VI.

History

During Roman times the eastern half of the Scandinavian Peninsula was inhabited by two of the Germanic Peoples: the Suiones, or Swedes, in northern Svealand; and the Gothones, or Goths, in southern Gothia. These peoples, although united in religious beliefs, were generally at war with each other. Before the 10th century, details of Swedish history are obscure. In the first half of the 9th century Frankish missionaries began teaching Christianity, which slowly became established in the country. Olaf Skötkonung was the first Swedish king to become a Christian.

From about ad 800, Swedish Vikings established colonies in other countries, especially Russia and Eastern Europe, and established trade routes. During the reign of Eric IX, from 1150 to 1160, Swedish power was strengthened. Eric invaded Finland and forced Christianity on those he conquered; during the subsequent two centuries Finland was completely subjugated by the Swedes. Eric was allegedly slain by a Danish claimant of his throne while he was attending mass, and he later became the patron saint of Sweden.

A.

The Union of Kalmar

In the 13th and 14th centuries feudalism became a controlling influence in Sweden, and a wealthy aristocracy replaced the waning power of the throne. In 1389 the Swedish nobles forced Albert of Mecklenburg to renounce the throne, which was given to Margaret I, Queen of Denmark and Norway. In 1397 Margaret effected the Union of Kalmar, by which the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were united under a single sovereign.

The union, which endured for more than a century, was characterized by constant dissension and wars between the Danes and Swedes. In 1520, King Christian II of Denmark and Norway successfully invaded Sweden to enforce his authority. Following his coronation, he had hundreds of his opponents executed. The mass executions aroused a rebellion in 1521, which deposed Christian. Denmark, however, retained possession of the southern part of the peninsula. The leader of the rebellion, Gustav Vasa, became administrator before being crowned king as Gustav I Vasa in 1523. Under Gustav, Sweden became a hereditary monarchy in which the power of the nobles was circumscribed and that of the clergy subordinated to the State. Lutheranism was established as the state religion in the 1520s.

B.

Sweden as Military Power

During the 16th century Sweden entered a period of expansion. The Reval district of Estonia placed itself voluntarily under Swedish protection in 1561 and, as a result of the Livonia War of 1557 to 1582, Sweden acquired all of Estonia from Poland, including the district of Narva. Gradually the kingdom became a power in the Baltic area, and its expansionist policies were furthered by Gustav II Adolph, considered the greatest Swedish king, who succeeded to the throne in 1611.

At the beginning of his reign, Sweden was at war with Russia, but in 1617 Gustav ended the conflict with a treaty by which Sweden obtained eastern Karelia and Ingria. A war with Poland (1621-1629) gave Sweden all Livonia, which was, however, not formally renounced by Poland until 1660. In 1630 Gustav, as the champion of Protestantism, entered the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). The king died in 1632, but his policies were continued and brilliantly fulfilled by his chancellor, Count Axel Oxenstierna, who directed the Swedish government during the minority of the monarch’s daughter, Christina. Christina came of age and was crowned in 1644.

By the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which ended the Thirty Years’ War, Sweden acquired a large part of Pomerania, the island of Rügen, Wismar, the sees of Bremen and Verden, and other German territory, which entitled the Swedish sovereign to three votes in the diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Sweden thereby became the greatest power in the Baltic area.

In 1654 Queen Christina abdicated, naming her cousin Charles X Gustav as her successor; she lived the rest of her life in Rome. Pursuing his predecessor’s policy of military aggression, Charles, who ruled until 1660, declared war on Poland (the First Northern War, 1655-1660). By the Peace of Oliva of May 1660, Poland formally ceded Livonia to Sweden. In 1658 Charles X invaded Denmark twice and wrested from it the provinces in southern Sweden that Denmark had retained in the 16th century.

Charles’s son and successor, Charles XI, allied himself with King Louis XIV of France, in the French wars of the late 17th century. Sweden, however, still a comparatively small and not overly wealthy country, did not have the resources to sustain such militarism despite its Baltic conquests. In 1675 the Swedes, as French allies, were severely defeated by Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, at Fehrbellin. At the same time, Charles struck at fundamental Swedish liberties in a reorganization of the Swedish government, weakening the council of state and the Riksdag, and making himself an absolute monarch. In 1680 he confiscated all large estates. Sweden again became an efficient military state, but only temporarily.

C.

