Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Franco-Prussian War and various Balkan crises), the country's only worry was growing
dissatisfaction in Norway with the union. Demanding a separate consular service, and
objecting to the Swedish king's veto on constitutional matters, the Norwegians brought
things to a head, and in 1905 declared the union invalid. The Karlstad Convention
confirmed the break, and Norway became independent for the first time since 1380.
The late nineteenth century was a happier time for Swedish culture.
August
Strindberg
enjoyed great critical success, and artists like
Anders Zorn
and
Prince Eugene
made their mark abroad. The historian
Artur Hazelius f
founded the Nordic and Skansen
museums in Stockholm; and the chemist, industrialist and dynamite inventor
Alfred
Nobel
left his fortune to finance the Nobel Prizes. It's an instructive tale: Nobel hoped
that the knowledge of his invention would help eradicate war, optimistically believing
that humankind would never dare unleash the destructive forces of dynamite.
The two world wars
Sweden declared strict neutrality on the outbreak of
World War I
, influenced by much
sympathy within the country for Germany that stemmed from long-standing cultural,
trade and linguistic links. It was a policy agreed with the other Scandinavian monarchs,
but a difficult one to pursue. Faced with British demands to enforce a blockade of
Germany and with the blacklisting and eventual seizure of Swedish goods at sea, the
economy suffered grievously; rationing and inflation mushroomed. The
Russian
Revolution
in 1917 brought further problems for Sweden. The Finns immediately
declared independence, waging civil war against the Bolsheviks, and Swedish volunteers
enlisted in the White Army. But a conflict of interest arose when the Swedish-speaking
Åland Islands wanted a return to Swedish rule rather than stay under the victorious
Finns. The League of Nations overturned this claim, granting the islands to Finland.
After the war, a liberal-socialist coalition remained in power until 1920, when
Branting
became the first socialist prime minister. By the time of his death in 1924,
franchise had been extended to all men and women over 23, and the state-controlled
alcohol system (Systembolaget) set up. Following the Depression of the late 1920s and
early 1930s, conditions began to improve after a Social Democratic government took
office for the fourth time in 1932. A
welfare state
was rapidly established, offering
unemployment benefit, higher old-age pensions, family allowances and paid holidays.
he
Saltsjöbaden Agreement
of 1938 drew up a contract between trade unions and
employers to help eliminate strikes and lockouts. With war again looming, all parties
agreed that Sweden should remain neutral in any struggle, and so the country's
rearmament was negligible, despite Hitler's apparent intentions.
World War II
was slow to affect Sweden. Unlike in 1914, there was little sympathy in
the country for Germany, but Sweden again declared neutrality. The Russian invasion
of Finland in 1939 brought Sweden into the picture, with the Swedes providing
weapons, volunteers and refuge for the Finns. Regular Swedish troops were refused,
though, the Swedes fearing intervention from either the Germans (then Russia's ally)
or the Allies. Economically, the country remained sound - less dependent on imports
than in World War I and with no serious shortages. The position became stickier in
1940 when the Nazis marched into Denmark and Norway, isolating Sweden.
Concessions were made - German troop transit allowed, iron-ore exports continued
1943
1943
1953
1967
Sweden takes in Jews from
across Europe
IKEA founded by 17-year-
old Ingvar Kamprad
Sweden's Dag
Hammarskjöld
becomes UN Secretary-
General
Sweden changes
from left- to right-
hand traffic
