Era of Liberty
1718-1772 		Sweden during the French Revolution, 1792-1809






Sweden Absolutist (2) : Gustav III., 1772 - 1792



A.) Domestic Policy

The coup of 1772 which restored royal rule was possible because only two weeks earlier the non-noble estates had demanded that appointments to high offices should be made exclusively on the basis of merit and capability, thus in disregard of noble status. The nobility was opposed to this; risings were orchestrated in Finland (lead by J.M. Sprengtporten) and in Scania (J.C. Toll); then the palace guard in Stockholm joined the aristocratic community; with Stockholm under control, Riksdag was called to assemble. A new constitution was passed, granting the king much wider authority. Royalist propaganda claimed the coup having saved Sweden from sharing Poland's lot - Poland, ruled by an inefficienmt parliament, the representatives of which were accustomed to accept foreign 'subsidies' (bribes), had just suffered the first Polish Partition.
Although Gustav III.'s rule generally is referred to as absolute, Riksdag remained an element of Sweden's political life, was again called to assemble in 1778/79, 1786 and 1789. And Riksdag by no means was merely an instrument of royal policy; in 1786 a heterogeneous opposition held the majority in all estates; most of the king's proposals were rejected (for various reasons).
Once in power, Gustav III., following the model set by Louis XIV., tried to tie nobility to the royal court; noblemen exclusively were permitted to join the king at the table. Yet, only a minority of noblemen was satisfied with their role in society (the court party), while, in the 1780es, a majority of noblemen (the land party, headed by AXEL VON FERSEN) opposed royal policy.
In 1781 a law was passed granting FREEDOM OF RELIGION, for foreigners willing to settle in Sweden, that is; for Lutherans who joined another religious community, the punishment of banishment was foreseen. Catholics had already previously been permitted to enter the country; this permission was now extended to Jews and other protestant groups. A REGULATION FOR JEWS was enacted in 1782. Already in 1772, c. 20 holidays were, by royal decree, moved to adjacent sundays.
Already in 1772 TORTURE had been prohibited; for many offenses the death penalty was replaced by long-term prison sentences. In 1778 a REGULATION REGARDING WAGES was enacted.
Many of these reforms, though enlightened, were resented; the farmers resented the licencing of distilleries, the Lutheran church a policy of religious toleration reaching too far, the burghers (and those who represented them were conservative, pro-guild and pro-privileges) a policy which tended toward the liberalization of trade.
A policy which seems less enlightened was the restriction imposed upon the freedom of the press.
As the constitution of 1772 explicitly outruled any war of aggression, in 1788 Gustav III. had had Swedish soldiers in Cossack uniforms attack a Swedish border post. The war did not develop as expected, and only increased resentment against royal administration in Finland, where many (ethnically Swedish) noblemen signed a document inviting Czarina Catherine the Great to assume rule of Finland as Grand Duchess (the ANJALA CONSPIRACY, named after the place where the meeting was held), the noblemen obviously being envious of the treatment the nobility was given in Russia.
Because of the noble's stubborn resistance against royal policy on the Riksdag of 1786, the king had turned toward the non-noble estates which on the Riksdag of 1789 were hostile to the nobility. Thus, only in the noble estate the opposition was in the majority, but this majority was split in moderates (pro-French) and radicals (pro-Russian). An ACT OF UNION AND SECURITY was passed (1789), an amendment to the 1772 constitution, which abolished the Council of the Realm, an institution which had lasted for 500 years; it was replaced by a ROYAL HIGH COURT (of appeal), half of the members were to be non-nobles. The king achieved a further widening of his competence. The farmers (bonde) were given equal status with the other non-noble estates. The peasants were freed of some obligations and given full ownership of their lands, with the right to take wood from the forest, hunt and fish.
Among the nobles, bitterness was widespread; many saw Gustav III. as a violator of the constitution, even as a tyrant. One such disgruntled nobleman was JACOB JOHAN ANKARSTRÖM, Captain of the Guard; on March 16th 1792, at a masquerade ball in Stockholm's opera house, he assassinated the king.


B.) Foreign Policy

After having reestablished royal power in the 1772 Coup d'Etat, Gustav III. had to be aware of potential Russian-Danish interference; both countries in 1769 had pledged to guarantee Sweden's (pre-coup) constitution. Both Denmark and Russia thus were potential enemies; in 1773 they renewed their pledge in a secret treaty.
When the WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE broke out, Gustav III. initially sympathized with the British. However, repeated confiscation of Swedish-owned goods on Swedish (i.e. neutral) ships on the high seas caused Sweden, together with her traditional enemies Denmark and Russia, to declare ARMED NEUTRALITY (1780), in which they were later joined by Austria, Prussia, Portugal and Both Sicilies. In 1783 Sweden was the first neutral nation to recognize the United States.
In 1784, returning from a trip to Italy, Gustav III. visited Paris, where he acquired the Caribbean island of ST. BARTHOLOMEW (Caribbean) from France, Sweden again becoming a colonial power.
In 1788 Sweden declared war on Russia, Gustav hoped to regain lost territory. Denmark-Norway entered the war against Sweden. A Swedish victory in the naval battle of Svensksund 1790 over Russian forces allowed Sweden to sign a peace treaty without losses.
Gustav III. was sceptical of the revolution in France; he refused to recognize the revolutionary regime and supported Axel von Fersen's attempt to help the French royal family flee France (FLIGHT TO VARENNES). In 1791 he even contemplated an alliance of Europe's princes, with the purpose of invading France, and himself commanding the operation.

