The Rote Soldier and the Soldattorp

We don't usually think of Sweden as a military power, but prior to 1814 Sweden had a history of war. Early on, soldiers were involuntarily recruited by a system called Utskrivning or the early allotment system, a compulsory practice not very popular among the ranks.

Sweden was divided into 25 provinces and every province maintained an infantry regiment. Each province was made up of multiple parishes, and each parish consisted of a number of farms and/or villages. A small number of farms/villages within a parish (usually 2-4) were grouped together to form a rote. Every able-bodied man in a rote were assembled together and one man per rote was involuntarily recruited for military service. The soldier only received pay during wartime and no compensation during peace time. Land owners (mostly those who owned small portions of land) as well as their sons were subjected to involuntary recruitment. Not surprisingly, there were many deserters.

In 1682, the Indelningsverket or late allotment system was organized. It continued through more than 2 centuries until 1901. Rather than relying on a system of involuntary recruitment, the farmers within a rote became responsible to recruit and maintain an infantry soldier who would serve in the regiment. The farmers were contractually responsible for providing him and his family with housing, food, a portion of land, and a monetary allowance. Each of the farmers within the rote shared in the cost equally. The soldier was required to go to war when summoned. If the soldier died or was discharged, his wife and children were required to move to make place for the new soldier. Even though it was an added expense for the farmers, they themselves and their sons were no longer subjected to involuntary recruitment. It was also an opportunity for indigent young men to be able to provide for a wife and a family.

The small house provided for the soldier was called a soldattorp and was usually assigned a unique number. The soldier was also assigned a unique last name. Often, the same last name continued with each soldier who subsequently occupied the soldattorp. For example, when a soldier who was assigned the last name of Län, and who occupied soldattorp 1187, left military service, his replacement who occupied the same soldattorp would also be assigned the last name of Län. When a man was discharged, he could keep his military name or revert to his original surname. It was completely his choice.

An average soldattorp was about 372 square feet in total. That's about the size of a newfangled American tiny house. There may have been a sleeping loft between the ceiling and the rafters, and, of course, there was no interior plumbing. With such a small space the vestibule kind of confused me. Why would they dedicate valuable living space to an entryway? And then my architect/engineer husband pointed out that they probably needed that space not only for storage and availability of hats, coats and boots, given the cold climate most of the year, but also to keep the mud and grass and other farm-related material (if you know what I mean) from being tracked into the living spaces. And suddenly that space became quite valuable.

A Soldattorp would be located on common village land or on a farmer’s donated land. The rote soldier would usually have enough surrounding land assigned to him to maintain a small vegetable garden and a few basic farm animals. By law, the barn would have to be at least 10 meters by 4.7 meters (about 32.8’ X 15.4’), which would actually be larger than the house.

http://www.hhogman.se/military.htm

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldattorp