Sweden 1810-1840 Sweden 1864-1890






Sweden, 1840-1864



A.) Domestic Policy

While public opinion, via the medium of the printed press, became increasingly dominated by LIBERALISM, King KARL XIV. GUSTAV, in 1840 76 years old, lost his hold on power; he died in 1844, succeeded by his son OSCAR (1844-1859).
A period of reforms set in, beginning in 1840, still under the aging Karl XIV. Gustav. In 1841 a reform was adopted (implemented in 1846) according to which government was reorganized in a cabinet of 7 ministers, of justice, foreign affairs, the army, the navy, civilian affairs, finance and church affairs. Compulsory elementary schooling was introduced in 1842.
King Oscar I., who ascended to the throne in 1844 at the age of 45, was open to reform. Norway was granted equal status in the flag question in 1844; the factory and craft ordinance of 1846 abolished the guilds. The ancient mining privileges (bergsbruket) were also abolished.
The events of 1848 had an effect on King Oscar, who became more cautious; he rejected any further reform of the franchise and insisted in royal authority.
In 1848 there was widespread dissatisfaction, especially among the farmers who were disappointed by liberalism; in March 1848 there was unrest in Stockholm; among the demands of the apprentices and workers was the reintroduction of protectionist measures; here the government made concessions. King Oscar I. died in 1859; he was succeeded by his son, KARL XV.; he could not hold on to the strong influence on the nation's policy his father and grandfather had had. The State Council extended her authority, minister of justice Baron LOUIS DE GEER being the dominant figure.
From 1856 Rikdsag passed a series of liberal reforms. The status of women was improved, as the age when they 'came of age' was established at 25 (1858) and women were given the opportunity to become teachers with the establishment of the seminary for female teachers (1861). In 1860 the law concerning those who apostatized from Lutheran belief was revised, the punishment of banishment abolished. Restrictions on the settlement of Jews also were abolished (1860). In 1862 the franchise was expanded, the electorate divided into classes according to the taxes they paid.
In 1863 the Riksdag approved a reform which replaced the traditional 4 estates by a BICAMERAL PARLIAMENT (introduced 1865); majority leaders were to be appointed cabinet chiefs by the king, which meant the introduction of Parliamentarianism. King Karl XV., initially adamantly opposed to the reform, gave in as he saw the strong popular support for the measure and for minister de Geer, who had threatened to resign if the policy was not adopted..


B.) Foreign Policy

King Oscar tried to appease Norwegian patriots by a number of concessions, among them granting equal status to the Norwegian flag (1844) and by ceasing with the tradition of appointing Swedish officers to the office of Governor of Norway and appointing Norwegians instead.
The 1840es were a turbulent decade; in 1848 a conflict between Denmark and the German Federation arose over the territory of SCHLESWIG. Technically a part of the Danish kingdom, in dynastic union with the German Duchy of Holstein, Schleswig had taken a separate historical development since the early 14th century. The diets of Schleswig and Holstein had merged centuries ago, their motto being 'up ewig ungedeelt' (for ever unpartitioned). Over time the larger part of the population of Schleswig had adopted a German identity, while there were still considerable segments of the population feeling and speaking Danish and Frisian, the latter tending toward Denmark.
In Denmark, as everywhere else, Liberalism had gained the upper hand, and the Danish parliament decided to introduce a unified helstat (centralized, unified state) that would include Schleswig; the national language would be Danish. The German-feeling population of Schleswig, together with the Holsteiners, revolted; the Frankfurt Parliament sided with the Schleswigers and ordered Prussian troops to aid the latter.
In Sweden, the ancient animosity toward Denmark had, over the last decades, been replaced by sympathy; SCANDINAVISM went beyond this, recognized the Danes as the Swedes' brethren, regarded Scandinavian as a nationality encompassing the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Sweden decided to aid Denmark in the affair and sent 4,500 troops. A European conflict threatened; British diplomacy set in. Both the Prussian and Swedish troops were recalled. Danish troops ultimately defeated the rebels, Denmark, in the London Protocol (1850, followed by treaty 1852) had to guarantee that Schleswig would not be incorporated in the helstat. 243 Swedes as volunteers had entered into Danish service; they had actually seen fighting. The affair had shown that King Oscar did not regard himself bound to the Holy Alliance any longer.
In 1853 the CRIMEAN WAR broke out, in which Britain and France, aided by Sardinia, fought Russia. While the war is remembered mainly for the events which took place on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea also became a theater of operation. Here Sweden declared NEUTRALITY, a neutrality which was not as neutral as it sounds, for Sweden permitted the British Navy to operate from Faaroesund on Gotland. A naval attack on St. Petersburg, contemplated by the British Navy, did not take place. It was prevented by sea mines produced by a Swede, IMMANUEL NOBEL. The British and French had asked Sweden to join them and offered the prospect of regaining Finland; King Oscar resisted the temptation, and Finland remained Russian.
In 1857 the USA refused to pay the SOUND LEVY any longer; Sweden and Denmark agreed to its abolition in return for a singular payment.
When a second conflict erupted over Schleswig, between Denmark and Prussia/Austria, King Karl XV. promised Swedish support for Denmark. Yet his minister J.A. Gripenstedt persuaded him to renounce that promise; Sweden remained a neutral observer. Although Sweden was justified to do so, as Denmark, by again attempting to impose the helstat on Schleswig, had violated the London Protocol, inaction was a critical blow to Scandinavianism.


