Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige (Swedish) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1772–1809 | |||||||||
| Anthem: Gustafs skål (1772–1792) Gustav's Toast Bevare Gud vår kung (1805–1809) God Save Our King | |||||||||
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| Capital | Stockholm | ||||||||
| Common languages | Swedish (official) | ||||||||
| Religion | Church of Sweden (official) | ||||||||
| Government | Unitaryabsolute monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1772–1792(first) | Gustav III | ||||||||
• 1792–1809(last) | Gustav IV Adolf | ||||||||
| Regent | |||||||||
• 1792–1796(first) | Charles, Duke of Södermanland | ||||||||
| Legislature | Riksdag of the Estates | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 19 August 1772 | |||||||||
| 16 March 1792 | |||||||||
• Death ofGustav III and succession ofGustav IV Adolf | 29 March 1792 | ||||||||
| 29 March 1809 | |||||||||
| 6 June 1809 | |||||||||
| Currency | Riksdaler | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SE | ||||||||
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Thehistory of Sweden from 1772 to 1809 is better known as theGustavian era of kingsGustav III andGustav IV Adolf, as well as the reign of KingCharles XIII.
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Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on 12 February 1771. The elections afterward resulted in a partial victory for theCaps party, especially among the lower orders; but in theestate of the peasantry the Caps majority was merely nominal, while the mass of the nobility was dead against them. Nothing could be done, however, till the return of the new king, Gustav III, from Paris.[1]
The new coronation oath contained three revolutionary clauses:
All through 1771 the estates wrangled over the clauses. An attempt of the king to mediate foundered on the suspicions of the estate of burgesses, and on 24 February 1772. the nobility yielded.[1]
The non-noble Cap majority now proceeded to attack thePrivy Council. theRiksrådet, the last stronghold of the Hats, and, on 25 April of that year, it succeeded in ousting them. It was now, for the first time, that Gustav began to consider the possibility ofa revolution.[1]
The newconstitution of 20 August 1772 which Gustav III imposed upon theRiksdag of the Estates, converted a weak and disunited republic into a strong but limited monarchy. The estates could assemble only when summoned by him; he could dismiss them whenever he thought fit; and their deliberations were to be confined exclusively to the propositions which he laid before them. But these extensive powers were subjected to important checks. Thus, without the previous consent of the estates, no new law could be imposed, no old law abolished, no offensive war undertaken, no extraordinary war subsidy levied. The estates alone could tax themselves; they had the absolute control of theRiksbank – the Bank of Sweden, and the right of controlling the national expenditure.[1]
In Sweden, the change was most popular. But Gustav's first Riksdag, that of 1778, opened the eyes of the deputies to the fact that their political supremacy had departed. The king was now their sovereign lord; and, for all his courtesy and gentleness, the jealousy with which he guarded and the vigour with which he enforced the prerogative plainly showed that he meant to remain so. But it was not till after eight years more had elapsed that actual trouble began. The Riksdag of 1778 had been obsequious; the Riksdag of 1786 was mutinous. It rejected nearly all the royal measures outright, or so modified them that Gustav himself withdrew them. When he dismissed the estates, the speech from the throne held out no prospect of their speedy revocation.[2]
Nevertheless, within three years, the king was obliged to summon another Riksdag, which met at Stockholm on 26 January 1789. His attempt in the interval to rule without a parliament had been disastrous. It was only by a breach of his own constitution that he had been able todeclare war against Russia in April 1788; theConspiracy of Anjala (July) had paralysed all military operations at the very opening of the campaign; and the sudden invasion of his western provinces by the Danes, almost simultaneously (September), seemed to bring him to the verge of ruin. But the contrast, at this crisis, between his self-sacrificing patriotism and the treachery of theRussophil aristocracy was so striking that, when the Riksdag assembled, Gustav found that the three lower estates were ultra-royalist, and with their aid he succeeded, not without running great risks in crushing the opposition of the nobility by a second coup d'état on 16 February 1789 and passing the famousAct of Union and Security which gave the king an absolutely free hand as regards foreign affairs and the command of the army, and made further treason impossible. The nobility never forgave him.[2]
Abroad, the Swedish revolution made a great sensation.Catherine II of Russia concluded a secret alliance withDenmark, in which the Swedish revolution was described as "an act of violence" justifying both powers in seizing the first favourable opportunity for intervention to restore the Swedish constitution of 1720.[1]
