Sweden's Borders from 1150 Until Today

Sweden hasn't always had the shape it has today. Ever since the foundation of the country, its borders have changed and been adjusted, time and time again. War, settlers and diplomacy have lead to new areas being added and others disappearing. Many provinces that we today regard as natural parts of Sweden, have belonged to the country for shorter periods of time than many ones that no longer are.
This video presents Sweden's territorial extent from c. 1150 until today, 2016, with each border change explained and put into context.
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Remember that this is a popular science video, and that some simplifications have been necessary regarding years and circumstances. For the time before the Kalmar Union such simplifications are also unavoidable, since exact sources are often lacking.
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[@Kikkerv11]

Wildeshausen is so only about 400 km from my home :) Can't believe it used to belong to Sweden! Greetings from Belgium.

[@user-ex7kv9fs3k]

Should be proud of that

[@bauxsedai1495]

Love it! Learning Swedish and history at the same time. A lovely combination!

[@jeykies3745.]

Baux Sedai yes.

[@cosmiccruise8372]

hej

[@nakazul1]

Undra hur det gick med svenska studierna?

[@legendaydin8837]

you prolly dont give a damn but does someone know a method to get back into an instagram account? I was dumb forgot the password. I would love any help you can offer me.

[@jck956]

Honestly I keep coming back to this video because I am both interested in Stormaktstid and because I want to learn how to talk about it in Swedish

[@jp3274]

Det er virkeligt godt lavet. Elsker Sverige, Norge og Findland. Fedt at være Nordisk.

[@deluxepower5965]

Alla goda ting är 3! Scandinavien! 🇩🇰🇧🇻🇸🇪

[@Br1cht]

Brödrafolkets Väl!

[@robertwallen9583]

En nordisk union för de nordiska folken ville eg ha.

[@susanna8612]

Finn here, I love our Nordic countries and culture too!

[@audhumbla6927]

Nordisk power!!! Vi ska ta tillbaka vårt älskade norden!!!

[@sealkeen]

Ingermanland is where I, my dad, my granddad and also my great granddad were born. That feeling when the author is speaking about your homeland

[@amlphf]

Its not my Home land sweden

[@davestrasburg408]

Valdigt interessant! Som en finsk-amerikan med svensk ursprung, allting med Sverige intresserar mig.

[@swedneck]

Skitbra gjort! Hoppas det kommer fler videor om gränsändringar eller svensk historia.

[@AcademiaCervena]

Tack! Så småningom blir det säkert mer :)

[@swedneck]

@@skoter2987 väx upp

[@williamguy5860]

@@swedneck Det var inte så snällt

[@perfect233]

@@swedneck det blev inget…

[@alfatejpblind6498]

јеси ли ти србин?

[@tim8653]

Tack för den här videon som är mycket informativ och har också hjälpt mig att förbättra min svenska :)

[@AcademiaCervena]

Varsågod :)

[@charlesrozen987]

Nu kan vi göra som Ryssland o hävda våran rätt till vissa områden. Vi har ju historiska rättigheter.

[@erbeilas4355]

Om ryssland brakar ihop, vilket det ju historiskt har tenderat göra, så kanske vi ska passa på att ta tillbaka kexholm och ingermanland. Oironiskt skulle de nog få de bättre än hos vilken rysk efterträdarstat skulle få kontrollen...

[@Moiaija]

Nej tack😅🇫🇮

[@Leiflokey]

Ryssland, Israel etc är bara att välja och vraka😅

[@LeonLo2037]

Helt rätt🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

[@KjellAurisAndersson]

Eller som USA, hävda vår rätt till alla möjliga områden utan några som helst historiska rättigheter 😂

[@sirseigan]

