Posted on 08/06/2010 6:04:18 PM PDT by WesternCulture
Too few school children of today grow up knowing what Gustavus Adolphus - the Lion of the North - accomplished in his lifetime.
Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia, of today is nothing like "Trainspotting".
Northern Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Britain of today disposes of more industrial plants, more of well reputed universities and more of well educated workers than any other comparable part of the planet.
Why?
In one word:
Protestantism.
Regardless of the differences between the largest Lutheranist church on Earth, the Church of Sweden, and the Church of England which understands itself to be both Catholic and Reformed, Non-Catholic Christian tradition has conquered the planet.
As a nation, The United States of America of course bows down to no other power, but no one could deny that the US in many ways is a product of Protestantism.
So what to do with it?
My country, tiny Sweden, has proved Russia is defeatable (we took Moscow unlike Hitler and Napoleon managed to) and we also managed to lay siege to Germany (in the 17th century) for 15 years.
This, indeed, is a cornerstone of Western history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwKYqSyoopw
These simple historical facts few obedient, servant teachers in the ugly regimes of China, Venezuela and Russia today acknowledge in their daily missions.
Chavez & Co. don't scare me much, neither does China and Russia.
But they are hinders in our way and we Protestants should take their mismanagement of society into account.
What is my point?
Despite two world wars laying Europe in ruins two times within a century, Western Civilization did not stop.
It will go on and Americans ought not to be surprised if countries like Sweden and Denmark etc continue to send troops to Afghanistan.
We Westerners quarell a lot internally, yes, but we don't let each other down when it really counts.
As all of Europe watched the horror of the WTC-attacks on our TV screens, we too felt like being attacked.
To all of America:
America is not alone.
Now, let's organize ourselves like Gustavus Adolphus once organized his people and do what is eternally right.
There is no other way ahead.
Correction:
“an tatoo artist (..)” is supposed to have been spelled “a tatoo artist (..)”
I sincerely apologize. I’m presently enjoying a cheap Spanish wine.
Moreover, Napoleon took Moscow - although it was an abandoned, burned-out shell when he got there, thanks to the Russians' scorched-earth policy.
In the true spirit of western culture, this protestant takes your post in the good humor its intended.
Best to leave those old bigotries of the past where they belong.
To impact history is one thing, to impact it in a positive way that deliberately and permanently advances Christianity is something else. No denying, the Lutherans of Sweden had a notable impact on the fortunes of their Norwegian neighbors in WWII.
Don’t forget me at 14. I’m sticking aroung for another 15 minutes.
it's interesting that you couldn't refute my analysis of your errors - instead you pretended that I had claimed that Gustavus hadn't affected European history. In point of fact my post explained that Gustavus' insatiable, proto-Hitlerian lust for conquest did redraw the map of Europe: as the paid flunky of France he helped France to break up the Habsburg Empire.
“but the only time a Swedish army has set foot in Moscow was as an ally of the Russian army when it helped the Czar defeat rebellious noblemen who had seized the city”
- By all means, that is a very Russian ntionalist interpretation of the scenario.
I respect your opinion, but from a Swedish point of view, I read it like this; many of the Russian troops and “rebel hordes” within the city were unwilling to take on the well organized Swedish army.
Whatever you or I say about this part of Moscow’s history on the Internet, history books clearly express that Swedish troops took Moscow.
Your difficulties with alcohol aren’t my concern.
- Because I drink too much, you are always right.
I’ll remember that next time I’m wrong.
You should be taking a crash course in Arabic, OLaf, instead of pissing off all the educated Catholics in the USA.
Oh, wait - Sweden's actual position during the great crisis of the West was: "Please, oh great and mighty Reich, do not hurt us. We promise not to stand in your way. We'll just put on a skirt and pretend it's all a bad dream."
Before this thesis can be discussed it is necessary that we all first get a good grounding in Swedish history of the 1500s, the place of the Vassa Kings in the scheme of things, and how firearms changed the odds so little countries could destroy big countries ~ and you thought the “great equalizer” bit was about the big man versus the small man and a single pistol ~ you check out the 1500s and you discover it was all about a small country with really big cannons!
BTW, the most important "Swedes" of the period, besides Adolphus Gustafus, were Magnus DeLaGardie and Jacob DeLaGardie (that's a French name with some Bourbon lineage).
“By all means, let’s hear more about Sweden’s courageous and principled stand against the Nazis in World War II.”
- Yeah, why not?
Tell me all you know about how American, British and Swedish companies like Bank of England, SKF and Standard oil dealt with Nazi Germany and how we Swedes were aided by Britain and France while trying to stop Stalin from raping Finland.
You should be taking a crash course in Arabic, OLaf, instead of pissing off all the educated Catholics in the USA.
I try, but I can’t imagine what people have against science fiction. It’s harmless fun.
(It’s the Irish in me :-)
It's kind of a black spot in Danish history but it happened and nothing was ever the same in Scanderhoovia.
This probably explains why the great Danish-American city is Indianapolis, but the Swedes dominate Minneapolis and Seattle ~ Lord only knows where the Norwegians and the Finns ended up (although I have some pretty good information on where the Sa'ami went).
“You should be taking a crash course in Arabic, OLaf, instead of pissing off all the educated Catholics in the USA.”
- I’m not an enemy of Catholicism. Basically, I just claim Northern Europe shouldn’t be dominated by Rome. Yes, other issues are involved too, but let’s forget about them, at least for now.
Next topic;
Contrary to what you seem to believe, Arabs don’t breed well on Nordic soil:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2328696/posts
Well I do live in the Irish Hills region of Michigan.
The history books will show that the Swedish army that entered Moscow was an army composed of Swedes, Finns, Danes and adventurers from various other countries who were hired by a Franco-Swedish nobleman (De La Gardie) at the behest of the Czar (who offered De La Gardie confiscated lands) to defeat his rebel boyars. The combined forces of Swedes and Czarists were successful - until they got their asses handed to them a few months later by the Poles and Lithuanians at Klushino and had to hightail it back to Sweden.
No doubt this struggle will continue into the future. The Swedes also have a couple of (ethnic) enclaves in Germany/Denmark on either side of the peninsula. That territory will pass back and forth from Continental to Peninsular control through the centuries.
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