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Swedish overseas colonies Svenska kolonier(Swedish) | |
|---|---|
| 1638–1663 1733 1784–1878 | |
| Motto: I Gud mitt hopp "In God my hope" | |
| Anthem: Kungssången "Song of the king" | |
.png) Map of the Swedish Empire with all of the territories that it possessed (purple) | |
| Capital | Stockholm |
| Common languages | Official language: Swedish Regional languages: Norwegian,Finnish,Estonian,Latvian,German,Russian |
| Religion | Church of Sweden |
| Government | Absolute monarchy,constitutional monarchy |
| History | |
• Established | 1638 |
• Disestablished | 1878 |
| Population | |
• 1650 | 2,200,000 |
| Currency | Riksdaler |
| ISO 3166 code | SE |
Swedish overseas colonies (Swedish:Svenska utomeuropeiska kolonier,lit. 'Swedish colonies outside of Europe') consisted of the overseas colonies controlled bySweden. Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663, in 1733 and from 1784 to 1878. Sweden possessed five colonies, four of which were short lived. The colonies spanned three continents: Africa, Asia and North America.
The former Swedish colonies in Africa were:
The former Swedish colonies in the Americas:
The former Swedish colonies in Asia were:
By the middle of the 17th century, theSwedish Empire had reached its greatest territorial extent. The Swedes sought to extend their influence by creating an agricultural (tobacco) andfur trading colony to bypass French, English and Dutch merchants. The charter included Swedish, Dutch and German stockholders. Once they landed they establishedFort Christina (nowWilmington, Delaware), named after QueenChristina of Sweden. Many of the settlers wereFinnish, since until 1809 the area of modernFinland was the eastern third of the kingdom ofSweden.
The settlement was actually an invasion ofNew Netherland since it was Dutch territory. The founder and first governor,Peter Minuit, had beenDirector-General of New Netherland from 1626 to 1633. Disgruntled after being dismissed from his post, he led a Swedish expedition to a location which he knew to be strategic as well as a thorn in the side of his former employers. Minuit died on a return trip fromStockholm in ahurricane near the Caribbean island ofSaint Kitts. The colony would establishFort Nya Elfsborg north of present-daySalem, New Jersey, in 1643.
In May 1654, the DutchFort Casimir, located in present-dayNew Castle, Delaware, was captured by New Sweden. As a reprisal, the Dutch governorPeter Stuyvesant sent an army to theDelaware River, which obtained the surrender of the Swedish forts.
Saint Barthélemy is the only Caribbean island to have been historically aSwedish colony for any significant length of time, Guadeloupe only having been one briefly, at the end of theNapoleonic Wars.
As a result of Sweden's support of France's enemies during theNapoleonic Wars, the island ofGuadeloupe was ceded to kingCharles XIV John personally, not to his Swedish state. However a year later the island was given to France by theTreaty of Paris. Sweden then forced a settlement with the British government because it had been guaranteed the island which was strategically close to its other Caribbean colony. This led to theGuadeloupe Fund which guaranteed Sweden 24 millionfrancs. Because of how the money was used, Sweden was then given an additional 300,000Riksdaler under theRiksdag of 1815 every year. The last installment was paid in 1983.
