FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | HISTORY OF SWEDEN sweden.se PHOTO: BENGT OLOF OLSSON/SCANPIX OLOF BENGT PHOTO: Ale’s stones in Österlen on the southern coast of Sweden. The monument was most likely erected around 600 AD. HISTORY OF SWEDEN: WAR, PEACE AND PROGRESS Fourteen thousand years ago, present-day Sweden was covered by a thick ice cap. As the ice retreated, humans came to Sweden. The first known dwelling place, found in southern Sweden, dates from around 12,000 BC. From 8,000 BC to 6,000 BC, the coun- rivers that stretched deep into present- mid-16th century, this group, known try as a whole became populated by day Russia. The Vikings travelled as far as the Hanseatic League, dominated people who lived by hunting, gathering as the Black and Caspian Seas, where Swedish trade, and many towns were and fishing, and who used simple stone they developed trading links with the founded as a result of lively commer- tools. Dwelling places and graves dating Byzantine Empire and the Arab king- cial activity. However, the Black Death, from the Stone Age, lasting until about doms. Christianity first reached Sweden which reached Sweden in 1350, led to a 1,800 BC, are found today in increasing with a mission led by Ansgar, who vis- long period of economic and population numbers. The Bronze Age was marked ited in the 9th century, but the country decline. in the Nordic region – especially in Den- was not converted to Christianity until mark but also in Sweden – by a high the 11th century. The Kalmar Union level of culture, shown by the artefacts In 1389, the crowns of Denmark, Nor- found in graves. After 500 BC, such Founding of the kingdom way and Sweden were united under artefacts become increasingly rare as The various provinces of Sweden were the rule of the Danish Queen Margareta. iron came into more general use. Dur- absorbed around 1000 into a single unit, In 1397, the Kalmar Union was formed, ing the early Iron Age, the population of but the crown began to gain signifi- with the three Scandinavian countries Sweden became settled, and agriculture cant influence only during the late 13th under a single monarch. However, the came to form the basis of the economy century. In 1280 King Magnus Ladulås union (1397–1523) was scarred by in- and society. (1275–90) issued a statute authorizing ternal conflicts that culminated in the the establishment of a nobility and the ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ in 1520, when Vikings and early Christians organization of society on the feudal 80 Swedish nobles were executed at The Viking Age (800–1050 AD) was model. the instigation of the Danish union king, characterized by a significant expansion Kristian II. The act provoked a rebellion, of activity, in Sweden’s case largely to- The Hanseatic period which in 1521 led to the deposition of ward the east. Many Viking expeditions Trade grew during the 14th century, es- Kristian II and the seizure of power by a set off from Sweden to both plunder pecially with the German towns grouped Swedish nobleman, Gustav Vasa, who and trade along the Baltic coast and the under the leadership of Lübeck. By the was elected king of Sweden in 1523. FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | HISTORY OF SWEDEN sweden.se FAMOUS SWEDISH NATIONALMUSEUM PHOTO: MONARCHS GUSTAV II ADOLF (1611–1632) AKG-IMAGES/SCANPIX PHOTO: By intervening in the Thirty Years’ War, Gustav II Adolf came to as- sume great po- litical importance, and internation- ally is the best known of Sweden’s kings. Under his rule, Sweden be- came a leading military power. Gustav II Adolf was killed in 1632 at the Battle of Lützen. On the church green in Mora in 1520, Gustav Vasa urged residents of the town to take up arms and help free Sweden from Danish occupation. KRISTINA PHOTO: NATIONALMUSEUM PHOTO: The Vasa period as present-day Sweden and Finland. (1632–1654) The foundations of the Swedish state During the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden Excepting the were laid during the reign of Gustav Vasa surrendered Finland to Russia. As com- short caretaker (1523–60). The church was nationalized, pensation, the French marshal Jean Bap- government of tiste Bernadotte, who had been elected Queen Ulrika its estates confiscated by the crown, and Eleonora 1719- the Protestant Reformation was intro- heir to the Swedish throne in 1810, suc- 20, Kristina is duced. Power was concentrated in the ceeded in obtaining Norway, which was the only female hands of the king and hereditary monar- forced into a union with Sweden in 1814. monarch of the modern Swedish chy came into force in 1544. This union was peacefully dissolved in kingdom. She succeeded Gustav II 1905 after many internal disputes. Adolf in 1632, just before her sixth birthday, and ruled