**   SWEDEN 2013  - A  PROLOGUE    **

CAMPING IN SWEDEN 2013 - A PROLOGUE:

Last year in Northern Finland, we crossed Lake Kilpisjärvi to stand at the Treriksröset (Three Borders) monument which marks the northernmost point of Sweden at the meeting of the 3 borders of Finland, Norway and Sweden. The following morning we crossed briefly from Finland to Sweden's most northerly village of Karesunando, and it was perhaps at these 2 points that the seeds of this year's trip to Sweden were sown.

Our preparatory researches have benefitted from the detailed accounts of journeys through Scandinavia published by our good friends and fellow travellers Margaret and Barry Williamson whose web site Magbaz Travels provides a travel information resource of encyclopaedic proportions.

We shall be setting off shortly and during the course of our journey around Sweden and across the Arctic Circle to Swedish Lapland, we shall publish on our web site detailed travelogues and pictorial records covering the progress of our travels. As is our custom, we now present this Prologue study with demographic, topographical, economic and historical background to Sweden, our host country for 2013.

Click on map for details of route out to Sweden

DEMOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF SWEDEN:

Demography:  at just over 450,000 square kms, Sweden is surprisingly the 4th largest country of Europe after France, Ukraine and Spain, and twice the size of UK. Yet despite the country's size, with only 9 million inhabitants it has one of the continent's lowest population densities. Population distribution is however very uneven, with 85% of the population being concentrated around the urban centres of southern Sweden, Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö and Uppsala. At the opposite extreme, the Arctic Lapland region of Norrland which forms 60% of the country is sparsely populated.

Topography:  located between latitudes 55° and 69° N and longitudes 11° and 24° E, Sweden lies between the Kattegat and Skagerrak to the west, the Bothnian Gulf and Baltic Sea to the east, and is bordered by Norway, Denmark and Finland. SW Sweden is linked to neighbouring Denmark by the spectacular 12 km long Øresund bridge and tunnel (see left). In the west Sweden is divided from Norway by the Scandinavian alpine mountain chain, the highest point being Kebnekaise at 2,111m (6,926 feet) above sea level. The northernmost 14% of the country lies within the Arctic Circle. Sweden's distinctive topography was created by the last Ice Age which scoured the landscape for millennia before the glaciers retreated some 10,000 years ago. The glaciers were thicker and longer lasting in Scandinavia compared to the rest of Europe. The eroding effects of the masses of retreating ice polished the mountains to their current form, scooping out the U-shaped valleys seen in the north. Released from the oppressive weight of the ice masses, the terrain is still slowly rising at a rate of 6mm per year and expanding the surface area, a geological phenomenon known as isostatic post-glacial rebound; the Baltic Sea, created at the end of the last Ice Age, is decreasing in size as the land rises. Depressions left behind by retreating glaciers were filled with melt-waters and the Swedish land surface is now marked by some 100,000 inland lakes including Vänern, Western Europe's largest lake with a surface area of 5,585 square kms. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while northward over 65% of this long, narrow country is covered by predominantly coniferous forest. The coastline is surrounded by many thousands of islands and skerries, the Stockholm archipelago alone having some 24,000 islands. Lake Siljan in central Sweden is the site of Europe's largest meteorite strike where some 360 million years ago, a 3 km wide fireball impacted into the earth's surface creating a 75km wide crater.

SWEDISH ECONOMY:  Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democratic government; the unicameral Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) has 349 members elected by proportional representation for a 4 year term. With its highly developed, export-based economy, the country has the world's 8th highest per capita income. During the whole of the 20th century Swedish foreign policy was based on non-alignment in peacetime and neutrality in wartime (Sweden was last directly involved in war in 1814), enabling the country to enjoy an enviable standard of living under a system of high-tech capitalism balanced by extensive welfare benefits. Timber, hydro-electric power and iron ore constitute the resource base of its foreign trade oriented economy. Privately owned companies account for the majority of industrial production of which the engineering sector accounts for around 50% of output and exports. Sweden has traditionally enjoyed sustained economic upswing boosted by increased domestic demand and strong exports, but this export-led economy made the country vulnerable to changes in global finances. Since the turn of the millennium, the country has faced continued economic challenges with privatisations, mergers and cost-cutting striking at the heart of the cherished welfare state. Despite its strong economy, the country slipped into recession in 2008~09 as deteriorating global financial conditions reduced export demand and consumption. Recent centre-right governments have been forced to implement economic reform measures aimed at reducing unemployment, and welfare dependence, streamlining the state's role in the economy and off-setting the effects of global economic slowdown. Sweden joined the EU in 1995 but in 2003 a public referendum rejected adoption of the Euro and the country retained its own currency the Swedish Krona (SEK) (see right), with the exchange rate currently standing at 9.5 SEK to the £ sterling.

