View source for Snapphane

{{Short description|Pro-Danish militiaman who fought against the Swedes during the Second Northern and Scanian Wars}}
{{for|the TV-series|Snapphanar (TV-series)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name             = Snapphane
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| war              = [[Second Northern War|Second Northern]] and [[Scanian War]]s
| image            = Lönsboda 2009B.jpg
| caption          = Snapphanevägen statue at Loshult Road in [[Lönsboda]]. Designed by Anders Jönsson
| active           = 17th-century
| ideology         = pro-[[Denmark|Danish]]
| position         =
| leaders          = [[Svend Poulsen]]
| clans            = 
| headquarters     = 
| area             = 
| size         = 
| partof           = 
| predecessor         = 
| successor             = 
| allies           = 
| split            = 
| opponents        = {{flag|Sweden}}
| battles          = 
| website          = 
}}
A '''''snapphane''''' was a member of a 17th-century pro-[[Denmark|Danish]] [[guerrilla]] organization, [[auxiliaries]] or [[paramilitary]] [[Soldier|troops]] that fought against the [[Sweden|Swedes]] in the [[Second Northern War|Second Northern]] and [[Scanian War]]s, primarily in the eastern former Danish provinces that had become [[South Sweden|southern Sweden]] in these wars. The term was a derogatory reference for those the [[Swedish language|Swedish]] authorities considered [[Unlawful combatant|illegal combatants]].

==Categories==
{{lang|sv|Snapphanar}} were of five general categories:

* Regular [[special forces]] from the [[Royal Danish Army|Danish army]] sent to work behind enemy lines to disrupt communications and [[supply line]]s, obtain [[Intelligence assessment|intelligence]], prevent [[Swedish Tax Agency|Swedish tax]] collection, catch [[traitors]], and help [[Danes]] escape from enemy territory. Captain Pieter Sten, who the [[Swedes]] considered the fiercest of {{lang|sv|snapphanar}}, spent part of his time in the regular army and ran a spy central at the Ringsøe lake (now [[Ringsjön]]). Nicolai Hermansen held similar roles.
* The King's {{lang|da|friskytter}} were lightly armed [[cavalry]] units who fought in the rear and did the same tasks as the first category but on a day-to-day basis. Specialists like Pieter Sten would organize the {{lang|da|friskytter}} into companies or assign volunteers to companies and constitute a link between the {{lang|da|friskytter}} and the Danish authorities. Their role verged between that of paramilitary and auxiliaries in that they were paid by the state, worked on the orders of the [[Danish Defence|Danish military]] headquarters. They were sent over to lodgings in [[Denmark]] proper, similar to regular soldiers when the campaign season was over. {{lang|da|Friskytte}} units were often set up on a regional basis so that all volunteers from one [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] ({{lang|da|herred}}) signed up for the same company, but as the war continued, the companies shifted shape many times. There were at least two student companies, with recruits from the universities of [[Copenhagen]] and [[Lund]]. Some units were mainly for soldiers and veterans from both the Danish and Swedish armies. The vast majority of {{lang|da|friskytter}} were [[Skåneland|Scanian]], but there was also a mix of [[Danes]], [[Germans]], [[Polish people|Poles]], and [[Swedes]]. These cavalry units of 40–100 operated over large areas. Their main task was to attack the Swedish army's supply lines, although all of the functions listed for category 1 were valid for them as well. They also worked with highly specialized units of [[Croat]] cavalry hired by the Danish king. Major General Meerheim in the regular [[Royal Danish Army|Danish army]] was ultimately responsible for the operations.
* Ordinary peasants and [[yeoman]] farmers who continued their day-to-day lives but took up arms against approaching [[Swedish Army|Swedish forces]] when necessary; this category was most common in the initial stages of a war but continued throughout. These combatants were similar to modern partisans or [[Guerilla warfare|guerrillas]].
* Another group of snapphanar were Danish [[bailiff]]s ({{lang|da|folder}}), who supervised Danish tax collection and [[foraging]] and often clashed with Swedish troops with the same intentions.

Often these four groups collaborated and contributed to various Danish war operations, and most often, they were controlled from [[Copenhagen]].

