Swedish Empire

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## This is done to remove any unnecessary and irrelevant info related to the subject of this article.*Swedish Empire

### Motto

Med Gud och Segrande Vapen (Swedish)
With God and Victorious Weapons (English)

## General Information

### Capital City

Uppsala (Capital from 1523-1611)Stockholm (Capital from 1611-1926)

### Recognized Languages

Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Icelandic
Styrkurian
Faroese
Gutnish
Elfdalian
Goldic
Westrobothnian
Scanian
Norn
Greenlandic
Ingrian
Estonian
Latin
Greek
Polish
Lithuanian
Russian
Livonian
Latvian
Sami
Gothic
German

### Religion

Christianity (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism)
Norse Paganism

### Leaders

Gustav Vasa (1523-1560)
Erik XIV (1560-1577)
Johan III (1577-1592)
Sigismund III (1592-1599, 1611-1632)
Karl IX (1599-1611)
Vladislav IV (1632-1648)
Vladislav V (1648-1698)
Karl XII (1698-1718)
Fredrik I (1718-1721, 1721-1751)
Adolf Fredrik (1751-1771)
Gustav III (1771-1792)
Gustav IV Adolf (1792-1837)
Gustav V (1837-1877)
Fredrik II (1877-1907)
Fredrik III (1907-1926)

### Writing System

Latin
Futhark

### Currency

Riksdaler (1604 - 1873)
Krona (1873 - 1926)

## Historical Information

### Succeeded by

Swedish SSR*

**The Swedish Empire** *(Swedish: Svenska Konungariket* lit. the Swedish Kingdom*)* also known as **Stormaktstiden**was a European great power that exercised territorial control over Scandinavia and overseas from 1523 to 1926. Starting with the Coronation of Gustav Vasa to the 1926 Soviet Invasion of Scandinavia.

## History

### **Early Vasa Era (1523*–*1611)**

Following the Disestablishment of Scandinavia through the violent Swedish War of Secession, Gustav Vasa was crowned as King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, during this time, he began creating Religious and Political Reforms for Sweden, including the Protestant Reformation, where he converted to Protestantism and seized Catholic Church property and wealth, and unification of the provinces. After Gustav's death, his eldest son Erik XIV became King, he was intelligent and skilled, which under his leadership, he conquered Estonia, but he was mentally insane, constantly being in strain with his brother and other noblemen, in which he ended up imprisoning Johan, and murdering his noblemen. He engaged warfare against Poland and Russia, eventually, he was poisoned in 1577, which led to his brother, Johan III becoming King of Sweden.

Johan III made peace with Russia and Poland, and partially restored Catholicism in the Swedish Empire, he died in 1592.

Sigismund III became King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland after succeeding Johan, since he had Polish blood through his mother, he was also King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, one of his goals was to gain the Russian throne, so he could therefore unite the four countries into a new European power, his reign, however, was troublesome during the first few years, he was not able to defend his throne from Karl IX, Gustav Vasa's youngest son, he lost the throne in a Civil War and fled the country.

Karl IX became the new king after overthrowing Sigismund, he established the Riksdaler as the currency of Sweden, however, his reign was troublesome, as he managed to invade Livonia and Ingria, it lead to the Polish-Swedish War, which lasted until 1611, in 1610, Vladislav, a Son of Sigismund became Tsar of Russia, who after Karl's death in 1611, managed to unite Russia, with Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden into one country.

### **United Tsardom Era (1611*–*1721)**

After Vladislav united the four countries, Sigismund was restored to the throne as Tsar of Russia, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and King of Sweden, he ruled it as a large European superpower, rivaling that of the British Empire, during this era, the Tsardom managed to conquer Overseas Territories in the Americas and Africa, and some parts of Asia, this was seen as a threat to other colonial powers such as Britain, the Tsardom began relations with the neighboring Austrian Empire, promising to help them take over the German Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, however, the plan was halted for a while.

After Sigismund's death in 1632, Vladislav IV who united the Tsardom, took over his father's throne, he established a Swedish Colony in America, naming it New Sweden (Swedish: *Nya Sverige*, now modern-day Delaware) in 1638, he also made peace with the Holy Roman Empire, and made various Military Reforms and created Religious Tolerance in the Tsardom, in 1647, there was a succession crisis, his only legitimate son, Sigismund Casimir died of an Illness at age 7, in which he was in great grief and didn't attend his funeral, Vladislav IV died one year later in 1648, his eldest son Vladislav Konstanty Vasa (named Vladislav V during Coronation), who was illegitimate, decided to succeed him, which was confusing to many Swedes, since Illegitimate children were never allowed to inherit their father's throne, but Vladislav did not control the Tsardom until 1653 when he turned 18, so his uncle Johan II Kasimir served as Regent from 1648 to 1653.

