How Churches Turned Conquered Enemies Into Loyal Citizens in 17th-Century Sweden
A new historical analysis reveals how the Lutheran Church systematically integrated Danish subjects into Swedish identity after territorial conquest, using education, courts, and theology as tools of assimilation. The case offers policymakers rare evidence of how institutional networks can reshape public loyalty and national identity at scale—lessons relevant to modern integration challenges.
Originaltitel: The Role of the Church in Making a Neighboring Enemy a Loyal Citizen: An Example of Pseudo-Indigenization of Fellow Lutherans
<p>In this article the crucial role of the Lutheran Church in Sweden in the pseudo-indigenization process of makingneighboring Lutheran Danish enemies in the province of Scania into loyal Swedish citizen after the peace treaty ofRoskilde 1658, and more pronounced after 1678, is described and discussed. The process included educational,pedagogical, judicial, liturgical and theological-rhetorical means and had significant, invaluable, and long lastingconsequences. The province remains as a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. From a historical perspective, theprocess was fast and successful, even though some modern historians question the speediness of the process andthereby want to modify the picture of a fast and non-problematic Swedification or pseudo-indigenization process.</p>