After the death of Charles, who had never thought of designating a successor, two claimants for the throne came forward; his sister Ulrika and his nephew Carl Frederick. By intrigue with the nobles the former secured the prize, promising to give up the almost absolute power that had been wielded by the Vasa line. Two years later Ulrika resigned the sovereignty to her husband, Prince Frederick of Hesse. One of the most distressing chapters of Swedish history now begins. Frederick I. was indolent and indifferent to the claims of his position. When an energetic policy might at least have protected the country, he looked on in apathy while party strife within and greed of conquest from without nearly sundered the kingdom. Russia obtained Ingermanland, Esthonia, Livonia, and part of Finland, and in effect controlled the territory which it spared. After thirty years of such virtual interregnum the throne was again mounted by an alien prince, Adolf Frederick of Holstein. This was going from bad to worse. The new Frederick was weaker, if not more indolent than his predecessor, and in the twenty years of his authority the nation reached the bottom of its helplessness and insignificance. In 1771, Gustaf III., son of Adolf Frederick, was crowned. None of the father’s qualities appear in this son. Born on Swedish soil, though of alien blood, he had early imbibed the spirit of the Vasa monarchs, and set out to rival their achievements. He at once overthrew the power of the council and assumed again the reins of irresponsible authority. He became involved in a war with Russia, then ruled by Catherine II., who effected an alliance with Denmark against him. By the influence of Prussia and England Danish co-operation with Russia was abandoned. After a few skirmishes Gustaf was induced to close the campaign without accomplishing the results attempted. It was clear the odds were too great.
Sweden, now that all foreign differences were adjusted, was in condition to enter upon a long period of prosperity. But to the restless temper of the king, peace was impossible. He was ever entertaining great schemes, and laid plans even for interfering with the course of events in France, hoping to set aside the course of the revolution and set up again the authority of the Bourbon family. Money was solicited from the Diet for this purpose. The wildness of such a project when the country was groaning under an accumulated burden of debt, caused a strong revulsion of feeling against the king. A conspiracy was formed to remove him, and on the 16th of March, 1792, while attending a masked ball in Stockholm, he was assassinated.
Gustaf III. left as heir to the throne an only son, who was declared king at the age of fourteen, under the title of Gustaf Adolf IV. During the four years that remained of his minority the country was entrusted to the regency of his uncle, Duke Charles of Sodermanland. On attaining his majority, Gustaf IV. was crowned, and assumed direction of the government. The people rejoiced again in the accession of a prince of unusual promise, but they were again doomed to disappointment. The king refused to continue the policy inaugurated by his uncle, of supporting the new order of things in France. To the quality of wilfulness he soon united that of fanaticism. Napoleon was to his mind unmistakably the Great Beast foretold in the Book of Revelations. He, therefore, without duly weighing the consequences, joined the triple coalition against France. This step led to numerous evils. Taking the field in person, he matched his strength against Bernadotte, who took possession of Hanover. After the battle of Austerlitz, and the peace of Tilsit, the insane King of Sweden attempted to continue the war alone. Despoiled of Pomerania by the French, he was next to rouse the ire of Russia and lose Finland. Even England, who had come to his rescue, abandoned all hope of his administration and recalled her troops. The nation was in despair; revolution was again its only hope. A project was formed to place the crown in foreign hands, and offer of it was made to the English Duke of Gloucester. The rumor of an intended deposition spread, and the people hailed it with enthusiasm. Without waiting to settle the question of who should take the crown, a body of troops marched from the borders of Norway to the royal palace in Stockholm, and in the name of the nation seized the person of the king. On the 29th of March, 1809, he signed his abdication, henceforth to be an exile and a wanderer. He assumed the name of Count Gottorp, made a brief sojourn in England, whence he repaired to the Continent, and finally died in 1837 at St. Gall, in Switzerland.
Duke Charles of Sodermanland, after the expulsion of his nephew, was again made regent, and later proclaimed king of the realm, under the title of Charles XIII. He was the son of the sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia, and had long served the country in the position of chief-admiral. Being without an heir, with the consent of the states, Prince Christian of Holstein-Sonderburg was designated as his successor. The latter, however, died suddenly the same year, while reviewing troops near Helsingborg; not without suspicion of poisoning. The question of the succession was again opened, and finally settled in a manner very unexpected. The states at first proposed to adopt the brother of the late prince, and one Count Mörner was dispatched to Paris to obtain the consent of Napoleon. The young nobleman, however, had thought of a more romantic plan, which was no less than the adoption of one of Napoleon’s famous marshals for the vacant throne. His choice was Bernadotte, who, we have seen, had served his master in a campaign in the North. Napoleon gave an unwilling consent, and Jean Bernadotte was declared Crown-prince of Sweden.
