King Gustav V

**King Gustav V** (born Alexander Louis Francis de Charmaine; 5 March, 1798-7 January 1867) was King of Sweden and Norway from 5 February 1818 to his death. He was the first monarch of the Charmaine house in the United Kingdoms. He was second son of Louis de Charmaine, and younger brother of Charles X. Throughout his reign he pursed conservative ideas like the previous king, and his brother. He instituted ties between the Norway and Sweden and promoted unity in the Kingdom, which allowed the Kingdom to last

## Early Life

Gustav V was born on the 5th of March, 1798 on the Families estate north of Paris to Louis de Charmaine and Princess Louisa. He was named Alexander after his uncle, Louis after his father and Francis after Louis' favorite artist. Alexander was the second child of Louis, after his older brother Charles. Throughout his life, Alexander was always his mothers favorite and was closest to his elder brother.

Alexander and his siblings were raised almost entirely by their mother, and their governess Maria de Lansac. When he was 5, his father died of Yellow Fever in Haiti and his Grandfather took him and his 6 siblings in, moving them north to Amsterdam. Upon hearing of the coronation of Napoleon, Charles "*the elder"* moved back to France and went back to his honorary career as a Judge. Alexander learned basic Math, Latin, English, German, and Swedish during his time at school in Bordeaux. Alexander took a profound like in his history and government classes just like his older brother.

## Consolidation of Power

After the death of Alexander's Grandfather, Charles the family was surprised to know that he had been elected to the position of Heir Apparent to the United Kingdom of Sweden Norway. Charles, elder brother of Alexander had been chosen to be Heir after his Grandfathers death by the King.

### First in line

Alexander became first in line to his brother for around 2 months. Alexander took much more frequent trips up to Sweden than Charles due to his general dislike of the Swedish Lands. Alexander, however, fell in love with the cold environment, tall mountains and "homey" environment of the small cities scattered across Sweden and Norway. During this 2 month period, Charles took 1 trip to Sweden while Alexander took 17.

### Heir Apparent

Alexander was made Heir apparent to the United Kingdoms after his elder brother was chosen as King of France. That meant, Alexander was heir to both Sweden-Norway and France. In order to make his position more legitimate, and the dynasty at that, both Charles and Alexander began looking for suitable spouses. His first choice was Grandniece of Charles XIII & II, and daughter of Gustav IV Adolf, Princess Sophie. His second choice was Princess Caroline of Denmark, eldest daughter of Frederick VI of Denmark.

In 1817, Charles Married the 16 year old Princess Sophie in order to legitimize his position as King. The Marriage was mostly happy though Sophie and Alexander were often far apart from each other. After the ceremony in Stockholm, Charles and Sophie lived together in the Royal Palace with the King. Alexander was serving as de-facto leader and regent for the old Charles up until his death.

### King

Alexander was made King upon the death of Charles XIII & II on February 5th, 1818. The 20 year old Alexander chose the popular Swedish name "Gustav" as his regnal name. Gustav was coronated 2 weeks later in Stockholm along with his wife, and 6 weeks after that in Oslo. During his reign, Gustav was extremely popular in both Sweden and Norway and he served in multiple ways to further the ties between the two nations.

Gustav's foreign policy was very Pro-French, but also followed the ideas of a centralized Europe in a calm balance. During the Rhine war, Gustav supported his Brother Charles but choose not to interfere to keep the population happy. In 1827, when Prussia asked for military support for the war, Gustav refused. Alexanders government remained mostly conservative and controlled a vast majority over the Liberal parties. Gustav greatly spread patriotism around the nation, and in 1833 the United Kingdoms were at their highest point of unity. Gustav also began mass industrial projects towards the later half of his reign which greatly helped the economy of the nation flourish. Gustav is sometimes regarded as the King who not only saved the union, but the later separate kingdoms.

### Rebellion of 1836

In 1836, Liberal party supporters rose up in central Sweden demanding that Gustav abdicate the throne, and let the Liberal party take favor. The leader of the rebellion was Gustav's eldest son who was 18 at the time. The rebellion numbered around 25,000 and was easily quelled by the Royal army.

#### Change in Government

Even though the General population greatly disliked the majority of Liberal ideas, soon the populous demanded that the King step down from his absolutist position. At first the King refused, but after talking with his brother, the Absolute Monarch of France he conceded. From 1838 onwards, Gustav served as Head of State but also got to appoint or remove minister of cabinet. A state government of elected officials was set up to challenge the King's decisions and to support the people. Gustav was happy with the system, and thanks to the rebellion's of 1836 the Liberal party decreased in size, popularity, and their ideas mostly collapsed. Gustav instated basic reforms from 1837-1845 which helped slowly industrialize the nation, and helped the population literacy and basic education rates. Taking ideas from his brothers, Gustav helped modernize the kingdom and greatly helped integrate the two states.

### Later Reign

From 1845 to his death 22 years later Gustav continued his basic reforms which gradually helped the Kingdoms advance. Gustav also made sure the navy of the Kingdom was able to somewhat compete with the Russian or Danish fleets which he succeeded at. The Royal army mostly stayed the same until his son's reign.

### Death

On January 7th, 1867 the 68 year old King suffered a stroke in his sleep. His wife Sophie died 2 years prior, and the 2 were buried together at Riddarholmen Church on the islet of Riddarholmen in central Stockholm. His second son succeeded, due to his eldest sons involvement in the 1836 revolution, him as Carl XIV and III.

## Children

With Princess Sophie, Gustav had 6 kids between 1818 and 1827

* Prince Gustav Adolph de Charmaine (6 November, 1818-8 March, 1873) Removed from Royal Family in 1836
* Prince Carl Adolph Gustav de Charmaine (5 February, 1822-9 October, 1875) Became King, married his first cousin, Princess Alice, daughter of Charles X
* Princess Sophie Louisa de Charmaine (10 March, 1824-21 June, 1889) Married her first cousin, Prince Charles, son of Charles X
* Princess Louisa Alexandra de Charmaine (17 July, 1825-15 May, 1879) Married Christian IX of Denmark
* Princess Alexandra Marie de Charmaine (19 June, 1826-1 November, 1870) Married Prince Albert of Saxony, future representative of Saxony
* Princess Marie Alexandra de Charmaine (5 October, 1827-19 February, 1925) Married Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, son of Nicholas I