Allotment system

The allotment system (Swedish: Indelningsverket) was a system used in Sweden for keeping a trained army at all times. This system came into use around 1640 and was replaced in the early 1900s by the Swedish Armed Forces' mandatory conscription. Two different allotment systems have been in use in Sweden, the old allotment system (äldre indelningsverket) and the new allotment system (yngre indelningsverket), the latter often refered to as just "the allotment system". The soldiers who were part of these systems were known as tenement soldiers (indelta soldater, the Swedish term, does not have the same meaning) due to the small tenements or crofts alloted to them.

Originally, the allotment system was only a name for the system used to pay officers, but later it referred to the whole organization created to provide soldiers to the army, a system known as det ständiga knekthållet (literally the permanent soldier household).

Background

After the unification of Sweden in 1523, the infantry of the Swedish Army consisted of conscripted soldiers and enlisted mercenaries, both of whom would be called up in wartime only. The units were disbanded in peacetime to reduce costs, and only a few garrison units were present in towns and fortresses. This made it impossible to quickly mobilize a trained army. At the same time, tax exemptions were given to those who equipped horsemen for cavalry service.

Old system

In the 16th century, the system was changed with regard to both cavalry (1536) and infantry (1544), to provide an army that could be quickly mobilized. This was still done by forced conscription for the infantry and tax exemptions for those financing a horseman. The difference was that the new system gave the conscripted soldiers a means of subsistence between campaigns, by making a whole group of farmers responsible for the keep of each soldier. While the soldiers would be hired and salaried full-time if at war, they lived at home and off duty in peacetime. This meant that it would always be possible to raise a trained army in case of war.

The forced conscription of the foot soldiers was called utskrivning (literally writing out) and was based on a grouping, called a rote (file or ward), of ten men from an estate or a few farms, fit for military service and between the ages of 15 and 40. One randomly chosen man from each rote was forced to serve in the province's or county's regiment in case of war. The organization of the cavalry was based on a slightly different grouping, rusthåll (literally arm household), a farm or estate that could support a horseman who volunteered for service, often the estate master himself, in exchange for tax exemption.

The infantry was organized in units of 525 (later 300) men called a landsfänika and the cavalry in units of 300 horsemen called a landsfana. Later on this was changed to a company—battalion—regiment organization. The system, used and refined by Gustav Vasa and Gustavus Adolphus, was later to be known as the old allotment system. The forced conscription was disliked, though, and the peasantry in some provinces soon wrote contracts with the state to provide a certain number of soldiers in exchange for being spared from conscription.

There were a number of reasons for the dislike of the system. Firstly, any of the ten men in each rote could be picked to serve in case of war, which made it hard for the generals to estimate the knowledge and level of practice their soldiers would have. Secondly, the richest of the men in the rote could always buy their way out, which in turn often led to the "10th man" being the poorest or weakest in the rote, which of course was not good for the army. The forced conscription also often led to desertions.^[1]

New system

The army was reorganized in 1682 by Charles XI, who introduced the new allotment system, often referred to as just "the allotment system". One of the main reasons for the reorganization was the bad condition the army had been in during the Scanian War 1674–1679. In this system, the overall structure of the old system was retained, but contracts such as those described above were used instead of forced conscription. Contracts were written with counties and provinces, stating that they would have to raise and supply a regiment of 1,000 or 1,200 men in both wartime and peacetime. An estate or a few farms, the rote, provided a croft (soldattorp), farmland, and equipment for one volunteer soldier who could then make a military career, while the rest of the men in the rote escaped conscription. Nobles and farms on land owned by nobles were exempted and did not need to provide soldiers to the system,

The cavalry was conscripted in the same way as in the old system, with a rusthåll providing horse and horseman. In later years, contrary to the early times when the rider was often the farmer himself, the horseman was a volunteer in the same way as in the infantry, and he was also supplied with a croft (ryttartorp) and pay from the farmer, who in turn gained a large tax reduction and also did not need to serve in the army. Usually, the rusthåll was made up of only one estate, and possibly another supporting farmer.

While most regiments were alloted in the late 17th century, some remained outside the system, including a few guards regiments and all the artillery regiments with enlisted soldiers. Many new regiments of enlisted mercenaries were also raised in wartime; for example, only one fifth of soldiers in the Swedish army at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631 were of Swedish or Finnish origin. The rest of the army was made up of German, Scottish and other European mercenaries.^[2]

Allotment for the army was only applied to the countryside and not to the towns, where people were exclusively recruited to the navy. Each province had its own regiment consisting of 1,200 soldiers (not counting officers) for an infantry regiment, or 1,000 horsemen for a cavalry regiment. This meant that each province with an infantry regiment was divided into 1,200 rotar, and each province with a cavalry regiment was divided into 1,000 rusthåll. Thus a rote did not necessarily consist of ten men fit for military service as in the old system, it could instead consist of a single wealthy estate or several small farms.

