Sway. The swing or sweep of a weapon. “To strike with huge two-handed sway.”
Sweaborg, or Sveaborg. A great Russian fortress and seaport, in Finland, government of Viborg, sometimes called “the Gibraltar of the North.” In 1789 it was taken from Sweden by Russia. During the Crimean war it was bombarded by the Anglo-French fleet in the Baltic (on August 9-10, 1855). Twenty-one mortar-vessels were towed to within about 2 miles (3400 metres) of the centre of the Russian arsenal, while the gunboats of the squadron, keeping in constant motion, approached to a distance of 2000 or 3000 metres. The fire was maintained forty-five hours, during which 4150 projectiles (2828 of which were mortar-shells) were thrown into the place, killing and wounding 2000 men, and destroying magazines, supplies, and shipping.
Sweden. A kingdom in the north of Europe, and forming with Norway (with which it is now united under one monarchy), the whole of the peninsula known by the name of Scandinavia. The earliest traditions of Sweden, like those of most other countries, present only a mass of fables. The dawn of Swedish history (properly so called) now begins, and we find the Swedes constantly at war with their neighbors of Norway and Denmark, and busily engaged in piratical enterprises against the eastern shores of the Baltic. In 1155, Eric, surnamed the Saint, undertook a crusade against the pagan Finns, compelled them to submit, established Swedish settlements among them, and laid the foundation of the closer union of Finland with Sweden. Eric’s defeat and murder, in 1161, by the ambitious young Danish prince Magnus Henriksen, who had made an unprovoked attack upon the Swedish king, was the beginning of a long series of troubles, and during the following 200 years, one short and stormy reign was brought to a violent end by murder or civil war, only to be succeeded by another equally short and disturbed; until, at length, the throne was offered by the Swedish nobles to Margaret, queen of Denmark and Norway, who threw an army into Sweden, defeated the Swedish king, Albert of Mecklenburg, and by the union of Calmar, in 1397, brought Sweden under one joint sceptre with Denmark and Norway. Sweden emancipated itself from the union with Denmark in 1523. Gustavus I. (Gustaf Vasa) on his death, in 1560, left to his successor a hereditary and well-organized kingdom, a full exchequer, a standing army, and a well-appointed navy. John, brother of Eric XIV., ascended the throne in 1568, which he occupied for nearly a quarter of a century, dying in 1592, after a stormy reign, stained by the cruel murder of his unfortunate brother Eric, and distracted by the internal dissensions arising from his attempts to force Catholicism on the people, and the disastrous wars with the Danes, Poles, and Russians. John’s son and successor, Sigismund, after a stormy reign of eight years, was compelled to resign the throne. The deposition of Sigismund gave rise to the Swedo-Polish war of succession, which continued from 1604 to 1660; and on the death of Charles IX. in 1611, his son and successor, the great Gustavus Adolphus, found himself involved in hostilities with Russia, Poland, and Denmark. With Charles XII. the male line of the Vasas expired, and his sister and her husband, Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, were called to the throne by election, but were the mere puppets of the nobles, whose rivalries and party dissensions plunged the country into calamitous wars and almost equally disastrous treaties of peace. Gustavus IV. lacked the ability to cope with the difficulties of the times, and after suffering in turn for his alliance with France, England, and Russia, was forcibly deposed in 1809, and his successor, Charles XIII., saw himself compelled at once to conclude a humiliating peace with Russia by a cession of nearly a fourth part of the Swedish territories, with 1,500,000 inhabitants; Gen. Bernadotte was elected to the rank of crown-prince, and he assumed the reins of the government, and by his steady support of the allies against the French emperor, secured to Sweden, at the congress of Vienna, the possession of Norway, when that country was separated from Denmark. Under the able administration of Bernadotte, who, in 1818, succeeded to the throne as Charles XIV., the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway made great advances in material prosperity and political and intellectual progress.
Sweep. To clear or brush away; as, the cannon swept everything before it.
Swell of the Muzzle. In gunnery, is the largest part of the gun in front of the neck. See [Ordnance, Construction of, Molding].
Swiss Guards. See [Gardes Suisses].