Unknown to party leaders, Gustav had renewed the Swedish alliance with France and had received solemn assurances of assistance fromLouis XV of France if Gustav were to reestablish monarchical rule in Sweden. Moreover, France agreed to pay its outstanding subsidies to Sweden, amounting to 1.5 million livres annually, beginning from January 1772. What's more,Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, was to be sent to Stockholm to circumvent the designs ofRussia just as he had previously done in theSublime Porte atConstantinople.[1]
The new king Gustav IV Adolf, still a minor, was brought up amongJacobins. During the king's minority,Gustaf Reuterholm virtually ruled Sweden. After the execution ofLouis XVI on 21 January 1793, Sweden recognized the new French republic, and secret negotiations for contracting an alliance were begun in May of the same year until the protests of Catherine of Russia, supported by all the other European powers, finally induced Sweden to suspend them.[2]
The negotiations with the French Jacobins exacerbated the hatred which Gustav's supporters felt for the Jacobin counselors of Charles, the duke-regent, laterCharles XIII. They formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, led byGustaf Mauritz Armfelt, which was to have been supported by a Russian fleet and a rising of theDalecarlians. The conspiracy was discovered and vigorously suppressed.[2]
A rapprochement took place between theScandinavian kingdoms during the revolutionary wars. Thus, on 27 March 1794, a neutrality compact was formed between with Denmark and Sweden; and their united squadrons patrolled theNorth Sea to prevent their merchantmen from being seized by British ships. The French Republic was officially recognized by the Swedish government on 23 April 1795. In return, Sweden received a subsidy and a treaty between the two powers was signed on 14 September 1795. But an attempt to regain the friendship of Russia, which had broken off diplomatic relations with Sweden, was frustrated by the refusal of the king to accept as his bride the Russian grand duchess Alexandra, whom Reuterholm had provided. This was Reuterholm's last official act. On 1 November 1796, Gustav Adolf at age 18 took the government into his own hands.[2]
The government ofGustav IV Adolf was almost a pure autocracy. At his very firstRiksdag, held atNorrköping in March 1800, the nobility were compelled to ratify Gustav III'sAct of Union and Security.[2]
A notable change took place in Sweden's foreign policy in December 1800 when Denmark, Sweden and Russia acceded to aSecond League of Armed Neutrality directed against Britain. Hitherto Sweden had kept aloof from continental complications, but the arrest and execution of theDuc d'Enghien in 1804 inspired Gustav Adolf with such a hatred ofNapoleon that when a general coalition was formed against the French emperor he was one of the first to join it (3 December 1804), pledging himself to send an army corps to link up with British and Russian forces and drive the French out of theBatavian Republic andHanover. But his quarrel withFrederick William III of Prussia detained him inPomerania, and when at last in December 1805 he led his 6,000 men towards theElbe district, the third coalition had already been dissipated by the victories ofUlm andAusterlitz.[2]
In 1806, a rupture between Sweden and Prussia was prevented only by Napoleon's assault upon the latter power. AfterJena, Napoleon attempted to win over Sweden, but Gustav rejected every overture. The result was the total loss of Swedish Pomerania, and the Swedish army was saved from destruction only by the ingenuity ofJohan Christopher Toll. AtTilsit the emperorAlexander I of Russia had undertaken to compel "Russia's geographical enemy", as Napoleon designated Sweden, to accede to the newly established "Continental Russian System". Gustav Adolf rejected all the proposals of Alexander to close the Baltic to British ships, but he took no measures to defend Finland against Russia. On 21 February 1808, a Russian army crossed the Finnish border. On 2 April, the king ordered a general levy of 30,000 men.[2]
The immediate consequence of the Russian invasion was the deposition of Gustav Adolf by theCoup of 1809 on 13 March 1809, and the exclusion of his whole family from the succession.[citation needed] On 5 June 1809, the dukeregent was proclaimed king, under the title of Charles XIII, after accepting the new liberalconstitution, which was ratified by theRiksdag of the Estates the same day. Peace negotiations had been opened atFredrikshamn, but the war carried on. Defeats at theBattle of Sävar andBattle of Ratan on 19 and 20 August 1809, broke the spirit of theSwedish Army; and peace was obtained by the surrender of allFinland, theÅland islands, "the fore-posts of Stockholm", as Napoleon described them, andVästerbotten andLappland as far as the rivers ofTorneå andMuonio at theTreaty of Fredrikshamn, on 17 September 1809.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sweden".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 188–221.