for 22 years. The Swedish empire Kristina abdicated in 1654, convert- Since the dissolution of the Kalmar 18th/19th century Sweden ing to Catholicism and settling in Union, Swedish foreign policy had been After the death of the warrior king Rome, and was succeeded by her aimed at gaining dominion over the Bal- Karl XII in 1718 and Sweden’s defeat in cousin, Karl Gustav. When he died the Great Northern War, the Swedish in 1660, she travelled to Sweden in tic Sea, leading to repeated wars with the hope of reclaiming the throne. Denmark from the 1560s onward. After parliament (Riksdag) and council were Her claim was rejected by parlia- Sweden intervened in 1630 with great strong enough to introduce a new con- ment, however, and Kristina re- success in the Thirty Years’ War on the stitution that abolished royal absolutism turned to Rome. side of the German Protestants, and and put power in the hands of parlia- Gustav II Adolf became one of Europe’s ment. most powerful monarchs, Sweden de- Eighteenth-century Sweden was char- GUSTAV III feated Denmark in the two wars of 1643- acterized by rapid cultural development, PHOTO: NATIONALMUSEUM PHOTO: (1771–1792) 45 and 1657–58. Finland, provinces in partly through close contact with France. Usually called northern Germany and the present-day Overseas trade was hard hit by the Na- the Theatre King, Baltic republics also belonged to Swe- poleonic Wars, which led to general stag- Gustav III was a den, and after the Peace of Westphalia nation and economic crisis in Sweden keen patron of the in 1648 and the Peace of Roskilde with during the early 19th century. In the late arts, and founded 19th century, 90 per cent of the people the first opera Denmark in 1658, Sweden was a great in Stockholm in power in northern Europe. The country still earned their livelihoods from agricul- 1782, the Swedish Academy and even founded a short-lived colony in ture. the Royal Academy of Music. His what is now Delaware in North America. One consequence was emigration, reign was not popular with the high However, Sweden had a largely agrarian mainly to North America. From the mid- nobility, however, and opposition 19th century to 1930, about 1.5 million culminated in a conspiracy in 1792, economy and lacked the resources to when he was shot at a masked ball maintain its position as a great power in Swedes emigrated, out of a population held at the opera. He died shortly the long run. of 3.5 million in 1850 and slightly more after. After its defeat in the Great Northern than 6 million in 1930. War (1700–21) against the combined Industry did not begin to grow until the forces of Denmark, Poland and Russia, 1890s, although it then developed rapidly Sweden lost most of its provinces on between 1900 and 1930 and transformed the other side of the Baltic Sea and was Sweden into one of Europe’s leading in- reduced essentially to the same frontiers dustrial nations after World War II. n 2 | FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | HISTORY OF SWEDEN sweden.se PHOTO: LEIF ENGBERG/SCANPIX PHOTO: WELL-KNOWN FIGURES IN HISTORY SAINT BRIDGET (1303–73) MUSEET HISTORISKA PHOTO: After being wid- owed, Bridget (Birgitta in Swed- ish) made her way to Rome, where she was to live the rest of her life. She undertook several pilgrimages, including to Jerusa- lem. Bridget was known for her ‘heavenly revelations’, visions and prophetic messages, which she relayed to popes and princes. Bridget was canonized in 1491 and since 2000 has been considered one of Europe’s patron saints. On September 3, 1967, Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the ALFRED NOBEL road to the right. The result was chaos in the streets. (1833–96) NOBELMUSEET PHOTO: The inventor, chemist and benefactor re- ThE 20TH CENTURY – ceived his first patent in 1863 for a method for han- A CENTURY OF REFORMS dling nitro-glyc- erine by mixing it with black pow- Late 19th-century Sweden was marked by the emergence of der and lighting the mixture with strong popular movements that included the free churches, a fuse. Nobel went on to produce dynamite and other explosives. the temperance and women’s movements, and above all The Nobel Prizes were a bequest the labour movement. from Nobel for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or The labour movement, whose growth Swedish welfare state. At the same time, medicine, literature and peace. kept pace with industrialization in the late there were calls for a modernization of 19th century, was reformist in outlook af- the 1809 constitution. A new Instrument DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD ter the turn of the 20th century. of Government was adopted in 1974, PHOTO: UN PHOTO: The first Social Democrats entered stating that all public power is derived (1905–61) government in 1917.