What happened to the Swedes by Bengt Hllgren

What happened to the Swedes? by Bengt Hällgren

Around the year 1000, Sweden had become a Christian country. In the 1100’s Sweden seized Finland converted the Finns to Christians through violence. This is what the country looked like in the 1200’s. Orange = gained area

Gustav Vasa made himself the king of Sweden i 1523 after defeating the Danes. He seized the power of the church in Sweden by changing the religion from Catholic to Lutheran. He also changed the way of appointing kings from voting to succession of heirs.

Gustav Vasa’s grandson Gustav II Adolf was the king of Sweden in the early 1600’s. In the “Thirty Years War” (16181648), he fought against the Catholics in what is now Germany. He was very successful but died in battle in 1632.

Sweden had already annexed Estonia. After the “Thirty Years War” Sweden also gained part of Denmark/Norway and some land from Germany. Orange = gained area

In 1660 Sweden finally gained the provinces of Bohuslän, Skåne and Blekinge, from Denmark. These are still parts of Sweden. Orange = gained area

Due to the religious wars, the Lutheran religion was regarded extremely important in Sweden. - In 1617, all Catholics who lived in Sweden had to leave the country within three months. If not, they were beheaded. - In 1634, the government stated that all Swedes must be members of the Lutheran church and attend the Lutheran church services. - In 1686, the Church Law stated that all clergy must hold annual hearings to make sure that all parishioners were able to recite Martin Luther’s “Small Catechism and Explanations”. Their knowledge was documented in hearing registers. To enable the parishioners to learn the catechism, the clergy was also instructed to see to it that the whole population could read. Owing to this, Swedes developed an exceptional literacy rate already in the early 1700’s.

Karl XII, was the king of Sweden 1697 -1718. War was his greatest interest. He fought against Russia, Poland, and Denmark. The Swedish population suffered seriously from the wars. When Karl XII finally attacked Norway, he was shot from the side, probably by a Swede.

The following wars were not successful. Green = lost area

In Karl XII’s war against Russia, many Swedish soldiers were captured and brought to Siberia. There they developed a personal form of Christianity called “Pietism”. Some escaped and returned to Sweden where they held religious meetings outside of the Lutheran church. - In 1726, personal religious meetings were forbidden in Sweden. - In 1765, fines were imposed for those who did not attend the Lutheran church services. To keep track of every Swedish resident the government decided that the clergy, aside from the hearing registers, must also keep birth registers, marriage registers, relocation registers, and death registers.

King Gustav III attacked Russia in 1788 but did not win any land. The king was killed by opponents in 1792.

After the Napoleonic war in Europe, Sweden had no heir to the throne. In 1810 a French general was invited to become king of Sweden. Here he was called Karl XIV Johan. Many leading Swedes wanted him to attack Russia, but instead the new king turned around and conquered Norway in 1814. Since then, Sweden has so far never had a war. Not having any war for more than 200 years is unique!

Green = lost area, Red = gained area

Improvements in Sweden: 1. No war since 1814 = All farmers could concentrate on farming 2. Potatoes became a popular and important food. 3. Vaccination against smallpox was made obligatory in 1816 4. A compulsory school system (four years) was introduced in 1842.

On the other hand there were problems: 1. The number of children increased dramatically 2. The farms were divided up between the heirs making it impossible to produce enough food for the family. 3. In just two or three generations, farmers turned from being fairly rich to becoming utterly poor.