Swedish–Tripolitanian war (1796–1802)

Naval conflict between Sweden and Ottoman Tripolitonia (1796–1802)

Swedish–Tripolitanian war (1796–1802)

Part of the First Barbary War
| Date| 1796 – October 1802

|

Location|

Mediterranean Sea

Result|  Tripolitan victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Tripolitania|  Sweden
Commanders and leaders
Yusuf Karamanli
Burak Rouse|  Gustav IV Adolf
Rudolf Cederström
David Gustaf Blessingh
Carl Gustaf Tornquist
Strength
Unknown|  Four frigates:
Thetis
Fröja
Camilla
Sprengporten
One brig:
Husaren
One warship:
Thundera
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  Over 20 ships captured
160 sailors captured

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First Barbary War

* Action of 1 August 1801
* 1st Tripoli Harbor
* Action of 22 June 1803
* 2nd Tripoli Harbor
* Derne

The Swedish–Tripolitanian war was a naval conflict that took place from 1796 to 1802 between Sweden and Tripolitania over tribute payments.[1]

## Background

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Tripolitan leader Yusuf Karamanli aimed to maintain power by reorganizing the military, expanding the fleet, and pushing into the southern Sahara.[2] Trouble arose when Sweden and Denmark were slow to send gifts to him. In response, he seized ships from both countries to pressure them. Despite new demands reaching Sweden in 1794, Yusuf Karamanli insisted on renegotiating a peace treaty, ignoring objections from both the Ottoman Empire and Sweden. Unlike his father, who had honored peace agreements with Sweden, Yusuf Qaramanli repeatedly declared war on Sweden[3] and captured several ships.[4]

## War

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In 1797 Major David Gustaf Blessingh left Sweden with the frigate Thetis and the brig of war Husaren to resolve the conflict.[1] In June 1798, the Tripolitans captured 20 ships and 160 Swedish sailors.[5] Sweden started negotiating for peace soon after. Sweden and Denmark paid $100,000 for the release of their captives.[2] The peace treaty of 1798 was unstable, prompting Yusuf Karamanli to declare war on Sweden once again in 1800. Sweden sent Lieutenant-Colonel Carl Gustaf Tornquist to negotiate a new peace treaty in early 1801 to free the hostages. The Swedes did not ratify it due to the harsh Tripolitan demands.[1] In January 1801, the Swedish warship "Thundera" sailed into Tripoli Harbor with a white flag. During the conflict with Sweden, four merchant ships were seized and sold to Tunis, with their crews held hostage by Karamanli.[6]

### Blockade of Tripoli Harbor

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Main article: First Battle of Tripoli Harbor

In 1802 Swedish and American warships worked together to blockade Tripoli Harbor. They helped each other with convoys for their merchant ships, until a new peace treaty was signed. Sweden's Consul Burström reported that despite the treaty, the joint blockade didn't work because Tripoli's corsair galleys still accessed the port. Burström noted that the blockade's failure pleased Yusuf Karamanli.[5]

## Aftermath

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In October 1802 Sweden withdrew from the First Barbary War and paid a significant tribute to Tripolitania, while the Regency of Tripoli continued the war against the Americans before eventually signing peace with the United States in 1805.[7]

## References

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1. ^ a b c Müller 2021, pp. 149.
2. ^ a b Ali Abdullatif 2011, pp. 26. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAli_Abdullatif2011 (help)
3. ^ Suonpää 2019, pp. 5. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSuonpää2019 (help)
4. ^ Goetze 2023, pp. 571.
5. ^ a b Suonpää 2019, pp. 6. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSuonpää2019 (help)
6. ^ Raymond 2001, pp. 448.
7. ^ Suonpää 2019, pp. 7. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSuonpää2019 (help)

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Barbary Corsairs

Territories

* Regency of Algiers
* Annaba
* Barbary coast
* Bizerte
* Cherchell
* Mahdiya
* Oran
* Rabat
* Republic of Salé
* Tetouan
* Regency of Tripoli
* Regency of Tunis

Commanders

| 16th century|

* Aruj
* Hayreddin Barbarossa
* Sayyida al Hurra
* Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis
* Occhiali
* Salah Rais
* Murat Reis the Elder
* Kemal Reis
* Aydın Reis
* Muhammad I Pasha
* Hasan Corso
* Muhammad Kurdogli
* Hasan Agha
* Hasan Pasha
* Arnaut Mami
* Hassan Veneziano
* Sinan Reis
* Dragut

|

17th century|

* Jan Janszoon
* Salé Rovers
* Anglo-Turkish piracy
* Sulayman Reis
* Ahmed el Inglizi
* Omar Agha
* Ali Bitchin
* Simon Reis
* Yusuf Reis