The Great Northern War

Charles XII, son and successor to Charles XI, was a military genius. Not long after his accession, at the age of 15, he successfully engaged an aggressive coalition of Russia, Poland, and Denmark in the beginning of the Great Northern War (1700-1721). During the first years of this conflict, Sweden brilliantly asserted its position as the greatest military power of the Baltic. In 1700 Charles successfully invaded north-western Russia, and by 1706 he had defeated the Poles.

While Charles was engaging Poland, however, Peter the Great of Russia was establishing his dominion on the Baltic coasts. In 1709 the Swedish army was routed by Russian forces at the Battle of Poltava, marking the collapse of Sweden and its replacement by Russia as the Baltic’s dominant power. By the treaties of Stockholm and Nystadt in 1721, Sweden lost much of its German territory and ceded Livonia, Estonia, Ingria, part of Karelia, and several important Baltic islands to Russia.

Charles XII had died in 1718, and with him ended the male line of the house of Vasa. He was succeeded by his sister, Ulrika Eleanora, conditional on her acceptance of a new constitution destroying the absolute monarchy and vesting the legislative power in a Riksdag of four estates (nobles, clergy, burghers, and peasants). The executive power became the province of a so-called secret committee of the first three estates. Thus, the aristocracy had governmental control once again, which it kept for more than 50 years.

In 1771, Gustav III came to the throne and, taking advantage of general dissatisfaction with the high-handed policies of the aristocracy, managed to take over the government. He promulgated a new constitution and restored absolute monarchy. At first his policies were liberal, but after 1789, with the start of the French Revolution, his rule became despotic; he was assassinated in 1792.

D.

Napoleonic Wars

Gustav’s son and successor, Gustav IV Adolph, was bitterly opposed to Napoleon of France, and in 1805 joined the Third Coalition against him, composed of Great Britain, Sweden, Russia, and Austria. Russia deserted the coalition for an alliance with Napoleon in 1807 and a year later invaded Finland, menacing Sweden. Gustav was deposed by an army revolt in 1809. The Riksdag then formulated a new constitution, which remained in force until 1975, and in 1809 elected as the new king the former king’s uncle, Charles XIII.

Sweden concluded two treaties, one with Russia in 1809, ceding most of Finland and the Åland Islands, and another with France in 1810, by which a pro-Napoleonic policy was adopted. Charles XIII was childless, and the Riksdag chose Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Prince of Pontecorvo and one of Napoleon’s generals, as Crown prince, in an effort to conciliate Napoleon. The marshal accepted, and an Act of Settlement, fixing the succession in the Bernadotte dynasty, was enacted in 1810. Bernadotte almost immediately became the dominant influence in Swedish policy. Withdrawing his allegiance from France, he fought with the Coalition against Napoleon in 1813-1814. In the latter year Denmark was forced to yield Norway to Sweden, receiving in exchange the Swedish possessions in Pomerania. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden no longer possessed territory in Germany. The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, recognized the union of Norway with Sweden.

E.

The Early Bernadottes

In 1818 Bernadotte succeeded to the throne as Charles XIV John. As a foreigner, he was not popular, and his reign (1818-1844) was characterized by a stuggle for control between the throne and the Riksdag. However, Bernadotte was an able administrator, and the united kingdoms of Norway and Sweden made considerable progress, materially, politically, and culturally. His successors, Oscar I, Charles XV, and Oscar II, were accepted as Swedes. Between 1864 and 1866 the constitution was revised, giving the Riksdag, then bicameral, a form close to its present one.

Between 1867 and 1886, nearly 500,000 Swedes emigrated to America because of food and job shortages. The union with Norway began to show strains in the late 19th century, and in June 1905 the Norwegian legislature proclaimed its dissolution, an act ratified without strong opposition by the Riksdag. During the reign of Oscar II notable progress was made in social legislation, including factory laws, accident insurance and pension funds for workers, and limitation of working hours for women and children.

F.

Sweden During the World Wars

In 1907 Gustav V succeeded to the throne, and two years later constitutional amendments extended the voting franchise and inaugurated proportional representation.

In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Sweden declared its neutrality and subsequently entered an agreement with Norway and Denmark to defend the neutrality and protect the common economic interests of the Scandinavian countries. Sweden joined the League of Nations in 1920. Led by the great Swedish statesman Karl Hjalmar Branting, the Social Democratic Labour Party became the leading force in Swedish politics. Socialist governments remained in power until 1928, enacting social reforms that made Sweden prominent in this regard. The Conservative Party was brought into office in 1928, but the coming of a worldwide economic and industrial depression shortly afterwards restored the Social Democrats to office in 1932.

