Why did Sweden Decline? (Short Animated Documentary)

In the 1600s Sweden was a great military power and spent most of its free time wrecking the faces of Austria, Russia, Denmark and Poland-Lithuania but nowadays its definitely no longer considered a great power. So why not? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to my Patreon supporters below:

Rikspuckot
Øystein Alsaker
Sergio M. Vela
Myller
MajesticFirebird
Harley Raptopoulos
George Kapoyanis
Steven B
robert lalonde
CharÉTS
Dennis Vandeban
Mathias.C
Brendan W
Gin Aldeguer
Ethan
Heath Robertson
Michael Kram
Southside Mitch
Justin Kubusch
Leonard Frank
Cippalippus
ChrisRom
Sean Uzar
Travis Mount
Steven Gibson
Aaron Conaway
Christopher Godfrey
Nathan Mendelsohn
Ron Johnson
Alex Teplyakov
Dr. Schtnizel
Matthew Toles
zockotron
Jesse Plung
Colm Byrne
Joseph Reinsch
Anthony McCann
Joe DeVito
Jacob Zachs
ZCoupon
Jeremy Hernandez
Yared Cristiano
Valentyn
BenDrums24
BattleGoat Studios
Clay Carroll
Matt Reed
Tristan Kreller
Leena Al-Souki
Ian Smith
Kristian Kidd
Zachary Pascalar
Aeryn and Lisa Toland
Joell Bel
Jamie van Brewen
Alex G.
Jason Vandeventer
Sean Long
James R DeVries
JT96
Hunter Bayliss
No way
Cade Summers
Steve Schroeder
Tyler Bomkamp
Jonny Minogue
Joshua Schneider
Bobby Koys
Shauna K
Nolan Peale
Angel Aguiñaga
Mik Scheper
Hapalochlaena Lunulata
Wolf
Duke
Scriptmonkeys
Tino
Windischgraetz
ARandomPaperClip
Jane Sumpter
Alaska Jason
Nicholas Menghini
Garrett Manarin
Yosef Waysman
Tony Belmonte
Warren Rudkin
Tim Stone
Tranier Bocaj
Justin Short
Ethan Harlow
Bartosz Zasada
Nick Macarius
George Caponera
Tim Stumbaugh
Chris PeBenito
Templar366
erez87
Robin!
Geoffrey Sparrow
Ned Burke
Duane Bridges
Johann_Gambolputty_of_Ulm
David Spellmeyer
C. C. C.
Juan Castillo
Ted Parsons
Hexapuma
Logical Insanity
Burt Clothier
Moraxian
Tim Sweeney
Beth Resta
LambOfLeg
Brian Giordano
Joran Robbe
Harrison Wiener
Charles Kwiatkowski
Robert Meehan
Donald Weaver
Mars Project
Oriki
Paul Munro
SirAlpaka
Juan Benet
Mark Littlehale
Jack Beckman
KGO
John Gross-Whitaker
Roko Lisica
Will Sullivan
Zachary Oertel
Nathan Snyder
Kevin Phoenix
Andreas Mosand
Peter Hopkins
David Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem
The Funks
Sean D.
Philip Yip
Andrew Patane
Mario Mejia
Jewzillamaui
khaki enthusiast
Thomas McGraw
tegsirat
John Orr
Jack Nelson
Erik Hare
Andrew F
ixs
Damon
alexccg
george tyler
Matthew O'Connor
Patty Culp
Ciege Engine
Remko Huisman
Ben Jambor
Joseph Hutchins
Rosebird
Nathan Ngumi
Jakester1238
Joel Wasserman
Vegard Tønnessen
Richard Wolfe
Mr.Myoozik
Jon Wright
William Clark
Magdalena Reinberg-Leibel
James
blaZzinG_FurY
T. c. north
Matt Busch
Bort Ward
Mark Ploegstra
Steve Bonds
Joshportunities
nullptr
Matthew Venuti
I'm Not In The Description
Ruben Rodriguez
Dustin Koellhoffer
Sara Birnbaum
Shakira
Kaiserrin
Nuukov
Dr. Dana L. Pertermann
Dr. Sarno
Carr Nyuli
Mario Peshev
Vance Christiaanse
Jonathan Niehaus
Adrian Marine
Liquid Chief
Tactical_Jackal
D. Mahlik
Allen Rines
Peter Marino
Contdoko12
Bradley Backoff
Konstantin Bredyuk
HelloAgain
Darth Zayexeet
Colin Cecil
Tyler Jenkins
StarshockNova
Serius_Loyola
Tom Ebert
Chris Weisel
Dullis
William Adderholdt
A. J. Smart
ThePalestRose
Spencer DeRosier
Jeff Sharon
Bren Ehnebuske
bas mensink
Tortle!
Jasmin Vikk
Alexandre Corbett
Carl Blanton
SketerK
Adam Probert
Hiro P
Joseph Kerckhoff
WolfiZee
Samantha McCormick
Melissa Prober
Swanfleet
Sethars
Jeroen
Lord Chromium
Anthony Uk
Charles Doolittle
Rob Rollins
Thomas Wang
Heytun
Ian M
Jasdeep Brar
Shannon Cartee
Doug MacLean
Ted Ingram
Miky Hidalgo Morriss
Isabel Harrison
Ali Sadighian
Seth Reeves
YugiJitsu Games
Robert Brockway
Hidamarisou - Webnovel translations
Andrew Sever
Ken Fitzgerald
Tom of Essex
blei95
Vladislav Vasilev
Tommi Hewitt
Lindorien
João Santos
Kameohawk
Typhoon2401
Russell Downing
Jan Bart Verbist
M Scho
Kasi
Schwarzer Hai
Jordan Russell
Hazzard
Robin_Col
James Chisnall
zemnmez
Jackarice26
James
Rhys Jackson
Ben L
Tarsirrus
Rhys Little
Ash Elford
Twinny Hill
Phil Johnston

