The Gustavians ( Swedish : Gustavianerna ) were a political faction in the Kingdom of Sweden who supported the absolutist regime of King Gustav III of Sweden , and sought after his assassination in 1792 to uphold his legacy and protect the interests of his descendants of the House of Holstein-Gottorp .
168-531: The term can also be used in a looser sense to refer to Swedes generally during the Gustavian era (i.e. the reigns of Gustav III and his son Gustav IV Adolf ), in the same way that the word "Victorians" is used of Britons during the reign of Queen Victoria . The original Gustavians were the men who supported King Gustav III’s self-coup , the Revolution of 1772 , and his institution of an absolute monarchy under
336-649: A millennium ago . These people include the Swedish-speakers in mainland Finland – speaking a Swedish dialect commonly referred to as Finland Swedish (finlandssvenska which is part of the East-Swedish dialect group) and the almost exclusively Swedish-speaking population of Åland speaking in a manner closer to the adjacent dialects in Sweden than to adjacent dialects of Finland Swedish. Estonia also had an important Swedish minority which persisted for about 650 years on
504-550: A centralized Russian national state , and secured independence against the Tatars . His grandson, Ivan IV ( r. 1533–1584 ), became in 1547 the first Russian monarch to be crowned " tsar of all Russia ". Between 1550 and 1700, the Russian state grew by an average of 35,000 km (14,000 sq mi) per year. Major events during this period include the transition from the Rurik to
672-511: A common ancestry, culture , history and language . They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries , in particular Finland where they are an officially recognized minority, with Swedish being one of the official languages of the country, and with a substantial diaspora in other countries, especially the United States . The English term "Swede" has been attested in English since
840-540: A fatal misjudgement. In 1806-7 Napoleon conquered Swedish Pomerania , the last surviving relic of the Swedish Empire , and in 1809 the Russian Empire switched sides and formed an alliance with France against Sweden. In the resulting Finnish War (1808-9), Russian forces rapidly overran the entirety of Finland , which had been Swedish for six hundred years and was (unlike Pomerania and the other overseas territories of
1008-505: A few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania , Bremen-Verden and Wismar . The Swedish armies may have destroyed up to 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany , one-third of all German towns. In the middle of the 17th century Sweden was the third largest country in Europe by land area, only surpassed by Russia and Spain. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under
1176-458: A few were introduced , no major changes were attempted. The liberal Alexander I was replaced by his younger brother Nicholas I (1825–1855), who at the beginning of his reign was confronted with an uprising. The background of this revolt lay in the Napoleonic Wars , when a number of well-educated Russian officers travelled in Europe in the course of military campaigns, where their exposure to
1344-451: A fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992, there was a run on the currency, with the central bank briefly increasing interest to 500%. The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the welfare state and privatising public services and goods. Much of the political establishment promoted EU membership, and
1512-424: A gift, the freed peasants had to pay a special lifetime tax to the government, which in turn paid the landlords a generous price for the land that they had lost. In numerous cases the peasants ended up with relatively small amounts of the least productive land. All the property turned over to the peasants was owned collectively by the mir , the village community, which divided the land among the peasants and supervised
1680-605: A great power, playing a major role in European politics. On 2 November [ O.S. 22 October] 1721, the day of the announcement of the Treaty of Nystad, the Governing Senate and Synod invested the tsar with the titles of Peter the Great, Pater Patriae (father of the fatherland), and Imperator of all Russia . The adoption of the title of imperator by Peter I
1848-547: A major domestic factor with its support for liberating Balkan Christians from Ottoman rule and making Bulgaria and Serbia independent. In early 1877, Russia intervened on behalf of Serbian and Russian volunteer forces, leading to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) . Within one year, Russian troops were nearing Constantinople and the Ottomans surrendered. Russia's nationalist diplomats and generals persuaded Alexander II to force
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#17328812208142016-463: A modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. As the Industrial Revolution progressed during the 20th century, people gradually began moving into cities to work in factories and became involved in socialist unions. A communist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of parliamentarism , and the country saw comprehensive democratic reforms under
2184-406: A modern, scientific, rationalist, and Western-oriented system. Catherine the Great ( r. 1762–1796 ) presided over further expansion of the Russian state by conquest, colonization , and diplomacy, while continuing Peter's policy of modernization towards a Western model. Alexander I ( r. 1801–1825 ) helped defeat the militaristic ambitions of Napoleon and subsequently constituted
2352-600: A non-profit organization, have shown a steady growth of Swedes living outside Sweden. The 2022 survey indicates an approximate 685,000 Swedes living abroad, up from 660,000 in 2015 and 546,000 in 2011. Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a vast empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its proclamation in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in
2520-407: A result, there was a slow improvement in the living standards of Russian peasants in the empire's last two decades before 1914. Recent research into the physical stature of Army recruits shows they were bigger and stronger. There were regional variations, with more poverty in the heavily populated central black earth region ; and there were temporary downturns in 1891–93 and 1905–1908. By the end of
2688-618: A series of defeats that further galvanized the population against the emperor. In 1917, mass unrest among the population and mutinies in the army culminated in the February Revolution , which led to the abdication of Nicholas II, the formation of the Russian Provisional Government , and the proclamation of the first Russian Republic . Political dysfunction, continued involvement in the widely unpopular war, and widespread food shortages resulted in mass demonstrations against
2856-462: A stroke, which led to rumours that he had been poisoned by the Gustavians, and during his funeral the unfortunate Fersen was publicly lynched by an enraged mob. The Riksdag was therefore forced to choose an heir to the throne for the second time in as many years. The Gustavians campaigned vigorously on behalf of Prince Gustav, but in the end the decision went against them again, this time in favour of
3024-496: A very large and complex bureaucracy, and a court that rivaled those of Versailles and London . But the government was living far beyond its means, and 18th-century Russia remained "a poor, backward, overwhelmingly agricultural, and illiterate country". In 1801, over four years after Paul became the emperor of Russia, he was killed in Saint Michael's Castle in a coup. Paul was succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Alexander . Russia
3192-845: A wasteland and useless, and saw the government wasting money, but later, much gold and petroleum were discovered. In the late 1870s, Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. From 1875 to 1877, the Balkan crisis intensified, with rebellions against Ottoman rule by various Slavic nationalities, which the Ottoman Turks had dominated since the 15th century. This was seen as a political risk in Russia, which similarly suppressed its Muslims in Central Asia and Caucasia. Russian nationalist opinion became
3360-442: Is Swedish ( svenska [ˈsvɛ̂nːska] ) a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is, to a considerable extent, mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with spoken Danish (see especially " Classification "). Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish
3528-726: Is a descendant of Old Norse , the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era . It is the largest of the North Germanic languages by numbers of speakers. Standard Swedish , used by most Swedish people, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from
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#17328812208143696-512: Is also known for Russia's involvement in the Seven Years' War , where it was successful militarily, but gained little politically. Catherine the Great was a German princess who married Peter III , the German heir to the Russian crown. After the death of Empress Elizabeth, Catherine came to power after she effected a coup d'état against her very unpopular husband. She contributed to the resurgence of
