When the world entered the 18th century, the right to speak was greatly "occupied" by the European powers, and since then the world has experienced a series of changes and sufferings, from Asia to the Americas, the entire world has changed with the development of the world, including Sweden
Sweden
Sweden was once a major hegemon of Europe, not only Europe is dominant, but also a world power, which can be described as a moment of glory, but since the Great Northern War with Russia, Sweden has "fallen to the altar", but it has completed the strength of Russia
Great Northern War
In the last issue, we talked about Sweden's post-war development, which was also a rare "democratic period" in the history of the Kingdom of Sweden, after which Sweden quickly restored the monarchy and even absolutism
Sweden's history has continued to maintain its monarchy and continues to this day. That's right! Today the Kingdom of Sweden remains king, albeit in the form of a constitutional monarchy
Today's Swedish royal family
Although Sweden declined after the war, it also experienced a short period of "ZTE", which is the Gustav era in Swedish history, that is, the reign of King Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III
In this issue, we will focus on this "Gustav era" in Swedish history and talk about the development of Sweden during this period
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > Gustav III</h1>
At the end of the last issue, we talked about the coup d'état of Gustav III, which was gradually in the hands of the Swedish parliament due to the defeat of Sweden and the decline of the monarchy
Today the Swedish Parliament Building
Due to the natural contradictions between the great aristocracy and the emerging civic class, the parliament was divided into two political forces, the "top hat faction" and the "hat faction"
In 1765, the "Bento Party" came to power in parliament by obtaining a majority of "votes", and immediately proposed reform programs such as limiting the feudal privileges of the great nobility and eliminating bureaucratic political abuses.
Thus, with the support of the great nobles of the Kingdom of Sweden, the new Swedish king Gustav III, who had just ascended to the throne, staged a coup d'état in 1772, restoring the absolute monarchy and weakening the power of parliament.
It completed the transformation of the Kingdom of Sweden into a monarchy again, and also opened the Gustav era that followed the Kingdom of Sweden. And Gustav III is also full of legends
Gustav III was born on 24 January 1746 and eventually died on 29 March 1792, serving as King of Sweden from 29 May 1771 to 29 March 1792
He was the second king of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty of Sweden, the son of Adolf Frederick, the first king of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty of Sweden
Adolf Frederick
At the same time, he was also the brother of Karl XIII, the nephew of King Frederick II of Prussia, and even the cousin of Empress Catherine II of Russia
King Frederick II of Prussia
Born in such a family, Gustav III can be said to have licked his bag at the beginning, and once he was born, he was destined to be the crown prince. In 1766 Gustav married Sophia Magdalena, daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark
Although this marriage is not happy (after all, it is a political marriage, we all understand), partly because the two sides are not compatible at all, but more because of the intervention from the empress dowager (so if you want family harmony, you have to let the mother-in-law or mother close her mouth [cover your face] The mother-in-law contradiction only needs one mouth at the beginning)
Statue of Gustav III
Of course, the two had two children: Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Prince Carl Gustav, Duke of Småland. It was rumored that Gustav needed the assistance of Adolf Munch to be able to have a house with his wife, so the empress dowager even claimed that the king was not the crown prince's biological father.
There are even rumors that Gustav III was a homosexual and had an intimate relationship with two ministers [covering his face], of course, this is only a rumor, and we have no conclusive evidence
Politically, of course, Crown Prince Gustav had lofty ideals, and not only intervened in political affairs in 1768: he ordered a special session in the hope that the Constitution would give the monarch greater powers.
Of course, in the end, it was a failure, because at that time it was the Benjaw faction that controlled the state affairs. So from February 4 to March 25, 1771, Gustav visited Paris
This visit to France is not only a tourist, but also a political journey. Gustav wanted to maintain friendship with france, then an ally, and also discussed the best way to start a revolution in Sweden.
Even before his return, the French government promised to give Sweden a large sum of 1.5 million lithium per year unconditionally. On the way back he also visited his uncle Frederick II in Potsdam.
Frederick II
But Frederick said he agreed with Russia and Denmark to guarantee the soundness of the current Swedish constitution and advised Gustav to mediate rather than use force.
Eventually, during his visit to Paris, his father Adolf Frederick died of illness, and Gustav returned to the country to be crowned king. He tried to mediate the dispute between the top hats and the beanie faction, but in the end it was fruitless, and then turned to a coup d'état
Stamp of Gustav's coronation
This was followed by Gustav's successful coup d'état of 1772, which restored the monarchy and weakened parliamentary power.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35" > Gustav era</h1>
After Gustav's successful seizure of power, he first replaced the Constitution of the Liberal Era with a new constitution, the famous Swedish Constitution of 1772, ensuring that the supreme rule of the king was legally guaranteed.
Faced with Sweden's long-standing social problems, Gustav III embarked on a radical reform of the Age of Enlightenment. The reforms covered political, military, and economic aspects
He appointed John Liljenkrantz to solve the problems of the state budget and currency. A well-thought-out plan for stabilizing the currency was also developed and implemented, with great success
Not only did he reduce famine by lifting state restrictions on the grain trade, he also interrogated negligent officials in the bureaucracy and eliminated the malpractices of the state administration
In foreign relations, he gained the support of France and adopted a policy of relaxation towards Russia. Most importantly, he also acknowledged the United States, which had just become independent in North America
American Revolutionary War
He himself became the world's first head of state to be recognized by the United States in 1777. So Gustav's prestige at home and abroad grew during this period
Gustav III of this period was the highlight of his life, not only accumulating prestige externally, but also gaining support internally through reforms, and it is said that for six years the Swedish parliament obeyed the king and "did not ask a single question during the meeting".
