On the Use of Natural Law 65 latter’s obvious interest to secure Prussia’s sovereignty. This must be seen against the background of Pufendorf’s theory of sovereignty. Prussia belonged to Frederick William, who was the sovereign of Brandenburg. As a natural consequence, he also wanted full sovereignty over other parts of his territory. When the Great Elector distrusted Sweden, even if unjustifed, it was evidently out of state interest, that is, in regard to the safety of Brandenburg. This may also be seen as the reason for his breach with Sweden. That the elector did not make an agreement with Sweden until he was forced to do so was due to the fact that the state of affairs in that part of Europe generally was so uncertain that to take someone’s side would have been against the interests of the state. Another factor was that other powers plotted against such an agreement. The way Pufendorf treats the actions of Denmark during the latter half of the 1650s is almost totally different from how he writes about the Great Elector. Moreover, he does not write so much about how the Danish king, Frederick III, acts as about the Danes generally. This might be because of the fact, well-known today, that Frederick had an irresolute character. But it may also be that it was against Pufendorf’s general worldviewto write about a monarch the way he wrote about “the Danes”. In the summer of 1655, Pufendorf writes, common interests existed between Denmark and Sweden, and this led to negotiations. While the Danes thought that Sweden wanted to gain time, they themselves waited for fortune to turn to the disadvantage of Sweden. That would be the moment to strike. The Danes were worried, but they underestimated the strength of Sweden. They had protested when a Dutch naval force entered the Baltic, but this was just for appearances’ sake.®^ The Swedish actions of the following year had two purposes: to keep the peace and at the same time to stop the Dutch navy from entering the Baltic. Denmark did act dishonestly; it denied the existence of a treaty with the Netherlands. Charles Gustavus’ attitude was interpreted as hostile. They were not sincere in negotiations, they tried to gain time, and they were not really interested in a treaty with Sweden. When the fortunes of war changed for Sweden, the courage of the Danes grew, Charles Gustavus took alarmwhen the Danes increased their armaments.®- Frederick William III tried to mediate between Sweden and Denmark. The latter country denied its guilt. Through the treaty of Elbing with the Dutch Charles Gustavus gained an advantage. But not even this brought the Danes to negotiations. Charles Gustavus was eager to make a treaty, but the Danes were plotting and acted deceitfully. At the same time the « ibid. II §§ 80—82. «- ibid. Ill §§ 83—84.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=