3864-562: Is based solely on various forms of archeology . The Proto-Germanic language is thought to have originated in the arrival of the Battle Axe culture in Scandinavia and the Germanic tribal societies of Scandinavia were thereafter surprisingly stable for thousands of years. The merger of the Battle Axe and Pitted Ware cultures eventually gave rise to the Nordic Bronze Age which was followed by
4032-559: Is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden . Shortly afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation . Economically, Gustav Vasa broke the monopoly of the Hanseatic League over Swedish Baltic Sea trade. The Hanseatic League had been officially formed at Lübeck on the sea coast of Northern Germany in 1356. The Hanseatic League sought civil and commercial privileges from
4200-497: Is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the second century AD, but all that has survived from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at
4368-478: Is usually credited for introducing Christianity in 829, but the new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the 12th century. During the 11th century, Christianity became the most prevalent religion, and from 1050 Sweden is counted as a Christian nation. The period between 1100 and 1400 was characterized by internal power struggles and competition among the Nordic kingdoms. Swedish kings also began to expand
4536-416: Is usually seen as the beginning of the "imperial" period of Russia. Following the reforms, the governance of Russia by an absolute monarch was enshrined. The Military Regulations made a note of the autocratic nature of the regime. During the reign of Peter I, the last vestiges of the independence of the boyars were lost. He transformed them into the new nobility , who were obedient nobles that served
4704-504: The 1828–1829 Russo-Turkish War , Russia invaded northeastern Anatolia and occupied the strategic Ottoman towns of Karin and Gümüşhane (Argiroupoli) and, posing as protector of the Greek Orthodox population , received extensive support from the region's Pontic Greeks . Following a brief occupation, the Russian imperial army withdrew back into Georgia. Russian emperors quelled two uprisings in their newly acquired Polish territories:
4872-674: The 1861 emancipation of all 23 million serfs. From 1721 until 1762, the Russian Empire was ruled by the House of Romanov ; its matrilineal branch of patrilineal German descent, the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov , ruled from 1762 until 1917. By the start of the 19th century, Russian territory extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south, and from the Baltic Sea in
5040-650: The Anglo-Saxon elite had extensive contacts with Swedish elite. In the sixth century Jordanes named two tribes, which he calls the Suehans and the Suetidi , who lived in Scandza . The Suehans, he says, have very fine horses just as the Thyringi tribe ( alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis ). The Icelander Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) wrote of
5208-591: The Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War , the Russian army was so severely decimated that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. However, Charles did not pursue the Russian army, instead turning against Poland–Lithuania and defeating the Polish king Augustus II and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszow in 1702. This gave Russia time to rebuild and modernize its army. After
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5376-529: The Boxer Rebellion . Japan strongly opposed Russian expansion, and defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Japan took over Korea, and Manchuria remained a contested area. Meanwhile, France , looking for allies against Germany after 1871, formed a military alliance in 1894, with large-scale loans to Russia, sales of arms, and warships, as well as diplomatic support. Once Afghanistan
5544-526: The British domination. Peter I ( r. 1682–1725 ), also known as Peter the Great, played a major role in introducing the European state system into Russia. While the empire's vast lands had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those in the West. Nearly the entire population was devoted to agriculture, with only a small percentage living in towns. The class of kholops , whose status
5712-646: The Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate . It was abandoned c. AD 975 , around the same time Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town some 35 km to the northeast. It has been estimated that the population in Viking Age Birka was between 500 and 1000 people. Archaeological finds indicate that Birka was still wealthy in the 9th and 10th centuries. Thousands of graves, coins, jewelry and other luxury items have been found there. St. Ansgar
5880-727: The Coalition and joined the Continental System . By 1812, Russia had occupied many territories in Eastern Europe, holding some of Eastern Galicia from Austria and Bessarabia from the Ottoman Empire ; from Northern Europe, it had gained Finland from the war against a weakened Sweden ; it also gained some territory in the Caucasus. Following a dispute with Emperor Alexander I, in 1812, Napoleon launched an invasion of Russia . It
6048-635: The Council of the Realm . The new King Charles XIII was elderly and childless, and as such his hereditary heir was his great-nephew Prince Gustav , 10-year-old son of the deposed Gustav Adolf. However, Adlersparre and his supporters were concerned that Gustav Vasa would resent his father’s overthrow in the same way that Gustav Adolf himself had resented the Reuterholm regency, and worried that if he became king he might even try to mount his own coup and restore absolutism in
6216-607: The Crimean War , which Russia lost. The war was fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula , and to a lesser extent in the Baltic during the related Åland War . Since playing a major role in the defeat of Napoleon, Russia had been regarded as militarily invincible, but against a coalition of the great powers of Europe, the reverses it suffered on land and sea exposed the weakness of Emperor Nicholas I's regime. When Emperor Alexander II ascended
6384-639: The England Runestones . The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been the ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland , the region south-east of the Caspian Sea . Its members are commemorated on the Ingvar Runestones , none of which mentions any survivor. What happened to the crew is unknown, but it is believed that they died of sickness. It is not known when and how
6552-499: The Enlightenment , the specter of revolution and disorder continued to haunt her and her successors. Indeed, her son Paul introduced a number of increasingly erratic decrees in his short reign aimed directly against the spread of French culture in response to their revolution . In order to ensure the continued support of the nobility, which was essential to her reign, Catherine was obliged to strengthen their authority and power at
6720-600: The Franco-Russian Alliance , to contain the growing power of Germany; completed the conquest of Central Asia ; and demanded important territorial and commercial concessions from China. The emperor's most influential adviser was Konstantin Pobedonostsev , tutor to Alexander III and his son Nicholas, and procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880 to 1895. Pobedonostsev taught his imperial pupils to fear freedom of speech and
6888-561: The Geats to the south. It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Belarus , Ukraine the Black Sea and further as far as Baghdad . Their routes passed through the Dnieper down south to Constantinople , on which they did numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, known as
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7056-545: The Great Northern War , which ended in 1721 when an exhausted Sweden asked for peace with Russia. As a result, Peter acquired four provinces situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland , securing access to the sea. There he built Russia's new capital, Saint Petersburg , on the Neva river, to replace Moscow, which had long been Russia's cultural center. This relocation expressed his intent to adopt European elements for his empire. Many of
7224-581: The Holy Alliance , which aimed to restrain the rise of secularism and liberalism across Europe. Russia further expanded to the west, south, and east, strengthening its position as a European power. Its victories in the Russo-Turkish Wars were later checked by defeat in the Crimean War (1853–1856), leading to a period of reform and intensified expansion into Central Asia . Alexander II ( r. 1855–1881 ) initiated numerous reforms , most notably
