Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!news.ifm.liu.se!usenet From: jmo@lysator.liu.se (SCN Faq-maintainer) Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic,soc.answers,news.answers Subject: Nordic FAQ - 7 of 7 - SWEDEN Supersedes: <44s70c$9jk@kruuna.helsinki.fi> Followup-To: soc.culture.nordic Date: 08 Sep 1996 22:05:17 +0200 Organization: Lysator Computer Society, Linköping University, Sweden Lines: 2522 Sender: jmo@tina.lysator.liu.se Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: 15 Sep 1997 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tina.lysator.liu.se Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Summary: About Sweden: culture, history, places of interest and other things. This document is part 7 of the soc.culture.nordic-FAQ. Archive-name: nordic-faq/part7_SWEDEN Posting-Frequency: yearly (at least) Version: 1.4 Last-modified: 05/08/96 (dd/mm/yy) URL: http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scnfaq7.html URL: http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/textvers/part7.html X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.32 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu soc.culture.nordic:83859 soc.answers:6048 news.answers:81319 - A Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) file for the newsgroup S O C . C U L T U R E . N O R D I C *** PART 7: SWEDEN *** Index 7.1 Fact Sheet 7.2 General information 7.2.1 Geography, climate, vegetation 7.2.2 Economy 7.2.3 Government 7.2.4 Population 7.2.5 the Swedish language 7.2.6 Culture 7.2.7 Democratic traditions 7.3 History 7.3.1 A chronology of important dates 7.3.2 A list of Swedish monarchs 7.3.3 the medieval time 7.3.4 the consolidation of the state 7.3.5 toward democracy 7.3.6 ! War all around Sweden 7.3.7 social security 7.4 Main tourist attractions 7.4.1 Stockholm 7.4.2 Uppsala 7.4.3 Malmö 7.4.4 Göteborg 7.4.5 Gotland 7.4.6 The rest of Sweden 7.5 Swedish literature 7.6 Scania 7.6.1 Skåne and Skåneland 7.6.2 Miscellaneous facts 7.6.3 A few marks in history 7.6.4 International status 7.6.5 The flag 7.6.6 Culture 7.6.7 Language 7.6.8 Membership in the European Union 7.6.9 Cooperation with Sjælland and the bridge over Öresund 7.6.10 A politically united region 7.7 Books for learning Swedish ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 7.1 Fact Sheet Name: Konungariket Sverige Telephone area code: 46 Area: 449.964 km² / 173.629 sq mi. Land boundaries: Norway, Finland Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; blunt mountains in north and west; large archipelagos on the eastern coast. Highest mountain: Kebnekaise, 2,111 m (6,926 ft) Natural resources: iron ore, zinc, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower Population: 8.835.000 (1996) Population density: 19 persons / km². Distribution: 83% urban, 17% rural. (1990) Life expectancy: males: 76, females: 81 (1995) Capital: Stockholm (pop. 693,000; Stockholms län 1,686,000 [ the metropolitan area ]) Other major towns: Göteborg (Gothenburg 450,000), Malmö (240,000), Uppsala (160,000), Linköping (120,000), Norrköping (120,000) Flag: a yellow Nordic cross on blue background. Type: constitutional monarchy Head of state: King Carl XVI Gustaf Languages: Swedish. (Finnish, Romani and Sami languages are acknoledged minority languages.) Currency: krona (Swedish crown, SEK). For the current exchange rate, see URL http://www.dna.lth.se/cgi-bin/kurt/rates Climate: temperate in south with cold winters; sub-arctic in north. Temp. in Stockholm: -5°C - +1°C in Feb., +14°C - +22°C in July. Religion: Evangelic-Lutheran (91%) (official state-religion), Lutheran free churches (3%), Islam (2%), Roman Catholic (1.5%), Orthodox (0.7%) Exports: machinery, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals, electronics ------------------------------ Subject: 7.2 General information [ By: Ahrvid Engholm and Antti Lahelma ] 7.2.1 Geography, climate, vegetation Sweden occupies the Eastern part of the Scandinavian peninsula. It's a long (1572 kilometers) and rather narrow country, and the largest of the Nordic countries. It shares a long border with Norway to the west and a shorter border with Finland in the east; Denmark lies to the south across the Danish straits, over one of which (Öresund) a huge bridge is being built. The Baltic Sea islands of Gotland and Öland are integral parts of Sweden. Northwestern Sweden is crossed by an ancient mountain chain; the remainder of the north is a southeast-sloping plateau that rises to between 200 and 500 meters. South of the Norrland, forming the region of Svealand in central Sweden and Götaland farther south, is a varied region of plains and rift valleys. (The region Götaland should strictly speeking not be used for more than the provinces Dalsland, Västergötland and Östergötland, but most often also Bohuslän, Halland, Småland, Skåne and Bleking are understood as provinces of Götaland, as they are incorporated in the Swedish realm after being captured in the 17th century.) To the north of the highlands is the Central Swedish Depression, a down-faulted, lake-strewn lowland extending across the peninsula from near Göteborg to east of Stockholm and Uppsala. To the south is Skåne, a low-lying, predominantly agricultural area. Because of it's large area and latitudinal extent, Sweden has a number of climate regimes. A cold, maritime climate dominates the country's west coast. The northern two-thirds of the country has a continental climate marked by severe winters. The south central areas experience the long, rather cold winters of the north, but they enjoy milder summers. The mountain regions remain cool in summer. In January temperatures average -0.8°C at Lund in the south), -2.8°C at Stockholm, and -13.7°C at Jokkmokk north of the the Arctic Circle. In July, the temperature variation is lower because of the sun shines the longer the further north one goes: 15°C at Jokkmokk, 18°C at Stockholm, and only 17°C at Lund. Snow remains on the ground for 40 days in southernmost Sweden, 100 days in the Stockholm area, and 250 days in the northwest mountains. Forest covers ca. 64% of the land area. It consists of a summer-green forest of beeches, oaks, and other deciduous trees in the south, a mixed forest of deciduous and coniferous trees in central Sweden, and a predominantly coniferous forest of mainly pines and spruce in the north. Mountain birch and dwarf birch grow in colder upland areas, and tundra covers the highest elevations. Treeless moors (peat moss and marshland) cover more than 14% of all Sweden and as much as 40% in western areas of the south and parts of Norrland. Bears, wolves and lynxes are now found only in isolated woodlands, elk and deer are the common large animals found elsewhere. 7.2.2 Economy Sweden's most valuable assets are forests, mines (especially iron, but copper has also been important), and in modern days hydroelectric power. The metallurgic industry was started in the 16th and 17th centuries, and through the ages Sweden has been known as one of the biggest iron exporters in the world. A mechanical industry came with the industrial revolution in the 19th Century, and Swedish products such as steel (Sandvik), paper (SCA and others), cars (Volvo and Saab), ball bearings (SKF), electrical equipment (ASEA, now ABB), telephone equipment (Ericsson) have become well known. 7.2.3 Government Sweden is a constitutional Monarchy, but the monarch only acts as a ceremonial head of state. A parliament (Riksdag) composed of 349 members is elected every four years; it elects the prime minister, passes laws, decides on taxes and approves the state budget. The cabinet holds office only as long as it retains the support of a majority in the Riksdag. The state authorities are comparably independent of the cabinet: their highest officials being appointed by the cabinet for six years, and usually the term is extended unless serious problems occurred in the contact between the authority and the ministry. There are four laws protected as constitutions: Instrument of Government, Parliament Act, Succession Act, and the Freedom of the Press Act. The 286 municipalities are obliged to fulfill services to its inhabitants as stipulated by law, but are independent to decide the means without interference from state authorities. Municipalities are mainly responsible for education and social service. Additionally there are likewisely independent province councils responsible mainly for hospitals, medical practioners and other health care. The democratic councils for municipalities and provinces are elected by the residents, regardless of citizenship, which in the most extreme cases means that nearly 20% of them eligible to vote are aliens. After the era of the Kalmar Union between Denmark and Sweden, king Gustaf Vasa created a more modern nation and made Sweden Lutheran. After the losses of territories 1718 and 1809 democratic reforms where made, but it lasted to 1921 until all adult citizens had the right to vote (for men: 1907), and first 1971 the constitution was changed to reflect the long-time practice of parliamentarism. During the 1990:ies the state church is in the process of liberating itself from the state, or maybe more accurate: the state is giving up its power over the church, and the church will lose some of the authority connected to its status as state church. A decreased number of members is to expect. Sweden has not been involved in a war since 1814, mainly due to luck and a strong policy of neutrality. This policy may shift as Sweden in January 1995 joined the European Union (but the future isn't very clear yet). There are old proto-democratic traditions in Sweden. In the middle ages the kings were elected for life by representatives of the different "landskaps". Even when the monarchy was made hereditary after the Kalmar Union, the elected estates at the Riksdag retained substantial power (though the king sometimes managed to push this power back). These traditions played an important role as modern democracy gradually took over in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two important political concepts emerge from Sweden: the ombudsman, a representative elected by the parliament to watch public administrations and with the power to prosecute, and the constitutional principle of official documents ("offentlighetsprincipen" constituting a part of the Freedom of the Press Act), which says that all governmental documents are a priori public (unless declared secret under special laws). Political forces The principal political parties are * the Social Democratic party (led by the prime minister Göran Persson), * the "Moderata Samlingspartiet" (the rightest party with liberal policy but a conservative heritage; led by former prime minister Carl Bildt), * the Center party (with agrarian dominance and subsequently diminishing), * the (social) Liberal party "Folkpartiet", * the Christian Democratic party, * the Environmentalists The Green, * the Left (formerly the Communist) party, and * the populist "Ny Demokrati" (New Democracy - now committing suicide). Beginning in the 1930s, the Social Democrats were the dominant party, their position secured by economic prosperity and a broad program of social welfare. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, dissatisfaction grew among the voters over high taxes and a lagging economy. An anti-socialist coalition governed from 1976 to 1982, and another one under Carl Bildt from 1991 to 1994, when Social Democrats under Carlsson again came to power. When in trouble, as for the moment, the social democrats have a tradition to lean against the Center party, with regular negotiations and agreements, but without forming coalition cabinets. In the last elections the results has been as follows: 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Left 5,3 4,8 5,6 5,6 5,4 5,8 4,5 6,2 Green (1,7) (1,5) 5,5 (3,4) 5,0 Soc.dem. 43,6 42,7 43,2 45,6 44,7 43,2 37,7 45,3 soc.lib. 9,4 11,1 10,6 5,9 14,2 12,2 9,1 7,2 center 25,1 24,1 18,1 15,5 12,4 11,3 8,5 7,7 christ. (1,9) (2,9) 7,1 4,1 Right 14,3 15,6 20,3 23,6 21,3 18,3 21,9 22,4 popul. 6,7 (1,2) ----------------------------------------------------- Blocks: left 48,9 47,5 48,8 51,2 50,1 54,5 42,2 56,5 right 48,8 50,8 49,0 45,0 47,9 41,8 53,1 41,4 In parentheses: results below the 4,0% limit for representation. Maybe due to the dominant position of the Social Democrats the politic life in Sweden has been characterized by semi-rigid right and left blocks defined as oppositional or supporters of the Social Democrats. During some periods the Social Democrats have succeeded to cooperate with one of the right block parties, as during 1996 with the Center Party, which the other parties have seen as weakening of the opposition. Account over municipal responsibilities Approximately 50% of the municipal services are financed through direct taxes, only 15% by direct fees, and about 20% as state contributions. (Don't ask about the remaining 15% - the municipal trolls might change their minds.) Totally 350 milliards SEK are used for municipal activities, and 170 milliards SEK for the province councils, of which nearly all goes to the health care sector. The main municipal expenditures are: * Primary and secondary education (21%), * caring for elderly (17%), * caring for children (11%), * support of disabled and poor (8%), * supply of ground and housing (10%), * supply of water, energy and garbage disposal (7%), * public transportations (4%), and * sport and leisure (4%). [ Figures above for year 1993 ] Account over state revenue Approximately 550 milliards SEK are distributed by the state budget, of which 75 milliards go straight to the municipalities and provinces as subsidizes. The rest is distributed on: (memorizeable figures, in the range +/- 10% of exact figures) * 100 mill. National debt interest * 75 mill. pensions to aged and disabled * 75 mill. state consumption (defence, police, universities etc) * 75 mill. transfers to families, unemployed, diseased and others * 45 mill. transfers to private corporations * 30 mill. transfers to state enterprises * 15 mill. foreign aid [ Figures above for the fiscal year 1993/94 ] 7.2.4 Population The nation has its roots in the different kingdoms of the Viking Age, and is said to have been created when the King of the Svenonians ("Svearna") assumed kingship over Goths ("Götarna") as well in early middle ages. The word Sweden ("Sverige" short for "Svea rike" in Swedish) comes from the Svenonians ("Svearna"); "Sverige" means the realm of the Svenonians. The English form of the name is probably derived from an old Germanic form, Svetheod, meaning the Swedish people. In medieval times the Swedes also pushed north to colonize the province now known as Norrland, and over the Baltic Sea to conquer Finland. Sweden has a relatively homogeneous population in ethnic stock, language, and religion. Because of the country's isolation only few non-Swedes have intermixed with the Swedes before very recent times; the major groups that have done so were Finns 1580-1660 and Walloons from present-day Belgium, who settled in the Bergslagen area in the 1620s. Groups that maintain their distinct ethnic identity today include a Finnish minority on the border to Finland, about 15,000 Saami, and recent immigrants. Since 1987 the Tornedalen-Finnish, Saami languages and Romani have special status as minority languages, and since 1993 the Saami minority elects a representative assembly, the Saami Parliament, which however has limited power. Constitutionally this assembly, despite its name, is less more than a lobby organization with authority to distribute the funds the Swedish government let it dispose. In the furtest north geographical names make the Lappish heritage obvious. The following words in Saami languages are usual: tjuolma= land between rivers, luokta = bay, jaure = sea, jokk = small river, kaise = steep peak, tjåkkå = blunt peak, vare = fjeld mountain, tuottar= fjeld plain (without trees). 