First War against Napoleon
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The First War against Napoleon or the Pomeranian War, was the first involvement by Sweden in the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1804 the Swedish government broke all diplomatic ties with France after the execution of Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d'Enghien and concluded a convention allowing the British to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base against France, in exchange for payments. Later Sweden joined the Third Coalition on August 9, 1805 and declared war to France on October 31, 1805 Sweden.
In November 1805, combined British, Russian and Swedish troops were sent to liberate French-held Hanover. However, after the battle of Austerlitz, the British and the Russian troops evacuated Hanover leaving a small Swedish force alone in December 1805. In April 1806, Prussia, Napoleon’s new ally, forced Swedes to retreat from the Hanoverian territory. On November, 1806 Swedish troops were caught in a cross-fire between the advancing French troops and Prussians in Lubeck, now the Coalition members and part of them capitulated to the French. French army began offensive towards Swedish Pomerania and besieged Stralsund on January 15, 1807. The Swedes made two unsuccessful sorties during the spring.
On April 18, 1807, France and Sweden agreed a cease-fire according to which French were to leave Pomerania. However, the Swedish government refused to join the Continental System and denunciated the armistice under the influence of British diplomacy on July 8, 1807.
On August 6, 1807, French, Spanish and Dutch 50.000 troops under Marshal Brune begin an assault on Swedish Pomerania and besieged Stralsund again. On August 20, 1807, the defenders of the city capitulated. Swedish army was surrounded at Rugen. However, Swedish General Toll managed to conclude a convention of Schlatkow with Marshal Brune on favorable terms and evacuated to Sweden with all its munitions of war on September 7, 1807.
The Franco-Russian treaty
The Franco-Russian treaty of Tilsit left Britain and Sweden without the allies in the war with France. On February 21, 1808, Russia joined the war against Sweden invading Finland (the Finnish War). On March 14, 1808, Denmark also declared war on Sweden. Danish and French-Spanish troops began to prepare for invading Skåne in Sweden, but the plan was soon aborted. Small combats occurred at the Norwegian border. Danish/Norwegian troops repelled Swedish attack and had victories at Toverud (April 19), Trangen (April 25), Prestebakke (June 10) and Lier (August 2). Sir John Moore's expedition sent by the British government to protect Sweden from possible French-Danish attack arrived on May 3 1808 and stayed until July when it was redirected to Portugal.
Napoleon’s plans to invade Sweden was never realized due to the British activity on the Baltic Sea, weakness of Danish military and hesitations of French Marshal Bernadotte, that made him popular enough to be elected as a Swedish Crown Prince after the coup d’etat in March 1809. On August 30, 1809, the new Swedish government was to conclude the treaty of Fredrikshamn with Russia legitimizing the latter’s capture of Finland and Åland. Peace treaty between Sweden and Denmark was signed with no territorial adjustments on December 10 1809.
On January 6 1810, Sweden signed a Russian-mediated Treaty of Paris with France regaining Pomerania, at a cost of joining the Continental System. On November 17 1810, Sweden was forced to declare war on Britain with all British goods in Swedish Pomerania to be requisitioned. The government-supported smuggling continued, however, over the North Sea. The English fleet was informed that it would be a phantom war. The war lasted until 1812 and no military action was taken.
See also: Second War against Napoleon, List of Swedish wars, Absolute monarchy in Sweden