Lingonberry War

Norwegian: Tyttebærkrigen, Swedish: Teaterkriget (The Theatrical War)

The Lingonberry War was a military campaign launched against Sweden by Denmark-Norway on the 24th of September 1788, formally lasting until the 9th of July 1789. Although the decision to launch the attack was taken in Denmark, the majority of the attacking soldiers were probably Norwegians.

The attack was directed towards the area known as Bohuslän in Sweden, and was supposed to be a diversion to support Russia who were allies of Denmark-Norway. Russia had in turn been attacked by Sweden (Gustav III's Russian War). Denmark-Norway had to honor their alliance with them, which they had signed in 1773.

The invading troops met little resistance, and occupied Uddevalla, Vänersborg and Åmål within a week, but was later stopped at Gothenburg. Out of 10.000 soldiers, the Norwegians lost only 8 in the ensuing confrontations. However, as the late autumn came, the Norwegians found themselves cut off without any supplies. This resulted in them losing about 1500-3000 men to a combination of disease, starvation and hypothermia. On the 12th of November, the Norwegian division retreated back to Norway.

The origin of the name 'Lingonberry War' is a little uncertain, but a number of theories have been put forward:

• The war was so calm that it allowed the soldiers to spend their time picking lingonberries.
• The Norwegians were forced to sustain themselves on lingonberries to avoid starvation.
• The uniforms of the Norwegian army were the same shade of red as lingonberries.

The origin of the name 'The Theatrical War', however, is a reference to the two sides never meeting in a full-scale battle.

References

• Georg Apenes, Tyttebærkrigen: det norske felttog i Sverige 1788, (1988)