12% of the population are 1:st generation immigrants: from the Baltic countries (1944); Hungary (1956); Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey (in the 1960s and '70s), Czechoslovakia (1968), Chile (1973), Iran and Iraq (in the 1980s), Palestina/Lebanon, and recently arrived refugees from the civil wars in Yugoslavia. A third of the immigrants (4,4%) has arrived from the neighboring countries Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Poland. Today about half of the immigrants have Swedish citizenship. 7.2.5 The Swedish language Swedish is a Germanic language, very closely related to Danish and Norwegian (most Swedes can understand Danish and Norwegian), and somewhat less close to Icelandic, German, Dutch and English. There are many words borrowed from German, French (18th Century) and English (later). Except for in Sweden, Swedish is spoken by a native minority in Finland, and a nowadays very small minority at the Estonian coast and islands. Peculiar with the Swedish language is that there exist not only one, but at least four hight status dialects (and sociolects): One southern, connected with Scania and the University in Lund, one western spoken by affluent people in and around Gothenburg/Göteborg, one eastern valid in Finland (for instance on stage in Helsinki/Helsingfors), and finally the sociolect spoken by higher officials, actors and others in the capital, which serves as high status standard for the rest of Sweden, connected with the University in Uppsala. Besides there exist at least a dozen of still distinguishable dialects, or dialect groups, but after the breakthrough for radio and TV these dialects have been heavily influented by the equalizing effect of the broadcasting media. (A recent unsolved dispute in the newsgroup was whether the Scanian dialects rightfully is to classify as East-Danish together with the dialect on Bornholm, or with the dialects of Götaland i.e. in Göteborg, Småland and Östergötland.) For non-Nordics who attempt to learn the Swedish language, the pronunciation might seem rather difficult, since Swedish (at least the "standard" variety of it spoken in Sweden) has several unusual vowels and consonants, e.g. retroflexed dentals and the "sj"-sound in sjuk "sick" which are not found in other European languages. Distinct word tones also characterize certain elements of its vocabulary, for which reason acquisition of a good Swedish pronunciation requires a considerable amount of commitment and work. The serious student of Swedish also has to learn to deal with regional varieties such as Scanian and Finland-Swedish, both of which differ sharply in pronunciation from the Stockholm-area oriented standard "broadcast" Swedish. Erland Sommarskog replies: To be fair, dialects of Swedish are not worse than say of Italian. - Or for that matter, English. You don't need to bother about the "sj" in "sjuk". While as noted above, this is a strange creature, it is also subject to huge variation, and if you get in conversation with some Swedes you might find that every one is pronouncing the sound differently - even that the same person is chosing different realiasations on different occassions. Phonemically you would write them all /S/, you can use the sound for "sh" in "shoe" without being particularly wrong. You will then have to learn to distinguish this alevoar fricative from the palatal fricative in "tjuv" - then again, there are Swedes who don't. From my experience the retroflexes does not cause much problems either. Odd as they are, foreigners seem to pick them up quite easily. And, again, it is possible to avoid them. They arise when 'r' is followed by 's', 'n', 'd', 't' and 'l', but several dialects pronounce them separately. And while in Sweden this is dialects have an uvular or velar 'r', I know people who speak with a front 'r' and yet do not use retroflexes without having any Finland-Swedish ancestry at all. How this has come about I don't know, but I'm suspecting these individuals to have abandoned their original dialect for an over-correct standard Swedish. There are nevertheless some difficult sound in Swedish. 'u' as in "kul" is a rounded semi-high front vowel which has few equals. To a foreigner it might seem close to 'y' which is a rounded high front vowel, but I can assure you to a Swede they are most definitely not. Then again, I once spoke with a British gentleman who said "Sturegatan". His 'u' was perfect, but the first 'a' in "gatan" revealed him directly. To wit, the 'a' is the same as in "father" but with slightly different colour. Anyway, Swedish pronouciation is probably difficult because it is so irregular. Not so bad as English, but bad enough. One thing we are particularly fond of are homographs, that is words with the same spelling but different pronounciation: "vän", "kort", "hov", "vits", "hänger". 7.2.6 Culture Swedes work hard, pay high taxes, try to be open minded to other cultures (there is much immigration, which most people seem to accept), enjoy their traditions (around Christmas and Midsummer, for instance), but it is not true we should be among the heaviest drinkers in the world. Statistics in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet January 7th 1995 shows Swedish alcohol consumption to be on only 21st place among a selection of the industrialized nations, with 6.1 (100% pure) liters of alcohol/year (after most Western European countries and USA). On the other hand we do (most of us do) still follow our old custom to drink only occasionally, but then with the goal to get drunk. [ For further information, see the article in part 2 about Nordic alcohol customs. ] Swedes take pride in making the society friendly to children and their parents including long government-paid maternal leaves, subsidized pre-schools and municipal investments for sport and leisure-time activities. Swedish women have one of the highest fertility rates in the industrialized world, giving birth to 1.97 child each, and the highest rate of breast feeding. In the same intention to make the society friendly and to lighten the lives of its members, Sweden has also put certain effort into making public buildings, and also ordinary tenement houses, available for wheel chairs. The nature, the big woods and the mountains, have a particular place in the hearts of the Swedes. The General Right to Public Access ("Allemansrätten") is unique for the Scandinavian countries, and the most important base for outdoor recreation, providing the possibility for each and everyone to visit non-cultivated land, to take a bath in seas, and to pick the wild flowers, berries and mushrooms. The religious rites as baptizing, confirmation, marriage and funeral are deeply rooted in the culture, although only a small minority participate in ordinary mass. Despite the fact that the Swedes have honored the old Germanic tradition that the people follow the religion of the king, and subsequently all Swedes were obliged to communion long into the 19:th century and to membership in the state church long into the 20:th century, it can also be noted that Swedes belong to the most secularized people in the world. The church, and its services, are felt more as a cultural heritage, than as a religious. As for instance at 1:st Sunday in Advent and at Christmas Eve - the two days at the year when the churches are filled. Science and technology also play an important role in the modern Swedish society. Private companies fund substantial research and development, and also the government funds research at the universities. Examples are the JAS Gripen fighter project, and the information technology strategies put forth by the Bildt (1991-1994) government. (The following cabinets, led by Ingvar Carlsson and Göran Persson have been less enthusiastic about these projects.) Leading cultural institutions (in Stockholm) are the Swedish Royal Opera; the Royal Dramatic Theater; the National Touring Theater; and the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize for Literature. Literature is important in Swedish culture. Authors like August Strindberg (1849-1912), Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) who wrote Gösta Berlings Saga (awarded with the Nobel Prize) and Astrid Lindgren (1907-) are among the best known. At the previous century shift public libraries were organized by different organizations in nearby every village with a church or a school. Most of them still remain, but now run by the municipalities. A curious detail is that most Swedes probably would not count authors as Edith Södergran and Tove Jansson as Swedish authors, despite the fact that they have written in Swedish - their mother tongue. There aren't many internationally known Swedish composers, but Swedes have an ancient fondness for ballads and troubadours (Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795) is dearly loved by Swedes), and in the later days Swedish pop and rock groups have reached international fame (e.g ABBA, Army of Lovers, Roxette, Ace of Base, etc). Of the many immigrants very few have yet become popular cultural personalities. Maybe with exception of the poet Theodor Kalifatides and Finland-Swedish actors, as Stina Ekblad, Jörn Donner, Birgitta Ulfsson and Lasse Pöisti. Promising is however how a lot of new Swedish rock bands come from suburbs with immigrant majorities, and how some of the most popular rock and pop artists are immigrants, as for instance dr. Alban. Sweden also has a strong movie tradition, already from the days of the silent movies, people such as Victor Sjöström (1879-1960), known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, and Mauritz Stiller (1883-1928). The director Ingmar Bergman (1918-) is world-famous and actors like Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) and Greta Garbo (1905-1990) have played in several of the classics of the movie history. Various sports are popular in Sweden, especially team sports like soccer and ice hockey, but also for example tennis and table-tennis, outdoor activities like skiing and orienteering. 7.2.7 local democratic traditions If Swedes aren't proud of the violent past with vikings, wars and conquers then instead the long and strong democratic tradition is a very important part of the cultural heritage. To trace this tradition is almost impossible, since already in the first written laws (from the 1220:ies) it seems obvious that the customs are timehonored. Villages had had time at least since the Iron age to develop traditions. To distinguish Sweden's conditions compared to Finland, Denmark or the European continent is also hard but a few differences are obvious. While solitarily living families have been more important in parts of Finland, villages and works are the most prominent communities in Sweden. The Danish tradition is influenced by feudalism and the absence of woods and works. Fishing villages have been of the greatest importance on the long Norwegian coast and on the many Danish islands. These societal differences are usable when one tries to analyze the differences between "national characters" - still one must remember the resemblance is more prominent than the differences. Scandinavia and Finland has had only a rudimentary feudal system. Most land has been owned by commoners paying taxes to the king and without being directs subordinates to any lords. The great forests has made it hard for the lords to pester and punish the commoners. In Sweden the villages were left to rule themselves without any superior to interfere. Each villages had, until the 19:th century, one fenced field precisely marked in shares for each property. (On the rich plains some villages had two or even three fenced fields where the crops were changed systematically, but in these cases each farm had property on each field.) Outside of the fence the cattle had to graze between sowing and harvest. The farmers were responsible for one part each of the fence. The fence was the most important subject the villagers had to cooperate about, but as the field was organized it was also practically and often necessary to do the work coordinated on the same days. The village meeting had to discuss and decide about this, but also about the use of woods, fishing water, common roads, boats and herding. The village meeting was however not for crofters or other poor. Instead it often regulated how many lodgers the village could feed, forcing people to move. The main rule was, that changes in the statues for a villages were to be accepted by all farmers unanimous. The statues could however stipulate that other decisions were to be made by a majority. Unanimity was however the basic rule for how decisions were to be made at meetings in villages and parishes. This tradition of unanimous decisions must have contributed to the Swedish custom of adjustment of ones attitudes to the perceived majority. Unanimous decisions demand a high degree of compromises from the individuals. The pre-Christian culture was a tribe culture like many other of the pre-Christian cultures among the indo-Europeans. The members of a tribe were obliged to avenge injuries against their dead and mutilated relatives. A balancing structure is necessary to hinder tribe fights to lead to society destructing anarchy. In the North-Germanic cultures the balancing institution was the Thing ("ting"). The thing was the assembly of the free men in an area, as in a hundred ("härad") or in a province / county ("landskap"), at which disputes were solved and political decisions were made. Before Christianity chieftains where at the same time political and religious leaders, with the main purpose to bring the people good times ("fred" - nowadays actually the word for peace). The place for the Thing ("tingsplats") was often also the place for public religious rites, and sometimes the place for commerce. In case of bad times the people could sacrifice their leader (literally!), or maybe less violently select another leader. As the Christian missionaries then convinced the most respected among the viking magnates, an abyss opened between the ordinary agrarian people an their converted magnates; and the old order was disrupted. Free peasants who were used to participate in the decision making in the village, in the province and in the realm did not easily accept to be left unquestioned when the Svea kingdom expanded. The Engelbrecht rebellion is probably the best picture we can get of how kings had been elected in older times. Engelbrecht was elected to