THE SWEDISH SÁMI PEOPLE (LAPLANDERS):  Sweden's indigenous people, the Sámi (Lapp or Laplander is regarded by the Sámi as a pejorative term), are descendents of the peoples who have occupied the far-north of the country together with neighbouring Arctic Norway and Finland and parts of the Russian Kola Peninsula for over 5,000 years; the region is called Sápmi in the Sámi language (see map left). The early Sámi settlers of the Arctic region, Finno-Ugric in origin and ethnically distinct from the later arriving Germanic predecessors of the Swedes, were nomadic peoples who migrated with the seasons hunting wild reindeer and fishing. Today there are around 75,000 Sámi of whom the majority live in Arctic Norway, with 20,000 living in Northern Sweden, with their own cultural heritage, language, flag and parliament.

For 1000s of years, reindeer have been central to the Sámi People's culture and existence, providing food, clothing, shelter and an inspiration for their traditional shamanistic religion. The Lapland winter lasts for 6 months of the year, yet reindeer herding has enabled the indigenous Sámi to survive in this harshest of climates. Reindeer herding has been a traditional way of live for centuries with families moving their tepee-like tent-villages to follow the migrating herds of wild reindeer to seasonal grazing grounds. The Sámi life style gradually evolved from nomadic to pastoralist as reindeer herds were domesticated and increased in size, and the advent of mechanisation in the mid-20th century meant that reindeer herders could travel out from settled villages on snowmobiles. The are now some 260,000 of the semi-domesticated reindeer grazing freely in Lapland, and Sámi herders still use ancient patterns of calf ear-marking to identify their stock in the high fells between June and August with herd separation taking place in mid winter. But today's increasing urbanisation has threatened traditional lifestyles in Swedish Lapland and now only one in ten Swedish Sámi families still earns its living from reindeer husbandry, and there are as many Sámi living in Stockholm as there are in the north of Sweden. There is also a significant lack of understanding and over-stereotyping on the part of modern Swedes towards their Sámi fellow citizens.

From the 18th century the emerging independent Nordic states attempted to impose systematic assimilation of their indigenous peoples and to eradicate their separate identity, language and culture. The 20th century produced an increasing ethnic and national awareness among the Sámi People which, together with cooperation across political borders, brought pressure for greater recognition of Sámi rights and protection of their land resources, language and culture. The Swedish constitution now recognises the Sámi as an indigenous people with the right to maintain and develop their own language, culture and traditional livelihoods, and the entitlement of Sami school children to be taught in their native language. The Swedish Sámi Parliament (the Sametinget - see right) established in 1993 which meets in Kiruna now forms their self-governing legal body; its 31 members are elected by the Sámi for a 4 year term and deal with all aspects of Sámi life. Although Swedish law recognises the Sámis' exclusive claim to self-determination and reindeer herding rights, there remain significant tensions between the minority people and the Riksdag State Government and economically powerful forestry and mining lobbies, and Sámi leaders are in continued dispute with the state over levels of recognition and land rights in the traditional herding grounds.

Migrant prehistoric settlers, the Svea Kingdom, and the Age of the Vikings:  in the millennia following the retreat of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago, nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers migrated from Central Asia and Europe into Southern Sweden and ancestors of the Sámi hunted wild reindeer in more northerly regions. As the climate improved during the Bronze Age between 2,000 and 500 BC, further waves of agricultural settlers occupied the south, trading furs and amber for South European copper and tin. From 500 BC into the new millennium, the Iron Age brought technological advance with the arrival of the powerful Svea tribes who dominated Southern Sweden, their kingdom Svea Rik bequeathing the country of Sweden its modern name Sverige. During the 9~11th centuries AD, the Vikings from all parts of southern Scandinavia dominated the political and economic life of Europe and beyond. Driven by rapid population growth and unrest at home, the Swedish Vikings sought trade and conquest eastwards, with commercial contacts as far as the Black Sea and Byzantine Empire. Paganism was still the ruling religion with human ritual sacrifices carried out in the shrines at Uppsala. Each largely autonomous province was governed by an assembly of free men, the Thing, to which kings were subject. The Vikings' exploits are commemorated on many surviving runestones found across Southern Sweden (see right).