Swedish-Russian War
1788-1790



C.) The Economy

In 1777/1778 the silver currency, long planned, was introduced.
Gustav III. pursued a late mercantilist economic policy. He reestablished Sweden as a colonial power with the acquisition of the Caribbean island of St. Barthelemy (1784) and the simultaneous establishment of a Swedish West India Company (1784-1805). Declaring a government license required for the operation of a distillery established a quasi monopoly, as the government operated some distilleries herself and cashed in on the licenses handed out.
The policy of religious toleration intended to attract immigrant investors, mainly of Jewish faith. In 1783 Sweden signed a trade treaty with the United States.
While Gustav III. did not interfere in the cities' and guilds' statutes of existing cities, newly founded cities such as OESTERSUND (1786) were given much more liberal statutes. Trade in thrashed grain was liberalized (i.e. privileges restricting the trade to guild members abolished) altogether in 1775/1776, a step intended to improve living conditions for the peasants.
In 1789, the war against Russia proving costly, credit notes were issued, intented as obligations, which soon came to be used as paper money. Soon a difference in value between silver and paper currency appeared.

D.) Intellectual Life

CARL MICHAEL BELLMANN, in poems, welcomed Gustav III. ascend to power. Pharmacist CARL WILHELM SCHEELE discovered a number of chemical elements and was elected member of the Swedish Academy.
King Gustav III., not the least, himself was a part of cultural life, as his court became the stage for numerous balls etc. The scene where the king fell victim to an assassin in 1792, was a masquerade ball staged in Stockholm's opera house.
In 1783 Gustav III. visited Italy, accompanied by a number of artists, among them sculptor JOHANN TOBIAS SERGEL, who in 1791 was to create a sculpture of the king, to be seen today on the square in Stockholm named after the sculptor.
In 1782, the Stockholm OPERA HOUSE, designed by C.F. Adelcrantz, was opened; in 1788 the Royal Theatre opened. In 1786 King Gustav III. established the SWEDISH ACADEMY (Svenska Akademien), with the purpose of establishing a dictionary and grammar of the Swedish language. The ROYAL BALLET had been founded in 1773.
In 1785, the medal of merit was awarded for the first time.
In 1772 the Physiographiska Sällskapet i Lund (Physiographical Society in Lund) was founded., in 1778 the Götheborgska Wetenskaps och Witterhets Samhallet (Göteborg Society of Sciences and Arts).



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Swedish Wars, from Hans Hogman, table of Swedish wars 1521-1814, maps, links
Vapnad neutralitet pa Gustav III:s tid, by Claes Bernes, in Swedish
Gustav III:s sista maskerad, from Vat Svenska Historia in Swedish
Gustav III., by Stina S., in Swedish
Chronology of Swedish History : 1750-1800, by Ken Polsson
Timeline of Swedish History, from timelines.ws, detailed, mainly based on articles in US newspapers
Chronocle of Scolarly Societies founded 1760-1779, 1780-1799 from Scholarly Societies Project
History of the Swedish Academy, from Svenska Akademien
DOCUMENTS English Treaties with Sweden (Chalmers, Vol.1) : 1766, The Commercial Treaty, pp.60ff
Images from Chronik 2000 Bilddatenbank : Gustav III.
King Gustav III.'s proclamation declaring St. Barthelemy a free port, Sept. 7th 1785, posted by Pauli Kruhse
J.T. Sergel, statue : Gustavus III., 1791, from Web Gallery of Art
C.G. Pilo, The Coronation of Gustavus III., from National Museum
Kongl. Maj:ts och Riksens Standers faststalte Regerings-Form (the 1772 constitution), from A selection of events and documents on the history of Finland, in Swedish
Medal : Death of King Gustavus III., 1792, posted by Christopher Eimer
REFERENCE Sten Carlsson, Svensk Historia, Vol.2, Stockholm : Bonniers, 1970, pp.161-205
Coins of Sweden, 1701-1800, in : Krause, Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins : Eighteenth Century 1701-1800, 2nd ed., 1997, pp.993-1006
Göran Malmstedt, Helgdagsreduktionen, övergangen från ett medeltida till ett modernet år i Sverige 1500-1800 (The Reduction of Holidays; transition from a medieval to a modern year, in Sweden, from 1500 to 1800), Göteborg : Hist. Institute 1994, in Swedish


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on July 13th 2005

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