7392-406: The Industrial Revolution , Russia began to lag ever farther behind, creating new weaknesses for the empire seeking to play a role as a great power. Russia's status as a great power concealed the inefficiency of its government, the isolation of its people, and its economic and social backwardness. Following the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander I had been ready to discuss constitutional reforms, but though
7560-650: The Instrument of Government (1772) , replacing the constitutional monarchy of the Age of Liberty (1719-72). They thus represented a continuation of the Court Party which had agitated for a stronger monarchy during the Age of Liberty. Prominent Gustavians in this early stage included Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten and Johan Christopher Toll , the two leaders of the coup besides Gustav himself. Having seized power, Gustav governed Sweden with
7728-609: The Italian and Swiss expedition ,—he inflicted a series of defeats on the French; in particular, the Battle of the Trebbia in 1799. Nicholas II Nicholas II, also known as Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, was the final Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand duke of Finland. His reign started on 1 November 1894 and ended with his abdication on 15 March 1917. Born on 18 May 1868 at Alexander Palace , Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire, he
7896-425: The Latin suus . The word must have meant "one's own (tribesmen)". The same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe Suebi , preserved to this day in the name Swabia . Like other Scandinavians , Swedes descend from the presumably Indo-European Battle Axe culture and also the Pitted Ware culture . Prior to the first century AD there is no written evidence and historiography
8064-420: The November Uprising in 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863. In 1863, the Russian autocracy had given the Polish artisans and gentry reason to rebel, by assailing national core values of language, religion, and culture. France , Britain , and Austria tried to intervene in the crisis but were unable to do so. The Russian press and state propaganda used the Polish uprising to justify the need for unity in
8232-487: The Ottoman Empire . His attention then turned to the north. Russia lacked a secure northern seaport, except at Arkhangelsk on the White Sea , where the harbor was frozen for nine months a year. Access to the Baltic Sea was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on three sides. Peter's ambitions for a "window to the sea" led him, in 1699, to make a secret alliance with Saxony , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and Denmark-Norway against Sweden ; they conducted
8400-478: The Pre-Roman Iron Age . Like other North Germanic peoples , Swedes likely emerged as a distinct ethnic group during this time. Swedes enters written proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in 98 AD. In Germania 44, 45 he mentions the Swedes ( Suiones ) as a powerful tribe ( distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets ) with ships that had a prow in both ends ( longships ). Which kings ( kuningaz ) ruled these Suiones
8568-425: The Red Terror . After emerging victorious, they established the Soviet Union across most of the Russian territory; it would be one of four continental empires to collapse as a result of World War I , along with Germany , Austria–Hungary , and the Ottoman Empire . The foundations of a Russian national state were laid in the late 15th century during the reign of Ivan III . By the early 16th century, all of
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#17328812208148736-421: The Romanov dynasties, the conquest of Siberia , and the reign of Peter the Great ( r. 1682–1725 ). Peter transformed the tsardom into an empire, and fought numerous wars that turned a vast realm into a major European power. He moved the Russian capital from Moscow to the new model city of Saint Petersburg , which marked the birth of the imperial era, and led a cultural revolution that introduced
8904-426: The Russian nobility that began after the death of Peter the Great, abolishing State service and granting them control of most state functions in the provinces. She also removed the Beard tax instituted by Peter the Great. Catherine extended Russian political control over the lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , supporting the Targowica Confederation . However, the cost of these campaigns further burdened
9072-413: The Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) , they clashed with Persia over control and consolidation of Georgia, and also became involved in the Caucasian War against the Caucasian Imamate . At the conclusion of the war, Persia irrevocably ceded what is now Dagestan , eastern Georgia, and most of Azerbaijan to Russia, under the Treaty of Gulistan . Russia attempted to expand to the southwest, at the expense of
9240-422: The Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) which led to the incorporation of left-bank Ukraine , and the Russian conquest of Siberia . Poland was partitioned by its rivals in 1772–1815;most of its land and population being taken under Russian rule. Most of the empire's growth in the 19th century came from gaining territory in central and eastern Asia south of Siberia. By 1795, after the Partitions of Poland , Russia became
9408-439: The Visigoths and the Ostrogoths , and established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula and Italy respectively. Crimean Gothic communities appear to have survived intact in the Crimea until the late-18th century. The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the eighth and 11th centuries. During this period, it is believed that the Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and incorporated
9576-417: The Westgiötha Gustavianer [ sv ] (literally " Westrogothic Gustavians"). The main campaigns in which Gustavian soldiers fought were the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790) , the Franco-Swedish War and the Finnish War . Their uniforms, introduced in 1779 as part of Gustav III’s extensive military reform programme, are distinguished from those of earlier Swedish soldiers by their shorter jackets and
9744-424: The collectivism of the medieval Russian obshchina or mir over the individualism of the West. More extreme social doctrines were elaborated by such Russian radicals on the left, such as Alexander Herzen , Mikhail Bakunin , and Peter Kropotkin . After Russian armies liberated the Eastern Georgian Kingdom (allied since the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk ) from the Qajar dynasty 's occupation of 1802, during
9912-430: The liberalism of Western Europe encouraged them to seek change on their return to autocratic Russia . The result was the Decembrist revolt (December 1825), which was the work of a small circle of liberal nobles and army officers who wanted to install Nicholas' brother Constantine as a constitutional monarch. The revolt was easily crushed, but it caused Nicholas to turn away from the modernization program begun by Peter
10080-413: The varangian guard . The Swedish Vikings, called " Rus " are also believed to be the founding fathers of Kievan Rus . The Arabic traveller Ibn Fadlan described these Vikings as following: I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil . I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but
10248-413: The 'kingdom of Sweden' was born, but the list of Swedish monarchs is drawn from the first kings who ruled both Svealand (Sweden) and Götaland (Gothia) as one province with Erik the Victorious . Sweden and Gothia were two separate nations long before that into antiquity. It is not known how long they existed, but Beowulf described semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the sixth century. During
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#173288122081410416-425: The 1809 loss of eastern Sweden to Russia which became the highly autonomous Grand Principality of Finland in Imperial Russia . In interest of reestablishing Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden allied itself against its traditional ally and benefactor, France, in the Napoleonic Wars . Sweden's role in the Battle of Leipzig gave it the authority to force Denmark-Norway, an ally of France, to cede Norway to
10584-421: The American military in Iraq. Sweden also has a long history of participating in international military operations, including most recently, Afghanistan , where Swedish troops are under NATO command, and in EU sponsored peacekeeping operations in Kosovo , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Cyprus . Sweden held the chair of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2009. The native language of nearly all Swedes
10752-444: The Centre Party). Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing the industrialized economy that exists today. Strong grassroots movements sprung up in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th century ( trade unions , temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. In 1889 The Swedish Social Democratic Party was founded. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into
10920-441: The Danish prince Charles August . However, for various reasons Charles August was unable to come to Sweden to be formally invested as crown prince for several months, and in the meantime the Gustavians plotted a coup of their own, intending to get rid of the 1809 Instrument of Government, restore absolutism and have Prince Gustav formally recognised as heir to the throne. In this they were supported by monarchists who were upset with
11088-435: The French Marshal of the Empire Jean Baptiste Bernadotte . However, Bernadotte quickly managed to win over most of the Gustavians, in part because he shared their conservative views, and by the time he ascended the throne in 1818 (as King Charles XIV John), the few remaining irreconcilables had faded into political irrelevance. Gustav died in 1877 and his only surviving child Carola died in 1907 without issue, which lead to
11256-684: The Great Northern War, served as the state's capital. This concept of the triune Russian people, composed of the Great Russians , the Little Russians , and the White Russians , was introduced during the reign of Peter I, and it was associated with the name of Archimandrite Zacharias Kopystensky (1621), the Archimandrite of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and expanded upon in the writings of an associate of Peter I, Archbishop Professor Theophan Prokopovich . Several of Peter I's associates are well-known, including François Le Fort , Boris Sheremetev , Alexander Menshikov , Jacob Bruce , Mikhail Golitsyn , Anikita Repnin , and Alexey Kelin. During Peter's reign,
11424-445: The Great and champion the doctrine of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality . In order to repress further revolts, censorship was intensified, including the constant surveillance of schools and universities. Textbooks were strictly regulated by the government. Police spies were planted everywhere. Under Nicholas I, would-be revolutionaries were sent off to Siberia, with hundreds of thousands sent to katorga camps. The retaliation for
11592-433: The Holy Roman states. Gustav Adolphus planned to become the new Holy Roman Emperor , ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, but he died at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. After the Battle of Nördlingen , Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states faded. These German provinces excluded themselves from Swedish power one by one, leaving Sweden with only
11760-445: The King of Sweden on 14 January 1814 in exchange for northern German provinces, at the Treaty of Kiel . The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king, Charles XIII . He launched a military campaign against Norway on 27 July 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss , which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden under the Swedish crown, which lasted until 1905. The 1814 campaign
11928-506: The Kingdom of Sweden had a much larger territory, especially during "The Era of Great Power" ( Swedish Empire ) in 1611–1718. Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809. Since there was no separate Finnish nationality at those times, it is not unusual that sources predating 1809 refer both to Swedes and Finns as "Swedes". This is particularly the case with New Sweden , where some of the Swedish settlers were of Finnish origin. Questionnaire surveys of Swedish embassies conducted by Swedes Worldwide,
12096-616: The Ottoman Empire . This resulted in a significant weakening of the Crimean Khanate , an Ottoman vassal and long-term Russian adversary. The discontent over the dominant positions of Baltic Germans in Russian politics resulted in Peter I's daughter Elizabeth being put on the Russian throne. Elizabeth supported the arts, architecture, and the sciences (for example, the founding of Moscow University ). But she did not carry out significant structural reforms. Her reign, which lasted nearly 20 years,
12264-406: The Ottoman Empire, respectively. As a result, Pan-Slavists were left with a legacy of bitterness against Austria-Hungary and Germany for failing to back Russia. Disappointment at the results of the war stimulated revolutionary tensions, and helped Serbia, Romania , and Montenegro gain independence from, and strengthen themselves against, the Ottomans. Another significant result of the war
12432-560: The Ottoman Empire, using recently acquired Georgia at its base for its Caucasus and Anatolian front. The late 1820s were successful years militarily. Despite losing almost all recently consolidated territories in the first year of the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 , Russia managed to favorably bring an end to the war with the Treaty of Turkmenchay , including the formal acquisition of what are now Armenia , Azerbaijan, and Iğdır Province . In
12600-575: The Ottomans to sign the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, creating an enlarged, independent Bulgaria that stretched into the southwestern Balkans. When Britain threatened to declare war over the terms of the treaty, an exhausted Russia backed down. At the Congress of Berlin in July 1878, Russia agreed to the creation of a smaller Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia , as a vassal state and an autonomous principality inside
12768-583: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Partitions of Poland , alongside Austria and Prussia . As part of the Treaty of Georgievsk , signed with the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti , and her own political aspirations, Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they had invaded eastern Georgia . Upon achieving victory, she established Russian rule over it and expelled
12936-584: The Russian Empire coincided with the decline of its rivals: the Swedish Empire , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Qajar Iran , the Ottoman Empire , and Qing China . From the 10th to 17th centuries, the Russians had been ruled by a noble class known as the boyars , above whom was an absolute monarch titled the tsar . The groundwork of the Russian Empire was laid by Ivan III ( r. 1462–1505 ), who greatly expanded his domain, established
13104-518: The Senate that its mission was to collect taxes, and tax revenues tripled over the course of his reign. Meanwhile, all vestiges of local self-government were removed. Peter continued and intensified his predecessors' requirement of state service from all nobles, in the Table of Ranks . As part of Peter's reorganization, he also enacted a church reform . The Russian Orthodox Church was partially incorporated into
13272-600: The Swedish Empire, Sweden was a very poor and scarcely populated country on the fringe of European civilization, with no significant power or reputation. Sweden rose to prominence on a continental scale during the tenure of king Gustavus Adolphus , seizing territories from Russia and Poland–Lithuania in multiple conflicts, including the Thirty Years' War . During the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered approximately half of
13440-463: The Swedish economy had deteriorated. It became the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI , to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden Charles XII , was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. After
13608-611: The Swedish involvement in rescue missions at the internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven for refugees, primarily from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states . Nevertheless, internal and external critics have argued that Sweden could have done more to resist the Nazi war effort, even if risking occupation although doing so would likely have resulted in even greater number of casualties and prevented many humanitarian efforts. Sweden
13776-603: The Swedish referendum passed with 52% in favour of joining the EU on 13 November 1994. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995. After over 200 years of neutrality, Sweden joined NATO on 7 March 2024, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . Sweden has had extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry. Among others, Swedish companies export weapons that are used by
13944-611: The Swedish-controlled territory in Finland, creating conflicts with the Rus who no longer had any connection with Sweden. Except for the province of Skåne , on the southernmost tip of Sweden which was under Danish control during this time, feudalism never developed in Sweden as it did in the rest of Europe. Therefore, the peasantry remained largely a class of free farmers throughout most of Swedish history. Slavery (also called thralldom )
14112-695: The United States. In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city). Most Swedish immigrants moved to the Midwestern United States , with a large population in Minnesota , with a few others moving to other parts of the United States and Canada. Despite the slow rate of industrialization into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in
14280-414: The abortive 1789 Conspiracy against the late king), and promptly set about reversing many of his policies, most famously by restoring the freedom of the press , which Gustav had curtailed. The Gustavians strongly opposed Reuterholm, and a number of them were involved in the 1793 Armfelt Conspiracy , which sought to remove Duke Charles as regent and replace him with Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt. Reuterholm used
14448-506: The agrarian economy because of innovations and the large population growth. These innovations included government-sponsored programs of enclosure , aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, and the introduction of new crops such as the potato. Because the Swedish peasantry had never been enserfed as elsewhere in Europe, the Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in the Swedish political process, which has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called
14616-485: The aid of a small circle of favourites and close advisors, among them Toll, Elis Schröderheim , Hans Henric von Essen , Carl Gustaf Nordin , Johan Fredrik Aminoff , Johan Albrecht Ehrenström , and Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt . Ironically, Armfelt’s uncle Carl Gustaf Armfeldt the Younger [ sv ] was a vehement opponent of the king, and was a leading member of the 1788 Anjala Conspiracy against him. Gustav III
14784-438: The already oppressive social system, under which serfs were required to spend almost all of their time laboring on their owners' land. A major peasant uprising took place in 1773, after Catherine legalized the selling of serfs separate from land. Inspired by a Cossack named Yemelyan Pugachev and proclaiming "Hang all the landlords!", the rebels threatened to take Moscow before they were ruthlessly suppressed. Instead of imposing
14952-509: The beginning of the end for the Swedish Empire. Charles XII attempted to invade Norway 1716; however, he was shot dead at Fredriksten fortress in 1718. The Swedes were not militarily defeated at Fredriksten, but the whole structure and organization of the Norwegian campaign fell apart with the king's death, and the army withdrew. Forced to cede large areas of land in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as
15120-537: The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway , 1890 to 1904. This opened up East Asia ; and Russian interests focused on Mongolia, Manchuria , and Korea . China was too weak to resist, and was pulled increasingly into the Russian sphere. Russia obtained treaty ports such as Dalian / Port Arthur . In 1900, the Russian Empire invaded Manchuria as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance 's intervention against
15288-621: The coast and isles . Smaller groups of historical descendants of 18th–20th-century Swedish emigrants who still retain varying aspects of Swedish identity to this day can be found in the Americas (especially Minnesota and Wisconsin ; see Swedish Americans ) and in Ukraine. Currently, Swedes tend to emigrate mostly to the Nordic neighbour countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland), English speaking countries (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand), Spain, France and Germany. Historically,
15456-576: The complete extinction of the Swedish Line of the House of Holstein-Gottorp . Carola's heir under male-preference primogeniture would have been her first cousin once removed Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden , who died in 1928 without issue, and whose only surviving sibling Victoria married Gustaf V of Sweden (the Marshal's greatgrandson ) and merged her potential claim into the actual line of succession by being
15624-475: The country's administrative structure, in effect making it a tool of the state. Peter abolished the patriarchate and replaced it with a collective body, the Most Holy Synod , which was led by a government official . Peter died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession. After a short reign by his widow, Catherine I , the crown passed to Empress Anna . She slowed the reforms and led a successful war against
15792-449: The death of Peter were returned in the 1732 Treaty of Resht and 1735 Treaty of Ganja as a deal to oppose the Ottomans. Peter reorganized his government based on the latest political models of the time, molding Russia into an absolutist state. He replaced the old Boyar Duma (council of nobles) with a nine-member Senate , in effect a supreme council of state. The countryside was divided into new provinces and districts . Peter told
15960-505: The disastrous Battle of Kircholm being one of the highlights. One-third of the Finnish population died in the devastating famine that struck the country in 1696. Famine also hit Sweden, killing roughly 10% of Sweden's population. The Swedes conducted a series of invasions into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , known as the Deluge . After more than half a century of almost constant warfare,
16128-572: The dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia emerged as an empire and became one of Europe's dominant nations. As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimated 200,000 men, 150,000 of those from the area of present-day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden. In the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia, and most of them were lost, culminating with
16296-531: The earliest known original area inhabited by their linguistic ancestors, is in the country of Sweden, situated on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the islands adjacent to it, situated west of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe . The Swedish-speaking people living in near-coastal areas on the north-eastern and eastern side of the Baltic Sea also have a long history of continuous settlement, which in some of these areas possibly started about
16464-528: The early stages of the Viking Age, a centre of trade in northern Europe developed at Birka on the island of Björkö , not far from where Stockholm was later constructed, in mid-latitude Sweden. Birka was founded around 750 AD as a trading port by a king or merchants trying to control trade. Birka was the Baltic link in the Dnieper Trade Route through Ladoga ( Aldeigja ) and Novgorod ( Holmsgard ) to
16632-551: The economic life of that city and made the port city of Stockholm into the leading commercial and industrial city of Sweden. Under the Hanseatic trade two-thirds of Stockholm's imports consisted of textiles and one third of salt. Exports from Sweden consisted of iron and copper. However, the Swedes began to resent the monopoly trading position of the Hansa (mostly German citizens) and to resent
16800-563: The empire. The semi-autonomous polity of Congress Poland subsequently lost its distinctive political and judicial rights, with Russification being imposed on its schools and courts. However, Russification policies in Poland, Finland and among the Germans in the Baltics largely failed and only strengthened political opposition. In 1854–1855, Russia fought Britain , France and the Ottoman Empire in
16968-489: The end his dynasty was overthrown by the Russian Revolution . The Industrial Revolution began to show significant influence in Russia, but the country remained rural and poor. Economic conditions steadily improved after 1890, thanks to new crops such as sugar beets, and new access to railway transportation. Total grain production increased, as well as exports, even with rising domestic demand from population growth. As
17136-508: The exception of the Winter War when it declared itself non-belligerant . It's neutrality during the rest of the war has also been disputed. Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. The Swedish government felt that it was in no position to openly contest Germany, and therefore made some concessions. Sweden also supplied steel and machined parts to Germany throughout
17304-448: The expense of the serfs and other lower classes. Nevertheless, Catherine realized that serfdom must eventually be ended, going so far in her Nakaz ("Instruction") to say that serfs were "just as good as we are" – a comment received with disgust by the nobility. Catherine advanced Russia's southern and western frontiers, successfully waging war against the Ottoman Empire for territory near the Black Sea , and incorporating territories of
17472-467: The exposure of this plot as an excuse to have several leading Gustavians arrested and to marginalise the others; Armfelt himself escaped into exile. Fortunately for the Gustavians, Gustav Adolf himself shared their horror at Reuterholm’s trampling on his father’s legacy, and when he came of age in 1796 he immediately sent Reuterholm into exile and appointed a number of old Gustavians as his ministers, foremost among them Armfelt. Another prominent advisor to
17640-414: The fact that the peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them rather than going to a feudal landowning class. This was not the case in other countries of Europe like Poland where the peasantry was still bound by serfdom and a strong feudalistic land owning system. During the 17th century Sweden emerged as a European great power . Before the emergence of
17808-501: The former Swedish Empire) considered to be an intrinsic part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Its loss was therefore hugely traumatic for the Swedish political community, and represented a fatal blow to Gustav Adolf’s authority. In March 1809, a Swedish army commanded by Georg Adlersparre mutinied, triggering the Coup of 1809 , in which Gustav Adolf was forced to abdicate and sent into exile, Duke Charles
17976-439: The globe, entered a period of economic decline and upheaval, following the oil embargoes of 1973–74 and 1978–79. In the 1980s pillars of Swedish industry were massively restructured. Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp was integrated into modernized paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and specialized, and mechanical engineering was robotized. Between 1970 and 1990 the overall tax burden rose by over 10%, and
18144-507: The government and other major buildings were designed under Italianate influence. In 1722, he turned his aspirations toward increasing Russian influence in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea at the expense of the weakened Safavid Persians . He made Astrakhan the base of military efforts against Persia, and waged the first full-scale war against them in 1722–23 . Peter the Great temporarily annexed several areas of Iran to Russia, which after
18312-700: The government in July . The republic was overthrown in the October Revolution by the Bolsheviks , who proclaimed the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and whose Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended Russia's involvement in the war, but who nevertheless were opposed by various factions known collectively as the Whites . During the resulting Russian Civil War , the Bolsheviks conducted
18480-526: The growth was low compared to other countries in Western Europe. The marginal income tax for workers reached over 80% . Eventually government spent over half of the country's gross domestic product . Sweden GDP per capita ranking declined during this time. A bursting real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined with an international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in
18648-529: The idea of interfering with the principle of hereditary succession, including King Charles himself and his wife Queen Charlotte . However, the plans failed to come to fruition before Charles August’s arrival in January 1810. Once in Sweden, the new crown prince tried to win over the Gustavians by secretly offering to adopt Prince Gustav as his own heir, he being childless himself. However, in May he suddenly dropped dead from
18816-537: The implicit threat to India ; and decades of diplomatic maneuvering resulted, called the Great Game . That rivalry between the two empires has been considered to have included far-flung territories such as Outer Mongolia and Tibet . The maneuvering largely ended with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Expansion into the vast stretches of Siberia was slow and expensive, but finally became possible with
18984-425: The income they felt they lost to the Hansa. Consequently, when Gustav Vasa or Gustav I broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League he was regarded as a hero to the Swedish people. History now views Gustav I as the father of the modern Swedish nation. The foundations laid by Gustav would take time to develop. Furthermore, when Sweden did develop and freed itself from the Hanseatic League and entered its golden era,
19152-428: The iron would be shipped abroad. A large number of children inherited the Swedish crown over the course of the kingdom's existence. King Christian II of Denmark ordered a massacre in 1520 of Swedish nobles at Stockholm. This came to be known as the " Stockholm blood bath " and stirred the Swedish nobility to new resistance and, on 6 June (now Sweden's national holiday) in 1523, they made Gustav Vasa their king. This
19320-525: The joint Liberal-Social Democrat cabinet of Nils Edén and Hjalmar Branting , with universal and equal suffrage to both houses of parliament enacted for men in 1918 and for women in 1919. The reforms were widely accepted by King Gustaf V , who had previously ousted Karl Staaff 's elected Liberal government in the Courtyard Crisis because of differences in defence policy. Sweden remained officially neutral during World War I and most of World War II, with
19488-572: The last remaining absolute monarchy in Europe, the empire saw rapid political radicalization and the growing popularity of revolutionary ideas such as communism . After the 1905 revolution , Nicholas II authorized the creation of a national parliament, the State Duma , although he still retained absolute political power. When Russia entered the First World War on the side of the Allies , it suffered
19656-547: The late 16th century and is of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. In Swedish , the term is svensk , which is from the name of svear (or Swedes), the people who inhabited Svealand in eastern central Sweden , and were listed as Suiones in Tacitus ' history Germania from the first century AD. The term is believed to have been derived from the Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal root, *s(w)e , as
19824-468: The late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history , behind only the British and Mongol empires. It also colonized North America between 1799 and 1867. The empire's 1897 census, the only one it conducted, found a population of 125.6 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity. The rise of
19992-596: The men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort. The adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece Runestones and the Varangian Runestones . There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commemorated on stones such as
20160-583: The military, 20 percent to government economic activities, 12 percent to administration, and nine percent for the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. The deficit required borrowing, primarily from bankers in Amsterdam ; five percent of the budget was allocated to debt payments. Paper money was issued to pay for expensive wars, thus causing inflation. As a result of its spending, Russia developed a large and well-equipped army,
20328-407: The most populous state in Europe, ahead of France . The foundations of the Russian Empire were laid during Peter I 's reforms , which significantly altered Russia's political and social structure, and as a result of the Great Northern War which strengthened Russia's standing on the world stage. Internal transformations and military victories contributed to the transformation of Russia into
20496-552: The mother of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden . Soldiers of the Swedish army during the reigns of Gustav III and Gustav IV Adolf are sometimes referred to as “Gustavians”, just as their predecessors during the reigns of Charles XI and Charles XII are known as “ Caroleans ” (from Carolus , the Latin form of the name Charles). The term is used in this sense in the names of several historical reenactment groups specialising in this period, such as
20664-701: The new parliament (the Duma). He signed the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 to counter Germany's influence in the Middle East, ending the Great Game between Russia and the British Empire . However, his reign was marked by criticism for the government's suppression of political dissent and perceived failures or inaction during events like the Khodynka Tragedy , anti-Jewish pogroms, Bloody Sunday (1905) , and
20832-477: The newly established Persian garrisons in the Caucasus. Catherine's expansionist policy caused Russia to develop into a major European power, as did the Enlightenment era and the Golden age in Russia. But after Catherine died in 1796, she was succeeded by her son, Paul . He brought Russia into a major coalition war against the new-revolutionary French Republic in 1798. Russian commander Field Marshal Suvorov led
21000-401: The obligation of the nobility to serve was reinforced, and serf labor played a significant role in the growth of the industry, reinforcing traditional socioeconomic structures. The volume of the country's international trade turnover increased as a result of Peter I's industrial reforms. However, imports of goods overtook exports, strengthening the role of foreigners in Russian trade, particularly
21168-463: The older rural dialects still exist, the spoken and written language is uniform and standardized. Some dialects differ considerably from the standard language in grammar and vocabulary and are not always mutually intelligible with Standard Swedish. These dialects are confined to rural areas and are spoken primarily by small numbers of people with low social mobility . Though not facing imminent extinction , such dialects have been in decline during
21336-413: The only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1% of the population emigrated annually during the 1880s. Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Denmark and Western European countries began to industrialize. Many looked towards America for a better life during this time. It is believed that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to
