Cudgel War The Club War ( also Cudgel War , , ) was a 1596 / 97 peasant uprising in the kingdom of Sweden against exploitation by nobility and military in what is today Finland . The name of the uprising derives from the fact that the peasants armed themselves with various blunt weapons , such as cudgel s , flail s and maces , as they were seen as the most efficient weapons against their heavily armoured enemies . The yeomen also had swords , some firearms and two cannon at their disposal . Their opponents , the troops of Clas Eriksson Fleming , were professional , heavily armed and armoured men - at - arms . War . The peasants took up residence in Nokia Manor and won several skirmishes against small cavalry forces , but were decisively defeated by Clas Fleming on January 1 – 2 , 1597 . A field battle had ensued at Nokia , which ended indecisively ; the men - at - arms could not break the fortified positions of the yeomen nor could the yeomen defeat the men - at - arms at open . Clas Fleming then attempted a stratagem , promising the yeomen to leave their positions should they give their leaders up to Fleming . The yeomen obliged . Once they had surrendered their leaders , Clas Fleming ordered an all - out assault against the yeomen , who had left their positions . The yeomen were massacred in heaps . Their commander - in - chief , Jaakko Ilkka managed to flee , but was captured a few weeks later and beheaded with four other yeoman leaders at the church of Ilmajoki . A second wave of insurgents suffered a decisive loss at Ilmajoki in the Battle of Santavuori on February 24 . In total almost 3000 people died in the rebellion . The insurgents were mostly Finnish peasants from Ostrobothnia , Northern Tavastia and Savo . Tired of the hardships of the Russo - Swedish War of 1590 – 1595 , they were disappointed to find out that they were still required to provide food , transport , and lodging for a sizable army even after the Treaty of Teusina . The insurgents also complained that soldiers abused the system of taxation by taking by force more than to which they were legally entitled . The events can also be seen as a part of a larger power struggle between King Sigismund , whom Fleming powerfully supported , and Duke Charles , who expressed sympathy for the peasants ' cause but was unable to intervene militarily . Legacy . In his work " Nuijasota , sen syyt ja tapaukset " ( 1857 – 1859 ) , historian and fennoman Yrjö Koskinen ( né Forsman ) saw the peasants as fighting for freedom and justice . Albert Edelfelt ' s painting " Poltettu kylä " ( 1879 ) depicts a woman , a child , and an old man hiding behind a rock as a village burns in the background . The poet Kaarlo Kramsu praised the insurgents and lamented their defeat in patriotic poems such as " Ilkka " , " Hannu Krankka " , and " Santavuoren tappelu " , published in " Runoelmia " ( 1887 ) . After the Finnish Civil War , the debate has centered around an interpretation that emphasizes Duke Charles ' s role in inciting the revolt , as found in Pentti Renvall ' s " Kuninkaanmiehiä ja kapinoitsijoita Vaasa - kauden Suomessa " ( 1949 ) ; and an explanation that stresses the roots of the rebellion in social injustice and class conflict , as argued by Heikki Ylikangas in " Nuijasota " ( 1977 ) .