In the late 1930s, when war seemed imminent in Europe, military preparation and national defence became a paramount question. The Swedish government proclaimed neutrality on the outbreak of World War II. Despite frequent border incidents and German attacks on Swedish shipping, the country maintained its neutral status throughout the war. Swedish people played a part in sheltering Jewish refugees escaping the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe.

G.

Neutrality and Defence Questions

In July 1945, after the close of hostilities in Europe, the wartime coalition Cabinet resigned and the Social Democrats, under Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson, resumed full control of the government. Tage Erlander, formerly Minister of Education and Church Affairs, succeeded to the premiership in October 1946, after the death of Hansson. The following month Sweden became the 54th member of the UN.

Sweden maintained a neutral attitude in the ensuing Cold War. In 1948 it joined the US-sponsored European Recovery Programme, along with the other western European nations, but refused to become a member of NATO, formed in 1949. Failing in efforts to form a Scandinavian defence bloc without ties to the East or West, Sweden began systematically to strengthen its defences.

Important domestic events in Sweden were the death in 1950 of Gustav V, the accession of his oldest son as Gustav VI Adolph, the creation of a Social Democratic-Agrarian coalition government in 1951, and the development of strong inflationary pressures in the Swedish economy from 1951 to 1952. In the elections held in September 1956, the Social Democrat-Agrarian coalition remained in power despite a joint loss of 11 seats in the lower house of the Riksdag.

The conviction of many Swedish military leaders that Sweden would be unable to preserve its neutrality in the event of another general war prompted many Swedes to question the traditional Swedish policy of neutrality. In March 1957 a report issued by 12 Swedish defence experts recommended that the Swedish armed forces be equipped with nuclear weapons. In April, Sweden, together with Denmark, Norway, and Finland, announced the intention of the four countries to sponsor a Scandinavian institute for atomic research in Copenhagen.

H.

Expanded Welfare State

Political controversy was engendered in 1957 by conflicting proposals for financing (plans to expand) old-age pension provisions. In a referendum held in October, the Social Democratic proposal, which called for compulsory contributions and for a government guarantee of the value of the benefits against inflation, won a plurality but not a majority of the votes. Nevertheless, the Social Democrats pressed in parliament for enactment of their plan, and the Agrarians thereupon withdrew from the government coalition. A new government, again headed by Erlander and consisting wholly of Social Democrats, was formed in late October.

In April 1958 the United States agreed to help fund Sweden’s construction of a nuclear reactor. In the same month the Erlander government fell because of disagreement between parties on the pension plan, but elections in June returned him to power. Parliamentary approval of the pension plan was obtained on May 14, 1959. Later that year Sweden became a founding member of the European Free Trade Association. Elections in 1960 resulted in another Social Democratic victory, and Erlander remained prime minister. When he retired from his post in 1969, Olof Palme, former education minister, was named to succeed him. A constitutional revision effective in 1971 reorganized the legislature into a unicameral body and implemented a new electoral system. In 1973 Gustav VI Adolph died and was succeeded by his grandson, Carl XVI Gustaf. On January 1, 1975, a new constitution, dissolving the remaining power of the king, came into force.

Swedish opposition to the Vietnam War damaged relations with the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s; many young American opponents of the war received political asylum in Sweden. Criticism of US military actions by Prime Minister Palme in 1972 brought US-Swedish diplomatic relations to the verge of severance until 1974.

I.

Fall and Return of the Social Democrats

Sweden weathered the world economic slump of 1974-1975 well, but was troubled by a high inflation rate, growing foreign debts, and large budget deficits. In the September 1976 elections, the Social Democrats, after 44 years in office, lost to a coalition of the Centre, Conservative, and Liberal parties.

In 1977 Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin introduced austerity measures to dampen inflation and encourage exports. Fälldin’s government resigned over the issue of nuclear power generation in 1978, but he returned to the helm the following year after an interim minority Liberal government.

In May 1980 there was a rare general strike that brought the country to a virtual standstill for ten days. The following October the government survived a no-confidence motion by just one vote. In May 1981 thousands of white-collar workers went on strike as the government coalition split. Another general strike was averted, however, and Fälldin then formed a Centre-Liberal minority government.

I.1.