Bernadotte repaired at once to Sweden and assumed control of the national defenses. It was a critical moment. Sweden had for some time been under the control of France, which was now alienated by the Swedish choice of sovereign. Napoleon forced Sweden into a war with England, while hostilities were also threatened by Russia and Denmark, and seized Swedish Pomerania. Bernadotte, however, possessed a knowledge of diplomacy as well as of the art of war. He formed with Alexander of Russia a secret treaty of alliance, and secured promise of the annexation of Norway. Napoleon soon after declared war against Russia, and for assistance offered Bernadotte a large increase of territory. The fate of Europe lay in Bernadotte’s decision. He declined to join his former master, and strengthened the heart as well as hands of Alexander for the coming struggle. After the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow, Bernadotte failed to support the allied powers with the co-operation they had expected, and seems to have cherished for many years the hope of being nominated the successor of Napoleon.
The first fruit of the downfall of Napoleon was the annexation of Norway. This was not done without resistance. England and Russia were pledged to support the change; and in 1814 a Swedish fleet moved upon the seaboard towns, while an army crossed the border and expelled the Danish prince. From this year each nation legislating by a different congress has been governed by a common king. This king continued to be, in name, the chief-admiral who had been crowned Charles XIII, until 1818. In this year occurred his death, and Crown-prince John Bernadotte was crowned king, with the title of Charles John XIV. As a civil administrator he was less successful than as a commander. He had been bred a warrior, had been too long accustomed to absolute command, to accommodate himself easily to the changed conditions of peace. He distrusted reform, and reposed the security of his throne rather in the higher than the lower orders of the people. Yet he gave the country freedom from foreign greed, relief from the old burdens of taxation and debt, thus enabling capital and industry to develop the resources of the country. In the quarter of a century during which he kept the throne, Sweden and Norway, in the development of their resources, kept pace with the most prosperous nations of Europe.
Charles XIV. died in 1844, at the ripe age of eighty, and his son, Oscar I., succeeded. He was a man in sympathy with the new order of things, and gave the people immediately the reforms they had so long desired. His father had never succeeded in making himself a Swede, but lived a foreigner among his people till the last. Oscar early set himself the task of adopting the language and manners of his new country, and in 1818 entered the University of Upsala, from which he graduated with distinction. He was an expert musician, and composed several pieces, including hymns, ballads, and even an opera, which are yet mentioned. As he advanced in years he gave increased attention to more serious subjects, interesting himself especially in the problems of education, prison discipline, and the national policy. In the last he was opposed to the close alliance his father maintained with Russia, and when he came to the throne terminated the somewhat galling relations hitherto maintained with that power. His thorough sympathy with whatever was truly national made him exceedingly popular. When the Crimean war broke out in 1855, Oscar joined France and England against Russia, the old foe of the Swedes, and at its close entered into a compact with Denmark for the mutual protection of the two kingdoms. He married Josephine of Leuchtenburg, granddaughter of the Empress Josephine. To the oldest of his four sons he resigned the government in 1857, his health having failed. His death occurred two years later. He will be remembered as one of the most conscientious and enlightened sovereigns of modern times.
Charles XV., who, as regent, had relieved his father of the cares of state, was careful to continue the liberal policy of the preceding reign. The only question which disturbed the politics of the time had reference to the constitution of the Riksdag, or congress of the nation. This had consisted of four chambers, representing the four orders of the nobles, the clergy, the citizens, and the peasants. In the adjustment it was agreed there should be two chambers only. The members of the first chamber were to be elected for nine years by the Landsthing of the province in conjunction with the electors of the larger towns, and to receive no pay. The members of the second chamber were to be elected for three years, being classed as town and country deputies, and to receive compensation from the government. King Charles was a man of refined sensibilities, and amused himself at times with poetry, a volume of which is extant. He was always opposed to capital punishment.
The death of this king occurred on the 18th of September, 1872. He left only a daughter, wife of Prince Frederick, of Denmark; his brother, therefore, was crowned as Oscar II. He has worthily continued the policy of his predecessors, and gratified his people by many reforms. He is also a man of liberal culture and literary tastes, and has given his countrymen a translation of Goethe’s “Faust.”
END OF “HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF SCANDINAVIA.”