Ångermanland was settled by Norse speaker long before 1150 AD! You can see this in both placenames, placename patterns and archelogical findings. In fact during the first half of the milennia what is today Hälsingland, Medelpad, Ångermanland and parts of Jämtland were its own petty kingdom (the area north of the border forest of Ödemården, desolcated forest, and south of Skuleskogen, Skule forest). The burial mounds along Selånger in Medepad from this era rival that of the mounds in old Uppsala in riches and in wealth - it was not some poor back water area. After the eviromental catastrophy around 536AD and thereafter (several vulcanic eruptions and the following years of global vulcanic winter) the settlments in the north looses their elite characteritics and the population was notibly decreased but never vanished. The political entity was splintred and you can see this when King Sverre of Norway ride first through Hälsingland and the up to Jämtland where he in 1177(?) conqured Jämtland at the battle of Storsjön (on the ice). Here Hälsingland and Jämtland acts as two different political entites, both governed by so called "folk-republics" (similar to Iceland). However it is worth knowing that Jämtland, and most likely the rest of the middle north area as well in some shape or form, was at times paying tribute to the Swedes in exchange for protection from the Norwegian kings, not rarely based in Trondheim at the time. However the Norwegian king Olaf the Holy was held in very high regard and is said to have promoted church building in the whole river vally of Ljungan on his way to the battle Stikkelstad where many men from the area joind him. Had he not died there who knows if the area would perhaps become under Norwegian rule. We know that in the 1200-ish the Swedish king considered the area his subjects. But in his letters he is begging the area to pay tribute, pay taxes and provide military men. A medeival king do not beg and it clearly show that the inhabitants of this area thought of themselves as independent no matter what the king himself thought. It was not until 1320AD that Swedish taxcollectors stopped being killed on the spot and the area started to become a integrated part of the Swedish kingdom. If you swap the area "Ångermanland" out with "Västerbotten" though then the word "colonize" is a somewhat better fit as the majority of norse/Swedish placenames are of a younger date in this area. However you miss quite a big political entity in the region and that is the Finnish speaking Kvens/Kväner who is most likely from whom the elite known as "Birkarlar" (likely meaning merchants who trade with, and later collected tax from, the Sami) came. Along the coastline there had also been home, seasonal amd permantly, to Norse speaking coastal fishers. There is at that many different entities inside what we today just call Sami. So lumping all this groups, with different languages, lifestyles and culture into one with the missrepresetative lable "Sami" is bordeline disrespectful and carry in it self a bad aftertaste of a colonial mindset. That this ares were incoperated into the Swedish kingdom is a fact. If it was voluntarely or involuntarely or both at the same time is a complex issue. However the choices of words are important and using "colonised" indicates that there was no Norsepeaking people there before this date, which is false. The very name "Ångermanland" is old Norse in origin (meaning "the fjord mens land") and even have a flavour of west Norse (like Norwegian; compare "ånger" with Norwegian "anger", as in Stavanger, as the word for "fjord") rather the east Norse (like the Swedes). Infact the dialects of the whole area has flavours of west Norse that the rest of the east coast do not have.

[@brickan2]

I'm very interested in this time period (1050-1350) for the entire peninsula. You make a lot of claims in your text. Can you point me to a summary paper or two where you get your facts from? If not summary - individual papers. Thanks! ( Please give me a book :) )

[@Hypnapompa]

@@brickan2 In this Wikilink about Genesmon you find some books on the topic: sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesmon. Furthermore, a vast majority of the place names along Ångermanälven and the Coastline in Ångermanland are Norse and dated to old Iron Age. However, some of the place names has sapmi, finnish, unclear or hybrid origin.

[@UrmasPukk]

Juhatasid mind mõtlema

[@spoe_]

damn mate finally a channel that focuses on Scandinavia. I speak Swedish on an OK level and wanna get into Finnish too so I hope you'll be making more sick videos like this.

[@paperxzone4938]

Lycka till på din Svenska, hoppas det fortsätter bra!

[@welp4576]

memez trojan perkele qää wää e ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää. ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää ää

[@maonparas]

@@welp4576 mitää vittua sä siellä selität?

[@pyromorph6540]

Just so you know, you might have trouble with Finnish as it is not a North germanic or Scandinavian language, it is entirely separate, It is a Uralic language.

[@unwnme]

@@pyromorph6540 How can you be so arrogant to think that the OP doesn't have a clue?

[@ItsMichaelNilsson24]

Grymt bra video och väldigt detaljrik sammanfattning. Tusen tack!!

[@AllSeerAugustus]

Awesome. It was interesting for me because it's the first time I've ever heard Swedish but understood a lot of what was said without subtitle help. Really beautiful language 👍

[@archive1318]

Norwegian swedish dutch scots leid and german have alot of cognates with english (cognate is a word that shares a common ancestor word with other languages

[@stephen9381]

Germanic-derived languages are similar in their structure of speech, and word pronunciations, well, unless you’re speaking danish.

