ABSTRACT
The creation of a large and reliable army by the Great Elector was not achieved without a struggle. The Great Elector was able not only to build up a sizeable army; he also gained the upper hand over the estates, asserting his authority and laying the foundations of the Prussian military state. Christian was also obliged to appoint a new marshal of the realm and admit him to the council, whose control over military operations was thereby strengthened. In the mid-1630s, Sweden was prepared to accept five million riksdaler as the sum required to pay off her armies. Military successes in the 1640s encouraged her negotiators at Osnabruck to raise this sum to twenty-six million, or thirteen million with possession of Pomerania, Bremen and Verden. The Swedish government was indeed more interested in the defence and security of the trans-Baltic lands than in pursuing uniformity.