And Gustav III's own highlight moment also brought a rare period of stable development to the Kingdom of Sweden, during which the Kingdom of Sweden's economic development, political clarity, and social harmony, so many later generations called it the "Gustav Era"
But is the "Gustav era" really the ZTE of the Kingdom of Sweden? At least the later practices and experiences of Gustav should put a big question mark on the back of this argument
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" dictatorship ></h1>
Gustav in the Swedish Parliament in 1778 was going to be windy and rainy. But soon in 1786 the Parliament of Old Stav III was hit by "Waterloo"
Later, Gustav's bill was either rejected outright or revised to the point of inadequacy. And this situation, far from making Gustav realize that he wanted to dilute the power of the king, made him decide to completely take away the power of the Parliament and let him rule dictatorially.
Later, he violated his own Constitution of 1772: he rushed to war against Russia, the Seventh Russo-Swedish War, without the consent of Congress
Russo-Swedish War
The move triggered an Anyala conspiracy in July, when Swedish aristocratic officials in collusion with Russia tried to orchestrate independence in Finland. It also aroused the indignation of the people against the aristocratic bureaucracy, so after Gustav's return, the rebel leader was arrested immediately and the crisis was defused.
Although the crisis was over, the Russo-Swedish war was still going on: at first Gustav only instigated Russia to assist him in the capture of Norway from Denmark, but Catherine II (also known as his cousin) refused
Catherine II
Therefore, Gustav III took advantage of Russia's deep involvement in the Sixth Russo-Turkish War and officially declared war on Russia in June 1788, starting the Seventh Russo-Swedish War.
At that time, the main Russian forces were indeed engaged in the south against the Ottoman Empire, and only a small amount of military force was barely allocated against Sweden. Only during this period did aristocratic officials rebel in Finland.
At that time, Denmark also declared war on Sweden in solidarity with its ally Russia. Miraculously, the war ended under the mediation of Britain and Prussia.
During the war, Sweden defeated the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Swinsksund in July 1790, achieving the greatest victory in Swedish naval history.
The Russians lost 7,000 soldiers and a third of their fleet in the battle. The two sides finally signed a peace treaty at Vereira on August 14.
At that time, Catherine of Russia told Gustav that she must "prove her remorse", unconditionally pardon all rebels, and agree to keep peace under the guarantee of Congress, so that she would "forgive" his "disgusting aggression"
Catherine in the film and television drama
However, sweden prevailed, and of course it was mediated by Britain and Prussia, so the war resulted in the conclusion of a defensive alliance between the two sides in October 1791
Sweden, which had the upper hand, demanded that Russia pay 300,000 rubles a year to Sweden. Of course, compared to the 300,000 rubles, the inflation in Sweden caused by the war obviously hurt more than the gains
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="65" > end</h1>
Gustav seems to have re-established the king's authority through semi-dictatorship and war, but in the final analysis his power came from the great nobles, and to be precise, he had to meet the demands of the nobles in order to regain power with the support of the nobles
aristocrat
But as an 18th-century Sweden, Gustav could not fail to take into account the demands of the non-privileged class (that is, the general citizen class and peasants), which made Gustav embarrassed
That's why Gustav sometimes paid the nobility and sometimes formulated policies to abolish privileges, which, after this toss, in turn, allowed the opposition in parliament to grow
In fact, turning to the ancient Chinese history books, all the monarchs of all dynasties and dynasties who have a little brain have faced the same dilemma, but the political forces in Chinese history are more complex, such as power ministers, party disputes, foreign relatives, eunuchs, etc., so I myself have always firmly believed that in terms of power plots, foreigners are compared with the ancient Chinese at the kindergarten level
In 1789, Gustav III took advantage of the popular distaste for the nobility to introduce the Unification and Security Act in Congress, which was successfully passed by three non-aristocratic classes. As a result, the monarchy soared and most of the privileges of the nobility were abolished
After the post-war reconciliation between Sweden and Russia, Gustav began to form an anti-Jacobin coalition. For he was fully aware of the fact that the People's Assembly could grasp the direction and scope of the French Revolution.
French Revolution
However, due to insufficient funding and lack of foreign support, the plan was aborted. And the aristocratic opposition, which had been battered under his new constitution, was determined to take violent action.
At midnight on March 16, 1792, a masquerade ball was held at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, the capital of the Kingdom of Sweden. Gustav III, king of the ball, arrived early
Just during dinner, Gustav received an anonymous letter threatening to kill him, but he didn't care, after all, he had already received countless identical letters. He then entered the venue unsuspectingly to participate in the masquerade ball.
Shortly after the King's entry, Jacob John Ancastrian and Klas Frederick Horn and Adolf Ribbin surrounded the King.
Then a masked Ancastro went behind the king and fired a shot at him in the left back. Gustav III immediately jumped to the side and cried out in French: "Ah! I was hurt, take me out of here and grab him! ”
Later, the king returned safely to his quarters under the protection of the layers, and the guards around him immediately blocked the opera house. Ancastro was also arrested the next morning, confessing to the murder of jun, as well as Horn and Ribbin.
But Gustav III himself was not killed by Ancastellan's bullet, but died on March 29 because of inflammation of his wounds ([laugh and cry] I don't know if any law-studying friends can explain whether this is direct murder).
Gustav's last words before his death were: "I'm sleepy, just let me rest for a while."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="86" > summary</h1>
Eventually Gustav III died, and the Gustav era came to an end, after which Swedish history entered a new era
So what is the next direction for Sweden? Is it a democratic republic? Or is it a monarchical dictatorship? Can Sweden keep up with the trend of world development?
Stay tuned for this series, and stay tuned for the next issue!