18th century|

* Ahmed Karamanli
* Yusuf Karamanli

19th century|

* Ali Khodja
* Hussein Dey
* Omar Agha
* Mohamed Kharnadji
* Haji Ali
* Baba Mohammed ben-Osman

Diplomacy

* Franco-Ottoman alliance
* Anglo-Moroccan alliance
* Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship
* US Treaty with Tripoli (1796)
* US Treaty with Tunis (1797)
* US Treaty with Tripoli (1805)
* US Treaty with Algiers (1815)
* US Treaty with Tunis (1824)
* US Treaty with Morocco (1836)

Conflicts

| 16th century|

* Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501)
* Capture of Algiers (1516)
* Fall of Tlemcen (1518)
* Battle of Pianosa (1519)
* Siege of Rhodes (1522)
* Battle of Formentera (1529)
* Capture of Peñón of Algiers (1529)
* Conquest of Tunis (1534)
* Conquest of Tunis (1535)
* Sack of Mahón (1535)
* Siege of Corfu (1537)
* Battle of Preveza (1538)
* Siege of Castelnuovo (1539)
* Battle of Alboran (1540)
* Siege of Nice (1543)
* Ottoman wintering in Toulon (1543-1544)
* Capture of Mahdiye (1550)
* Invasion of Gozo (1551)
* Siege of Tripoli (1551)
* Battle of Ponza (1552)
* Invasion of Corsica (1553)
* Capture of Bougie (1555)
* Siege of Oran (1556)
* Ottoman invasion of the Balearic Islands (1558)
* Battle of Wadi al-Laban (1558)
* Expedition to Mostaganem (1558)
* Battle of Djerba (1560)
* Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir (1563)
* Great Siege of Malta (1565)
* Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–71)
* Battle of Lepanto (1571)
* Conquest of Tunis (1574)
* Sack of Sori (1584)

|

17th century|

* Expulsion of the Moriscos (1609)
* Franco-Algerian War (1609–28)
* Raid on Żejtun (1614)
* Battle of Cape Corvo (1615)
* Dutch–Barbary War (1618–22)
* Anglo-Algerian War (1620–1621)
* Action of 3 October 1624
* Dutch expedition to Algiers (1624)
* Turkish Abductions (1627)
* Sack of Baltimore (1631)
* Raid on Ceriale and Borghetto (1637)
* Cretan War (1645–69)
* Action of March 1665
* Anglo-Algerian War (1677–82)
* French-Tripolitania War (1681–85)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1682)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1683)
* Morean War (1684–99)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1688)
* Sieges of Ceuta (1694–1727)
* Battle of the Oinousses Islands (1695)

18th century|

* Dutch–Algerian War (1715–26)
* Spanish conquest of Oran (1732)
* Action of 28 November 1751
* Battle of Cape Palos (1758)
* Danish–Algerian War (1769–72)
* Siege of Melilla (1774–75)
* Dutch–Moroccan War (1775–77)
* Invasion of Algiers (1775)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1783)
* Bombardments of Tunisia (1784–92)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1784)
* Moroccan seizure of the Betsey (1784)
* American-Algerian War (1785–95)
* Portuguese Algerian War (1790–1813)
* Siege of Oran (1790–1792)
* Bombardment of Tangier (1791)
* 1st Swedish-Algerian War (1791–92)
* 2nd Swedish-Algerian War (1796-1802)
* Action of 16 May 1797

19th century|

* First Barbary War (1801–05)
* Second Barbary War (1815)
* Bombardment of Algiers (1816)
* Battle of Tripoli (1825)
* Bombardment of Tripoli (1828)
* Austrian expedition against Morocco (1829–30)
* Invasion of Algiers (1830)

Slavery

* Barbary slave trade
* Slavery on the Barbary Coast
* Bagnio
* Lazarists
* Monte della Redenzione degli Schiavi
* Redemptorists
* Trinitarians

## Sources

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* Mika, Suonpää (2019). Diplomacy and Intelligence in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean World. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781474277051.
* Müller, Leos (2021). Facing the Sea. Nordic Academic Press. ISBN 9789189361119.
* Raymond, F.Aubé (2001). Across Troubled Waters. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9780759617247.
* Goetze, Dorothée (2023). Early Modern European Diplomacy. De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110672008.
* Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2011). The Making of Modern Libya. State University of New York Press. ISBN 9781438428932.

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