captain for Dalarna where he and the people had promised each other allegiance, then he went to Västmanland, where the people summoned to the "tingsplats" expressed their support and allegiance, then to Uppland where Engelbrecht and the people promised each other allegiance, then to Östergötland, where the procedure was repeated, and then to Västergötland where he was honored by the people, then to Halland (the part which at that time was identified with Götaland and Sweden). All this occurred in the end of the summer 1434. In January 1435 a diet appointed Engelbrecht as captain for the Swedish realm, and as such he that year negotiated with the union-king - with poor result. In response to demands from the country a new diet was summoned in 1436 where Engelbrecht was elected king. As king he requested the people in Stockholm to swear allegiance. The Stockholmians had to choose between a battle and a new king, and accepted the new king. During the 16th century a lot of land was taken by the state from parishes and convents. These lands were then often transferred to the nobility, particularly from 1567 to 1680, which had important consequences for the peasants. Tenant farmers on state property could be forced to do extra work in addition to the law-regulated taxes, which was a less favorable situation than for farmers owning their own land, but farmers on land sold/given to nobel masters had additionally lost their right to participation in the elections of peasant representatives at the diets. Works (bruksorter) is the contrasting element, organized in much as a manorial estate, where the owner had the duty to act as a good master in a strictly hierarchical household. The works was a closed society, taking responsibility for the people living there from the cradle to the grave. United the people could express their wishes and propositions, and a wise master would not act against the best of the people. But the power was his. The rules of order at democratic meetings got changed in the 19:th century. The villages were split, many farmers' houses were moved away from the village, each farm got it's field separated from the others, and the village meeting became obsolete. The traditions from the higher assemblies, where the majority ruled, were found fit for the parishes also, particularly when these came to grow due to the urbanization. With the Free Churches, the Temperance movement and the workers unions foreign influences were added to the old traditions. Today fairness and equality are important parts of the order at a meeting. The word is given to speakers in the order they have asked for it, no-one is to be unfairly favored. The assembly and the chair are not supposed to interrupt the speaker, unless he/she breaks any decided rules (as a time limit) or humiliates others. All who wish to speak are entitled to do so prior to the voting, all are entitled to put propositions forward, all propositions are to be equally handled (almost!), and in case of the majority taking a position one feel impossible to take responsibility for, then all are entitled to get ones dissentient opinions taken to the records. But still traces of the unanimity tradition is visible in the attitude that people who suspect they belong to a minority should better not utter their opinion - to the best of all - in order to reinforce the feeling of unity and unanimity. ...and after a decision all participants are expected to advocate the opinion of the majority - whatever they thought before. ------------------------------ Subject: 7.3 History A brief chronicle is to find in the sections 7.3.3-7.3.7. 7.3.1 A chronology of important dates 829 The German bishop Ansgar introduces Christianity to Sweden. 1004 (ca) Olof Skötkonung was baptized, and made Christianity the official religion of Sweden. Several pagan kings followed him, though. 1104 With the first bishop of Lund, Scandinavia was made a separate church province, no longer belonging to Hamburg. 1155 Securing (conquering) of Finland for Catholicism. 1164 A separate arch-bishopric for Sweden was instituted in Uppsala. Until 1152 the archbishop in the Scanian town Lund in Denmark had been the primate for all of Norden. 1187 Estonians invade and burn Sigtuna. 13th century The Scanian Law is written down 1210. In the 1220:ies also the Swedish provinces (landskap) start to write down their landskapslagar. 1240 the movement has reached Västergötland, and Äldre Västgötalagen is written down. 1226 Falu copper mine is opened. 1250 Stockholm becomes the capital, after Birka and Sigtuna, founded by Birger Jarl, earl of Sweden and 1250-1266 guardian for the under age king Valdemar. 1285 The Swedish king Birger (Ladulås) claims supremacy over Gotland. 1293 Viipuri is established at/as the eastern border of Sweden. 1306 King Birger is imprisoned by his brothers duke Valdemar and duke Erik, the so called Håtunaleken. 1317 King Birger imprisons his brothers, attempting to let them starve to death, the so called Nyköpings gästabud, but is forced to escape out of the country. 1319-1343 Personal union with Norway under king Magnus Eriksson. 1332-1361 Scania, Blekinge & Gotland ruled by the Swedish king after the Scanian Archbishop and magnates had elected Magnus Eriksson, the king of Sweden to become also king of the Scanian provinces. 1335 Slavery was abolished. 1344 St. Birgitta (1303-1373), Sweden's most important medieval saint, starts to write down her Heavenly Revelations and decides to start a convent in Vadstena. The Brigittine Order exists even today in many countries. 1350 The Black Death (the Plague) The first Swedish national law replaced the local landskapslagar. 1361 The Danish king Valdemar Atterdag conquers Gotland. 1397-1521 The Nordic kingdoms are united as the "Kalmar Union", led by Denmark. 1477 Uppsala university founded; the oldest university in the Nordic countries. 1520 Stockholm blood bath. 1521 Gustav Vasa is elected regent. 1523 Gustav Vasa is elected king of Sweden. 1526 The New Testament and hymnal is printed in the Swedish language - 1541 is the whole Bible ready. 1527 Reformation decided at the diet of Västerås. (Being able to collect taxes from the Church and pay off national debts had a lot to do with it). 1542 Nils Dacke leads a rebellion in Småland. 1561 Estonia surrenders to Sweden. 1568 King Erik is imprisoned, and 1577 poisoned. 1593 Lutheranism is confirmed by a Church meeting in Uppsala. 1594-99 The Catholic Sigismund inherits the throne, Sweden in personal union with Poland. 1600 Linköping's blood bath. 1613 Sweden pays ransom for the fort at Älvsborg, where 1619 Gothenburg is founded. 1617 Sweden gets the Kexholm province and Ingria ("Ingermanland") in the peace of Stolbova with Russia. 1629 Poland cedes Livonia to Sweden in the peace of Altmark. 1632 The university in Dorpat is founded. Gustav II Adolf is killed in the battle of Lützen. 1640 The university in Åbo is founded. 1645 Sweden gets Gotland, Ösel (Saaremaa), Jämtland and Härjedalen from Denmark in the peace of Brömsebro. 1648 In the peace treaty of Westphalia, Sweden wins the German territories (Vorpommern, Rügen, Stettin, Wismar, and Bremen-Verden) and becomes a major power. 1658 The peace treaty of Roskilde gives Sweden Bohuslän and the Scanian provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. Bornholm is returned to Denmark after an uprising 1660. The Swedish territory of today is thereby collected. 1668 The university in Lund is founded. 1671-1675 Nobel masters have right to sentence their employees. 1676 The battle at Lund 1679 Gotland is annected by Sweden. 1697 The Stockholm Castle ("Three Crowns") burns down. 1700-21 The Great Northern War, with the battles at Narva 1700 and Poltava 1709. Sweden loses most of the German and all of the Baltic territories. The power shifts from the king to the estates. 1742 The estates confirm the democratic forms for decisions at the village meeting. Celsius designs a thermometer. 1757 Storskifte, first reform of Swedish farming decided. 1766 The liberty of Press and "Offentlighetsprincipen" was declared as constitution. 1771 Scheele discovers oxygen. 1772 Gustav III performs a coup and restores absolute monarchy. 1773 Torture is abolished in Sweden. 1778 Freedom of religion for aliens. 1790-91 Bellman publishes Fredman collections. 1792 Gustav III is assassinated at a masked ball. 1807 Enskifte, grand reform of Swedish farming decided. Villages were split into separate farms, so farmers came to live closer to their land, more distant from their neighbors. 1808-09 The War of Finland: the whole of Finland (extended also by a part of the Swedish county Norrbotten) was joined to Russia. A new constitution is written that puts an end to autocracy. "Offentlighetsprincipen" and freedom of press get restored. 1810 One of Napoleon's generals, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, is elected as the heir to throne. Despite this Sweden joins the British-led anti-Napoleon alliance. In 1818, he becomes king Carl XIV Johan. 1810-1832 Göta Kanal is built across Sweden from Söderköping to Gothenburg. 1814-1905 Personal-union between Norway and Sweden. 1841 The parish meetings are reformed by law. It's settled that also craftsmen, tradesmen and industrial workers should have right to vote (if they earn enough). 1842 A national compulsory public education system, "Folkskolan", is introduced, and is to be administrated by the parishes, followed 1843 by law on municipal self rule. 1845 Daughters get equal rights as sons to inherit land. 1848 The first Swedish Free Church congregation and baptizing. 1853 Electric telegraph between Stockholm and Uppsala. 1856 Railroad between Örebro and Ervalla. 1858 The prohibition of religious meetings in the absence of a state church priest is abolished. 1860 it became allowed for Swedish citizens to switch religious affiliation from the State Church to certain other approved (Christian) Churches. 1859 Feminist pioneer Fredrika Bremer publishes Hertha. 1864 The estates refuse to live up to the promise by the king to support Denmark when attacked by Prussia. The obligation to yearly communion is abolished. 1866 The parliament is reformed. The system of the four estates is abandoned and a new system of two chambers is introduced. The right to vote remains dependent on income and gender. 1871 The parish meeting is reformed, majority decisions are enforced instead of the former tradition of consensus, disciplinary matters are to be decided by a committee. 1873-1914 Nordic currency and postal union. 1878 The metric system is introduced. 1896 Hjalmar Branting is elected the first Social Democrat in parliament. 1901 First Nobel Prize award. The universal military service is organized. All men become trained for defense of the country. 1902 Railroad from Narvik at the Norwegian coast to Kiruna where iron ore mines get exploit. 1905 Norway declares itself independent of the Swedish king. 1906 Major spelling reform. 1907 Men get equal rights to vote. 1909 Strike by 300'000 Swedish workers, but no revolution. 1913 Law on public pension. 1918 A Swedish troop of 600 man intervene on Åland, attempting to mediate when the civil war of Finland led to Finnish troops fighting on Åland. The Finnish and Swedish troops leave after a German fleet had approached. 1919 Law on eight hours workday (six days a week). 1921 Women get rights to vote equal to men. 1923 A proposition to prohibit alcoholic beverages is narrowly defeated in a referendum. 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Jewish terrorist organization (lead by Yitzhak Shamir) when mediating between Jews and Arabs. 1951 General right for members of the state Church to submit one's resignation. General freedom of religion for Swedish citizen. 1953 A Swedish computer, BESK, is for a time the fastest in the world. 1957 A referendum supports a Social Democratic proposal for mandatory participation in a retiring allowance scheme with minimal funds. The alternative was a voluntary funding system. 40 years later a mandatory funding system is decided. 1961 ? The aircraft of Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN secretary general, is shot down during mediating in Africa. 1971 The Riksdag becomes unicameral. The king loses his political influence (including. formation of the cabinet). Parliamentarism is written into the constitution. 1979 Referendum says nuclear power is to be liquidated. 1981 A Russian submarine runs aground in the Blekinge archipelago. 1986 The prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated Feb 28. April 26th nuclear radiation is discovered outside of the nuclear plant Forsmark to the north of Stockholm. After some time it turns out to come from Ukraine, but large areas of Sweden are struck, with slaughter of reindeers and restrictions against using wild berries and mushrooms for many following years. 1994 The ferry Estonia sank in Åland's sea. About 900 drowned. A referendum supports joining of the European Union. As of January 1st 1995 Sweden became a full member of the EU. 7.3.2 A list of Swedish monarchs the late viking age: ca 990 Erik (the victorious) ca 995-1020 Olof Skötkonung, baptized as a Christian in 1008 ca 1019-50 Anund Jakob competing magnates: ca 1050-60 Emund den gamle (the old) ca 1160 Stenkil ca 1066-80 Halsten ca 1080 Blotsven ca 1080-1110 Inge the elder ca 1110-18 Filip ca 1118-20 Inge the younger ca 1130 Ragnvald ca 1135-56 Sverker the elder ca 1158-60 Erik IX den helige (St. Eric) 1160-67 Karl VII Sverkersson 1167-96 Knut Eriksson 1196-1208 Sverker Karlsson the younger 1208-16 Erik X Knutsson 1216-22 Johan Sverkersson 1222-29 Erik XI Eriksson läspe och halte (lisp and limp) 1229-34 Knut Holmgersson den långe (the long) 1234-49 Erik XI Eriksson läspe och halte (lisp and limp) 1250-66 Birger Jarl, earl (regent) of Sweden 1250-75 Valdemar Birgersson, under age until 1266 1275-90 Magnus Birgersson Ladulås 1290-1318 Birger Magnusson, under age until 1298 1290-1317 Duke Erik Magnusson (regent) 1319-64 Magnus Eriksson, under age until 1332. 1363-89 Albrekt av Mecklenburg the Kalmar Union: 1389-1412 Margareta (regent of the Kalmar Union) 1412-34 Erik of Pommerania (king of the Kalmar Union) 1434-36 Engelbrecht (king of Sweden) 1436-40 Karl Knutsson (king of Sweden) 1441-48 Kristoffer of Bavaria (king of the Kalmar Union) 1448-57 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden) 1457-64 Kristian I (king of the Kalmar Union 1448-1481) 1464 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden) 1464-66 Erik Axelsson (regent of Sweden) 1466-70 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden) 1471-97 Sten Sture the elder (regent of Sweden) 1497-1501 Hans (king of the Kalmar Union 1481-1513) 1501-03 Sten Sture the elder (regent of Sweden) 1504-11 Svante Nilsson Sture (regent of Sweden) 1512-20 Sten Sture the younger (regent of Sweden) 1520-21 Kristian II (king of the Kalmar Union 1513-1523) Vasa: 1521-23 Gustav Eriksson Vasa (regent of Sweden) 1523-60 Gustav I Vasa (king of Sweden) 1560-68 Erik XIV [ dethroned ] 1568-92 Johan III 1592-99 Sigismund III Vasa of Poland and Sweden [ dethroned ] 1599-1600/1604 Johan, under age [ abdicated 1604 ] 1600-1611 Karl IX 1611-32 Gustav II Adolf 1632-54 Kristina, under age until 1644 [ abdicated ] Pfalz: 1654-60 Karl X Gustav 1660-97 Karl XI, under age until 1672 1697-1718 Karl XII 1719-20 Ulrika Eleonora [ abdicated ] 1720-51 Fredrik I Holstein-Gottorp: 1751-71 Adolf Fredrik 1771-92 Gustav III 1792-1809 Gustav IV Adolf, under age until 1796 [ dethroned ] 1809-18 Karl XIII Bernadotte: 1818-44 Karl XIV Johan 1844-59 Oscar I 1859-72 Karl XV 1872-1907 Oscar II 1907-50 Gustaf V 1950-73 Gustaf VI 1973- Karl XVI Gustaf 7.3.3 the medieval time 500-700 Germanic expansion through Scandinavia. Svenonians ("Svear") come to play a dominating role, and the Goths ("Götar") a subordinate role. 800-1050 Viking age. It was a prosperous period. Swedish Vikings traveled trading fur and slave to Russia, Byzantium and all the way down to the Arab caliphate at Baghdad. The kingdom of Svears gets a leading position, at least they get best known abroad, its capital is in Gamla ("Old") Uppsala. Svea-Vikings possibly inhabited also Åland and coastal areas in Finland and Norrland. 11th century Sweden becomes Christian, and the country is united into a single kingdom. Due to pressure from the mighty Danish kingdom, the warring landscapes of Sweden settle into an uneasy truce and start to elect a king to rule them as one kingdom. This kingdom was often called the "Svea kingdom", because traditionally this was the only stable entity and the only kingdom that foreigners had heard of. 1076 Bishop Adam of Bremen writes the history of the bishopric of Hamburg, describing the christianization of Sweden, which is one of our main sources to the early history of Scandinavia. 1050-1397 Sweden is ruled by kings elected by the nobility - most of the time from two rival dynasties. The title king of the Svears did however not give much power. Neither among the Svears nor in more distant parts of the country. The forces of particularism were very strong during the first centuries and often there would be two or three claimants to the throne engaged in civil war. This time is characterized by the power being divided on so many local magnates assuring no individual command too much power, and becoming a threat against the other magnates. A suitable king could well be chosen from Götaland, perhaps because that person would find it hard to make his power be felt in Svealand. Formerly kings were elected by each "landsting" (that was a combined court and law-giving meeting of the free men in a province). In 1319 the peasantry is officially, but not in practice, again participating in an election of king. 1152 a papal cardinal refuse to organize a separate Swedish archdiocese tired of the quarrel between Götar and Svear, who couldn't agree on one of the two alternatives Linköping in Östergötland or Uppsala in Uppland. Sweden conquers the Finnish woods for Catholicism through a series of "crusades". The plains in southern Finland of today, Åland and most of the coast on both side of the Bothnic sea is believed to have been colonized by Svears already. (After the first crusade 1155 Uppland was rewarded with the archdiocese.) Finland is not yet participating in the elections of kings. The dominance in the Baltics by the Gutar from Gotland island is competed by the Germans, who from 1161has an agreement with the Gutar. The situation for Götar and Svear is not improved, but Gotland gets weaker, with civil war in the end of the 13:th century, and defeat under the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag 1361. Swedish kings had ambitions to rule also over Gotland, but the Gutar were not too interested. The first one to yield such power that he could issue grants of land in both Götaland and Svealand (showing that he had territorial power), was Knut Eriksson (late 12:th century). In his early days this son of Erik the saint used the title king of Götaland, but after coming out on top in a civil war he also called himself king of Svealand and also used the titles together. Before his days the king can be said to have wielded power only with the consent of the local upper class. 1248 at the church meeting in Skänninge (in Östergötland), on demand from the catholic pope, the Swedish church introduces celibacy for priests, and the priests should now be appointed by the bishop. Earlier, priests were elected by their parish and they married. 15th century After 1397 Sweden and Denmark (including Finland, Norway and Iceland) were united in the Kalmar Union under the Danish queen Margarethe. Margarethe never held the title Queen of Sweden, but was instead appointed as "authorized agent" (Fru och fullmäktige av Sverige). This period is characterized by struggle between the nobility, the commons and the queen/king. The union was a reaction against the strong influence German merchants had around the Baltics, illustrated by a German being elected king in Sweden in the late 14th century, but the union gets questioned both by the nobility, when they are discontent, and by the commons, when they experience worsening conditions. Germans continue to play a dominating role in towns and mining. 1434-36 A rebellion led by Engelbrecht is motivated by the king of the Kalmar union breaking a promise not to change laws or taxes without asking the people. In January 1435 a diet appointed Engelbrecht as captain for the Swedish realm, and as such he negotiated with the union-king that year - with poor results. In response to demands from the country the four estates were summoned to a new diet in Arboga 1436; which decided to continue the rebellion. Engelbrecht was elected king. But then the two higher estates (nobility and clergy) chose to appoint another man as captain for the realm, while the two lower estates supported Engelbrecht. The result: Engelbrecht being assassinated, and succeeded by his allied the high-born Karl Knutsson Bonde, Engelbrecht's "Marsk" (commander-in-chief), who then kills the most famous supporters of Engelbrecht. In the following years all four estates are participating in diets. 1449-1450 King Karl is crowned to king of Norway in opposition against the Danish king Christian, who some months earlier had been elected king of Norway. (King Christian I was the first in the Oldenburg dynasty, and since the crown of Norway was to be inherited, the election was regarded as illegal by many Scandinavian magnates.) 1450 Karl Knutsson is forced by the Swedish state council to give up the Norwegian crown, after pressure from the Union king in Denmark. The atrocities calm down after Karl Knutsson has devasted Scania and put the towns Vä, Helsingborg and Lund to fire. 1463-71 Swedish peasants formed armies at many occasions, fighting the smaller but professional troops of the union-king. The peasants were supported, and often encouraged, by the separatists among the nobility. In 1471 the election of a separatist as regent for Sweden led to a relative calmness. 1497 The national council tried to depose the separatist regent for Sweden who declared he had been appointed by all of the people in Sweden through the estates at the diet. The king of the union, king Hans of Denmark, hired an army which vanquished the regents separatist army, but the national council soon accepts the four estates as their in practice highest authority. 1520:ies When the Danish king Christian II is coronated in Stockholm, he executed a hundred men, burghers and noblemen, who belonged to the separatist Sture-party. This so called Stockholm blood bath causes again a rebellion in Sweden which is led by Gustaf Vasa. With the help of the Hansa-city of Lübeck, Vasa defeats the Danes and is elected king. The Kalmar Union ceases to exist. From 1544 the crown is to be inherited. As a consequence of the civil war in Denmark 1533-36 the German Hansa loses its strong influence over Scandinavia. Reformation is confirmed by the diet of Västerås 1527. Sweden becomes Lutheran and the Church is stripped of its riches. One of the important consequences of the reformation is the obligation for the parishes to engage a parish clerk responsible for educating the people in reading the Bible and/or the catechism, and for the clergy to examine the peasants yearly in their homes. Many also learned to write. Gustav Vasa encouraged the mining leading to increased demand on workers which was satisfied by internal migration - not the least from Finland. 7.3.4 the consolidation of the state 1560-1660 The construction of Sweden as a Great Power of Europe. The nobility fights for its rights and privileges. Gustaf Vasa's son, the mentally unstable Erik XIV, becomes king 1560, and in 1561 he starts Sweden's overseas conquests by capturing northern Estonia from the Teutonic Knights. During Erik's regime measures against corrupt sheriffs and despotic nobility were prioritized, and a peasant army was organized (the first time in Europe on the side of the authorities'). In 1563 the highest nobility, the Danish king and the Duke Johan (of Åland and parts of Finland) had started a combined war and coup d'etat. In despise for the peasants (and discontent at the king) the noble general refuses to use peasant infantry in battle. (Which saved the Danish army that time.) King Erik XIV chose a commoner as chancellor, Jöran Persson, and 1568 Erik married a common soldier's daughter Karin Månsdotter after unsuccessfully courting e.g Elizabeth I of England and Mary Stuart of Scotland. The Swedish nobility acts against Erik's plans wishing to get the king closer to them through marriage with any of their daughters. In the same year his brother Duke Johan, who had been pardoned after the coup 1563, turns against Erik and imprisons him. The Duke becomes king Johan III and Erik, having been sent from one prison to another for nine years, is finally poisoned in 1577 after several death sentences by the national council, however never executed due to fear of the public reaction. King Johan doesn't summon the peasantry to the next diets, declares commons to be unfit as chancellors (Erik's chancellor Jöran Persson get severely tortured before beheading) and pay back to the nobility by reliefs and more privileges. Immigration encouraged Skillful smiths were recruited from what today is Belgium; Dutchmen were recruited to build new towns, particularly Gothenburg; Scottish men were hired as soldiers. The western parts of the kingdom, great uninhabited woods around the sea Vänern, were colonized by skillful farmers from Savolax in Finland encouraged by the kings brother Duke Karl (Duke of Dalarna and other western parts of Svealand). The Finns from western Finland, who came to work in Svealand's towns, mines, industries and agriculture were soon integrated. A popular tradition represented also in school books describes the relations between the Swedes and the migrants from eastern Finland as violent. Established historical science and official sources give no such indications. The Savolaxians in the woods were isolated and remained culturally different for hundreds of years (the migration was ended at 1680 when maybe 10'000 Finns had moved to the woods of western Svealand). The annals from the courts give the impression of the Finns living in peaceful co-existence with the Swedish peasants. When the situation had settled after the Thirty Years' War Sweden's territories were bigger than ever later or before. Inside the new realm people came to move between the different parts. A policy of swedifying hit the new provinces, maybe most in Scandinavia, including founding universities and change of priests and some noble men. The year 1682 the king decided that Finns had to learn Swedish or to return to Finland. This official policy was however impossible to enforce in the distant woods, but has remained until recent days. 1590-95 Sweden fights a smaller war with Russia that ends with the peace of Teusina and the recognition of Sweden's right to northern Estonia. 1596-99 Civil war between king Sigismund of Poland and Sweden and his uncle, Duke Karl. Most nobility supported the king, but Sigismund is kicked out, and the Duke becomes king Karl IX. (Appointed by the estates 1600 although the under-age crown prince Johan, son of king Johan III, rightfully stood closer to the throne. Prince Johan abdicated 1604.) The brief personal union with Poland is over. King Karl follows up on Erik's anti-feudal policy, while his son Gustav II Adolf instead increase the privileges of the nobility for instance by monopoly to army- and state-offices. 1630-48 Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) interferes in the Thirty Years' War (1616-48) and Swedish troops fight in Russia, Poland, Austria and Germany. The "Lion of the North" achieves legendary status as the defender of Protestants, he receives crushing victories but his appetite for conquest grows and eventually the king is killed in the battle of Lützen, 1632, after which the war fortunes waded back and forth for the following 16 years. Gustav's daughter Christina becomes queen; as she is still under age until 1644 the country is led by Sweden's perhaps most famous statesman Axel Oxenstierna. The year 1638 Sweden's American colony, "New Sweden" (in present day Delaware) is founded and settled by Swedish and Finnish pioneers. The colony remains in Swedish hands only for 17 years, and is lost to the Dutch. 1644-54 The reign of queen Christina, the daughter of Gustav II Adolf, was at the same time one of favoring arts, culture, science and philosophy, and on the other hand a period of continued expensive wars on the continent, which had ruined Sweden's economy by raising hundreds of new families into nobility who were exempted from taxation. This was more or less made undone by her followers, her cousin king Karl X and his son Karl XI, in the second half of the century. The year 1654 the queen converts to Catholicism and gives up the crown. The conversion of the daughter of the greatest enemy of Catholicism was a brilliant propaganda victory for the Catholic counter-reformation. She spends the rest of her life in Rome. 1675-79 Denmark declares war. King Karl XI, who newly have came to age, discovers the great fleet and the state finances being ruined. Scania is taken back by the Danes, then again conquered by the Swedes. The diet 1680 makes the state council (representing the highest nobility), which was governing when the king was under age, personally responsible for the bad state finances. The diet also makes the king independent of the state council, and the diet also accepted to hand over its lawgiving power to the king. The king Karl XI used his dictatorship also for radical reforms of the state administration, the Army and the education of the commoners. On later diets the nobility was (collectively) forced to give back some of the land which had been given them as reward for services to the State. 1680-1720 Successive incorporation of the Scanian provinces in the Swedish national state. 1680 the province Blekinge is declared incorporated in Sweden in connection with the construction of a navy base. 1682/83 the Scanian civil and clerical laws were replaced by Swedish laws. 1693 Halland is incorporated in Sweden. 1700-21 The Great Northern War. Sweden is attacked by an alliance of Denmark, Poland and Russia. The young king Karl XII invades Denmark forcing it to accept a separate peace. He then turns toward Russia, lands in Estonia with 10 000 men and achieves a glorious victory in the battle of Narva against a three times larger Russian army. With Russia and Denmark beaten, Karl XII ignores all suggestions of negotiating peace and attacks Poland. This gives Peter I of Russia time to raise a new army and to start reconquering the Swedish territories. Karl XII eventually succeeds in subduing Poland, and starts a new campaign against Russia heading for Moscow. The troops that were planned to come to aid the main army, however, never manage to show up, and Karl is forced to turn south to Ukraine because of problems with supply. There he suffers a crushing defeat in the battle of Poltava June 28th 1709 and most of the Swedish army surrenders while Karl XII manages to escape with a thousand men to Turkey. He spent several years there trying to form a new alliance against Russia. With Finland occupied by Russians, most of the Baltic provinces lost and Sweden itself threatened by a Russian invasion, the estates decide 1714 that a peace is necessary, but since the king was still in Turkey a messenger was sent there to inform that Sweden would accept any peace terms given unless the king soon returns to Sweden. Karl XII reacts immediately, rides through the whole Europe with only one man accompanying him in 15 days. After the king had returned, all talk of peace was banned. In 1716 he still manages to raise an army of 40 000 men, and attacks Norway in 1718. Karl XII gets killed 1718 while laying siege to Fredrikshald in Norway. To this date, it isn't known whether the bullet came from the Norwegian or Swedish side. Whether he was assassinated or not, his death put a welcome end to the Swedish campaigns and the exhausted nation could eventually achieve peace. Peace treaties with Hanover, Prussia, and Denmark leave Sweden only Stralsund, Rügen and parts of Vorpommern of its former "German territories". The most severe of the peace treaties is, however, the one with Russia signed in Nystad in 1721. Sweden loses all its Baltic territories, the southeastern part of Finland, and ultimately its status as a major power. 7.3.5 toward democracy 1718-72 The so called Age of Freedom. Political power shifts from the king to the estates. (With the new constitution the incorporation of Scania and other conquered provinces is completed.) A two-party system develops, and Arvid Horn, born in Finland and one of king Karl XII's best militaries and administrators, became the most well-known prime minister, totally out-shining the king Fredrik I who actually came on the throne as the consort of the abdicated queen. During the period 1720-1738 Arvid Horn pilots Sweden between Russian and French conflicts, but resigns finally accused for weakness and exaggerated fear for wars. His party gets the nickname the "Nightcaps" opposed by the pride "Hats." In the country the parish meetings are now established as deciding authority, electing priests, organizing common work and poor relief, and stating moral and juridical sentences (the latter without formal right). In 1742 the estates confirm the democratic forms for decisions at the village meeting. The reason is unclear. The institution had worked well for many hundreds of years. Maybe the lords in the new more feudal southern provinces made problems, maybe the increase of crofters and impecunious caused tension. Year 1766 the censure of printed matters is abolished. The campaign is led by the priest Anders Chydenius from Finland. The liberty of Press was declared as constitution, including documents of the state administration with few exceptions made publicly available, the "Offentlighetsprincipen". 1741-43 "The War of the Hats". The French-minded "Hat party" advocating aggressive foreign politics became a majority in the Riksdag and declares war on Russia. The war goes miserably and Finland is occupied by Russia. In the peace treaty of Turku, Russia however agrees to gaining only fairly minor territories in eastern Finland because the Swedish estates agree to having Russian-approved prince-bishop Adolf Fredrik of Lübeck to enter the Swedish throne. 1772-1809 Gustav III performs a coup 1772 and restores absolute monarchy; the beginning of the "Gustavian era". Gustav's rule is authoritarian and freedom of speech is limited, but in the spirit of "enlightened autocracy" he pushes through many important reforms that the estates had been unable to decide on during the Age of Freedom. Swedish economy strengthens, laws are made more humane, new towns and roads are built, the navy is reformed and arts are favored. 1788-90 Gustav's war against Russia. Sweden attacks Russia hoping to reconquer eastern parts of Finland and Ingria ("Ingermanland"). The troops are poorly motivated, the war goes badly, a rebellion known as Anjala-alliance rises among the Finnish officers and Gustav has to stop the Russian campaign. Meanwhile, Denmark attacks Sweden, but finds England and Prussia opposing all military actions in the Danish straits, and is forced to accept a truce. In June 1789 the war in the eastern front is continued, but with no significant advance on land and several defeats on sea. However, on July 9th 1790 in Svensksund on the Finnish coast, the Swedish navy achieves a glorious victory in the largest naval battle ever fought on the Baltic sea. After this, Russia accepts a peace offered by Sweden but the peace involves no ceding of territories. Year 1792 Gustav attends a masked ball in Stockholm's opera despite the several warnings about conspirators planning an assassination. Around midnight, he is mortally wounded by a certain J.J.Anckarström, and dies a couple of weeks later. Duke Charles becomes a regent while the young crown prince Gustav Adolf is under age. 1792-1809 Russia had agreed in the treaty of Tilsit to pressure Sweden to join the Napoleonic anti-British trade blockade, but Sweden refuses to listen to the Russian ultimatums and scare-tactics and remains opposed to Napoleon. Eventually, when all diplomatic means have failed, Russia attacks Finland 1808. Despite brief victories, the war goes badly for Sweden and by the spring of 1809 the Finnish troops had surrendered, the main army had retreated to Sweden and in the peace treaty of Fredrikshamn September 1809 the whole of Finland was joined to Russia. With the loss of Finland it is made evident that the strength of the Swedish army was far more depending on soldiers from Finland than her 20% share of the population would suggest. For the defense of Sweden's territories an extra conscription for an extra army was made among males below the age of 26 years. Unfortunately their training was far too brief, and then at the fronts in the south and the west they were left with deficient support, why many died from hunger and freezing. Because of the disastrous war Gustav IV Adolf loses power and a new constitution is written that puts an end to Gustavian autocracy. The constitution was signed June 6th 1809 by duke Charles, again regent after the king had been dethroned. Duke Charles is elected king, and the Danish prince Christian August, who led the Norwegian government and army, was elected to crown prince of Sweden - obviously with a Nordic union planned, but the Danish king Frederik VI opposed this idea, unless he himself was elected. May 1810 the Swedish crown prince dies unexpectedly; his big brother accepts to succeed him, but suddenly a French Marshall Jean Baptiste Bernadotte announces his candidacy, and in solely ten days the state council, the king and the estates change their minds. The election is unanimous. 1814-1905 In return for its anti-Napoleonic stance, Sweden receives Norway in the treaty of Vienna, and the two countries are united in a personal union, with Sweden occupying a leading position. During this period Sweden develops from a poor agrarian country, to a less poor agrarian country - and then industrialism begins. The old villages are divided, each farm get its fields collected; the democratic village meeting loses its function when each farm has its own fences. New methods and crops (potatoes!) are introduced by farmers now independent of the conservative neighbors' opinion. The life expectancy rise - as does the number of crofters and vagrants. In the beginning of the 19th century the vodka consumption is the highest ever, estimated to 24 liters 100% pure alcohol per inhabitant. Paradoxally the slightly improved living conditions, as indicated by longer life expectancy, lead to a new kind of misery with a growing number of peasants without property. The crofters, farm-hands etc form a rural proletariat which grows fast while becoming relatively all more impoverished. As a reaction Social-purity ideas grow, leading among other things to reforms of the mandatory schools, of the political representation and of the municipal responsibilities for poor. 1860 it becomes prohibited for ordinary citizens to make their own vodka. In 1831 the newspaper Aftonbladet is founded, important because of it's struggle to increase the freedom of the press. The king, Karl XIV Johan, at the time had the right to retract permissions to publish newspapers. When Aftonbladet criticized the king, he retracted the publish rights - but the paper immediately reappeared as "The Second Aftonbladet", "The Third Aftonbladet" and all the way to the "28th Aftonbladet". 1850-90 About one million Swedes moved to America during this period, but the emigration slowed after 1900 because of improved conditions of living and increased industrialization. Norway, industrialized before Sweden, was an enticements on poor Swedes who couldn't afford the fare to America. 1845-1923 Women get equal rights in society From 1845 daughters inherit as much land as their male siblings. (Until then the sons had got twice as much.) In 1858 unmarried women get right to dispose own incomes and possessions and also to run enterprises, and come of age at 25 years (including right to vote at the parish meeting in case they earn enough). Unmarried women get right to state employment in the 1860:ies. Higher education for women is organized in some towns. In 1874 married women get right to dispose their income. As late as 1921 married women get total right to dispose their own possessions and act on their own judicial responsibility, and also rights to vote in parliamentary elections. Finally 1923 also the right to higher positions in the state administrations. 1880:ies The Scandinavian democratic traditions develop in the working class - initially in the free Churches, the temperance movement (IOGT was established 1879) and the workers unions which all grow to strong democratic forces. Education extension was an important part of their work. Debates and proclamations are made, from the 1870:ies public parades are organized to express the will of the people. The Social Democratic party is founded 1889. 20th century Sweden manages to stay out of both World Wars, achieves a high standard of living and becomes an urbanized welfare state. The parishes are merged to municipalities and then merged again to even bigger municipalities, and then again. Until 1917 the governments are mostly Conservative, 1917-1926 Social Democrats form the Cabinet, sometimes in coalition with Liberals. 1932 the Social Democrats return to the Cabinet, and except for a few months the summer 1936 they remain at power until 1976. 1900-14 The union with Norway is ceased without violence, and almost without threats. The workers unions organize several massive strikes, frightening the upper class. The proposal to equal votes for men was made by a conservative cabinet which feared a revolution as the alternative. 7.3.7 social security 1945-1960 During the 1940'ies the agrarian proletarians are transformed to tenant farmers, and house maids which now have gotten regulated working hours become a very rare sight. The Social Democrats continue to dominate the society, in the parliament in cooperation with the Agrarians when neccessary. The industry expands. People leave the countryside for the towns. Sick insurance, pensions, maternal allowance and yearly vacations are expanded. The urbanization leads to a new kind of social misery with shortage of housing and "wild" adolescent gangs in the towns. Immigrants are welcomed by the industries: Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Finland-Swedes and Finns. 1960-1980 Women participate in the caring for children and elderly as employees by the municipalities. Taxes rise. A surge of immigrants are engaged in the industries. Vacations get limited to not less than 5 weeks yearly. 40 hours working week is enforced. Strong laws against arbitrary sacking of workers are decided and the unions get right to participate in board meetings for companies. The educational system is made uniform with 10 years of mandatory theoretical school with minimized freedom to choose subjects followed by 3 years of specializing ("Gymnasium"). Matriculation examination is abolished, as are apprentices. All secondary schools give access to higher studies, the mark system is debated and changed. The king loses the last executive power. Princesses get equal rights with princes to inherit the throne. Swedish politicians tend to start their careers in younger years, before having accomplished in any profession (Olof Palme is one of the first examples), and the reduced number of municipal politicians contribute to a growing alienation between politicians and the electorate. The Swedish Social Democratic governments are eager to act in international politics. Preferably on the "anti-imperialist" side against the United States - and sometimes against the Soviet Union. Olof Palme belonged to the Swedes who were strongly engaged against the Vietnam war, which led to the US ambassador leaving Sweden for some years. In Sweden communists were hunted in the unions and among the employees in governmental institutions (as hospitals!). In the 1970:ies Jan Guillou, an investigating journalist at a left-wing periodical, was imprisoned for revealing the close cooperation between the Social Democratic party and a secret organization registering people with leftist opinions threatening the society. Jan Guillou became some 15 years later Sweden's most famous novel writer with his series about the super-hero baron Carl G Hamilton in the Swedish secret service. In elections to the parliament 1973 the left block and the anti-Socialist block got 175 seats each. Olof Palme remained as prime minister. Many laws were decided after drawing of lots. The number of seats is made unequal. 