The wars of
King Gustav III in 1788-1790
with Russia and Denmark
This is a period in Scandinavian history that probably isn't too well known outside the involved countries, as a matter of fact, it isn't to well known in Sweden either.
When Gustav III became the King of Sweden, the political power lay in the hands of the parliament and this period is known in the Swedish history books as the "liberty-period". The Swedish constitution was more or less written by the victors of the Great Nordic war. They also issued guaranties to the constitution, to make sure that Sweden stayed paralysed. In theory the constitution was the most liberal in Europe, in practice it was a period of large political corruption. Russia, France, Great Britain and Denmark spent large sums to bribe key-politicians. In 1772 King Gustav executed a Coup d'tat. He was supported by France, but Russia was deeply concerned. Soon the domestic problems grew. The King was heavily criticised for spending too much money on art, theatres and luxuries. Some groups of the nobility formed a powerful opposition, some financed by Russia. Gustav performed a classic move. There is nothing that can unite a nation better than a war, so lets have one. The problem with the plan is that it takes two to battle, and there were no one around that wanted to play with him. So he launched a secret plan that couldn't fail...
Here you you will find some facts, uniforms and colours of the Swedish and Russian forces that were fielded.
The strategic situation of Sweden 1721-1808
Maps over southern Finland and the campaign areas
G H Jägerhorns notes about some of the battles during the war
What happened to Gustav? He was assassined in 1792 by a nobleman, but that's an another story...