In addition to these the Swedes briefly attempted to settleTobago in 1733, but were driven away by native tribes, and Tobago was eventually claimed by the British.[citation needed]
During the time of Sweden's colonisation of Africa'sGold Coast, the smallSwedish slave trade began. However, after the fall of New Sweden to the Dutch, the slave trade ended. It would later be rejuvenated in 1784, when Sweden's monarch,Gustav III, began negotiations with France with a view to creating a new alliance between the two countries. Gustav offeredGothenburg as anentrepôt to the French, in exchange for the Caribbean colony ofSaint Barthélemy, in addition to subsidies. Although Sweden was successful in acquiring the island in 1784, the population of the colony was less than 1000 people, and neither were particularly propitious trading ports—sugar and cotton only provided four shiploads a year, and many of the other resources were only produced in large enough quantities to provide subsistence for the inhabitants.[1]
However, the islands were close to the British and French trading posts of theLeeward andWindward islands. A new town was also constructed,Gustavia (named after the king), and this facilitated trade. Within a year, the population had doubled and the king saw fit to form theSwedish West India Company. TheNapoleonic Wars (1803–1815) benefitted trade, as did the opening of free trade with Sweden in 1806; the population had continued to increase, reaching approximately 5000 by 1800. With the exception of a brief period of British occupation from 1801 to 1802, the colonies continued to grow. In 1811, 1800 ships visited Saint Barthélemy; and from October 1813 to September 1814, 20% of the U.S.'s exports passed through the island.[1]
The island was notable for itsliberalism, particularly in regards toreligious toleration. In Sweden,Lutheranism was strictly adhered to; people were obligated to attend a number of church services a year, and adherence to other religions or denominations was against the law (conversion toCatholicism, for example, often led to people being exiled). However, these two islands were inhabited by such a diverse group of people from European backgrounds, that French and English were also accepted official languages. On Saint Barthélemy, in 1787, only 21 Lutherans resided there, compared to over 500 Catholics, as well as several hundred people from different Protestant denominations. The government did not seek to suppress this: indeed, they ordered Saint Barthélemy's governor, Rosenstein, to salary a Catholic priest to come from Saint Martin twice a month.[1]
During the 18th century, the Swedes attempted to colonize theEssequibo region between the lowerOrinoco andBarima rivers inGuyana's present-dayBarima-Waini region.[2][3][4] The Swedes, settled in the area in July 1732,[5] were expelled in 1737 by Spanish forces led by Major Sergeant Carlos Francisco Francois Sucre y Pardo (grandfather of Venezuelan independence leaderAntonio José de Sucre).[6]
Sweden temporarily controlled several settlements on theGold Coast (present-dayGhana) beginning on 22 April 1650. The last of these settlements were lost on 20 April 1663 when Fort Carlsborg and the capital Fort Christiansborg were seized by Denmark.
In 1652, the Swedes tookCape Coast (in modern Ghana) which had previously been under the control of the Dutch and before that thePortuguese. Cape Coast was centered on the Carolusburg Castle which was built in 1653 and named after KingCharles X Gustav of Sweden but is now known as theCape Coast Castle.
Swedish Madagascar was a proposed colony that Sweden attempted to establish from 1714 to 1728. The initiative began when approximately 1,400pirates onMadagascar sought protection from Sweden. In return, they proposed that Sweden could acquire Madagascar as a colony and provided a naval fleet to facilitate this arrangement. Sweden denied this request, so the pirates askedDenmark, which also denied their request. This led the pirates to approach Sweden again. Sweden showed interest at this point, and aroundNew Year's Eve in 1717, they began negotiating. In the summer of 1718, an agreement was close to being signed, but it never materialized. One reason for this could have been the death of the Swedish kingCharles XII.
The plans remained during the reign ofUlrika Eleonora and the early stages of her husbandFredrik I's reign. One of the pirate negotiators in 1718, William Morgan, was appointed as the Swedish governor of the region, even though the Swedes still did not possess any land there. In 1721, Sweden made an attempt to send an expedition to Madagascar. It included two ships from theSwedish Navy, and the leader of the expedition becameCarl Gustav Ulrich. The expedition was joined by three additional ships, two of which came from William Morgan's nephew. When the fleet arrived inCádiz, it became clear that Morgan and his nephew lacked money, and several problems appeared which led to the project being canceled and never fulfilled.[7][8][9]
TheSwedish East India Company did not establish any permanent colonies in India, but they briefly possessed a factory in Porto Novo (todayParangipettai,Tamil Nadu). The fort was destroyed a month after its construction by French and British forces.[10]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Swedish mining companies endorsed by the Swedish government established mining towns on theSvalbard archipelago such asPyramiden andSveagruva. The towns were abandoned and later sold toNorway and theSoviet Union.[11]
Media related toSwedish colonial empire at Wikimedia Commons