Assassination of Olof Palme

The Social Democrats returned to power in the parliamentary elections of 1982 and retained their dominance after the 1985 elections. Palme resumed the position of prime minister in 1982. His assassination on February 28, 1986, in Stockholm caused a huge emotional response in Sweden. The murder remains unsolved, although one suspect was jailed and subsequently released on appeal due to lack of evidence. Various motives have been suggested including Palme’s outspoken criticism of the apartheid regime in South Africa. He was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson, who retained Palme’s Cabinet and vowed to continue his predecessor’s policies.

I.2.

1988 and 1994 Elections

The Social Democrats held their comfortable majority in the 1988 elections, but Carlsson resigned in 1990 after the Riksdag rejected a proposal for a temporary freeze on wages, prices, and rents. He later formed a new government, and a modified austerity programme, allowing some wage increases, was adopted. In September 1991 elections, however, the Social Democrats suffered a stunning upset, though they remained the largest party in the Riksdag, with 138 seats. The Green Party failed to win the necessary 4 per cent of the vote required for representation. Ingvar Carlsson resigned, and the leader of the Moderate Party, Carl Bildt, formed a coalition of the Moderate, Centre, Liberal, and Christian Democrat parties.

The new government began to accelerate deregulation of the economy, including the eventual privatization of 35 state-owned companies; large cuts in government spending, including further reductions in welfare payments; and the removal of restrictions on foreign-majority-owned enterprises in Sweden. The coalition survived only until the September 1994 elections, which saw the return of Carlsson, albeit at the head of a minority Social Democrat government. The election was dominated by economic issues, notably unemployment, which had risen from 5 per cent in 1991 to 14 per cent. It was notable for the strong showing of women in the poll; the number of seats held by women increased from 116 to 143, or 41 per cent of the Riksdag. Half of Carlsson’s Cabinet was composed of women.

I.3.

The 1990s and Beyond

In May 1994 the European Parliament recommended Sweden for membership of the EU. A referendum to approve membership was held on November 13, 1994. Swedes voted by 52.2 per cent to 46.9 per cent in an 83 per cent turnout poll to join the EU in 1995. Sweden became an official member state in January 1995, and held the presidency for a six-month term at the beginning of 2001.

Carlsson resigned from the office for personal reasons in March 1996 and was succeeded by his former finance minister, Göran Persson, who had been responsible for tough fiscal policies under Carlsson. A range of incentives was announced, designed to stimulate the economy and reduce the level of unemployment.

In September 1998 a general election returned Persson's government to power, but with a reduced majority. The Social Democratic Labour Party (SAP) controlled 131 seats in Sweden's 349-seat parliament, with the Left Party almost doubling its share of the vote and number of seats. The result was widely judged a poor one for Persson, who needed to seek support in a coalition.

In 1999 the government announced plans to compensate up to 60,000 people who were sterilized as part of a eugenics programme. The 40-year-long programme, which lasted until the mid-1970s, had been a matter of public record but had not been the subject of wide public knowledge until 1997. By August 2001, SKr265 million had been paid in compensation to surviving victims.

Despite media reports in October 2001 of a “confession” by Christer Pettersson to the Olaf Palme murder, the authorities said his case would not be reopened without significant new evidence and a confession by Pettersson to the legal authorities rather than to a newspaper, Britain’s The Financial Times. In the general election of September 15, 2002, the Social Democrats were returned to power, with 144 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag. Persson campaigned on a ticket of support for the welfare state by advocating continued funding for education and health services. The ease with which the Left won bucked the trend towards right-of-centre parties gaining control in many other European countries. Persson’s government survived an early vote of no confidence after securing the support of the Green Party.

A referendum on adopting the Euro as Sweden’s currency was held in September 2003, and resulted in a clear rejection of the proposal. Persson attracted some criticism for the way he conducted the pro-Euro campaign, though ultimately the referendum was overshadowed by the assassination of Persson’s leading ally and the minister responsible for leading the “yes” campaign, the foreign minister Anna Lindh, days before the vote. In March 2004 Mijailo Mijailovic was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The general election of September 2006 was closely fought, with a centre-right alliance led by the Moderate Party’s Fredrik Reinfeldt defeating Persson’s Social Democrats by just 7 seats in the 349-seat legislature, the Riksdag. Reinfeldt campaigned on a platform of cutting taxes and reforming Sweden’s generous social security system, seen as one of the best but also one of the most expensive systems in the world. He was sworn in in October.