Conversion to Christianity, early Middle Ages, foundation of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kalmar Union (11~15th centuries): Sweden remained resistantly heathen until King Olof Skötkonung (968~1020) converted to Christianity in the early years of the 11th century, but by 1160 King Erik Jedvarsson (St Erik patron saint of Sweden) had destroyed the final remnants of paganism. By the turn of the 12th century, the pagan temple at Uppsala had been replaced by Sweden's first Christian cathedral where St Erik's remains were interred. His son Knut's stable rule lasting until 1196 marked a period of strengthened defences and expansion of trade but following his death, royal power in the early 13th century disintegrated with a series of succession feuds and leading nobles virtually running the country. In 1275 Magnus Ladulås assumed authoritative kingship, granting privileges to the church and clergy whose power increased and freedom from taxation to the nobility on condition of defending the crown. At Magnus' death in 1290, power again rested with a cabal of nobles who pursued a vigorous foreign policy, extending Swedish rule into western Karelia and building the fortress of Viborg to gain control of the Gulf of Finland. Scandalised by fratricidal feuds within the royal family, the nobles elected Magnus Eriksson, infant grandson of the Norwegian king, as ruler and during his minority the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden were united in 1319 and the frontiers with Russia in eastern and northern Finland formalised in 1323. Sweden was still an impoverished country and during the mid-14th century the Black Death plague swept the country killing a third of the population. During this time the powerful Hanseatic League trading cartel of German merchants exercised an increasingly lucrative influence in Swedish affairs, dominating the economic life of the port-city of Stockholm and financing the increasing Swedish exports of iron and copper ore. In 1353, the Swedish nobles deposed Magnus and, in an attempt to strengthen the Crown by union across Scandinavia, offered rule to Margaret, wife of Magnus' son Håkon King of Norway and daughter of Valdemar King of Denmark. Already regent of Norway and Denmark, Margaret was proclaimed First Lady of Sweden in 1388 (see right) and in return she confirmed of the privileges of the Swedish nobility. Required to choose a male king, Margaret married Erik of Pomerania who was crowned King of Sweden at Kalmar in 1397, having already been elected to the Danish and Norwegian thrones; Scandinavia now seemed secure with the 3 kingdoms united by the Union of Kalmar, but despite Erik's nominal kingship, real power rested in Margaret's hands until her death in 1412.

Erik continued as king until 1439, a reign plagued by constant wars with the Hanseatic League. His death was followed by continued factional struggles with no one ruler able to fill all 3 kingships. In Sweden power struggles between rival unionist and nationalist noble families led to the ascendance of the nationalist Sten Sture the Elder as Guardian of the Realm in 1470 whose primacy saw the foundation of Scandinavia's first university in Uppsala in 1477 and first printing press in 1483. But during the latter part of the 15th century, successive rulers had to resist constant attacks from Denmark, and with the accession of Christian II to the Danish throne in 1513, the unionist movement found a new leader. Christian invaded Sweden and killed the regent, Sten Sture the Younger and massacred 82 Swedish opponent nobles in what became called the Stockholm Bloodbath. The subsequent vicious persecution of Sture's supporters provoked widespread rebellion under the leadership of a young noble Gustav Vasa (see left, and portrait on the Swedish 1000 kronor banknote right). Initially Vasa was unable to raise sufficient support and was fleeing to Norway when he was pursued by 2 skiers with news of a popular change of heart, a legendary chase commemorated each year with a national cross-country ski race. Gustav Vasa raised an army and after the capture of Stockholm was crowned king on 6 June 1523, a day still celebrated as Sweden National Day. The new Danish king recognised Sweden's de facto withdrawal from the Union.