* A final category of {{lang|sv|snapphanar}} was [[Banditry|bandits]], [[Looting|looters]], and [[carpetbagger]]s who roamed the land and had little to do with either warring party. Their looting was directed at the [[Swedish Army|Swedish army]] and, to a greater extent, the civilian population. The sources show that there were criminals on both sides who exploited the local population.

These five categories of the fighter were all considered {{lang|sv|snapphanar}} by the [[Swedes]], and if caught, were all punished as such. However, these combatants themselves did not use this term, and those in Category 2 and 3 strongly preferred the word {{lang|da|friskytter}}.

==Strategic background==
A large part of [[Scania]] was [[No man's land|no-man's land]] during the [[Scanian War|Scanian war]]. The Danes had taken refuge in the two [[Enclave and exclave|enclaves]] of [[Landskrona]] and [[Helsingborg]] and the Swedes in [[Malmö]] and later in [[Kristianstad]], but the rest of the territory was [[stateless nation|stateless]] and small parties of [[cavalry]] would be sent out from the fortified enclaves to stock up, forage and seek out skirmishes with the enemy. This kind of war was called "party warfare" or "[[Petty warfare|petty war]]" and was typical of early modern [[Europe]] when firearms began to make a serious impact and warfare became increasingly expensive and difficult to carry out in the traditional sense. Large field battles usually did not give a definite result but cost huge sums of money. Instead, there was usually a [[attrition warfare|war of attrition]] between different [[garrison]]s that sat in fortified cities such as [[Kristianstad]] in [[Scania|Skåne]] or [[Kristiansand]] in [[Norway]]. A gloomy consequence of this kind of warfare was that the land around the fortresses was completely destroyed because of scorched earth tactics where both sides burned everything, so that the enemy did not get it.

The easiest plan in such situations was to use agile small troops, usually cavalry, but also infantry. On the continent the [[House of Hapsburg|Habsburg]], Croats were among the most skillful troops and the Danes hired small contingents of Croats to co-operate with the Danish specialists in petty war - the {{lang|da|friskytter}}.

During the Scanian War, many Scanians who lived in the western part of [[Scania]] could quite easily join the regular [[Royal Danish Army|Danish army]], after the temporary 1676 Danish re-conquest of the province. But in the North (closer to Sweden), this was more difficult. However, Scanians who joined the army or were drafted were often sent to the {{lang|da|friskytte}} units, like the Copenhagen student Jörgen Wesseltoft who was partly {{lang|da|friskytte}}, partly one of the king's guards. In any case, the partisan movement was the most common way to support the Danish side.
The movement did also return during the 1711 Danish attempt to regain Scania.<ref>(Danish) http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/snaphaner/</ref>

==Origin of the word==
The term {{lang|sv|snapphane}}, which was used as a [[pejorative]] term by the Swedes to describe the pro-Danish rebels, was originally a word for gangs of [[bandits]] that lived in the woods. When Scanian exiled [[peasants]] were organized by the Danish king into bands that fought the Swedes with [[guerrilla warfare]], they were also referred to as {{lang|sv|snapphane}}.

Because the movement supported the Danish invasion during the [[Scanian War]], Swedish authorities fought the {{lang|sv|snapphanar}} brutally, and if captured, these fighters were usually executed and their corpses [[Impalement|impaled]] and shown where the locals could see them and be intimidated into obedience. A common method of execution was the [[breaking wheel]].

The {{lang|sv|snapphane}} insurgency was initially successful, but as the tide of the war turned against Denmark, the strength of the {{lang|sv|snapphane}} movement became more depleted. The {{lang|sv|snapphane}} movement was eventually defeated by a ruthless campaign waged by the [[Swedish Army]], compelling all Scanian peasants to swear allegiance to the [[Monarchy of Sweden|King of Sweden]]. This effectively created a wedge between the {{lang|sv|snapphane}} movement and most of the population. Instructed by their Danish paymasters to kill Scanian peasants loyal to the Swedish crown, the {{lang|sv|snapphane}} bands soon turned on the local population and thus undermined all popular support for the Danish king.

