Texan Reacts to Sabaton History's Carolean's Prayer

[@pellejoens7886]

I want to add one thing that made the Caroleans very scary. They marched into the enemy fire in silence. Many times, the enemy ran before the Caroleans hit their line.

[@Bstrand22]

Really love that you seem so genuinely interested in the history behind these awesome songs. Already looking forward to the next one. Great reaction, thanks!

[@rayceofhistory]

I am definitely interested in that history. A lot of their stuff is done from a perspective or angle that I don’t know a ton about. It’s not all just a war, it could be a specific battle, a specific person, anything. So the information I already know going in doesn’t really give away anything and I can completely just take in as much information as possible.

[@radradishradiator]

Since you like old warships, if you’re ever in Sweden I suggest you visit the Vasa museum in Stockholm, it houses the recovered wreckage of the Vasa which was at the time one of the biggest ships at least in the baltic, and was meant to be the flagship of the Swedish navy until it sank in Stockholm on its maide voyage in 1628. It’s incredibly well preserved for its age and a really cool thing to see if you ever get the chance!

[@Doorsofprcptn]

It's not only incredibly well preserved, it's the only warship from that time this complete. Thanks to the "brekish" water in the Baltic sea.

[@faarsight]

It's very much like the norse mindset. The vikings had this idea that your day of death was predetermined so there was no point worrying about when or how you would die. The only thing you could do is face it as heroically as possible (and if lucky go to Valhalla).

[@miafranlund6982]

Really enjoy watching your reactions, both to the music and the history behind. Keep it coming and I will keep stopping by.

[@johanlindwall7295]

I really appreciate how the great northern war gets more recognition these days, regardless if it comes from the context of Sabaton or from some other source. As a swede having had atleast two, that I know of, ancestors who fought in the war (one perishing in battle) it is even more interesting.

[@teemup9247]

Finn here I also found out from family research my grandfather had done that that side of the family has first records of a liutenant from Carolean army.

[@vakistania]

To give a vague outline of what led to this mentality (very generalising of course): Take the viking tradition of seeking death in battle going back a thousand years even for a Carolean. Now convert this people to christianity, but keeping their warrior culture and mentality. Make them lutheran protestant, with Luther introducing religious determinism. Add Gustavus Adolphus successful campaigns and modernising military reforms, especially the part of assigning clerics and preachers to every military unit. Then top it off with Carolus Rex dad reforming the army to become professional as well as encouraging a very fatalistic interpretation of the lutheran faith. And then of course Carolus Rex himself, being chosen and second only to god himself, probably himself believing that he ruled by the will of god alone. It's a long natural progression that stays consistent and refines itself over a thousand years of warrior culture, adapting with the times. This is of course not the whole story, but a general outline so you can see the red thread through it all.

[@larsberggren6905]

Also, it was about 50-60 years after the end of the 30-years war in wich Sweden was the champion of protestantism and therefore seen as Gods chosen.

[@charliefoxtrott1048]

8:48 don't forget the timeline: 1680 - 1720 - Back then people in small villages (1 church, maybe 1 townhall, 1-2 Inn's, 1-2 Blacksmith, 1-3 Bakers, 1-3 merchants, maybe some more specified craftsmen like a tailor or a "wagon-master" - the rest are craftsmen for the employers in the village or farm-hands who have to travel every day to the nearest farms ) Back then after your birth your careermode was something like this: Game Starts: 0. Your spawnpoint is at Level 1 with zero rep. (unless your parents use the PTW - option) 1. Get independent/upleveling: eat, shit and pee by yourself without helping hands or diapers, learn to speak the lokal language, work to raise the familys income (peeling potatoes for the Inn, collect horse-shit from the streets to sell it as fertilizer, hunt rabbits in the forrest, etc.) 2. Master step 1 before turning 3 years old 3. Attent church every sunday at least! 4. Don't bother your parents: 11 - 12 months after your birth will be the start for the next round and a new player will enter the game using your moms state of vag**a as a spawn point. Get bonus-points by carrying the noobs to level up. 5. Learn about the outside (of your village/cottage) world by: a) the local church (sunday service) b) hearsay from the Inn or other merchants c) get correctet about b) from the local church on the next sunday d) SAS- training! "Sunday Afternoon School" in the church, learning to read with the bible and Counting by the Ten Commandments. e) Extra-Special: 1. Witchburning, 2. Repentance and 3. Worshiping of Higher-Ups if a local or regional lord comes to the village. f) contradict every Info from point b) if it is against your knowledge regarding the points a), c) and d) g) aka "GOD"-mode: if f) leads to [e) 1.] you recive REP - Bonus for a short period of time 6(66). Get a life and a craft, Deus vult and be obediant to the church. 7. Join the Army and your family gets a Farm and your soul salvation Long story short: there where only two logical constants in a persons life back then: family and church. The later controlled the "news" and everything after death.. So if your living options are more ore less: Be decent or you go to hell - OR: Be a soldier, hencefore your family will have a better life and YOU WILL go to heaven ESPECIALLY when you die on the battlefield! Well, sign me up!

