Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1697-1718
Karl XII holds the throne. Russia, Poland and Denmark form an anti-Sweden alliance; the Swedish
army is crushed by the Russians at Poltava in 1709 - a battle that ends Sweden's time as a super-
power.
1789
The coup d'etat mounted by Gustav III curtails parliamentary powers and reintroduces absolute
rule.
1792
At a masked ball in 1792, Gustav III is surrounded by conspirators and shot in the back of the head
by Jacob Johan Anckarström, the captain of the king's regiment.
1814
After Napoleon's defeat, Sweden forces Denmark to swap Norway for Swedish Pomerania. The
Norwegians object, and Swedish troops occupy most of the country, with the forced union lasting
until 1905.
1921
In the interwar period, a Social Democrat-Liberal coalition government takes control and intro-
duces reforms, including an eight-hour working day and universal suffrage for adults aged over
23.
1943
Seventeen-year-old teenager Ingvar Kamprad founds IKEA, which becomes the world's most suc-
cessful mass-market retailer.
1944
Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg rescues nearly 100,000 Hungarian Jews from the SS by hiding them
in Swedish 'neutral houses' in Budapest.