A determined Swedification policy was reportedly so effective that when a Danish invasion army landed in 1709 in the wake of the [[Battle of Poltava]], the local population was raised in a militia to fight against them. Participation in this was limited. The last suspected {{lang|sv|snapphane}}, Nils Tuasen‚ was executed in 1700 for slaying a Swedish soldier in 1677. He had allegedly spent 22 years in exile in Denmark but ultimately returned, upon which he was arrested and put to death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bad9b975-b0c3-4310-ab06-f78a4aed937f |title=GC19ED4 Snapphanar - Bäckabro (Traditional Cache) in Skåne, Sweden created by Lady & Lufsen i samarbete med Hässleholms Turism |publisher=Geocaching.com |date= |accessdate=2012-10-01}}</ref>
[[File:Snapphanen av Axel Ebbe-1.jpg|thumb|{{lang|sv|Snapphanen}} from 1934 by artist Axel Ebbe portraits the {{lang|sv|snapphane}} Lille Mads, a member of the pro-Danish guerrilla active in southern Sweden in the 17th century. The statue is placed in the {{lang|sv|Hembygdsparken}} park in [[Hässleholm]]]]
{{lang|sv|Snapphanar}} made an impact on Swedish popular culture. In modern times, the [[Swedish Navy]] [[patrol boat]] P161 is named HMS {{lang|sv|Snapphanen}}. It is part of a class of vessels several of which are named after paramilitary professions, like {{lang|sv|Kaparen}} ([[privateer]]), {{lang|sv|Spejaren}} ([[Reconnaissance|scout]]), etc.

==Literature==
* Kim Hazelius, ''De Kallades Snapphanar.''. Bokpro Bjärnum 2006 ({{ISBN|91-89336-40-2}}).
* K Arne Blom, Jan Moen, ''Snapphaneboken.''
* Palle Lauring (1952). ''Danmark i Skåne''. Stockholm: Berghs förlag, 1999 ({{ISBN|91-502-1368-7}}).
* Herman Lindquist (1995). ''Historien om Sverige – storhet och fall''. Norstedts Förlag, 2006 ({{ISBN|91-1-301535-4}}).
* Mats Olsson (2001). "Att icke understå sig att lämna sina hemman: Om bondeklassens frihet och adelns dominans i Skåne". ''Historisk Tidskrift'', 2001 (1): 5–28. {{ISSN|0345-469X}}.
* Sixten Svensson (2005). ''Sanningen om snapphanelögnen''. ({{ISBN|91-975695-1-8}}).
* Sten Skansjö (1997). ''Skånes historia''. Lund ({{ISBN|91-88930-95-5}}).
* Alf Åberg, (1951).''Snapphanarna.''Stockholm: LTs Förlag.
* Alf Åberg (1994). ''Kampen om Skåne under försvenskningstiden''. Stockholm: [[Natur & Kultur]] (912704355X).
* Alf Åberg (1975). ''I snapphanebygd''. Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren.
* Cederborg, Carl August (1913). ''Kopparskrinet''.
* Cederborg, Carl August (1987). ''Mickel Göing''.
* Cederborg, Carl August (1912). ''Göingehövdingen I''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927044839/http://www.omnibus.se/cgi-bin/ebokinfo.pl?eB=474-5]
* Cederborg, Carl August (1912). ''Göingehövdingen II''. [https://archive.today/20061014115457/http://www.omnibus.se/cgi-bin/ebokinfo.pl?eB=498-2]
*Vadenbring, Jojan. "Snapphanar och friskyttar i lundabygden", pp.&nbsp;164–171 in Sten Skansjö (ed.), ''Lunds historia - staden och omlandet. 2'', Lunds kommun, Lund 2012
*Fabricius, Knud. ''Skaanes overgang fra Danmark til Sverige I-V'', Copenhagen 1906-1958

==In popular culture==
A historical miniseries entitled {{lang|sv|[[Snapphanar (miniseries)|Snapphanar]]}} was made for Swedish television in 2006.
A film featuring [[Edvard Persson]] from 1941 bears the same name.

==See also==
*[[Snaphance]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Guerrilla organizations]]
[[Category:Northern Wars]]
[[Category:Scania]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in Denmark]]