[alexross]

Sweden: HAHA YES! WINNING ROCKS!!! SUCK IT, LOSERS!!!
Sweden: *loses once*
Sweden: Let us be a bastion of neutrality.

[ElysiumCreator]

Simple, Sweden switched up its strategy for world domination. It stopped invading everywhere (Denmark) and made us all rely on them for usable furniture, quite clever really

[olegoose]

1:40
"I use army to fund army"

- Sweden, probably

[richardwallerstein]

At its strongest, Sweden had a colony in the Americas, New Sweden, on the Delaware River as well as ownership of St Barts.

[markmarano]

1:08 - Single greatest visual representation of "mixed arms" ever!

[gegecry]

So essentiely until 1700 sweden was prussia before prussia was prussia.

[apc]

Problem: Expensive army
Solution: James bisonette

[realhawaiio]

Here in Estonia, they still call the Swedish rule period "The Golden Swedish Age".

[iOnlySignIn]

Arguably Sweden, instead of Revolutionary France, is the first modern state, with a modern army & taxation system. Later its competitors (especially Russia) learned from Sweden and caught up.

[clockie]

I like how sweden just tagged in to whatever nordic country it felt like. At one point Denmark and Sweden were one country, then it was Sweden and Finland, and lastly Sweden and Norway

[ShyGuyShow]

In Swedish history class this is called "Stormaktstiden" or The age of great power

[erickonami]

I tell my girlfriend i have her as my wallpaper but in reality i switch it to Gustavus Adolphus when nobody is looking

[nixlarfs]

State control of the church was mostly important because the church kept detailed records of people, and these records increased taxation efficiency immensely.

[HerbertLandei]

In Germany, the regions at the Baltic coast are still jokingly referred to as "South Sweden". They were Swedisch territory for over 200 years, and there are still some words and traditions alive from this period. As Sweden was a major steel producer, the expression "behind Swedish curtains" means "behind bars" in German. And "Old Swede!" is an expression of utter astonishment.

[Quin_Ram]

They didn’t decline. The many locations of IKEA all over the world just shows how influential Sweden is!

[coltafanan]

I keep thinking one day we’re gonna hear: “But fun fact… Yes!”

[gideonmele]

When Poland-Lithuania and Russia put aside their differences to see your empire put in the ground peanently, that’s when you know you effed up

[mrwillss]

James Bisonette didn’t fund us enough 🇸🇪

[chipslejonet]

Interesting video and also it is always fun to see somebody talk about swedish history. Hälsningar från sverige

[patrickt]

My week was so bad, glad you uploaded a new video