[@paulsirugo8840]

Riktigt bra. Denna bör många fler (historielösa) människor se.

[@kasper8509]

Tack för denna video!

[@tiinau6562]

.... Medetiden... Av Sverige.. 🤫✌️👍🕊️🇫🇴❤️✌️✌️✌️✌️💋

[@softwhitewings725]

Tack! Så intressant!

[@kurtolsson9557]

Bra program👍

[@TheTachy0n]

7:50 Stolta Älgtårar.

[@HB-qu8dm]

10:36 Ledsna älgtårar :'(

[@Redcliffe_]

Neeeeej

[@mrdaym]

Fantastiskt spännande presentation. Bra jobbat!

[@leiffredriksson3584]

Inte bara Samer, vi Tornedalingar/Kväner fanns där med!

[@klusty5414]

INTRESSANT VIDEO, SPENDERADE MIN LÖRDAG MED FAMILJEN OCH FICK EN HÄRLIG KONVERSION RUNT MATBORDET 👍

[@22SAMURAJ]

Intressant, Det där visste jag inte så i detalj. Thanks allot friends, 🙏👍🙂🇸🇪

[@HerrHolmqvist]

Mycket välgjort och intressant, youtube behöver fler videor som denna!

[@AcademiaCervena]

Tack så mycket!

[@Felixxxxxxxxx]

Väldigt bra förklarat

[@Hallonbot]

Utmärkt sammanfattning, och fint att inte bara visa gränsförändringarna utan även ge litet kontext vid varje årtal. Apropå pantsättningen av Wismar 1803 så var det ju en pantsättning på 100 år. Sverige hade kunnat lösa in lånet 1903 och återfått provinsen, även om det varit dyrt, bisarrt och onödigt.

[@erbeilas4355]

Onödigt, ja kanske, men fatta hur annorlunda hela 1900-talet hade blivit...

[@Hallonbot]

@@erbeilas4355 Absolut! Ett svenskt område i Tyskland under det tidiga 1900-talet? Vi hade mycket väl kunnas dras in i Första världskriget då.

[@matsa2620]

Thanks a lot for a very informative and pedagogical video.

[@prosipp]

imponerande tydlighet 👌

[@ert5419]

tack, bra att veta

[@thebigbanimationco.2985]

That was great! Thanks.

[@limegreenlive7813]

Bästa videon någonsin

[@bepponen]

bra gjort, tydligt och intressant.

[@hmsilset]

Bra forklart :) Jeg tror det mangler en kort men spesiell hendelse i 1644 eller noe. Vanskelig å finne info.

[@Idellle]

Tack!

[@suparobomania]

?

[@ignika11]

I have recently discover, that my great grandfather was born in Småland. And myself are finnish in 3rd generation

[@burnotto1663]

Tack lärorikt till max i denna lagom långa film

[@Apeshaft]

Väldigt intressant! Lägger ut länken på cuzz.

[@amlphf]

Academia cerava jag älskar dina videos så mycket

[@mrdaniel2215]

trevlig video fortsätt

[@linkgrinmbn]

likte denne vedlig godt, presis, og oversiktelig! 👌

[@Joe_Mama661]

Thank god there's an actual English subtitle, to whoever translated, whether it be the creator or a random person I shall worship you.

[@historiepodden5197]

Bra berättat! :)

[@oreokjeks6079]

Now i see why your norwegian pronounciation is so good (Still kinda sounds like a swede tho). Because of your good american english accent i thought that you actually was american. I loved the vid my fellow scandinavian

[@freefalling6960]

This is Swedish

[@oreokjeks6079]

@@freefalling6960 I know. Don't really remember why I commented this over 2 years ago. I might have commented on a different video here by a mistake. He has a really good video on the Norwegian language. Either that or I complemented his pronouciation of Norwegian territories. :3

[@oreokjeks6079]

@@freefalling6960 After rereading my comment many times, I can say that I meant that his Norwegian pronounciation (in a different video) made sense to be good after learning (through this video) that he's swedish. Before this I thought he was an native english speaking American.

