly defeat[1]. Denmark was forced to yield the provinces of Scania, Halland, Blekinge and the island of Bornholm. Halland had already been under Swedish control since the signing of the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645, but they now became Swedish territory indefinitely. Denmark also had to surrender the Norwegian provinces Bohuslän and Trøndelag to Sweden.