Navy system

The Swedish Navy recruited their seamen according to the same system as the army, but from coastal provinces and towns (including non-coastal towns). As with the infantry, the farms in coastal areas were organized in rotar which would each provide a croft (båtmanstorp) for a navy volunteer. Recruits only had duties on board the ships, for example as artillerymen or sailors, and were not used for other combat duties, such as boardings and landings, which were executed by army units transported on the ships. Later, from the middle of the 18th century, some of the rotar in the cities would pay a fee equal to the approximate cost of providing a boatsman, instead of providing one from among themselves.

Crofts and soldiers

Each rote in the new allotment system had the responsibility to recruit a soldier for the army, provide his croft with a patch of land, a cow, a few chickens and few pigs or sheep so he could support a family, pay him his salary and supply him with necessities such as hay and seed. The rote also had to provide the soldier with the uniform. The croft and land, located on the land of the rote, only belonged to the soldier as long as he was fit for service. If he died or had to retire, the croft would have to be returned to the rote, even if it made his family homeless, the rote in turn had to find a new recruit. It sometimes happened that a widow of a fallen soldier married the rote's new recruit. The soldier lived at his croft for large parts of his life, mostly working at the farms that supported his household, and going away to a few training camps a year, training tactics and skills with his regiment. When at war, the soldier could be away for years at a time, leaving all chores to his wife and children if he had any, otherwise to the rote farmers.

Swedish tenement soldiers at a general muster, drawing by Gustaf Cederström, 1887.

Recruits in the early 18th century had to be physically and mentally fit, between 18 and 36 years old (18–30 years from 1819, 18–25 years from 1871) and at least 172 centimeters tall (175 cm from 1775, lowered to 167 cm from 1788, as the army was in dire need of soldiers during Gustav III's Russian War).^[3] Many soldiers served in the army for more than 30 years, as there was no service time stated in the contract; instead, being discharged required a reason, such as old age, injury, sickness, or the commission of a crime. Discharges were generally only given at general musters, held once a year, or even more sparse, even though an interim discharge could be given by the regimental commander if the discharge was supported by the soldier. The interim discharge had to be confirmed at the next general munster.

From the 1680s (army) and early 18th century (navy), all soldiers in a given company were required to have a unique surname, to make it easier giving specific orders. This could be problematic when several soldiers had the same name and gave rise to the Swedish soldier names (soldatnamn). The names could be taken from a trait, such as the surname Stolt (literally Proud) or from military terms, such as Svärd (luterally Sword), but were often related to the rote. A soldier from a rote located in the village Sundby could be given the surname Sundin. This also meant that surnames often stayed with the croft, rather than with the soldier. Common practice amongst discharged soldiers in the 18th century was to take back their old name. This changed in the 19th century and many soldiers kept their old soldier names, passing it on to their children. Each soldier in the regiment also had a unique number, between 1 and 1,200, the number of the rote and croft he currently belonged to.

Officers

Officers were provided with a large farm or homestead directly from the Crown, not from a rote. They did not, however, receive a salary from the state, but were instead paid by the rotar around the province, as part of the rote members' tax payments, and by farmers that worked the land belonging to the officer's farm. The officer homes were loans rather than outright gifts, and their size and quality was proportionate to the occupants' military rank. It was this system that was originally called the allotment system.

Military impact

The Swedish military had a unique position in Northern Europe at the time of the new system, being the only army that did not rely only on enlisted soldiers, mercenaries or soldiers conscripted by force.^[4] The Swedish army was also the largest in Europe, twice as big as any other country's, if counted in relation to how large population was. Thanks to the allotment system, mobilization was quick. It took time, weeks and months, to enlist, equip, train and organize a unit of mercenaries, while the Swedish tenement soldiers gathered at the company meeting place in a couple of days, and then at the regimental meeting place in around a week. The soldiers were already trained and equiped, and knew exactly their spot in the formation. Marching routes to the borders or to harbours had already been prepared, and supplies were gathered at important places.

The Swedish battle tactics largely relied on a high level of organization and large scale use of swords and pikes. Other armies had stopped using pikemen in the late 17th century, solely relying on the bayonet of the musketeer to protect against cavalry attacks. Reasons for the Swedish stubborness in keeping the pikes and making large use of swords in battle include the Swedish loss in the Battle of Kircholm in 1605, where a modernized Swedish army was severly beaten by Polish hussars – partly due to being equipped with the latest muskets which were hard to handle – and the fact that pikemen were very expensive to hire to armies that were formed by mercenaries, but as Sweden had the allotment system and thus did not pay a higher salary to pikemen, they were kept.^[5]

The high level of organization and morale made it possible to base the combat tactics on close combat, rather than long range shooting. A regular attack would look like the following; when the enemy musketeers started firing, at ranges up to 100 meters, the Swedish infantry would not answer but hold a high marching pace, not stopping until the range was as little as 40 meters, where the musketeers in the back of the formation would fire their only salvo. At even closer range, the musketeers in the front would fire their only salvo, and immediately after that, break into the enemy lines, musketeers with their swords, and pikemen with their pikes.^[6] This tactic would often result in a fleeing enemy force, which probably stood terrified when their opponent's companies were not stopped by continous musket fire, but kept marching on towards them under sinister silence.