Gustav Vasa's creation of the Swedish nation, the Vasa Dynasty, and the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire (1523~1721):  Gustav Vasa's war of liberation from Danish rule left him seriously strapped for cash, and in a move prompted by political expediency the new king supported the Lutheran movement for religious reformation. In confrontation with the Pope over the election of archbishops, Vasa broke with the Catholic Church almost simultaneously with Henry VIII in England. Church lands and income passed to the Crown, Lutheran Protestantism became the state religion, and the clergy became state employees, a relationship which existed until 2000. In 1541 the first vernacular edition of the Bible was printed. Gustav Vasa strengthened his rule with centralisation of trade and government and Renaissance style culture flourished. On his death in 1560, Sweden was a united, prosperous and independent country with Vasa being seen by history as the founder of the Swedish nation. Through a parliamentary Act of 1544 he changed the monarchy from elected to hereditary, passing power on to his descendents. Vasa had however unwisely divided his wealth and realm between his sons, and after his death bitter rivalry broke out between them.

The last of the Vasa male rulers, Gustav II Adolphus (see right), was an able military commander, leading Sweden to supremacy during the Thirty Years War which helped to determine the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. During his reign from 1611 to 1632, Sweden emerged from being a poor and thinly populated country on the fringe of European civilisation with no great power or significance, to became one of the great powers of Europe rising to prominence on a continental scale and extending its Empire around the Baltic (see map left). With Gustav Adolphus away at war for most of his reign, Sweden was governed in an enlightened way by his chancellor Axel Oxenstierna: together they introduced legal reform founding the Swedish Supreme Court, extending this to other parts of the Swedish Empire including Finland and the Baltic provinces. They organised the national assembly into four Estates (nobility, clergy, burghers and peasantry), encouraged mining and other industries that provided the country's wealth, extended the University of Uppsala, and founded universities in Åbo (modern Turtu in Finland) and Tartu in Estonia (both visited by us in recent trips) to produce a new cadre of competent administrators for the expanding Empire.

By the mid-17th century Sweden was the 3rd largest country in Europe, and under Karl X, wars with Denmark and Poland ending with the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 expanded the Swedish Empire to its greatest territorial extent (see map above left). His son and heir Karl XI became absolute monarch in 1682. The armed forces were reorganised to protect the Empire's extended and vulnerable borders, the navy was expanded and a new naval base established at Karlskrona on the south coast. Architecturally this was the age of the Elder and Younger Tessin, father and son who as royal architects designed the royal palaces at Drottingholm and Stockholm and the Cathedral at Kalmar. In 1697 the 15 year old Karl XII (see left) succeeded his father to the throne, and took on the rest of Europe in a series of disastrous military adventures, leading Sweden into the Great Northern War (1700~21) with Peter the Great's Russian Empire. Despite initial success at Narva in modern Estonia, Russian winter and Peter the Great's tactics brought about the progressive collapse of the Swedish Empire. In the resulting power vacuum Russia emerged as the dominant Baltic power taking over all of Sweden's eastern European territories and most of Karelia.

The 18th century Age of Enlightenment, further wars with Russia and the Loss of Finland, and Sweden's last war (1814) :  the mid-18th century saw absolutism discredited and a new constitution vested power in the Estates with the new king Frederick I's role reduced to that of nominal head of state. With real control exercised by the chancellor, further war with Russia was fought across Swedish territory in Finland with attacks on the east coast of mainland Sweden. Despite the country's decline, intellectual enlightenment, literature and scientific advance flourished: Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) Professor of Botany at Uppsala (see right) from 1741~78 published his plant classification system, Anders Celsius Professor of Astronomy at Uppsala 1730~44 introduced the centigrade temperature scale which took his name, and Carl Scheele a pharmaceutical chemist identified oxygen, chlorine and other chemical elements and compounds (though others later gained credit for the discoveries). A royal decree of 1748 organised Europe's first full-scale census which became a 5-yearly happening by 1775. With the accession of Gustav III in 1771, the Crown regained ascendency and the Riksdag (parliament) was forced to accept curtailed powers under a modified constitution. The king's determined foreign policy led to further wars with Russia from 1788~90 in which Swedish forces achieved a surprising victory in a huge naval encounter off Kotka in the Gulf of Finland.

