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13 July 2010 - 10:30
All nations have a history. A history of culture, struggles, development, people and their traditions.
Swedish dominion of the Baltic established after the 30-years wars
Sweden used to be a very powerful and belligerent country, sometimes through will but mostly out of sheer necessity.
In the 17th century the Swedish Kingdom enjoyed it's peak, ending up dominating the Baltic sea and most of the nations around it.
In the 18th century the tide started to turn against the Swedish. The sheer numerical superiority of the emerging nations, mainly Russia and Prussia, were finally taking their toll and the Swedes started losing more and more ground on the continent and the Baltic states.
in the 19th centúry, as a result of the Napoleonic wars Sweden lost it's eastern half - Finland. As alliances changed the Swedes still ended up on the wiinning side and gained Norway as compensation for the loss of Finland.
After the very short campaign in Norway, 1814, Sweden has not been at war.
Sweden has more been involved in UN-missions since those long past conflicts and ended up in the cauldron of the Congo-wars in the 1960's. UN-missions are still undertaken and the list of conflict areas include Cyprus, the Balkans and Afghanistan ... among others.
The disaster at Poltava, 1709
History today.
Somewhere along the way it seems that the Swedish people has lost interest in it's own history, belligerent or non-belligerent.
Nevertheless re-enacting organisations started emerging in this country, tentatively in the 1970's. Ever since then the "movement" has gathered pace and today thousands of enthusiats are hooked with the "bug" that re-enactment is.
Unfortunately the term Historical re-enactment is often seen in a bad light, even to the length that it is actively ignored or hindered by the powers that be. It is deemed politically incorrect, it's offensive and goodness knows what else?
For us who are hooked with this lifestyle it is simply a passion. We are NOT war-mongers, simply deeply interested in history and preserving a nation's history for future generations. As a nice bonus we meet equally interested enthusiasts from so many countries and different periods of history. The appearance of colourful, often home made uniforms, old muskets, gleaming banners, the sound of the drums gathering the troops and of course the reconstruction of authentic field camps with a careful eye for every minute detail.
The end of an era - Finland lost after the 1808-09 war
Sharing meals and a drink at the fireplace after a day's re-enacting is simply the icing on the cake, where many stories, more or less exaggerated, ring around the campfires.
Where is the "offensive" part in this, how can it be politically incorrect to share Your history with people from other countries - I would be utterly grateful to get a good explanation to this...something I'm sure will not happen.
Well, these are of course personal opinions but I am quite sure there a quite few of You sharing these feelings and concerns about our beloved way of life!
I love history and the best thing is that it can be shared with others in a VERY peaceful way indeed, regardless of nations and period of history.
What are we without our history anyway?
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