HISTORICAL SMÅLAND 
  During those times when Sweden was an aggrssive and imperialistic
  nation, Småland was often a borderline county.  This position, in 
  combination with the intensive cross-border trade, implied a very
  specific and odd tradition of local armistices to develop between 
  the Swedes and the Danes.  One of the important prerequisites for
  such local armistices was the Småland tradition to mobilize armed
  bands of local farmers. This tradition, in turn, goes back to the
  ancient times when the population in Småland lived only in isola-
  ted farmsteds and each farm had to have its own way of defence.

  The patriotism  manifest in this tradition was demonstrated fully
  when king Gustav Vasa tried to unite Sweden, by strengthening the
  central power in the 1530's and -40's. The reaction in Småland to 
  the king's ambitions was a separatist movement known as Dackefej-
  den - a local revolution during 1542-43.

  The landscape in Småland also lends itself perfectly for guerilla
  warfare.  Deep forests, hills, valleys and caves provided  pefect 
  hiding places. 

  Especially one group of these irregulars is well known in Swedish
  history; "Snapphanarna". The Danes recruited these from the fores-
  ted lands between Skåne and Småland and they were used in several
  wars between Sweden and Denmark during the middle and late 1600's.

  Ultimately, not even the Småland stubbornness could withstand the
  pressure and Småland was successively more integrated with Sweden. 
  The local raw mateials  - bog iron ore and wood - provided the ba-
  sis for a flourishing iron-making and steel manufacturing industry
  which was the economic backbone in the region for about two centu-
  ries.  During the late 1800's, this industry was to a great extent
  driven out of  business because of the cheaper steel products from 
  ironworks based on mining, and it was successively replaced by the
  glass industry that made Småland known as "The Kingdom of Crystal".

  But you will still see the traces o the former ironworks for exam-
  ple at Huseby bruk, at the beautiful blast furnace café in Åryd or
  in the iron-works museum in Norrhult.