1976-1994 The political majority in the parliament changes almost every 6:th year. Waves of refugees arrive but fail to find employment. Plans to force companies to give shares to the workers unions every year are discussed, decided and abandoned. The defense forces are successively reduced. In 1976 the leader for the Center party, Thorbjörn Fälldin, becomes the first non-Social Democratic prime minister since 1936 after an intense campaign in favor of environment protection and against nuclear power. In a referendum 1979 between three proposals to close the thirteen nuclear power plants the Social Democratic version wins a relative majority and is interpreted as use of all nuclear power is to be liquidated in thirty years. In the autumn 1981 a Russian submarine runs a-ground in what the military calls inner security zone of the navy base area in the Blekinge archipelago. After half a day an inhabitant on the island informs the military about the unexpected guest. A Russian navy gathers at the territorial border, but leaves after the Swedish prime minister Thorbjörn Fälldin publicly declared he had ordered the Swedish defense forces to use all means against further intruders on the sea or in the air. The Russians denied accusations of having brought atomic weapons to Sweden, as the US navy always had done when they had come on (announced) visits. After this perturbing episode the Swedish navy hunted Russian mini- and macro-submarines intensely for the following ten years. Then it turned out that some, most or all of the hunted objects had been minks. Big devaluations solve some problems and cause other. In the 1980's a lot of Swedish industrial profits are gambled away on continental real estates. February 28th 1986, the Social Democratic prime minister Olof Palme, who had dominated Swedish politics in the 70's and 80's, is assassinated while returning from movies. A political heir of Tage Erlander (another influential Swedish prime minister, in power 1946-69), he had an international reputation as an architect of the Swedish welfare model and an outspoken advocate of disarmament. He was the first Swedish leader to be killed since king Gustav III. Despite feverish and almost tragicomic investigations, the motive and the killer still remain unknown. At the beginning of the 1990:ies the employment drops drastically, as does the value of the currency, and the state budget deficit explodes. Subsidies are diminished for sick insurance, maternal and paternal leave, unemployment insurance... The bad times result in some changes on higher positions in the banks and industries, and it turns out that their boards (also state owned banks and companies) have granted the management fabulous pensions. The Social Democrats have propagandized much against the Bildt cabinet policy, populistically claiming it to strike hard against the weakest among the people. The people got surprised when the Social Democrats, after the election of 1994 back at power, in the parliament do much harder cuts in the social security system. The ferry Estonia en route between Tallin and Stockholm with over a thousand people on-board sank into the icy Baltic September 28th 1994; only circa 130 were saved. Of the drowned, the vast majority were Swedes, and the disaster shook the whole nation. Latest news In 1996 The Social Democratic party elected a new chairman, Göran Persson, namesake to the chancellor of Erik XIV, who becomes prime minister and the sixth leader of the party in 107 years. Persson's supporters have acted against Mona Sahlin, proposed by the retiring Ingvar Carlsson, spreading (true) rumors about her bad capability to take care of her own economy, and her purchase of diapers and chocolate with a government credit card. Mona Sahlin is made impossible and leaves the political life. Göran Persson is caught shop-lifting chocolate, and the former minister of Justice (in mr Bildt's cabinet) is forgiven purchase of shoes and dresses with her government credit card. The strongest criticism comes from Per Uncle, another former minister of mr Bildt's, who turns out to be the one the prosecutor finds his greatest interest in. Several municipal politicians and managers leave their positions after having been too self-indulgent with municipal credit cards on night clubs, brothels and holiday trips. The unveiling of this habit was introduced by a Scanian radio journalist, Janne Svensson, who soon got employed as secretary for the Social Democratic mayor of Malmö. The former leader for the (Social) Liberal party leads an "independent" commission investigating espionage on a private TV station where a reporter had unveiled embarrassing facts about HSB, a national organization for housing societies, not without ties to the Social Democratic party. The espionage is ordered by the manager for a public relation firm with close ties to the Social Democratic party, but the commission declares that HSB could not be shown to have aimed at espionage - only at a vicious slander campaign. The HSB manager, who over a bottle of whiskey had commissioned the PR-firm manager, should not have acted on behalf of HSB. - The commission worked on the behalf of HSB. The European Union, which Sweden entered 1995, is among many perceived as the greatest threat against the Swedish democracy (except for wars). The alienation between the electorate and the elected becomes worse. ------------------------------ Subject: 7.4 Main tourist attractions 7.4.1 Stockholm area Stockholm was originally established (c. 1250) by Birger Jarl as a defense outpost against the Baltic pirates on one of the channel islands that now make up Old Town. The city gained importance during the late Middle Ages as an exporter of metals, timber, and furs from its hinterland, but was still second after Uppsala in importance. Following the Stockholm Bloodbath and the subsequent overthrow of Danish rule in 1523, Stockholm became the center of the new Swedish kingdom. Under Gustav II Adolf (ruled 1611-32) Sweden became a major European power. His daughter and successor Christina (ruled 1632-54) established Stockholm as an intellectual and cultural center. Stockholm is sometimes known as the Venice of the North. It is the cultural, educational, and industrial center of Sweden. The heart of the city is built on 13 small islands at the junction where Lake Mälaren joins the Baltic Sea. Remnants of medieval Stockholm survive on three small islands known as Gamla Stan (the Old Town). They are Stadsholmen (The City Island) , Riddarholmen (Knight Island), and Helgeandsholmen (The Island of the Holy Spirit). The islands are closely connected and form the "Staden mellan broarna", or "city between the bridges". Stadsholmen has old gabled houses and narrow streets not found in other sections. Facing the water is the Royal Palace, which was completed in 1760, and is open to tourists. Nearby is the Storkyrkan (cathedral), the oldest building of the city (although the exterior is baroque), which houses e.g the famous medieval sculpture of St. Georg and the Dragon by the German sculptor Berndt Notke. Cobblestone streets wind up from the palace to the old Stortorget, or Great Market, the site of the Bloodbath of 1520. Eighty-two Swedish noblemen were executed in the market by Danish King Christian II. Close to Stadsholmen is Riddarholmen, where many of the Swedish rulers have been buried in Riddarholmskyrkan. On the tiny Helgeandsholmen, or Island of the Holy Spirit, where the House of Parliament stands. North of the Old Town are Norrmalm, the modern business and theater district, and Östermalm, a resedential section. Södermalm, a manufacturing center, is in the city's southern section, across the bridge leading from Old Town. The Town Hall, which is Stockholm's symbol, and most of the city government offices are on Kungsholmen, a large island west of Norrmalm. Stockholm is famous for its cleanliness and for its large number of parks and open spaces. On Djurgarden (a peninsula reserved for parkland and a cultural center) is Skansen, an open-air museum. The University of Stockholm, founded in 1877 as a private institution, was taken over by the state in 1960 and is now the country's largest university. The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually in Stockholm, with the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, which is presented in Oslo, Norway. Major museums include the National Museum (of art), the Moderna Museet (Museum of modern art), the Vasa Museum (where a magnificient, 17th Century royal warship Vasa is on display; it sunk in the harbour on it's first journey in 1628 and was well preserved in the water for over 300 years until it was lifted in 1961. It's a must for every Stockholm visitor), the Historical Museum, the Nordic Museum, the Museum of Natural History (with Cosmonova omni theatre), the Museum of Naval History, the Skansen outdoor museum, the medieval museum, and the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren) where all sorts of fascinating artifacts from the history of the kingdom are on display, including crown jewels. In August each year we have the Stockholm Water Festival, an annual cultural and entertainment event sponsored by the city council and local business life. The one and a half week festival offers special exhibitions, concerts, shows, fireworks, an impromptu shopping mall in the Old Town with street restaurants, outdoor movie shows, activities for children, etc. The offcial guide of the festival each year lists more than 1 000 festival events. The Stockholm archipelago with tens and tens of thousands of islands is very popular in the summer. You can take the white Waxholm boats to the archipelago. A popular area for summer houses. Have a tour around Stockholm by sightseeing boat. Or see the city on a regular boat trip. In that case, note Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen, formerly navy base. Then get the most condensed view of the old town. Further out, note Waldermarsudde, home of artist late Prince Eugen, now museum. Young artists will give concerts here summertime. Then a white building with towers, home of late Marcus Wallenberg. Finally two beautiful houses from baroque era on point Blockhusudden. Drottningholm. Accessed by land or by boat. Home of the royal family. Theatre with advanced scene mechanism from 18th century, in use today. Park in the style of Versailles, with "Kina slott", romantic building in Chinese style. Open-air museum Skansen in Djurgården should preferably be seen when all workshops are open which will not be until the end of August. At least some of them should however be open every Sunday. Skansen also has a Zoo. You can get there with the museum tram line leaving from Norrmalmstorg. Suggested walks or bike rides around Stockholm * Along shore Norr Mälarstrand. Outdoor cafe. Then one will come to the City Hall. Enter the tower. * From Djurgården eastwards along the shore to Blockhusudden. Bring a picnic basket early in the morning. * On the hills of Södermalm, with red cottages dispersed among the stone houses. Fine views over the water. * Along the shores of Reimersholme. Then, on the way to bridge Västerbron, pass by 'Lasse i parken' (cafe in a red cottage). Go over Västerbron and again come to Norr Mälarstrand. * On Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen. Museum of Eastern antiques. Youth hostel and outdoor cafe. There is no particular restaurant area in Stockholm. Stureplan and around however is somewhat of a meeting place. It is also close to water. In later years the south side (Södermalm), especially around Medborgarplatsen, has emerged as an important area of restaurants and pubs. There are over a hundred of them within 5 minutes walking distance from Medborgarplatsen. Plenty of choir concerts are given in the churches and the choirs are generally very good. There are some places close to Stockholm which should be seen, if possible. * Gripsholm castle, accessed e.g. with s/s Mariefred on a one-day trip; oldest part was built in the 1380's. Interesting because it's different styles inside reflect different epochs. * Home and orangery of the famous botanist Carl von Linne in Uppsala. * Hammarby, east of Uppsala. Summer resort of Linne, used by him for lecturing. * Österbybruk, north of Uppsala. The pre-industrial factories called 'bruk' are peculiar for Sweden. A 'bruk' was a complete community. They are dispersed throughout middle Sweden. Österbybruk is very well preserved. * Skokloster castle at lake Mälaren, from about the same time as man-of-war Vasa. Armoury collection. (Rent a car in order to visit the previous four items.) * The remains of Birka in lake Mälaren. Birka could be considered capital of Sweden during the Viking age. Best accessed by boat. Suggested one-day archipelago trips from Stockholm * Sandhamn on island Sandön. Have beefsteak lunch onboard on the steamer. From the harbour, walk southwards to village Sandhamn. Then follow the southern shore of the island to point Trouville. Find a suitable way back to the village. Be careful to enter the right boat back. Avoid Saturdays and Sundays. * Kymmendö. Strindberg's Hemsö. Restricted area. Ask for permission at the police office. * Rödlöga. Small formerly fishing village. Forest meadows and hardwood forest, very impressing that far out in the sea. It will however be at its best in early summer. The main island of this detached archipelago is rather small and will be walked around in one hour. Choose between Saturdays or Sundays. * Husarö. If you have the time, stay over night somewhere. There are accommodations at several places. Buy a smoked fish if there are not any restaurants. Check restricted (military) areas on the map. Ticks is not a big problem, but ask for advice if you are uncertain. On a half-day trip from Stockholm one can go to Vaxholm. See the citadel (open until 16.00) with gunnery museum and minute exhibition about the Ytterby mine, known for ytterbium, yttrium, terbium, holmium, scandium, gadolinium and lanthanum. The mine itself may be visited but is hardly worth seeing and minerals may not be collected. Open air cafe in the citadel. Check this URL for more info on Stockholm in the www: 7.4.2 Uppsala The city of Uppsala, a major Swedish cultural center, lies about 70 km north of Stockholm and can easily be accessed by train. Uppsala has a history going well into the prehistoric era, it became the seat of the Swedish archbishop in 1164 and a royal residence in the next century, although it later lost much of its status and the king moved to Stockholm. The most important sight is Uppsala cathedral (domkyrkan), Sweden's largest medieval church, and a national sanctuary where e.g the king Gustav Vasa, philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg and the botanist Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) are buried. The University of Uppsala (1477) is Sweden's oldest institution of higher learning, and it's main building Gustavianum (1623) houses a couple of museums. Uppsala castle overlooks the city from a high hill, and beside it is the symbol of the city, Gunillaklockan (Gunilla's clock), which is played daily 6 a.m and 9 p.m. Uppland's museum is located in an old mill by the river Fyrisån. Linné's home museum (Linnés Hammarby) with a garden dedicated to him are also in the city. Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), now a suburb five kilometers to the north of the modern city, was the religious and political capital of the Sveas in the Viking age. The three high burial mounds (kungshögarna) from the 6th century belong, according to tradition, to the kings Aun, Adils and Egil; finds from their excavations are displayed in Stockholm in the Historical Museum (Historiska Museet). In a 1164 a church was built on the site of the famous old pagan temple of which nothing remains, as a symbol of the victory of Christianity in Sweden -- it was the seat of the archbishop until 13th century when a new cathedral was finished. The restaurant Odinsborg, built in "viking style", serves mead (mjöd). 