[@rayceofhistory]

😂😂this had me dying laughing. Good point(s)! Freaking well done.

[@melkor3496]

Your comments are just as hilarious as they are factually correct. 😂

[@lionfromthenorth4580]

It's very entertaining watching and hearing your thoughts of this. You mentioned that you could sit and listen to all of these songs and watch all episodes of Sabaton History. I know the feeling and I did just that! 😁 Until someone in the house interrupted me... 😏 Looking forward to your next reaction! 🤘

[@melkor3496]

Loving these I have some insight to share when you get to the great northern war series. Until then all I can say is react to the video I shared in the music reaction to this song. 😝

[@emileriksson1994]

Love your videos about this and your ”reactions”! Regarding german sounding like swedish as you may know is because both are germanic. In school we are learnt swedish, english and are able to pick a third (spanish, german or french), I choose german. Some words are almost the same but the way you structure sentences is totally different 😅

[@maryamniord2214]

Yes the grammar is different but the word alot like. Me too swedish. (But I went to Waldorfschool there German is from first class same English and Swedish.)

[@TheSlyngel]

Kings and generals great Northen war series is the one to watch if you want to know more about the battles. The idea that fate decides who lives and dies on the Battlefield is seriously old. Like pre Christian old in Scandinavia. The Caroleans gets it from protestant teology though.

[@rayceofhistory]

Sure, and it can probably be traced back to ancient times if I had to guess..that sort of thought process just made me think of the old Christian armies and soldiers. Probably because of their kind of rallying cry, deus vult. That kings and generals series and one by I think extra history are the two I have on my recommended list for the actual conflict of the Great Northern War. I have some others on the list that are around the same time but those are the two I’ll do for the conflict itself.

[@TheSlyngel]

@@rayceofhistory I recommend the Kings and generals one first though. Oversimplified feels a bit rushed research wise. Sadly there is not that much history of northen europe available in English, its a region and period that is not that hot for English and American historians to research sadly. So most books and historians intrested in this period and place are Swedish, Russian, Polish or Danes, making good English sources hard to find. The Kings and Generals one is pretty damn good though. About the Melee aspect of the Carolean fighting btw, the Caroleans used light Pikemen to charge the enemy to give that edge in close quarter. At this time most armies have abandoned pikemen as they were traditionally used to counter cavalry charges requierd heavy armor and lacked the ability to fight at range. Sweden used them unarmored as shock troops to devastating effect, a wall of pikes running in to bayonetts and swords must be absolutly disheartening and scary as hell to face. At this time basically no soldiers wore plate armor, it must have been a bloodbath.

[@scruffy7760]

Fun fact about the Carolean tactics of Gå På: it sort of still exists in the swedish army, with the command Gå På March. It usually involves close ranges and soldiers solving the task at hand as best they see fit, in simple terms. So just like Caroleans, modern Swedish troops train to Gå På and close with the enemy and engage him at close range

[@rayceofhistory]

That’s interesting. Have they kept it in training since the time of the Carolean’s or did they go back to training it at some point?

[@scruffy7760]

I have no idea how far back the modern version of Gå På goes. But either way, I don't think it's a coincidence that the term Gå På is still used for pressing into close range of the enemy.

[@kjelledbom1728]

I know ure talking about the ships,i have been playing Total war Empire long time ago and the sea battles combined with the land battles was fantastic, though now the graphics isnt comparible with newer versions of the game. But having a row of these ships doing the broadsides was fantastic fun.

[@tobbew100]

the Gå på command is still used when Swedish troops are going into close combat

[@charliefoxtrott1048]

8:33 This is something "canon" in religions throuout the centuries and countries. Nowadays thanks to the media it is the "72 virgins" for self sacrefice, back in the "Dark Ages", "30 Years War" or the "Crusaides" it was an AAA to Heaven when you die in battle. Beeing a Swede back then was maybe like to not only to have this "Christian point of view" but also that of their great-great-ancestors aka Vikings (Those who die in battle will get a fast-path to Valhalla). So going into battle was therefore always some sort of "Win-Win" (atleast in theory): Either you die and go to heaven while your family have some state-provided lands. And your kinsmen call you a hero. Or you survive injured/invalid and still have some state-provided lands so your familiy can take care of you and have a decent income, while you are a living legend to the people in your town. Or you survive and take some loot for yourself, your family at home and become some sort of godfather to the hole neighborhood

[@rayceofhistory]

Those kinds of armies are dangerous. They pose a threat in their willingness to do the unexpected. They’re a wild card. It’s actually kind of awesome if you’re a leader, you have a military that can punch WAY above its weight based on sort of a mix of culture, religion, and ideals.