When Vladislav V was old enough to take charge, it was very troublesome, as the Tsardom had begun declining during his reign, he had to face various uprisings in Oslo and Vilnius, and due to him being illegitimate, he was not considered worthy of being Tsar by the majority of the population, he planned to centralize the parliament at this time, but it never came into fruition, he later died in 1698, and at that time, the Vasa line was extinct, which led to the question on who would rule Tsardom.

A young 16-year-old military leader named Karl from the House of Palainate-Zweibrücken, took over the Tsardom, promising to keep it alive and secure, he was crowned as Karl XII, and he was very skilled, managing Tax Reforms and Legal Reforms, he also made victories in wars against Britain, he died in 1718 with no marriage or children, which is when Fredrik I took over, as he knew the independence uprisings were inevitable, he abolished the United Tsardom in 1721, which led to the Swedish Empire being on its own.

### **Swedish Restoration Era (1721*–*1809)**

After the United Tsardom was abolished, Fredrik I became the new King of Sweden, he was considered weak at first and he accepted it, he was, however, a very active and dynamic king at the beginning of his 31-year reign, he became not so much powerless as uninterested in affairs of state. In 1723, he began strengthening royal authority, though he never had much to do with politics. He did not even sign official documents; instead, a stamp of his signature was used. He devoted most of his time to hunting and love affairs. His marriage to Queen Ulrika Eleonora was childless, but he had several children with his mistress, Hedvig Taube.

In 1723 Fredrik rewarded the military inventor Sven Åderman with the estate of Halltorps on the island of Öland, for improving the rate of fire of the musket.

As a king, he was not very respected. When he was crowned, it was said of him: "King Karl we recently buried, King Fredrik we crown – suddenly the clock has now passed from twelve to one". It is said about him, that although a lot of great achievements in the country's development happened during his reign, he never had anything to do with them himself. When he died, Carl Gustaf Tessin said about him: "Under the reign of King Fredrik, science has developed – he never bothered to read a book. The merchant business has flourished – he has never encouraged it with a single coin. The Stockholm Palace has been built – he has never been curious enough to look at it."

Neither did he have anything to do with the founding of the first Swedish speaking theater at Bollhuset during his reign. One of his few important policies was the banning of duels.

On 23 February 1748 Frederick I instituted the three Swedish royal orders of the Seraphim, of the Sword and of the North Star, the three principal Swedish orders of chivalry.

After Fredrik I's death, Adolf Fredrik from the House of Holstein-Gotturp succeded him, his reign saw an extended period of internal peace, and he enacted forms of Economic Liberalism, but he was mostly considered a figurehead as most of the power went to the Riksdag of the Estates.

After Adolf Fredrik's death, his son Gustav III declared a Swedish Revolution in 1772 and overthrew the Riksdag of the Estates and restored Absolutism in the Empire, through a Royal Autocracy, he swept away the powers of the Riksdag, but at the same time, opened up the government for all citizens, breaking the privileges of the nobility, he spent considerable funds on cultural ventures, as an admirer of Voltaire, Gustav legalized Catholic and Jewish presence in Sweden, and enacted wide-ranging reforms aimed at economic liberalism, social reform and the restriction, in many cases, of torture and capital punishment. The much-praised Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 was severely curtailed, however, by amendments in 1774 and 1792, effectively extinguishing independent media.

A patron of the arts and benefactor of arts and literature, Gustav founded the Swedish Academy, created a national costume, and had the Royal Swedish Opera built. In 1772 he founded the Royal Order of Vasa to acknowledge and reward those Swedes who had contributed to advances in the fields of agriculture, mining, and commerce. in 1777, Gustav III was the first formally neutral head of state in the world to recognize the American Republic during its war for independence from Great Britain. Swedish military forces were engaged by the thousands on the side of the colonists, largely through the French expedition force. Through the acquisition of Saint Barthélemy in 1784, Gustav enabled the restoration, if symbolic, of Swedish overseas colonies in America, as well as great personal profits from the transatlantic slave trade.

Following the uprising against the French monarchy in 1789, Gustav pursued an alliance of princes aimed at crushing the insurrection and reinstating his French counterpart, King Louis XVI, offering Swedish military assistance as well as his leadership. In 1792 he was mortally wounded by a gunshot in the lower back during a masquerade ball as part of an aristocratic-parliamentary coup attempt, but managed to assume command and quell the uprising before succumbing to sepsis 13 days later, a period during which he received apologies from many of his political enemies. Gustav's immense powers were placed in the hands of a regency under his brother Prince Carl and Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm until his son and successor Gustav IV Adolf reached adulthood in 1796. The Gustavian autocracy thus survived until 1814, when a personal union with Finland was established.

### **Union of Sweden-Finland Era (1809*–*1905)**

After the Napoleonic wars ended, Gustav decided that Finland and Sweden would be in a personal union, with the same monarch, the two countries would be autonomously separate, such as constitutions, laws, legislatures, administrations, state churches, armed forces, and currencies; Gustav also established a new Division state in Northern Iceland, naming it Styrkuria, Gustav would remain in charge until his death in 1837.

His son, Gustav, became the new King of Sweden, during his reign, he enacted military reforms, having previously been a marshall for in the Austrian army in 1836, he also secured the empire, and favored the idea of Norway being its own autonomous kingdom, as well as uniting the Duchy of Jutland and Roskilde into Denmark, the plan for Norway came into partial fruition, with the Stortinget established as a Unicameral parliament, but held no real power without the king's approval, before he was King of Sweden, he was offered the title of King of Hellas before Lord Byron took charge, he rejected the offer in fear of Seljuk intervention in the Balkans, under most of his reign, he managed to keep the country mostly in peace, signing a peace treaty with the Romanovs in 1854, around the 1850s, there was proposals for his daughter Carola to marry Napoleon III, but Gustav was against it due to the instability in France, there was also support for a Fenno-Scandinavian Union, although Finland was not in favor of it, having it's own Nationalistic government in the Diet and due to the heavy increase of Swedish supremacy, although Gustav managed to build Finland while being King, he also abolished the Riksdag of the Estates in 1866.

Gustav died on August 5, 1877, having no male issue, and that his daughter had converted to Catholicism, the throne was to be passed to his nephew, Fredrik II, who was also King of Swabia, but under him there would be no Personal union between Sweden and Swabia.

The relations with Finland as well as Norway, Jutland, Roskilde, Styrkuria and Iceland during the reign of Fredrik II (1877 - 1907) had a big influence, with Norway wanting to be its own Kingdom, parliamentarism was adopted in 1884, and Fredrik implemented important reforms, such as military service and suffrage, Finland was experiencing debate on whether to leave the union or stay in the union, which led to the creation of two political parties, the Independence Party (Itsenäisyyspuolue) and the Unionist Party (Unionistinen puolue), the Independence Party wanted Finland to become independent, while the Unionist Party wanted to remain in the Union, by the time the 20th century came, Norway was granted independence with Eitel Friedrich as King of Norway, crowned as Frederik VII, establishing a Hohenzollern dynasty, and the Union with Finland was abolished with Finland being split into Österland and having the Northern part belong to Norrland, one of the Landsdelar of Sweden.

About two years later, Fredrik died on September 28, and the throne was passed to his son, Fredrik III.

### **Prelude to** **World War I (1905*–*1914)**

Fredrik was not pleased with Norway being a separate state, and was keeping a close eye on Frederik, but he decided not to start a war against them as that would lead to war with the German Empire, considering they were also Hohenzollerns, and that he was King of Swabia, he eventually decided to keep peace with Norway, focusing more on making sure there were no uprisings in Österland, he also reformed the Riksdag, allowing Political parties to function, with the majority being the Royalist League, although the Social Democrats were growing slowly, which Fredrik restricted due to its anti-monarchist sentiment, in Swabia he had made military reforms, without being dependent on the Kaiser.

### **World War I (1914*–*1918)**

At the beginning of WWI, Fredrik decided to have Sweden join the Central Powers, hoping to restore the glory of the empire with help from Germany, with the Parliament being under the Royalist League, unfortunately, this only led to the Social Democrats growing in parliament, by 1917, an invasion of Norway was declared, forcing Frederik to abdicate, which lasted until 1918, he had also put Finland under Military occupation and purged Socialists and Communists, amidst the German revolution, which forced Fredrik to abdicate as King of Swabia, and Sweden was forced to surrender territory to Britain.

By the end of the war, Sweden was humiliated, which led to peasants and farmers revolting against various governments, many of them were silenced by the Royalist League, eventually protests stopped in 1921 when men and women were given the right to vote, since prior to that only the Upper class were allowed to vote, and parliamentarism became more democratic.

### **Soviet Invasion of Scandinavia (1926)**

By October of 1926, there was an increase of Soviet influence in the Social Democratic party, which led to the soviets invading scandinavia, and Fredrik was forced to abdicate and fled to Germany, where he stayed until his death in 1928, the Swedish Empire was dissolved and led to the creation of the Swedish SSR, which lasted until 1987, when Sweden declared independence, becoming a republic.