21504-428: The past century, despite the fact that they are well researched and their use is often encouraged by local authorities. According to recent genetic analysis, both mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms showed a noticeable genetic affinity between Swedes and other Germanic ethnic groups. Paternally , through their Y-DNA haplogroups , the Swedes are quite diverse and show strongly of Haplogroup I1d1 at over 40% of
21672-410: The peasantry and some became laborers in the towns. Still, Sweden remained a poor and economically backward country in which barter was the means of exchange. For instance, the farmers of the province of Dalsland would transport their butter to the mining districts of Sweden and exchange it there for iron, which they would then take down to the coast and trade the iron for fish they needed for food while
21840-504: The population tested in different studies, followed by R1a1a and R1b1a2a1a1 with over 20% each and haplogroup N1c1 with over 5% at different regional variance. The rest are within haplogroups J and E1b1b1 and other less common ones. Maternally , through their mtDNA haplogroups , the Swedes show very strongly of haplogroup H at 25–30%, followed by haplogroup U at a 10% or more, with haplogroup J and T , K at around 5% each. The largest area inhabited by Swedes, as well as
22008-446: The press, as well as dislike democracy, constitutions, and the parliamentary system. Under Pobedonostsev, revolutionaries were persecuted—by the imperial secret police , with thousands being exiled to Siberia —and a policy of Russification was carried out throughout the empire. Russia had little difficulty expanding to the south, including conquering Turkestan , until Britain became alarmed when Russia threatened Afghanistan , with
22176-537: The princes and royalty of the countries and cities along the coasts of the Baltic Sea. In exchange they offered a certain amount of protection. Having their own navy the Hansa were able to sweep the Baltic Sea free of pirates. The privileges obtained by the Hansa included assurances that only Hansa citizens would be allowed to trade from the ports where they were located. They also sought agreement to be free of all customs and taxes. With these concessions, Lübeck merchants flocked to Stockholm, Sweden and soon came to dominate
22344-513: The redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna (1815), which ultimately made Alexander the monarch of Congress Poland . The " Holy Alliance " was proclaimed, linking the monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Although the Russian Empire played a leading political role in the next century, thanks to its role in defeating Napoleonic France, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress to any significant degree. As Western European economic growth accelerated during
22512-488: The revolt made "December Fourteenth" a day long remembered by later revolutionary movements. The question of Russia's direction had been gaining attention ever since Peter the Great's program of modernization. Some favored imitating Western Europe while others were against this and called for a return to the traditions of the past. The latter path was advocated by Slavophiles , who held the "decadent" West in contempt. The Slavophiles were opponents of bureaucracy, who preferred
22680-459: The riches were probably acquired through the control of mining districts and the production of iron. The rulers had troops of mounted elite warriors with costly armour. Graves of mounted warriors have been found with stirrups and saddle ornaments of birds of prey in gilded bronze with encrusted garnets. The Sutton Hoo helmet very similar to helmets in Gamla Uppsala, Vendel and Valsgärde shows that
22848-430: The rule of Charles X after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The foundation of Sweden's success during this period is credited to Gustav I 's major changes on the Swedish economy in the 16th century, and his introduction of Protestantism . In the 17th century, Sweden was engaged in many wars, for example with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states , with
23016-455: The same height. Originating in semi-legendary Scandza (believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , Sweden), a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the second century AD. They reaching Scythia on the coast of the Black Sea in modern Ukraine, where Goths left their archaeological traces in the Chernyakhov culture . In the fifth and sixth centuries, they became divided as
23184-554: The same way that Gustav III had done in 1772. The constitutionalists therefore persuaded the Riksdag of the Estates (Swedish parliament) to pass a resolution on 10 May 1809 excluding Gustav Adolf and all his descendants from the Swedish order of succession in perpetuity. Instead, it was decided that the king should adopt an outsider as his heir. The choice was put to the Riksdag, which voted for
23352-449: The semi-independent and petty princedoms in Russia had been unified with Moscow. During the reign of Ivan IV , the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan were conquered by Russia in the mid-16th century, leading to the development of an increasingly multinational state. Much of Russia's expansion occurred in the 17th century, culminating in the first Russian colonization of the Pacific ,
23520-461: The serfs, was the single most important event in 19th-century Russian history, and the beginning of the end of the landed aristocracy's monopoly on power. The 1860s saw further socioeconomic reforms to clarify the position of the Russian government with regard to property rights. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, stimulating industry, while the middle class grew in number and influence. However, instead of receiving their lands as
23688-593: The sixth-century Swedish king Adils (Eadgils) that he had the finest horses of his days. The Suehans supplied black fox-skins for the Roman market. Then Jordanes names the Suetidi which is considered to be the Latin form of Svitjod . He writes that the Suetidi are the tallest of men—together with the Dani , who were of the same stock. Later he mentions other Scandinavian tribes as being of
23856-491: The state for the rest of their lives. He also introduced the Table of Ranks and equated the votchina with an estate . Russia's modern fleet was built by Peter the Great, along with an army that was reformed in the manner of European style and educational institutions (the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences ). Civil lettering was adopted during Peter I's reign, and the first Russian newspaper, Vedomosti ,
24024-465: The substitution of round plumed hats for the earlier tricorns . Artists active during the Gustavian era are also often referred to as Gustavians, especially those with links to the royal court, such as Johan Henric Kellgren , Carl Gustaf af Leopold , Gustaf Filip Creutz , Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna and Johan Tobias Sergel . Swedes Swedes ( Swedish : svenskar ), or Swedish people , are an ethnic group native to Sweden , who share
24192-443: The success of invading Poland, Charles decided to make an invasion attempt of Russia which ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After a long march exposed to cossack raids, Russian Tsar Peter the Great 's scorched-earth techniques and the extremely cold winter of 1709 , the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered morale and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant
24360-422: The throne in 1855, the desire for reform was widespread. A growing humanitarian movement attacked serfdom as inefficient. In 1859, there were more than 23 million serfs in usually poor living conditions. Alexander II decided to abolish serfdom from above, with ample provision for the landowners, rather than wait for it to be abolished from below by revolution. The Emancipation Reform of 1861 , which freed
24528-606: The time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages . The migration age in Sweden is marked by the extreme weather events of 535–536 which is believed to have shaken Scandinavian society to its core. As much as 50% of the population of Scandinavia is thought to have died as a result and the emerging Vendel Period shows an increased militarization of society. Several areas with rich burial gifts have been found, including well-preserved boat inhumation graves at Vendel and Valsgärde , and tumuli at Gamla Uppsala . These were used for several generations. Some of
24696-489: The traditional punishment of drawing and quartering, Catherine issued secret instructions that the executioners should execute death sentences quickly and with minimal suffering, as part of her effort to introduce compassion into the law. She furthered these efforts by ordering the public trial of Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova , a high-ranking noblewoman, on charges of torturing and murdering serfs. Whilst these gestures garnered Catherine much positive attention from Europe during
24864-449: The various holdings. Although serfdom was abolished, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to peasants; thus, revolutionary tensions remained. Revolutionaries believed that the newly freed serfs were merely being sold into wage slavery in the onset of the industrial revolution, and that the urban bourgeoisie had effectively replaced the landowners. Seeking more territories, Russia obtained Priamurye ( Russian Manchuria ) from
