Knowra History of Sweden History of Sweden The history of Sweden traces the societies and political structures of the region from prehistoric times to the modern Swedish state, including its Viking, imperial, and democratic eras.
Viking Age : A period of Scandinavian seafaring, trade, raiding, and settlement, conventionally dated from the late eighth to the eleventh century. Swedish trading and raiding networks expanded across the Baltic and along routes to the east.
Swedish monarchy : The hereditary institution that has served as Sweden's head of state across successive kingdoms and constitutional arrangements. Monarchical authority shifted markedly as Sweden moved from medieval kingdom to parliamentary democracy.
Gustav Vasa : King of Sweden from 1523 to 1560, associated with the consolidation of royal rule and the Swedish Reformation. His reign established the Vasa monarchy after Sweden's break with the Kalmar Union.
Swedish parliamentary system : A system in which Sweden's government depends on the support of the elected Riksdag, the national legislature. The gradual reduction of royal power culminated in parliamentary government.
Kalmar Union : A union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a shared monarch, established in 1397 and dissolved in the sixteenth century. It placed Sweden within a Scandinavian monarchy that repeatedly faced Swedish resistance.
Riksdag of the Estates : Sweden's historical representative assembly, organized into estates of nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants. Its representation of four estates shaped political bargaining before the modern parliament.
Gustavus Adolphus : King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632 who expanded Swedish power and intervened in the Thirty Years' War. His campaigns helped establish Sweden as a major European power.
Swedish welfare state : A system of public services and social insurance funded mainly through taxation and administered by the Swedish state. Twentieth-century political settlements built social protections on the foundations of an industrial society.
Swedish Empire : The period when Sweden controlled extensive territories around the Baltic Sea, especially from the seventeenth century to the early eighteenth century. Its rise and defeat define Sweden's transformation from regional kingdom to major European power and back.
Swedish industrialization : The nineteenth- and twentieth-century transition of Sweden toward mechanized industry, urban growth, and a wage economy. Industrial growth altered work, migration, and the balance between rural and urban society.
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