[@stefanelfving5031]

Väldigt roligt att få veta det här har alltid undrat men nu vet jag

[@okaro6595]

Satakunta is currently Satakunta in Swedish also. It is a translation of Hundare (Hundred in English) i.e. an area that would raise a hundred soldiers.

[@AcademiaCervena]

The way I have understood it is that Satakunta is used for the modern province, while Satakunda is still preferred for the historical province. The latter is the name I am most familiar with in historical contexts, personally. A quick google search makes me wonder if anyone really knows... Uppslagsverket Finland uses 'Satakunta' for both the modern and the historical province, while Mediespråk mentions 'Satakunda' as an 'outdated/historical form' but also notes that 'Satakunta' is used "for modern situations". Swedish wikipedia uses Satakunta for the modern province, and Satakunda for the historical one.

[@miguellindstrom4204]

Hundred counties.

[@sampohonkala4195]

Kunta is a municipality, so Satakunta could refer to a hundred municipalities. But as Finnish is a weird language, the meaning is totally different. It is more like a company of a hundred, a group of a hundred. A good comparison is 'venekunta' which means the crew of a boat. Or 'lautakunta' which means a board or a jury. Literally satakunta also means 'about a hundred' or 'roughly a hundred' but that is hardly the historic meaning of the word.

[@katarinaekblom1063]

Intressant!

[@ventdelamer]

Interesting. Tack så mycket! However, there was no “Russia” in the 17th century, as it was called Moskovia at the time. It started being called “Russia” in the 18th century, with czar Peter I. Besides, it the 13th century Novgorod was connected to Rus, which was not the same thing as the modern Russia.

[@alfatejpblind6498]

The Russian tsardom existed since the 1550s, when Muscovy was officially renamed. If you want to talk about modern nations as a concept altogether though, you could just as well make the claim that there existed no "Sweden" eighter. People identified much closer to people from the same Landskap than some abstract concept of "Sweden" and "Swedishness" and had essentially no national allegiance as we would conceive of the concept today.

[@moskiboy]

Underbar history lektion, mycket lärorikt, tack,

[@bodychoke]

Dags för svensklektionen för dig nu då.

[@phil..rubi123]

Genialisk video!!

[@chapno4255]

vi förtjänar Finland tillbaka

[@mikaelb7735]

INTRESTING!!

[@sircoloniser5454]

It’s weird listening to Germanic languages as a Brit, it’s like you can understand what he’s saying but don’t know what the words mean

[@PalkkiTT]

English is a Germanic languag too.

[@Hallvard0]

originally it was. Now it's a mix of latin, greek, french, and old english@@PalkkiTT

[@arthursandomine5464]

Föredömlig video!

[@blueguns15000]

Why do I somehow understand this without subtitles?

[@loki76]

Excellent

[@militarsnack8704]

Bra!

[@unnamed2049]

And this, my friend, is why KZbin added subtitles

[@NikoBellic04]

8:04 The Boss when you fight him 0:09 The Boss when you unlock him as a playable character

[@SvenEven]

According to Ottar from Hålogaland (visiting king Alfred of Wessex around 890, i.e. 1130 years ago) Norway reached up to about todays Tromsø. He knew, because he lived there. He was also granted the right to tax the Sami-people. One may ask who it was that could grant such rights to his underlings? Ottar (in English Othere) told king Alfred about Norway, and he also knew of the Svear and Daner and the Kvener (swedes, danes and finns) and where they lived! He also visited the Bjarmer (present day Russia) and gave king Alfred a gift he had purchased from the people he met in Bjarmeland. Actually he understood the languages of the Bjarmer because they spoke a language very similar to the Samis. At that time it was a group closely related to the Sami that lived along the shore of the White Sea (as we call it). Maybe the most important thing was that he told king Alfred that he was a Norwegian that came from Norway, and he also tried to explain how the Norwegians differed from the neigbouring countries of Svear and Daner.

[@4Trainzer4]

Hade varit roligt om du tog med svenska kolonier samtidigt som de facto var svenska områden :)

[@Minepro306]

ja

[@serpahologramsson2417]

grym

[@Javlafan]

As one Swede once told me: Svenska Estland är det bästa Estland :)

[@EstViking]

Estonia was very rich part of Sweden, sweden was lucky that Estonian nobility wanted to join Sweden. Even today, Sweden would be happy to have Estonia as Estonians are smarter and more progressive than Swedes.

