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Article: Northern Wars
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NORTHERN WARS
NORTHERN WARS.
The Northern Wars (1558
–
1721) were a cycle of general conflicts between the major powers of northern and eastern Europe surrounding the Baltic
—
principally Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, and Muscovy (Russia)
—
of fundamental importance for modern European history. The wars began following the breakdown of the Hanseatic League (or Hansa), the medieval political and economic system in the Baltic region. The breaking of the economic grip of the Hanseatic League just as western European demand grew for the increasingly lucrative commodities of Baltic grain, timber, pitch, hemp, and flax, stimulated the interest of these major ...