| Abstract: | In what is generally referred to as Sweden's Age of Greatness (1617–1721), Swedish armies ravaged Europe and Russia. The resulting manoeuvres, battles and sieges have been frequently described by Swedish military historians, yet rarely have the internal relationships within the Swedish armies been a topic of inquiry. This article presents one such analysis, with a focus on the relationship between military commanders and their subordinates in the age of King Charles XII of Sweden (1697–1718). By studying different types of violations of insubordination, my aim has been to identify the various informal rules that determined the nature of the subordinate–superior relationship, with a special focus upon the reasons for insubordination. |
