In contemplating this struggle as a whole, the reader will doubtless be impressed by the extraordinary ease with which the victory was won. In less than two years and a half after the first blow was struck, the Danish tyrants had been driven from every stronghold, and the patriots had placed their leader on the throne. Indeed, eighteen months had scarcely passed when the issue was practically decided. The remaining year consisted mainly in the reduction of Sweden's strongholds, and was marked by little bloodshed. It furnished small opportunity either for brilliant strategy or for acts of startling courage. The enforced absence of the Danish monarch prevented his army from entering the field, and the patriots had neither arms nor ammunition with which to storm the forts. Both parties, therefore, waited; and the last year was little more than a test to determine the endurance of the contending armies. While, however, this period wants many of the features that make war grand, it is yet instructive if not interesting in its results. The struggle at the beginning was against overwhelming odds. The patriots had neither ammunition nor resources, and their leader was without prestige. On the other hand the Danes were well supplied with men and arms, and were led by one of the powerful monarchs of Europe backed by all the authority and influence of Rome. In spite of all this, the patriots grew in numbers day by day, while the Danish forces steadily declined. The patriots succeeded in obtaining rich supplies of men and arms from abroad, while Christiern was scarce able to keep his army from starvation. One by one the strongholds which he had seized surrendered, till finally his entire army was forced to yield, and Sweden, from her place as a weak and down-trodden Danish province, attained an enviable position among the great monarchies of Europe. The key to this marvellous transformation in the two parties can be found only in the characters of their respective leaders. The people were horrified by the brutal cruelties of Christiern, while allured by the evident sincerity and enthusiasm of Gustavus. In all history there is no more striking example of the far-reaching influence which individual characters sometimes exert upon a nation's growth. FOOTNOTES: [56] Svaning, _Christ. II._, pp. 432-433; Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, pp. 17-18 and 20-21; Ludvigsson, _Collect._, pp. 86-87; and _Sver. trakt._, vol. iv. pp. 1-5. [57] Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, pp. 18-19 and 21-23; _Christ. II.'s arkiv_, vol. iv. pp. 1340-1348; and _Dipl. Dal._, vol. i. pp. 237-238. [58] Rensel, _Berättelse_, p. 19; Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, p. 26; _Christ. II.'s arkiv_, vol. iv. pp. 1338-1339 and 1353-1356; and _Dipl. Dal._, vol. i. pp. 240-241. [59] Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, pp. 25-26; and _Christ. II.'s arkiv_, vol. iv. pp. 1349-1350 and 1352-1353. [60] Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, pp. 24 and 26-30. [61] Svart, _Gust. I.'s krön._, pp. 31-34.