History

Recent History

The social democrats suffered further losses in the 1995 elections, but have managed to cling to power under Prime Minister Göran Persson, who relies on the support of the Centre Right party or the Greens. In late 1996, 10 years after Palme's assassination, a leader of a South African hit-squad accused a former Rhodesian soldier of Palme's murder - Palme was a tireless critic of South Africa's apartheid policies.

Recent political debate in Sweden has centred around the widening gap between rich and poor, unemployment, racial tensions and EU membership. Swedes rejected a September 2003 referendum over entry into the Euro currency zone despite the assassination just days before of the popular foreign minister Anna Lindh, a leading campaigner in favour of the move.

Modern Day History

Sweden declared itself neutral at the outbreak of WWI and was governed bilaterally until 1917. But food shortages caused unrest and consensus was no longer possible. For the first time a social democratic government took control. The social democrats dominated politics after 1932, reworking the liberal tendencies of the 1920s to join economic intervention with the introduction of a welfare state. These trends were scarcely interrupted until the 1970s when economic pressures began to cloud Sweden's social goals. It was then that support for social democracy first wavered, looking particularly shaky after the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme and its murky aftermath.

The political breeze shifted to the right in 1991 when a Moderate-led coalition won power. The experiment with rightist economics and the move to EU membership left many Swedes uncertain and disillusioned, allowing the social democrats to sneak back and form a minority government in 1994.

Pre 20th Century History

Written records in Sweden survive only from late in the Middle Ages. But the number and variety of fortifications, assembly places, votive sites and graves is impressive. Humankind and metallurgy made late appearances and only in the Bronze Age, after the arrival of Indo-Europeans, was there rich trade. The country's early cultural life is still vividly represented in the hällristningar (rock paintings) that survive in many parts of Sweden. In the Mälaren valley, the first known trading posts were established and monuments with runic inscriptions appeared.

The Viking Age was getting under way by the 9th century, and vast repositories of Roman, Byzantine and Arab coins attest to the wealth and power Swedish Vikings accumulated over the next century. Vikings travelled mostly to the east, making their mark in Russia, as well as trading with (and pillaging) Byzantine territories. Pagan gods and slightly more earthbound kings held sway over the domestic population, with Christianity only taking root in the 11th century. Internal squabbles whiled away the bulk of the Middle Ages until Denmark interceded in 1397, when, together with Norway, they joined Sweden in the Union of Kalmar. A century of Swedish nationalist grumblings erupted in rebellion under Gustaf Vasa, who was crowned in 1523. Gustaf then set about introducing religious reform and a powerful centralised nation-state. A period of expansion resulted in Sweden's control over much of Finland and the Baltic countries.

In 1809, the unrestricted power vested in the monarch was undone by aristocratic revolt and Finland was lost to Russia. The same year, Sweden produced a constitution that divided legislative powers between king and Riksdag (parliament). The post of ombudsman appeared as a check on the powers of the bureaucracy. In 1814 the military enforcement of the union with Norway was Sweden's last involvement with war.

Industry arrived late but was based on efficient steelmaking and the safety match, a Swedish invention. Iron-ore mining (important for at least 300 years) and then steel manufacture began to expand, creating a prosperous middle class. But an 1827 statute that scattered the agricultural villages of much of Sweden's countryside had more immediate and far-reaching effects - the old social fabric disappeared. By 1900 almost one in four Swedes lived in cities, and industry (based on timber, precision machinery and hardware) was on the upswing. In this environment the working class was radicalised.