[@alfatejpblind6498]

​@@EstViking > Estonia was very rich Literally consisted of a feudal hellhole with impoverished practically enslaved native serfs ruled by colonizing germans >Estonian nobility I don't know about you but I would not bestow the title of Estonian on people who had "von" in their surnames, spoke german, launched crusades, and looked down on and oppressed your nation for centuries >Even today Sweden would be happy to have Estonia Bro... Do you not want independence or what? And btw, most Swedes can't even place Estonia on a map >Estonians are smarter and more progressive than Swedes I dunno about that one bro

[@EstViking]

@@alfatejpblind6498 look at PISA score tests, startups per capita, etc. I havent said anything about wanting to go under Swedish rule. Dont put words into mouth. Sweden itseld had serfdom ( as whole europe in that matter ) at the time, so your information is irrelevant. I was talking about region itself. Stop using illogical demagogy.

[@pinkbabycrocs5577]

@@alfatejpblind6498 I'm not arguing with you on the rest but you're kind of stepping on your own point with the last two statements haha

[@alfatejpblind6498]

@@pinkbabycrocs5577 haha what do you mean bro

[@MS-nk4xb]

- Å fan!

[@bjorngustafsson6513]

8:09 Laughs in Stormaktssverige

[@rajoshusse]

Skönt att vi blev av med Norge.

[@Kojstojs]

Åh Äntligen en svensk video

[@swedichboy1000]

8:04 Den gamla goda tiden. The good old days. Ah..

[@Javlafan]

I Estland vi kallar denna period "den gamla goda svensktiden" :)

[@alfatejpblind6498]

@@Javlafan Vad exakt var bra med den tiden för den genomsnittlige estlänningen? Svenska kronan intervenerade inte alls till estlänningarnas förtjänst, snarare till deras nackdel då de feodala tyska landägarnas rättigheter stärktes och kunde öka sitt förtryck över den livegna lokalbefolkningen. Kanske kallas det "den gamla goda svensktiden" för att det nuvarande historiska narrativet skrevs av dessa i praktiken slavägande tyskar som bedrev kulturellt folkmord mot din befolkning? Hmm...

[@newandoldtech5634]

8:00 ett namn, Axel Oxenstierna

[@IeatchiIdren69]

i got this in my recomended

[@pullibo]

Tak alle i hop :)

[@skrickerum]

❤❤❤👍

[@v3k1tg]

I never knew you were Swedish (I don’t even know if you are speaking Swedish but probably yes because this is a video about Sweden)

[@SwedishDrunkard5963]

it is swedish

[@andreasbergman3231]

Intressant och lärorikt. Intressant att Sverige och Danmark varit i krig så mycket men sedan gränserna blev lättare att försvara och gick mer i enlighet med naturens förutsättningar har det varit fred.

[@Bedinsis]

Var det inte någon fästning i Åländska skärgården som finnarna råkade bygga på den svenska sidan av en ö i modern tid, som fick kompenseras av att Sverige fick mark från finska sidan av ön? (vilket förvisso är en historisk fotnot men trots allt är en gränsförändring).

[@AcademiaCervena]

Skäret heter Märket. Ryssland byggde en fyr på den svenska sidan 1885 utan att någondera part verkar ha reflekterat över det, vilket ledde till en gränsjustering hundra år senare.

[@viper0097]

Kan du inte göra en film om vilka gränser Sverige hade utanför Europa

[@microman_mathtiiaasrosen]

men finland då?

[@ceciliarichter2458]

So interesting! My family name is Richter and I have tried to figure out how I have this German name. I have traced my ancestry back to Uppsala in the middle of 1600. Then the traces are not clear. There are soldiers with the name Richter who fled the Russians from the Baltics. I would really appreciate if anyone could help me find out more.

[@ottosaxo]

The Thirty Years War was the first great mixer of the European nations. Half of Germany was occupied by Swedish troops around 1650, though vast parts were devastated and almost depopulated. Following the retreating troops to Sweden wouldn't have been a bad choice. Some parts of the country had even been annexed by Sweden, their citizens became subjects of the Swedish kingdom.