7.4.3 Malmö Located in Skåne, the southern tip of Sweden, 26 km across the sea (Öresund) from Copenhagen, Malmö is Sweden's third largest city. It was chartered as a city during the 13th century, at which time the region belonged to Denmark. In 1658 it passed to Sweden. Originally, Malmö's harbor was poor, and the city served mainly as a herring market until 1775, when the port facilities were improved. After 1800, Malmö began to develop as an industrial city. The center of Malmö is Stortorget square, by which are located the governor's house (Residenset, 1720), the City Hall (Rådhuset, 1546) and the statue of Karl X Gustav, conqueror of Skåne. St Peter's Church (S:t Petri, 1319), with a nicely sculptured interior and a 88m high green spire is also in the center. The castle Malmöhus was first built 1434, and rebuilt 1537-42; now it houses a museum of archaology, history, natural history and art. The Small Square (Lilla Torg) is one of the most beautiful in the country, with it's houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. Other sights include the Technical Museum, Charlotte Weibull's House, the City Theatre, the Arts Hall, and the old Market Hall. In the summer, you may want to visit the beach Ribersborgbadet. 7.4.4 Göteborg Göteborg (Gothenburg), founded in 1621 by Gustav II Afolf on the site of an earlier settlement, is Sweden's second largest city and chief seaport. It prospered during especially during the Napoleonic Wars, when Göteborg remained open while many other European ports were under the anti-British trade blockade. Located where the Göta river empties into the Danish straits, it was designed on Netherlandic fashion, with canals and bridges. The Göta Gota Canal built in the 19th century runs between Stockholm and Stockholm, and is a very scenic route indeed. In the center of the city are Gustav Adolf's square, by which the old Stock Exchange is located. The City Hall was designed by Nicholas Tessin the younger in 1672. The Östra Hamngatan and Kungsportavenyn streets lead to Götaplatsen (Göta Square), in the center of which is the statue of Poseidon by Carl Milles; the city theatre, concert hall and art musem (Nordic, French and Dutch art from 19th and 20th centuries) are located by the square. Ostindiska Huset (the house of the East-Indian Company), built 1750, houses historical, archaeological and ethnological collections. The city museum is housed in the oldest house of the city, Kronhuset, from the year 1653. Kronan is a fortress with a war museum. Off the city lies Älvsborgs Festning (Ävsborg Fortress), 1670, which can be accessed by boat. The old parts of the city contain the also the cathedral (1633), Kristine Church (1648), the law courts (1672), and the opera house (1859). There's a university (1891) and Chalmers Technical University. The sports stadium Ullevi, with seats for 52,000 people, is Sweden's biggest; the indoors stadium Scandinavium houses 14,000. Two bridges go over the wide Göta River, Götaälvbron and the newer Älvborgsbron. 7.4.5 Gotland Gotland is the the largest island (3,023 km²) in the Baltic Sea and has a population of 56,383 (1989), with the town of Visby as the administrative center. It lies 80 km off the Swedish coast and can be accessed by daily boats from the mainland. Close to it are a couple of smalle islands, Fårön, Gotska Sandön and Karlsö. Gotland is a low limestone plateau with a temperate, sunny climate. It developed rather early in prehistory etensive trade contacts with the people of northern Europe, and had a very distinctive culture, represented by e.g the numerous, beautiful picture stones erected all over the island. By the 12th century Visby was an important, independent town and a member of the Hanseatic League. The Danish king Valdemar Atterdag brutally conquered it in 1361, and after that, control of Gotland was disputed by several nations. Trade routes shifted, however, and by the time Sweden gained lasting control in 1645, it had lost much of its former importance and was impoverished. Nowadays the island is a very popular summer destination, rich in sights (including lots of medieval churches) and very good for a cycling holiday. It has a beautiful, characteristic nature, and the old ring wall around the medieval city of Visby, no doubt one of the most beautiful towns in Scandinavia, is almost totally intact. An important event is the Medieval Week (medeltidsveckan) arranged in Visby in August every year, with knights, Medieval markets, etc. The Forntidssalen museum in Visby displays the fascinating prehistory of Gotland, including picture stones and some of the rich Viking age treasures that are constantly found in the island (metal detectors are banned in Gotland!) Other absolute "musts" in and around Gotland include the caves at Lummelunda, the rauk fields (peculiar limestone formations on the coasts) and Stora Karlsö (an island off the south-west of Gotland). 7.4.6 The rest of Sweden In the north, people appreciate the beauty of the mountain range ("fjällvärlden"), where you can hike, fish, pick berries, ski (in the winter) or see the midnight sun (in the summer and far north). There are several big national parks here. The province of Dalarna is the "home" of the traditional Midsummer celebrations, where people dance around the Midsummer poles in traditional folk dresses. Jämtland is one of the latest provinces to have been incorporated in the Swedish realm, and remains almost half-Norwegian both in customs and language - and a great resort for hiking and skiing. A popular route is Göta Kanal, on which you can go on boat from Norrköping to Gothenburg and at the same time see a cross section of the mid-Sweden country side. Skåne (Scania) is the Swedish province that gives an almost Central European impression. The landscape is very flat and much of it is farmed. You'll find beautiful beech woods here and everywhere you see the traditional black and white houses ('korsvirkeshus'). Many like to rent or own summer houses on the Scanian country side. For more info on Scania, see section 7.6. ------------------------------ Subject: 7.5 Swedish literature Swedish writing dates back to 11th-century runic inscriptions, but actual literature originated in the Catholic Middle Ages. Saint Birgitta (1303-1373) wrote her Revelations, which became internationally known, in Latin. Another important work from the 14th century is the Erikskrönikan, which recounts historical events in poetic form. Most medieval Swedish writings served nonliterary purposes, with the exception of the folk ballads. Gustav Vasa's reformation of the church contributed to a cultural decline in the 16th century. However, of vital importance to the development of the Swedish language were Olaus Petri's Bible translations of 1526 and 1541. Another important 16th century work, although in Latin, was Olaus Magnus's Historia De Gentibus Septentrionalibus (History of the Nordic Peoples, 1523). During this period there also appeared Sweden's first lyric poet, Lars Wivallius. Another significant early poet is Georg Stiernhelm in the 1600's. The 18th century, a period of enlightenment, was dominated by prose. Only toward the close of the century, during the reign of Gustaf III, did other genres emerge in the wake of French cultural influence. Noteworthy is Carl Michael Belmman's rococo ballads. Emmanuel Swedenborg's mystical visions influenced many authors and thinkers around Europe and prompted the Swedenborgian religion that still exists. Erik Johan Stagnelius's Neoplatonism, Esaias Tegner's and Erik Gustaf Geijer's glorification of the nation's past, and Abraham Viktor Rydberg's idealistic liberalism all reflect the philosophical orientation of Swedish 19th-century romanticism. Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, initially a mystic and romantic, came later to herald new trends of realism in prose works characterized by social awareness. The Finland-Swedish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, with his heroic and romantic poetry, had enormous influence in the Swedish speaking literary circles. But the most important figure of the century was, however, August Strindberg (1849-1912), Sweden's greatest writer and the father of modern Swedish drama and fiction. Moving in his later plays from naturalism to dreamlike symbolism, Strindberg foreshadowed expressionism. A novelist and playwright, he defied social convention by writing dramas of sexual conflict and psychological torment, drawn largely from his personal life. His plays are now esteemed as classics of the modern stage. Important works include e.g the Red Room (Röda Rummet), Olaus Petri and Inferno. The socially opinionated prose writers of the 1880s were succeeded by a new wave of romantics, who preferred verse and emphasized the past (Selma Lagerlöf) and the countryside (Erik Axel Karlfeldt). About 1900, Hjalmar Söderberg published exquisite short stories set in the streets of Stockholm; but the novelists of the next decade favored small-town Sweden. Modernism was introduced in the 1920s by the Finno-Swedish poets Edith Södergran, Gunnar Björling, and Elmer Diktonius, and it was affirmed in Pär Lagerqvist's innovative dramas and Gunnar Ekelöf's surrealistic poetry. A new social class of self-educated country writers entered Sweden's literary world in the 1930s, among them the 1974 Nobel laureates Harry Martinson and Eyvind Johnson. Sweden managed to avoid the world wars, but its literature from the 1940s (Erik Lindegren, Karl Vennberg) reflects the general postwar depression. The feeling of pessimism and guilt worsened during the following decades because of the Vietnam War and Third World problems. An intense questioning of literature's social function and a mistrust of language found many literary expressions -- from "new simplicity" and "concreteness" in poetry, to documentaries in prose, but the stories of Astrid Lindgren stand out with their delighting humor and humanity. Swedish literature of the end of the 1970s was characterized by a new trust in the word and a new delight in traditional fictio writing. For electronic versions of some of the works of Nordic literature, see the collection of Project Runeberg: * * * gopher.lysator.liu.se ; path: /project-runeberg ------------------------------ Subject: 7.6 Scania 7.6.1 Skåne and Skåneland Lat: Scania, Eng: Scania, Ger: die Schonen, Fr: la Scanie "Skåne" is old Danish/Scanian and means "the dangerous beach". It is possibly the same word as modern "skada" / "skade" in Swedish and Danish respectively which mean "damage". Skåne is the most southern of the provinces in Sweden. Together with Blekinge, Halland and Danish Bornholm, it has a unique history while it was an integral part of Denmark all the years before 1658 except 1332- 1360 when Denmark had no king and was in chaos and Scania had status as country under the Swedish king. "Skåneland" in Swedish or "Skånelandene" in Danish is a name used for the four provinces together. In Latin and English it is "Scania". In 1658, they all became Swedish, but Bornholm was returned to Denmark in 1660 while the other provinces remained Swedish. "Scania" is used for representing "Skåneland" in the text below but not in a strict sense. Sometimes, the meaning might be closer to the province of Skåne. And Bornholm will in this use often not be included. When emphasizing that it is only the southern province that is referred to, "Skåne" is used, but when emphasizing that all provinces are referred to, "Skåneland" will be used. 7.6.2 Miscellaneous facts The populations of the four provinces are today: Skåne: 1 110 000 Halland: 270 000 Blekinge: 160 000 Bornholm: 50 000 The big cities in Skåne are Malmö: 250 000 Lund: 90 000 Helsingborg: 110 000 Kristianstad: 70 000 Skåne is sometimes divided into four provinces itself (going from north west to south east): North Western Skåne, Göingebygden, Sydslätten and Österlen. The borders of these local provinces are very much disputed though. As a rule, the historic areas were smaller than some of the uses are today. "Österlen" for example covers so many positive connotations of semester paradise that the traditional borders often get transgressed when trying to sell real estates for example! The biggest newspaper is "Sydsvenska Dagbladet" that has its base in Malmö but covers southwestern Skåne equally well. It is independently liberal. In the same area, there are Social Democratic "Arbetet" and Centre Party "Skånska Dagbladet". Several other local papers exist like for example Helsingborgs Dagblad and Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar. The only university in Scania is Lund University. Other schools for higher education in the same official university area of southern Sweden are situated in Växjö, Kalmar, Karlskrona/Ronneby, Kristianstad and Halmstad. There are also quite big university independent schools in Malmö, and Lund University offers some courses in Helsingborg and Jönköping (the later outside Scania) as well. There are ferries between Copenhagen and Malmö, Helsingborg-Helsingør, Landskrona-Tuborg (close to Copenhagen) and of course to the islands Ven and Bornholm. There are also ferries to Germany (Travemünde and Saßnitz) and Poland and sometimes to Lithuania. A few other ones exist too. 7.6.3 A few marks in history An event that was in people's minds for a long while was that in 1612, Gustav II Adolf's troops killed people in 24 congregations in Scania and in the 1660's, the Scanian rebels - the "snapphanar", a well-known word even today - were pierced and were put up and made an example of along the Scanian country roads. A certain sort of self-governing remained until 1720 but then was abolished. The last time there was any fighting about the status of Scania was in 1811 in Klågerup outside Malmö. Peasants stood up to get rid of the Swedish rulers but lost of course. 7.6.4 International status Scania is a member of the national minority organization FUEV (Föderalistische Union Europäischer Volksgruppen) which is located in Flensburg, Germany. Only regions with their own language, clearly defined border and a history to go back to, are accepted in the FUEV. It is also a recent member of UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization). UNPO is an alternative to the UN for minorities of the world, which are not represented in there. UNPO is located in Haag, Netherlands where the Scanian flag now is flying. 