25032-607: The violent suppression of the 1905 Russian Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War , which resulted in the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima , further eroded his popularity. By March 1917, public support for Nicholas II had dwindled, leading to his forced abdication and the end of the 304-year rule of the Romanov (dynasty) in Russia (1613–1917). Nicholas II was deeply devoted to his wife, Alexandra, whom he married on 26 November 1894. They had five children: Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsesarevich Alexei. The Russian Imperial Romanov family
25200-403: The war. However, Sweden supported Norwegian resistance, and in 1943 helped rescue Danish Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps . Sweden also supported Finland in the Winter War with volunteers and materiel . Toward the end of the war, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts and many refugees, among them many Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, were saved partly because of
25368-505: The weakened Manchu-ruled Qing China , which was occupied fighting against the Taiping Rebellion . In 1858, the Treaty of Aigun ceded much of the Manchu Homeland, and in 1860, the Treaty of Peking ceded the modern Primorsky Krai , also founded the outpost of future Vladivostok . Meanwhile, Russia decided to sell the indefensible Russian America to the United States for 11 million rubles (7.2 million dollars) in 1867. Initially, many Americans considered this newly gained territory to be
25536-424: The west to Alaska, Hawaii, and California in the east. By the end of the 19th century, Russia had expanded its control over the Caucasus , most of Central Asia and parts of Northeast Asia . Notwithstanding its extensive territorial gains and great power status, the empire entered the 20th century in a perilous state. A devastating famine in 1891–1892 killed hundreds of thousands and led to popular discontent. As
25704-430: The young king was the Marshal of the Realm , Axel von Fersen the Younger , who had spent much of Gustav III’s reign in France , at the court of Louis XVI , but had been forced to return to Sweden by the French Revolution . Gustav III had been a fervent opponent of the French Revolution, and Gustav Adolf upheld these reactionary principles by joining the Third Coalition against Napoleonic France . This proved to be
25872-422: Was assassinated by the Narodnaya Volya , a Nihilist terrorist organization . The throne passed to Alexander III (1881–1894), a reactionary who revived the maxim of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" of Nicholas I. A committed Slavophile, Alexander III believed that Russia could be saved from turmoil only by shutting itself off from the subversive influences of Western Europe. During his reign, Russia formed
26040-501: Was assassinated in March 1792, whereupon his son became King Gustav IV Adolf . As he was underage , a regency government was established to govern Sweden on his behalf. Officially the regency was headed by the king’s uncle, Gustav III’s younger brother Duke Charles of Södermanland , but he was largely uninterested in politics and so it came to be dominated instead by the duke’s friend Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm . Reuterholm had long been hostile to Gustav III (indeed he had been implicated in
26208-427: Was catastrophic for France, whose army was decimated during the Russian winter . Although Napoleon's Grande Armée reached Moscow, the Russians' scorched earth strategy prevented the invaders from living off the country. In the harsh and bitter winter, thousands of French troops were ambushed and killed by peasant guerrilla fighters. Russian troops then pursued Napoleon's troops to the gates of Paris, presiding over
26376-402: Was close to that of slaves , remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter converted household kholops into house serfs , thus counting them for poll taxation. Russian agricultural kholops had been formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. They were largely tied to the land, in a feudal sense, until the late 19th century. Peter's first military efforts were directed against
26544-399: Was declared king, and constitutional monarchy was restored by the Instrument of Government (1809) . Some Gustavians could not reconcile themselves to the new regime, among them Armfelt, who retired to the now Russian-ruled Grand Duchy of Finland . However, the majority of them stayed in Sweden, most notably Fersen, who remained in post as Marshal of the Realm and thereby retained a seat on
26712-485: Was executed by who were believed to be drunken Bolshevik revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky, as ordered by the Ural Regional Soviet in Yekaterinburg on the night of 16–17 July 1918. This marked the end of the Russian Empire and Imperial Russia. Russia was in a continuous state of financial crisis. While revenue rose from 9 million rubles in 1724 to 40 million in 1794, expenses grew more rapidly, reaching 49 million in 1794. The budget allocated 46 percent to
26880-408: Was in a state of war with the French Republic under the leadership of the Corsica -born First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte . After he became the emperor , Napoleon defeated Russia at Austerlitz in 1805, Eylau and Friedland in 1807. After Alexander was defeated in Friedland, he agreed to negotiate and sued for peace with France; the Treaties of Tilsit led to the Franco-Russian alliance against
27048-456: Was informally partitioned by the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907, Britain, France, and Russia came increasingly close together in opposition to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The three would later comprise the Triple Entente alliance in the First World War . In 1894, Alexander III was succeeded by his son, Nicholas II , who was committed to retaining the autocracy that his father had left him. Nicholas II proved as an ineffective ruler, and in
27216-405: Was not common in Sweden, and what slavery there was tended to be driven out of existence by the spread of Christianity, the difficulty in obtaining slaves from the lands east of the Baltic Sea, and by the development of cities before the 16th century Indeed, both slavery and serfdom were abolished altogether by a decree of King Magnus IV Eriksson in 1335. Former slaves tended to be absorbed into
27384-399: Was officially a neutral country and remained outside NATO or Warsaw pact membership during the Cold War , but privately Sweden's leadership had strong ties with the United States and other western governments. Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe. Sweden
27552-425: Was part of the Marshall Plan and participated in the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ). During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party largely in cooperation with trade unions and industry. The government actively pursued an internationally competitive manufacturing sector of primarily large corporations. Sweden, like countries around
27720-444: Was published. Peter I promoted the advancement of science, particularly geography and geology , trade, and industry, including shipbuilding, as well as the growth of the Russian educational system. Every tenth Russian acquired an education during Peter I's reign, when there were 15 million people in the country. The city of Saint Petersburg , which was built in 1703 on territory along the Baltic coast that had been conquered during
27888-579: Was the acquisition from the Ottomans of the provinces of Batumi , Ardahan , and Kars in Transcaucasia , which were transformed into the militarily administered regions of Batum Oblast and Kars Oblast . To replace Muslim refugees who had fled across the new frontier into Ottoman territory, the Russian authorities settled large numbers of Christians from ethnically diverse communities in Kars Oblast, particularly Georgians , Caucasus Greeks , and Armenians , each of whom hoped to achieve protection and advance their own regional ambitions. In 1881, Alexander II
28056-433: Was the eldest son and successor of Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (later known as Alexander III of Russia ) and his wife Maria Fyodorovna (formerly Dagmar of Denmark ). During his rule, Nicholas II supported the economic and political reforms proposed by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin . He favored modernization through foreign loans and strong ties with France, but was reluctant to give significant roles to
28224-467: Was the last war in which Sweden participated as a combatant. There was a significant population increase during the 18th and 19th centuries, which the writer Esaias Tegnér in 1833 attributed to "peace, vaccine , and potatoes ". Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. Sweden was hit by the last natural caused famine in Europe, the Famine of 1867-69 killed thousands in Sweden. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became
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