[@lrbrorsson4144]

👍🙂🙏

[@afttd6426]

Oj sverige var litet!

[@maonparas]

Nyland🇫🇮

[@SuperKamaki]

PERKELE! 😁

[@hydraulicfacechannel2147]

10:55 det där sved

[@PalkkiTT]

🇫🇮❤️🇸🇪

[@herpsenderpsen]

Bra video, men hva med sveriges kolonier?

[@AcademiaCervena]

Dem får vi ta i en annen film :)

[@user-sw5wn8go3k]

subtitles in swedish maybe?

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

There are subtitels in both english and Swedish. You just have to turn them on

[@timolehtinen9348]

There was a time when Sweden was a part of Finland.

[@themusther161]

I can't understand anything

[@WernerRachtman]

Enkelt men utmärkt.

[@marcelhalza6916]

Hi. I actually don't understand the language, but as a slovak speaker, the word ,,sveriges,, catched my eyes. It is wery similar to SEVER whitch means north (eng). SVERNIK could be translated as : Northerner. This is also in other slavic languages.

[@alfatejpblind6498]

According to Wiktionary, север is etymologically related to the english word "shower". Interesting.

[@Brakvash]

If I remember correctly, Sverige is actually the danish translation (In danish Sve/Svea = Swede, Rige = Kingdom) for the older Swedish name of Sweden "Svea Rike" (Swede/Svea Kingdom). That danish name for Sweden is still used by swedes as the name of their country. It's quite ironic how our biggest rivals, the danes, gave us the name of our country, and that it stuck :D

[@marcelhalza6916]

@@Brakvash Thanks. And what does SVEA mean ? RIGE mean Empire ? Thats great. IT is simmilar to "Ríša" which has the samé meaning.

[@SwedishDrunkard5963]

​​​@@marcelhalza6916Svea is the name of the area where Svearna lived sweden is the kingdom of svearna, sweden is "Svearnas Rike" which after a while became "Sverige". Svearna is the name of the people who lived in modern day southern sweden

[@marcelhalza6916]

@@SwedishDrunkard5963 Alright, but how did that area got its name. Why it is called Svea ? Land got the name from people and people got the name from the same Land?

[@Mosern1977]

Veldig interessant som nordmann å se hvordan Sverige ble til og grensene ble slik de er i dag.

[@mikehawk7857]

Bra video

[@matsjonsson9492]

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear" - George Orwell

[@yopro6596]

Så vackert🥲

[@scandinavianmapping5916]

gillar svensk histora

[@eriknoworries]

Älskade Sverige!

[@jukkatiainen7313]

Todistetusti ensimmäiset verot Suomesta Ruotsiin maksettiin vuonna 1250. Samoin Suomen piispa mainittiin ensimmäistä kertaa Ruotsin piispojen joukossa. On siis väärin esittää että Suomi olisi kuulunut Ruotsin alaisuuteen vuodesta 1160.

[@ganjafi59]

6:33 alle nordmenn og danskers mareritt

[@farsworth6321]

hahahahahahaha ja

[@CU65LATER]

Tavasland has been much longer there(1150 year.). Metal decting finds has proved that near Tampere area there has been much population.

[@ostengrotell2405]

👍🇫🇮🇸🇪🇺🇦❤️😊

[@sovandeprins2663]

Gillar att vi bara får hela jävla Norge av Danmark 😂😂😂

[@luminoustarisma]

Tekniskt sett fick vi inte Norge. När Norge gjorde sig självständigt gick armen över och tog det. Det finns en anledning varför vi räknar att vårt sista krig utfördes år 1814

[@fiddibelow]

Norway was struck hard by the black death there was almost no Norwegians left to defend previously conquered terretories thats why it got married into Danmark and why it lost so Much land. There where around 150 000 Norwegians left to rule and defend norway iceland Grenland and the Islands so it fell. Around 300 000 people died from the black death and our royal male Line died in war.

[@russkiydeutsch990]

Holy shit

[@heikkimakela2282]

Oikein hyvä pieni esittely ja samalla kertaus Suomen, Ruotsin ja Norjan rajojen historiasta!

[@thedood7859]

Everybody chill. There are english subtitles.