C.) The Economy

The reforms introduced under Oscar I. in the 1840es meant a departure from the old society of status, based on privileges excluding competition, and from protectionism. The guilds were abolished, as were the mining privileges (1846), trade was liberalized in the 1840es, and after a period of renewed protectionism (1848-1856) again, gradually, in the late 1850es and 1860es. For Sweden, by comparison backward in regard to urbanization and industrialization, this had many consequences. POVERTY was a serious problem already when the reforms were taken. In 1847, at the king's initiative, a poverty ordinance was published.
The emerging British steel industry required iron ore; Sweden's production rose from 261,000 metric tons in 1840 to 464,000 in 1864. Yet, before the invention of the Bessemer technique, British steel was inferior to Swedish, which thus still found a market. Demand grew, but Swedish production methods did not permit rapid expansion of production.
In 1857 the SOUND LEVY was abolished. Stockholm and Uppsala were connected by telegraph in 1853. In 1855 Sweden's post issued its first POSTAGE STAMPS.
The first railway line was opened in 1856; by 1864 the nation had a combined length of 1,143 km of railroad (by comparison the UK 17,704 km). Urbanization set in; Stockholm had 93,000 inhabitants in 1850, 112,000 in 1860; Göteborg 26,000 in 1850, 37,000 in 1860. Göteborg emerged as Sweden's principal port for export and import. Emigration also set in, 17,000 Swedes leaving Europe in the decade between 1851 and 1860. Sweden's overall population rose from 3.12 million in 1840 to 3.46 million in 1850 and 3.82 million in 1860 (4,05 million in 1864).
The DECIMAL SYSTEM was introduced in 1854. A tax reform of 1860 based taxation on income, as opposed to status which had formed the basis until then.


D.) Intellectual Life

SCANDINAVIANISM was the dominant political stream of the 1840es. The movement had originated at the university of Lund (1829); student festivals were held at Copenhagen (1839, 1842, 1845), Uppsala (1843). Among the enthused poets was Norwegian HENRIK IBSEN. Scandinavianism emphasized the close relation of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians, stressing a wider Scandinavian nation. The movement sympathized with Finnish efforts to achieve a higher degree of political autonomy, and with Danish attempts to incorporate Schleswig. It peaked in 1848 when Sweden dispatched troops to aid Denmark in the conflict over Schleswig.
Swedish entrepreneur IMMANUEL NOBEL, without formal education, a self-made man, set up a business in St. Petersburg; here he produced sea mines which proved effective in preventing British naval attacks on Russian fortresses. He began experiments with NITROGLYCERINE, which would be successfully concluded by his son ALFRED NOBEL (1866).
With alcoholism traditionally being a problem in Sweden and the right to distill brandy granted to all owners of land in the countryside, the SWEDISH TEMPERANCE SOCIETY (established in 1837) saw a rapid growth of her membership figures, peaking in the mid 1840es at over 100,000. In 1855 the right to distill brandy at home was limited in 1855 and cancelled in 1860.
Lars Johan Hierta, publisher of the liberal AFTONBLADET, got in conflict with censorship. He simply renamed his paper every time it was banned; in 1845 press censorship finally was abolished.
In 1860 the MARKSMEN'S MOVEMENT (skarpskytterrörelsen) was founded, which soon grew to a membership of about 40,000.
Poet and women's rights activist FREDRIKA BREMER published the novel "Hertha" (1856); reforms were passed, in 1861 a seminary for female teachers established at Stockholm.
In 1845 LARS LEVI LAESTADIUS, the Apostle of the Lapps, founded the Swedish Revivalist movement; he preached that the consumption of alcohol was a sin.
Swedish soprano JENNY LIND became an international star; she performed in New York in 1850.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Den sista offentliga avrättningen i Stockholm (the last public execution in Stockholm, 1862), from Var Svenska Historia
1800-talet och nationalismen i Sverige (19th century and nationalism in Sweden), from Univ. Stockholm, in Swedish
Biography of Immanuel Nobel, from Nobel e-Museum
Swedish Railway History, by Urban Fredriksson
Chronology of Sweden 1850-1899, by K. Polsson
Timeline of Swedish History, from timelines.ws, detailed, yet amateurish
Biography of L.L. Laestadius, from laestadius.net, in English; from Heiligenlexikon, in German
DOCUMENTS Coat of Arms of the combined Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, from Wappenlexikon, comment in German
Sources to Swedish 19th century nationalism, from Univ. Stockholm
Treaty between the Kingdom of Hawai`i and the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, 1852, from Hawaiian Independence Home Page
REFERENCE Franklin D. Scott, Sweden : The Nation's History, Univ. of Minnesota Press 1977
Sten Carlsson, Svensk Historia, Vol.2, Stockholm : Bonniers, 1970, pp.206-278 (in Swedish)
B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics : Europe 1750-1988, N.Y.: Stockton Press 1992


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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