Civil impact

During the time of the old allotment system, Sweden's involvement in the Thirty Years' War and the Northern Wars did not have a very large impact on the population in general. The armies of Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus and later Charles X had relatively large success thanks to the superior tactics used, and large parts of the armies were made up of foreign mercenaries. Gustavus Adolphus had, when he entered the Thirty Years' War, an army of 14,500 Swedish and Finnish conscripts and more than 20,000 enlisted foreigners^[7], and deaths in the later group did not affect the Swedish population. Charles XI's new allotment system did not have to see use the first 20 years of its existence, this was also the longest time of peace Sweden had seen since its independence. Thus, the population continued to grow at a steady rate between 1620 and 1700.^[8]

The new system was put to the test for the first time in 1700, when Sweden, under the reign of Charles XII, was attacked by a coalition of its neighbours Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland. The mobilization of the soldiers worked well thanks to the new system and Sweden mobilized 43,000 men in alloted regiments, and another 33,000 men from various enlisted regiments.^[9] The army was one of the largest in Europe at the time, had modern equipment and was very well trained and organized. However, three enemies were too much, even if Charles XII forced Denmark to leave the war the same year it started, and forced Saxony to leave the war in 1706. After these successful blows to the coalition, Charles XII had the opportunity to sign a peace with the remaining opponent, Russia. He did not, and this decicion would have immense effects on the population. Russia's vast plains did not give Charles XII the possibility to beat his enemy with his superior army, instead, he was forced into a war of attrition, a war he could not win.

As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimate of 200,000 men, whereof 150,000 from current day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden.^[10] This made a huge impact on a population that barely reached 2 million before the war. The total population did not grow during the 21 years of war; it was even reduced according to some sources, as the massive losses outnumbered the number of births.^[11] For example, the province of Östergötland was meant to support 2,200 tenement soldiers, making up one infantry and one cavalry regiment. Losses had to be replaced, and during the first years of the war, another 2,400 men were conscripted. After the Battle of Poltava in 1709, both regiments had to be completely reraised. At the end of the war, a total of 10,400 soldiers had been conscripted from the province that was meant to support only a fifth, or 2,200.^[12] Another regiment, Hälsinge regemente, had to be completely reraised three times during the war. The lack of soldiers became so critical that in the period 1714–1715 the army had to return to the old method of conscripting men by force.

Mandatory conscription

In 1812, a new system was introduced, requiring all men between age 20 and 25 to serve in the armed forces twelve days a year, from 1858 four weeks per two years.^[13] At the same time, the new allotment system was also used, up until 1901 when mandatory conscription and 8-9 months military service was introduced. The allotment system was finally abolished in 1904. From that time, regiments began to be garrisoned in towns instead of being spread all over the province with a training ground as the only common meeting place. As tenemented soldiers were contracted by the government for as long as they were fit for service, and as they could not be dismissed, some soldiers lived under the allotment system long after 1901, the last one retiring as late as 1964.^[14] Through the reform, the regiments' local connections were partially lost, as conscripts were not necessarily from the regiments' respective province. Before the reform, soldiers of the same company generally stemmed from the same village and region.

External links

"Indelningsverket" - The Allotment System - at Rolf Ström's site
Indelningsverket - The Allotment System - at Mats Persson's site
The Allotment System - at Hans Högman's site

Notes

^ For example, out of 306 forcibly conscripted soldiers in Kronoberg County in 1627, only 60 showed up for the first muster. Braunstein, p. 13.
^ Braunstein, pp. 32 & 34.
^ Recruitment at Militaria.
^ Braunstein, p. 46.
^ Braunstein, p. 42.
^ Braunstein, pp. 42-43.
^ Thirty Year's War at Militaria
^ Population statistics at Tacticus.nu.
^ In a total of 57 regiments, whereof 34 alloted and 23 enlisted. Navy units not included in the 57 regiments. Mobilization statistics at Militaria.
^ Losses statistics at Militaria.
^ Population statistics at Tacticus.nu.
^ Losses statistics at Militaria.
^ The Allotment System
^ Braunstein, p. 78.

References

Print

Braunstein, Christian (2003). Sveriges arméförband under 1900-talet. Stockholm: Statens Försvarshistoriska Museer. ISBN 91-971584-4-5
Nelsson, Bertil (1993). Från Brunkeberg till Nordanvind: 500 år med svenskt infanteri. Stockholm: Probus. ISBN 91-87184-23-0

Online

Högman, Hans (2001). Militaria - Svensk militärhistoria. Retrieved 18 Aug., 2005.
Martinsson, Örjan (2002). Tacticus.nu. Retrieved 18 Aug., 2005.
Persson, Mats (1998). The Allotment System. Retrieved 18 Aug., 2004.