Gustavus Adolphus: The Father of Modern Warfare

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Sweden's intervention unleashes the kaleidoscopic horrors of the 30 years war.

[00:00:15]17th century armies sweep like locusts across Europe. Most are mercenaries paid in the plunder they seize from conquered lands. They strip entire regions bare before they move on.

[00:00:32]Most of these armies are ordered in the Spanish system.

[00:00:38]It is based around the Tercio, a large square formation composed of pikemen and musketeers.

[00:00:47]They are supplemented by cavalry used for scouting, harassment or well-timed charges and regiments of artillery.

[00:00:56]Together, musketss can be devastating, but individually they are inaccurate and slow to reload. Musketeers are also vulnerable to fastm moving cavalry and require robust formations of pikemen to defend them.

[00:01:12]The Spanish system has dominated for a century, but recently things have begun to change. New Dutchstyle infantry formations called battalions are smaller and less deep with a larger proportion of firearms.

[00:01:28]This makes them less durable, but also more flexible, mobile, and capable of firing denser, more deadly volleys.

[00:01:38]And there is a push to integrate artillery with the rest of the army.

[00:01:44]Gustavos Adulus is an early adopter and perfects the new system. His aggressive and innovative tactics with smaller units, more firearms, and light artillery integrated into every regiment make his army dazzlingly quick, mobile, and lethal for its size. They also win him a reputation as the father of modern warfare and praise from men like Carl vonclausvitz and Napoleon Bonapart as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. In the summer of 1631, he seems unstoppable.