The disaffected Swedish aristocracy however conspired against Gustav and he was assassinated in 1792. His successor son Gustav IV was drawn into the Napoleonic Wars, but after Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, Russia made peace with France and invaded Finland, totally defeating Swedish forces resulting in the 1809 Treaty of Hamina under which Sweden was compelled to cede control of the whole of Finland and the Åland Islands, which together became the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within Imperial Russia. Gustav's inept and erratic leadership in diplomacy and war resulting in the loss of one third of Sweden's total territories precipitated his deposition through a conspiracy of army officers. His elderly and infirm uncle was proclaimed king as Karl XIII by the Riksdag under a new constitution which ended unrestricted royal power making the king a mere figurehead. Karl died soon after and one of Napoleon's Marshalls, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was invited to take the Swedish throne under the name of Karl XIV Johan (see left). Piqued by Napoleon's snubs, Karl-Johan judiciously switched allegiances and, with the intention of retrieving control of Norway, led Sweden to join with Britain, Prussia and Russia against France and Denmark. After victory over Napoleon's at Leipzig in 1813, Karl-Johan led Swedish forces against Denmark, defeating the Danes at Bornhöved who were compelled to cede control of Norway to Sweden. Unsurprisingly Norway objected to their loss of sovereignty, but Swedish armed occupation in 1814 (the last war fought by Sweden) forced Norway into an uneasy union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Under the union Norway retained its own government but with Sweden dictating foreign policy.

The 19th century, Industrialisation and Swedish Emigration:  Karl-Johan's rule lasted until his death in 1844 despite him speaking no Swedish, and his heirs in the Bernadotte dynasty continue today with the present Swedish monarch Karl XVI Gustav. He was succeeded by his son Oscar I under whose moderate and liberal reforming rule freedom of the press was introduced, daughters were given equal rights of inheritance, a Pool Law and Education Act introduced and restrictive craft guilds reformed. His son Karl XV presided over a reform of the Riksdag which formalised the constitutional monarchy and the Four Estates were replaced by a representative European style bicameral parliament. Both Oscar and Karl XV had favoured the Scandinavianism political movement reviving hopes of closer ties between Sweden and Denmark, but this ended when Swedish denial of military support to Denmark enabled Prussia to annexe Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. Greater stability brought significant population increase in the early-mid 19th century, but Sweden remained poor and reliant on an essentially agricultural economy as other parts of Europe had begun to benefit from the industrial revolution. The result was mass emigration to America by the rural poor who were hard hit by famine. Between 1860 and 1910, over 1 million Swedes out of a population of only 4 million sought a better life in the USA and Canada, many settling in Minnesota and the mid-west. Industrialisation came late to Sweden but the later 19th century saw the development of the steel and textile industries and railways with timber exports adding to a growing economy. Coupled with discontent in rural areas exacerbated by famine, industrialisation brought major social changes such as the growth of trade unionism and the temperance movement to combat an alarming level of alcohol abuse, creating a strong foundation of democratic principles and the foundation of the Swedish Social Democratic Party in 1889. With the accession of Oscar II in 1872 (see right), Sweden continued to develop and avoided involvement of European conflicts of the time. But growing dissatisfaction in Norway led to demands for an end to the Swedish king's veto on Norwegian constitutional affairs, and in 1905 Norway declared an end to the Union and became a sovereign state.

