The Political Objectives of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany

The motives which impelled Gustav Adolf to invade Pomerania in June 1630, and the political objectives at which he aimed in the following two-and-a-half years, were once among the classic battlegrounds of German—and, to a less conspicuous extent, of Swedish—historiography. Since about 1920 the debate has noticeably flagged. Historians have in general been content to take their stand upon positions established by the researches of Bertil Boëthius and Nils Ahnlund. No recent book on the subject has served to keep controversy alive, as the parallel controversy about Wallenstein was reanimated during the inter-war years by the works of Srbik and Pekař; and little new material of any consequence has latterly been made available.