Switzerland. A federal republic in Central Europe; bounded on the north by Baden, northeast by Würtemberg and Bavaria, east by the principality of Liechtenstein and the Tyrol, south by Piedmont and Savoy, and west and northwest by France. Switzerland was in Roman times inhabited by two races,—the Helvetii on the northwest, and the Rhætians on the southeast. When the invasions took place, the Burgundians settled in Western Switzerland, while the Alemanni took possession of the country east of the Aar. The Goths entered the country from Italy, and took possession of the country of the Rhætians. Switzerland in the early part of the Middle Ages formed part of the German empire, and feudalism sprang up in the Swiss highlands even more vigorously than elsewhere. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the greater part of Switzerland was ruled on behalf of the emperors by the lords of Zahringen, who did much to check civil wars. They, however, became extinct in 1218, and then the country was distracted by wars, which broke out among the leading families. The great towns united in self-defense, and many of them obtained imperial charters. Rudolph of Habsburg, who became emperor in 1273, favored the independence of the towns; but his son Albert I. took another course. He attacked the great towns, and was defeated. The leading men of the Forest Cantons met on the Rütli meadow, on November 7, 1307, and resolved to expel the Austrian bailiffs or landvögte. A war ensued which terminated in favor of the Swiss at [Morgarten] (which see) in 1315. Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, with Lucerne, Zürich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern, eight cantons in all, in 1352, entered into a perpetual league, which was the foundation of the Swiss Confederation. Other wars with Austria followed, which terminated favorably for the confederates at [Nafels] (which see) and [Sempach] (which see). In 1415, the people of the cantons became the aggressors. They invaded Aargau and Thurgau, parts of the Austrian territory, and annexed them; three years later, they crossed the Alps, and annexed Ticino, and constituted all three subject states. The Swiss were next engaged in a struggle on the French frontier with Charles the Bold of Burgundy. They entered the field with 34,000 men, to oppose an army of 60,000, and yet they were successful, gaining the famous battles of Granson and Morat (see [Morat]) in 1476. In 1499, the emperor Maximilian I. made a final attempt to bring Switzerland once more within the bounds of the empire. He sought to draw men and supplies from the inhabitants for his Turkish war, but in vain. He was defeated in six desperate engagements. Basel and Schaffhausen (1501), and Appenzell (1513), were then received into the confederation, and its true independence began. New troubles sprang up with the Reformation. War broke out in 1531 between the Catholics and Protestants, and the former were successful at [Cappel] (which see), where Zwingli was slain. This victory to some extent settled the boundaries of the two creeds; in 1536, however, Bern wrested the Pays de Vaud from the dukes of Savoy. During the Thirty Years’ War, Bern and Zürich contrived to maintain with great skill the neutrality of Switzerland, and in the treaty of Westphalia, in 1648, it was acknowledged by the great powers as a separate and independent state. At this period, the Swiss, in immense numbers, were employed as soldiers in foreign service, and the record of their exploits gives ample evidence of their courage and hardihood. In 1798, Switzerland was seized by the French. At the peace of 1815, its independence was again acknowledged. In 1839, at Zürich, a mob of peasants, headed by the Protestant clergy, overturned the government. In Valais, where universal suffrage had put power into the hands of the reactionary party, a war took place in which the latter were victorious. In 1844, a proposal was made in the Diet to expel the Jesuits; but that body declined to act. The radical party then organized bodies of armed men, called the Free Corps, which invaded the Catholic cantons; but they were defeated. The Catholic cantons then formed a league, named the Sonderbund, for defense against the Free Corps. A majority in the Diet, in 1847, declared the illegality of the Sonderbund, and decreed the expulsion of the Jesuits. In the war which ensued between the federal army and the forces of the Sonderbund, the former were victorious at Freiburg and Lucerne. The leagued cantons were made liable in all the expenses of the war, the Jesuits were expelled, and the monasteries were suppressed. Since then, the most important event which has occurred was a rebellion against the king of Prussia, as prince of Neufchâtel. The canton was declared a republic, with a constitution similar to that of the other Swiss states.
Swivel. A small piece of ordnance, turning on a point or swivel.
Sword. A well-known weapon of war, the introduction of which dates beyond the ken of history. It may be defined as a blade of steel, having one or two edges, set in a hilt, and used with a motion of the whole arm. Damascus and Toledo blades have been brought to such perfection, that the point can be made to touch the hilt and to fly back to its former position. In the last century every gentleman wore a sword; now the use of the weapon is almost confined to purposes of war. Among the forms of the sword are the rapier, cutlass, broadsword, scimiter, sabre, etc.
Sword Law. When a thing is enforced, without a due regard being paid to established rules and regulations, it is said to be carried by sword law, or by the will of the strongest.