Swedish neutrality in the two World Wars and the Swedish Welfare State:  at the outbreak of WW1, Sweden declared strict neutrality, despite sympathy within the country towards Germany from long-standing cultural, linguistic and trade links. The policy was difficult to maintain in the face of British demands to enforce the blockade of Germany, and with the blacklisting and eventual seizure of Swedish cargos at sea, the Swedish economy suffered badly with resultant rationing and high inflation. The Russian Revolution brought further problems with Finland's declaration of independence and Swedish volunteers enlisting in the right wing White Army in the Finnish Civil War. Further conflict of interest followed when the Finns rejected the Swedish speaking Åland Islands' demand for a return to Swedish rule, endorsed by the League of Nations which awarded sovereignty to Finland in 1921. Hjalmar Branting (see left) became the country's first socialist prime minister from 1921~24. Universal suffrage was extended to all men and women over 23 years and the state-controlled alcohol monopoly (Systembolaget) set up to control alcohol abuse. Following the Depression of the late 1920's, conditions began to improve after a Social Democratic government took a fourth term of office in 1932. The Welfare State was established providing unemployment benefit, higher state pensions, family allowances and paid holidays. The 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement established a contract between employers and trade unions to help prevent strikes and lockouts. Despite Hitler's aggressive intentions, all parties agreed that Sweden should remain neutral in any forthcoming war and the country's rearmament was insignificant. There was little sympathy with Germany in 1939 and Sweden again declared neutrality. Although regular troops were denied, Swedish volunteers and weapons were provided to support the Finns in the face of Soviet invasion of Finland. During WW2 with Sweden less dependent on imports, the economy remained sound with no serious shortages. The position however became more difficult when Sweden was isolated with the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. Controversial concessions were made allowing German troop transit despite Sweden's supposed neutrality and until 1944 when Allied pressure became irresistible, Sweden continued to profit from iron ore and steel exports on which the German war effort depended. Sweden however provided haven to countless refugees from both Scandinavia, Finland and Europe during WW2 and to downed Allied aircrews. Of particular note was the contribution made by Swedish businessman Raoul Wallenberg (see left) in 1944. By persuading the Swedish government to give him diplomatic status, he issued Swedish passports, called Schutz Passes (Protection Pass) (see right) to many 1000s of Hungarian Jews identifying the bearers as Swedish subjects awaiting repatriation. Those prevented from deportation were fed and sheltered in houses flying the Swedish flag as extraterritorial premises protected by diplomatic immunity. But when Budapest was 'liberated' by the Red Army in 1945, Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviets as a spy and disappeared. His fate remains unknown but he is believed to have been murdered at the hands of the NKVD in the Lubyanka prison in Moscow.

Post-war politics - the Social Democrats' political concept of folkhemmet, and assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme (1946~1986):  the Social Democrats dominated post-war Swedish politics governing either directly or in coalition until 1976; they applied their political concept of folkhemmet (literally the people's home) to develop the Swedish welfare state, a socially conscious society with financial security for all based around progressive taxation, fair wages and trade, low unemployment, health, welfare, education and pensions provision. Sweden's industry had not been damaged by WW2 and was in a position to help re-build Northern Europe post-war, resulting in an economic upswing which made this liberal welfare state feasible. The Social Democratic domestic reforms continued unabated during the 1950s and 60s tempered only during periods of coalition. In foreign policy, the country tried to stay out of alliances including NATO and remained officially neutral even during the Cold War although realpolitik pragmatism in the face of Soviet provocation caused strong military links to be maintained unofficially with the US and other NATO countries. Sweden had joined the United Nations in 1946 and regained much of its international respect, lost during WW2, with the election of Dag Hammarskjöld as UN Secretary-General in 1953 (see left). His determined leadership greatly enhanced the UN's prestige and effectiveness until he was killed in an air crash in Africa in 1961. After a 6 year period of centre-right coalition government, the Social Democrats regained power in 1982 but downturn in the economy and world-wide recession forced devaluation of the krona and cutback on public expenditure. Swedes had always been proud of their open society, but were shocked by the assassination of Olof Palme the Social Democrat leader (see right), respected politician, diplomat and pacifist, and Prime Minister since 1982; he was gunned down while walking home with his wife from the cinema without a bodyguard. After months of embarrassing police failure to make an arrest for the murder, a petty criminal was initially convicted, but then acquitted on appeal for lack of reliable evidence; despite speculation about involvement of the South African secret service (Palme was an outspoken critic of apartheid), the crime remains unsolved.

EU membership and modern Swedish politics (1986 to present day):  Ingvar Carlsson was elected prime minister after Palme's murder and confirmed in the 1988 general election when the Social Democrats gained a majority of seats in the Riksdag. Against a background however of rising inflation and slow economic growth, Carlsson's minority government was forced in 1990 to announce an austerity package including a 2 year ban on strike action and wage, price and rent freeze. measures which shocked the Swedes used to living in a liberal, consensus-style society. In 1991 a four-party centre-right coalition came to power led by prime minister Carl Bildt but despite promises of tax cuts and economic regeneration, the Europe wide recession brought record levels of unemployment and pressure on the krona. In concert with the Social Democrats, Bildt's government introduced drastic cuts in public expenditure with reductions in the welfare state benefits, privatisation of publicly owned companies and health care, and changes in the education system, all to little effect as Sweden entered its worst period of recession since the 1930s with unemployment rising to 14%. The Social Democrats returned to government in 1994 led by Ingvar Carlsson, and after a referendum, Sweden signed the accession for membership of the EU in 1995. After leaving office, Bildt went on to be international mediator in the Balkan Wars. Carlsson's new government faced economic crisis with the krona falling to new lows, and further severe public expenditure cuts were introduced to regain financial stability. Sweden has emerged with a stronger economy but continuing high unemployment lost the Social Democrats the 2006 general election. A four-party centre-right alliance was elected to government with Fredrik Reinfeldt (see right), leader of the Moderate Party as prime minister. At the age of 41, Reinfeldt was the third youngest person to become Prime Minister of Sweden, and became President of the European Council on 1 July 2009, as Sweden took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The country's continued economic growth brought a resurgence of support, resulting in his being re-elected to a second term as prime minister in 2010. Reinfeldt remains in government, but with no absolute majority in parliament there has been greater need to seek consensus with opposition parties on matters of substance. Visit this web site for an overview of current Swedish political parties