7.6.5 The flag The Scanian flag is red with yellow ribbons and is more square than both the Danish and Swedish ones. The measurements are based on the old (1748-1926) Danish measures for its flag. They are 3-1-4.5 in length and 3-1-3 in height. The flag is most likely (though not proved) from the archbishop in Lund Andreas Sunesen (1201-1228) who then was archbishop for all of Norden. (But the country diocese ("landestiftet") where the Scanian law was in force was Skåneland). He got the flag pattern from (and used it on) a crusade in Latvia and a stay in Riga. The fact that the flag is like a Danish-Swedish combination with what could have been borrowed colors from these flags is a coincidence. The Swedish flag is younger. The Scanian flag itself was probably pretty much forgotten (though other yellow-red symbols existed) until Mathias and Martin Weibull "reinvented" it around the end of the last century. First, it was used very sparingly but the use has grown and does so even today. But only outside one of the Scanian town halls, in Ystad, is the Scanian flag flying so far. It is more frequently used by the common people, depending on area in Scania. The Swedish flag is still more common in the province. As late as in March 1992, the flag was registered in the Scandinavian Roll of Armor. At the same time, the Scanian coat of arms was registered: a golden panther on red background with hind legs like a lion and front legs like an eagle. The day of the Scanian flag is the third Sunday in July. 7.6.6 Culture Scania is associated (mostly nationally) with certain hallmarks like some types of food: the goose, the smoked eel ("rögad eål") and "spettkaka" (Swedish spelling) that is a type of cake. Other associations many have (and also used in the tourist business) are the clogs a lot of people wear even today and the national costumes containing a certain distinctive pale yellow color, with the men wearing pants reaching just below the knee followed by white socks. Lately, the Danish red sausage, the "pølse", has made it into the outdoor food commerce. It was for a long time not allowed in Sweden due to the added ingredients making the sausage red. When it finally became legal, this was considerad a great success of the local politicians. Maybe because of the Scanian habit of eating this sausage when visiting København, it has now become very popular in Scania too. In Lund there is another sausage called "lundaknake" that has reached fame, at least locally. The willows that edges many Scanian roads give the landscape a characteristic outlook. Scania is like Denmark very flat and without much of forests (in fact, this was the natural divider before 1658 between Denmark and Sweden). The willows are supposed to shelter against the wind in an environment where no other natural shelters exist. Also, the Scanian mills ("möllor") are typical for the province. Often situated on hills, they too characterize the horizon in the Scanian scenery. Being a region containing one eighth of the population in Sweden, there exist of course a great number of nationally famous Scanians, some of these comedians and singers. There will not be a list here, but the maybe most famous Scanian, the most Scanian Scanian will be mentioned. His name was Edward Persson and was the main character and very much dominating personality in a number of film comedies taken place on some farm in south eastern Skåne, in Österlen. He more or less established the image of the Scanian person: fat (!), slow, content with life, felling secure and of course having the strong accent. He's dead since some years now. Scanians have often got a bad reputation in Sjælland for going there to get drunk. The background is different state policies when it comes to the selling of alcohol. While this is harshly regulated in Sweden and only sold in certain stores with high prices, it's cheaper and much more easily accessible in Denmark. The result is irritation between the former fellow countrymen. 7.6.7 Language Many people today think that the language spoken today is a dialect of Swedish (and there are others who disagree saying it's a language of its own), but there are many differences that are more or less noticable depending on the speaker. For example: * Intonation * Scanians use a glottal stop (stød) though not as prominently as the Danes. * Pronunciation of the "r" is made by the root of the tongue in the "French way". Like the Danes do it. * When Swedes use t, k and p, Scanians often use d, g, and b. Like the Danes. * Like in Danish, t and k are pronounced very hard in beginning of words whereas in Swedish, they are softer. * None of the vowels are pronounced exactly in the same place of the mouth they are in Swedish, and you could say that standard Swedish "o" and "u" simply do not exist. * Every long vowel in Swedish is a diphthong in Scanian. The Swedish language lacks diphthongs entirely. Very dialectal Scanian can be quite difficult even for Swedish speakers to understand. There are also several examples of grammatical differences and there are a few hundreds of local words still in use, also by young people. Just ten examples: hutta = throw (Sw: kasta) klyddig = complicated (Sw: besvärlig) lässa = load, put up (Sw: lasta, lägga upp) mölla = mill (Sw: kvarn) nimm = neat (Sw: praktisk, lätt) påg = boy (Sw: pojke) rälig = ugly, mean (Sw: ful, stygg, otäck) sammedant = likewise (Sw: likadant) titt = often (Sw: ofta) töj = clothes (Sw: kläder) There are no original ethnic minorities living in Scania but there are a few dozens of thousand of Danes that have moved in after World War II. Some live in Landskrona and others have houses in Northern Skåne. Of foreign citizens, there are 9800 Danes, 8700 ex-Yugoslavs and 3150 Finlanders in Skåne. (These are the three biggest groups.) There are probably three things that are a salient for the Scanian development today: membership in the European Union, the bridge over Öresund (the sea between Sjælland and Skåne) to Denmark/regional cooperation with Sjælland and Skåne becoming one region politically. These things are in contrast to much of that of history and culture openly discussed and many times pushed forward by local Scanian politicians: 7.6.8 Membership in the European Union In October 1995, Sweden voted a slight yes to become a member of the European Union. In Skåne, the decision was very clear though. It was the region the most favorable to membership in all of Sweden. There is hope that Scania being a member of the EU can have positive implications for reasons of regional strength. There is talk about a Europe of the regions where the regions are getting more responsibility of conducting their own affairs and acting independently. The EU will probably to a certain degree result in the removal of administrative and political borders to neighbouring regions in other countries surrounding Scania. That is at least the explicit goal of the EU. In the long term, an abolition of customs controls and a common currency are discussed. This will especially benefit border regions. The EU membership resulted in that Sweden needed to be divided into so called NUTS regions. These are regions that the EU use for socio- economic calculations, for example when determining distribution of subsidies from the EU structural funds. Of three levels 1-3, NUTS 2 is the most important, often called the "basic region". It's necessary that it has some sort of political controlling unit, a council or parliament. As a result of these demands for NUTS regions, Sweden and the EU agreed in 1995 on a division of NUTS 2 in Sweden into 8 regions. Skåne and Blekinge became one. Halland was decided to belong to another region. This EU NUTS 2 division has been made a business separate from the _internal_ regional one described late in 7.6.9 where Skåne _alone_ will constitute one region). Some people are not so happy with this that the boundaries had to be different, thereby splitting the regional focus. The EU subsidizes the Interreg II program that supports border regional cooperation within the EU. For the Öresund region - that is: Greater København and all of Skåne - it will cover the years 1995-1999. The sum will be 13 million ECU for the whole project and 0.2 of these are used for a specific cooperation between south eastern Skåne and Bornholm. The same amount that the EU gives must be invested from the two states, thereby doubling the amount of money available. Scania is also represented in the EU Committee of Regions in which the member states' regions have representatives. 2 of the 12 Swedish representatives are Scanians but that is not the result of any fixed quota granted to Skåne. The Committee of Regions has no decisional, but only advisory, powers in the EU. Still, in some EU countries, regional top politicians are members and have high hopes for the future of the institution before the EU intergovernmental congress in that started in Mars 1996. 7.6.9 Cooperation with Sjælland and the bridge over Öresund There is since a few years a lot of talk in all kinds of sectors in Skåne public life about the prospect of a cooperative region involving Sjælland and Copenhagen. That's a goal every local politician seems to acknowledge nowadays. There are for example ideas about common transportation cards, a common TV channel, all kinds of cooperation projects in science, sports etc, a common labor market, and there has even been spoken of common Olympic Games in the year of 2008. Skåne was supposed to be a part of Copenhagen's arrangements as cultural capital of Europe in 1996, but in the end, the Scanian politicians decided to avoid some of its costs. But maybe the most discussed project for better communications between Scania and Sjælland is the bridge over Öresund: A bridge is being built between a point just south of Malmö and the airport of Copenhagen "Kastrup" which is the biggest airport in northern Europe. The bridge will be 16.5 km long and will carry cars as well as trains but not bikes. The current regional trains in Skåne and in Sjælland (the island on which Copenhagen lies) will be connected. It will take 28 min to go from Copenhagen to Malmö and 41 min to go to Lund. The university town of Roskilde will be on the same connection (26 min west of Copenhagen). The bridge was planned to be finished 1999, but is not on schedule so current predictions are mentioning the year after. It will be financed by the car (and of course truck) traffic whose drivers will pay a few hundred SEK for a single trip, just below the prices of today's ferries. Train passengers will only pay the normal price of 50 SEK in today's money. The Swedish and Danish states will act as guarantors for the project. The bridge was debated a lot because people were worried about hurting environmental effects. The flow of water between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea was one of the problems since it could be altered with damaging effects. The current solution is supposed to make sure there is no change at all in the water transportation. Other questions raised involved the increased car traffic and its environmental consequences. 7.6.10 A politically united region In Skåne, there is a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the centralization of a lot of cultural and administrative activities around the capital Stockholm. For example,there has been a famous research that showed that Stockholm gets six times higher cultural subsidies than Malmö per inhabitant. The editorial offices of national radio and TV stations are usually located in Stockholm which many, not only Scanians, are worried give a particular Stockholm perspective in produced programs. But Sweden is slowly in a process of getting a new division into regions. For the moment there are 24 smaller administrative provinces, "län", whose borders date back to the 1630's. In the future, there might be less than ten regions. What was long discussed (not a very loud debate though) was which areas would belong together and many different alternatives came up. Finally it was determined that Skåne and Western Sweden (including the second Swedish city Göteborg) would start out reuniting their respective län into two big regions (while the other Swedish län not involved would be left intact for the moment). The Scanian politicians were probably the most eager for this project and pushed rather strongly for it. (Already in 1992, did the main political organisations in Skåne submit a request to the government for a Skåne political region.) In this building of regions, the other parts of Skåneland - Blekinge and Halland - were omitted from being part of the new region. For now, they will continue being ordinary län. So, a state official report in 1995 proposed that Skåne politically should become one region and that a directly elected regional council should be formed. The date was in a government proposition in 1996 specified to Jan 1, 1997. When this proposal will be carried through, today's two län councils will disappear and be substituted by the regional council. Some of the state administrative powers (concerning regional development) will be transferred to the region. The Swedish parliament will make a decision concerning this in 1996. This report also suggested that the site of state administration would be Kristianstad in northern Skåne and this soon became a heated issue where the "capital of Skåne" would be. Malmö politicians were upset about making Kristianstad the administrative site and the positions seemed to be locked. Finally, this position was given to Malmö, a fact which of course angered the Kristianstad politicians much and who threatened to leave the project entirely. Parallel to having this new common political institution, there is also already a will from the regional politicians to coordinate and integrate regional decision making. Many different political domains (eg communications, economic life, education, tourism) are examined one by one by selected teams on how to improve the way those decisions that concerns all of Skåne are made. This will be made with or without the help of a regional parliament. It seems, the theme is always one Skåne institution or organisation for different activities. This is not least visible in the names being used. Sources: "Skånelands flagga", Sven-Olle R Olsson, 1993 Newspaper articles from "Sydsvenska Dagbladet", 1992-95 Brochures by SVEDAB (Svensk-Danska Broförbindelsen AB), 1993-94 Ett enat Skåne: www.skane.se, Öresundskomiteens: www.orestad.com ------------------------------ Subject: 7.7 Books for learning Swedish * Holmes, Philip and Serin, Gunilla: Colloquial Swedish, New York: Routledge, 1990, ISBN 0-415-02803-5. Cassette available * Beite, Ann-Mari, Englund, Gertrud, Higelin, Siv & Hildeman, Nils-Gustav: Basic Swedish Grammar, 1963 * Hildeman, et al: Learn Swedish, Swedish Reader for Beginners, 1959 * All Almqvist & Wiksell: Practice Swedish, Exercises in the Swedish Language, 1957 * Nyborg, Roger & Pettersson, Nils-Owe: Svenska Utifrån, Lärobok i svenska, Svenska Institutet, 1991 ISBN 91-520-0268-3 * McClean, R.J: Teach Yourself Swedish, London, The English Universities Press, 1947. Newer reprint available. In French: Le suedois sans peine - svenska på lätt sätt * Part I and II, ed. ASSIMIL, 1986. Easily found in any bookshop. These two books are a sort of small FAQ about Sverige : *skål*, herrings and bier, Americans with Swedish backgrounds, etc. Two sets of cassettes can be bought with the books. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- END OF PART 7 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- © Copyright 1994-96 by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson. You are free to quote this page as long as you mention the URL for the original archive (as: ), where the most recent version of this document can be found.