[@charliefoxtrott1048]

@@rayceofhistory As a(n in)famous German "poet" put it: "Religion is the opium (opiate?) for the people" (Religion ist Opium für das Volk) i.E. it dulles them, makes them controlable and let's them cope with hardships (for the greater good) Unfortunatly he also wrote "Das Kapital" and is the Co-Founder of Marxism together with his buddy Friedrich Engels (Karl Marx)

[@ingeborgsjon]

While the Caroleans had superior equipment and training in firearms and could fire much faster and more accurate than the average soldier of that time other armies didn't train very much at melee combat. This while the Caroleans had very good training in melee combat. This means that they hade a much larger advantage in melee combat. And the psychological effect was also much higher. There was some battle during the Great northern war where the Caroleans faced veteran units that had fought the Turks for many years. Some surving veterans said that they were shocked by the fierceness of the Carolean soldiers.

[@Umla80]

If you think those cannon ships look cool you should definitely if you get the chance to visit Stockholm check out Vasa museum there, it has a whole such ship inside it (it sunk outside Stockholm during its maiden voyage and was left there till it was rediscovered at 1950 and then recovered and preserved and placed in the museum). It sunk due to misconstruction wich made it very unbalanced and made it tip over but thanks to that we can see it now :)

[@rayceofhistory]

Oh that’s awesome. What kind of museum is it? Is it naval or just happen to have one their because it sunk nearby?

[@Umla80]

@@rayceofhistory its the Vasa museum its buildt around the ship basicly :) you can easy find it on the internet (dont think youtube lets me link webbpages) its one of the most known museums in Sweden i think.

[@rayceofhistory]

@@Umla80 oh it’s a museum for the ship! Wow that’s awesome, I’ll definitely look it up.

[@melkor3496]

@@Umla80 It is one of the most known museums in Sweden correct and I highly suggest visiting it.

[@Umla80]

@@melkor3496 have been when i was in school its really impressive to see it like that. :)

[@Murvelhund]

Our languages are closely related, I've never studied german but can still understand some of it.

[@rayceofhistory]

That's great, because I felt dumb saying that out loud and not actually knowing either of the languages. Like I thought, sure it sounds the same to me, I can't understand either, but it's probably not that way for people who actually understand it. So I'm glad to hear I wasn't too far off.

[@LightxHeaven]

Swedish is part of the Germanic language family so you were pretty spot-on actually :)

[@rayceofhistory]

Haha that's good, because I felt dumb saying it out loud. I thought, you don't know either of these languages, so to say it "sounds" the same to your untrained ear is probably going to sound like the dumbest thing people have heard. So I'm very glad that didn't come back to bite me.

[@kjelledbom1728]

I agree to what u said about medeviel thoughts, thes guys even though banished the Catholic creed still was almost religously fanatic, they did have a sermon every morning wich was more or less mandatory but this what their King did so how could the men Not do it?

[@johncenashi5117]

The religous mentality goes way back. Even before we learned to write. The Sumarians had the same thing. Everything was predetermined. And it basicly spread troughout the population into the army because the army was a part of normal population back then. Basicly farmers and then warriors and then back to farming. So its not really just part of christianity. Its way before that, its is/was a part of every religion that existed.

[@maryamniord2214]

If mix old norse (viking) way that the warrior death in fight was honorable and the thinking of the crusaders and you have it.

[@maryamniord2214]

And in some strange way it also in modern times make impact on how we do or think about things. That it good to harden you. Look about the swedish way throughout Covid..... not same but related. If I could say it in swedish I would explain better what I wanted to say.

[@kjelledbom1728]

oh im still the latest person typing here, im responding to the question u have around 10 mins into the video about the religeon in sweden in generalat the time. One thing u need to know about Sweden at this time and for 200 years forward. Sweden had alot of poor people and was very resceptible to bad crops and sutch, u had a really high rate of death in children all into the 1900. Is why almost 20% of the population emigrated to USA. So only way to cope with this was religeon and the fact that this was predetermined. Else people would kill themselves coz it was terrible in Sweden at this time and as i said till 1900.

[@rayceofhistory]

That’s actually a really interesting thing to look at with history is how cultures handle death when times are rough or dangerous. Like how certain parts of Europe started using things like skulls to decorate during the plague. Everybody has to find one way or another to deal with it, so leaning into religion makes sense.

[@lenasoderberg2583]

@@rayceofhistory yes but no. Many moved to Usa to get away from the swedish state church. We hade no choise in what to belive. Churchgoin was madatory every sunday.

[@rayceofhistory]

@@lenasoderberg2583 what in 1900 happened that it stopped?

[@lenasoderberg2583]

@@rayceofhistory we got bored of state deisded what we should belive and stay in our place. Try find Vilhelm Mobergs books. i know The emigrants exists in english. Its about a swedish family emigrated to Minesota. Or if you want the light version you go se the musical Kristina from Duvemåla. Björn and Benny from Abba made it. Its based on Vilhelms books. PS sorry for late answer

[@pierreblomgren6927]

Sweden was God the father of what wars today all soldiers do the same today, they continue the battle despite the losses, but then came the first world war which changed the whole warfare.

[@MrPipejointer]

Swedish is a germanic language. You are not wrong

[@Gladiusxxx3]

Fight or flight? The Caroleans brought alot of fight.