>>216017538
Later on in the 1800s and forwards the Cudgel war has been interpreted by nationalists as some independence struggle or revolt against the swedes but this is simply not the case. The real story is much more nuanced and interesting. The war was also very brutal. The nobles had mostly foreign mercenaries as their force so neither side had really any reason to care about the well-being of the other side. At the start of the revolt the peasants for example cut holes in the ice and threw captured knaves into the holes, and forced them to drown by poking them with poles/spears. Later the nobles promised amnesty to the peasants if they laid down their arms, and the peasants took the bait. Once they had handed in their weapons the nobles attacked and killed many of them.