FAMOUS SWEDES:  in addition to those already mentioned, a number of other Swedes have achieved world-wide fame in the fields of science, music, design, sport and film.

Alfred Nobel (1833-96): chemist, engineer, inventor and armaments manufacturer, the inventor of dynamite. He donated his fortune posthumously to institute the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, medical sciences, literature, and peace, awarded in Stockholm and Oslo on 10 December each year since 1901, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

Greta Garbo (1905~90): film actress (see left) and international star during Hollywood's silent and classic period, her beauty and voice making her one of the most popular film stars of all time. She made her debut in Hollywood in 1926, and retired at the age of 35 after appearing in only twenty-eight films. Although she was offered many opportunities to return to the screen, she declined most of them, instead living a private life and shunning publicity.

Ingvar Kamprad (born 1926): entrepreneur and business magnate and owner of the IKEA retail stores, founded in 1943 by Kamprad aged 17, and selling modern style flat-pack furniture and home appliances. The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name (Ingvar Kamprad) plus those of Elmtaryd, the family farm where he was born, and the nearby village Agunnaryd in Southern Sweden. The company has over 300 stores in 38 countries world-wide, and is still run by the Kamprad family.

Ingmar Bergman (born 1918): writer, director and producer for stage, screen and television, who has made over 60 films and directed over 170 plays. His 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night brought him international fame. His film themes cover questions of mortality, loneliness, and religious faith, and he continues to work within the theatre.

Ingrid Bergman (1915-82): film actress (see right) who began her Hollywood career in the early 1940s. She is best remembered for her famous roles in the 1943 film Casablanca in which she starred alongside Humphrey Bogart, and in the Hitchcock thriller Notorious co-starring Cary Grant. She won three Oscars in the course of her career.

Britt Eckland (born 1942): film actress and singer, best known for her roles as a James Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun and for her 1964 whirlwind romance and marriage to Peter Sellers

ABBA (1972~82): Swedish pop-group (see left) whose name is an acronym of the first letters of the band members' fore-names Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid. They achieved initial stardom after winning the 1974 European Song Contest, becoming one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of pop music with sales of over 370 million records, topping the charts world-wide from 1972~82 with their instantly recognisable harmonic style. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the 2 marriages and break up of the group.

Björn Borg (born 1956): former No1 tennis player who, between 1974 and 1981, won 11 Grand Slam single titles (see right). He won 5 consecutive Wimbledon and 6 French Open singles titles, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest tennis players of all times. Borg was the first 'rock star' of professional tennis and first player to earn more than one million dollars in prize money in a single season (1979).

So that's the background story of Sweden so far. To those in Britain, Sweden is better known by some by its less salubrious stereotyped images. But as always we journey with a purpose: the intention is that our travels will give the opportunity for learning more for ourselves about our host-country and its society, and for discussing and understanding more about life in Sweden. We set off shortly and as usual shall be publishing regular reports on our web site, with news-updates and pictorial record of our travels.

		Top of News Page
		Return to Index Page

Music this week:  Du gamla, Du fria (Thou ancient, Thou free)  Swedish National Anthem

Finland 2012     Baltic States 2011   Poland 2010   Czech Republic 2009   Sardinia~Corsica 2009    Slovakia 2008   Croatia 2008        Denmark 2007    Sicily 2007   Alsace 2006   Greece 2006    Hungary 2005   Pyrenees 2005   Slovenia 2004   Greece 2004 Home Page Site Plan Who we are Publications Email Us