RESEARCH PAPER English B/History A, Spring 04 THE FALL OF ABSOLUTISM IN SWEDEN Christian Landing 2004-02-18 It was a typical November night with a light cold breeze in the air. The time was nine o clock in the evening and the date 30 th of November 1718. The King was standing firm at his place on the parapet that was facing the fortress of Fredrik sten. It was the second military campaign against Norway and the siege had only lasted for ten days, until an unexpected event changed the situation dramatically. While heavy firing was commencing from the fortifications, Charles XII stood there, on the very front line, gazing beyond the surroundings with his head out, uncovered by the parapet, as projectiles were swarming overhead. In close vicinity stood Bengt Vil helm C arlberg, who served as fortification officer during the siege.
This is his eye witness account of the event that followed:” It was now when the unfortunate time had come, the time that ended everything. Barely a quarter of an hour had passed before His Majesty the King, who had been standing above and beside several high officers, was shot from nowhere. It was a shot that pierced through the left side of His Majesty The King’s head, leaving him motionless and dead.” Charles XII efforts to strengthen the Swedish empire ultimately led to its fall and the rise of parliamentary reforms in Sweden This was the end, and not only the end for Charles XII King of Sweden. But also the beginning of the end of the great northern War, and ultimately the end of the Swedish Empire.
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Sweden had fought two decades of constant war against Poland, Russia, Denmark and Norway. The outcome was over 200 000 casualties and an economy that was crippled. Charles XII had been ruling Sweden as a divine right monarch. Absolutism brought him total power and with it responsibility. The responsibility to protect his people and strengthen the glory and greatness of Sweden, but both these responsibilities he failed to comply, and left was a poor, betrayed, miserable people with nothing but despise towards the state, and in particular absolutism as a form of government. The time of absolutism in Sweden was over, while the beginning of parliamentary reforms was taking its course.
What efforts did Charles XII make to strengthen the Swedish Empire? How did these efforts lead to the fall of Absolutism in Sweden, and finally what was the reason for reforming the parliamentary climate in Sweden? These three questions, with each respective answer lie as the foundation for the thesis statement regarding this research. Starting off with what actions Charles XII took in order to secure the future survival of the Swedish Empire and how they later led to its fall. Never before had a Swedish King inherited gained such a mighty kingdom as Charles XII had. Crowned at an age of only fifteen this young king sought to fulfil his duty as king, and continue to keep Sweden as the dominating country around the Baltic Sea. Charles XII saw one solution to this matter, which his advisors more than often were presented with;” Attack is the best defensive.” Was the motto that Charles XII seemed necessary to rule by. Firstly spoken by Gustav II Adolph, this motto, or more appropriate tactic, would serve as the very foundation for the Great northern war from the Swedish part.
The first years of the Northern War were a success for the King and the Swedish Karolin’s, victory after victory, in particular the Baltic areas gave opportunities to expand the Swedish empire, the one thing Charles XII sought so eagerly to achieve. The country was at this time in a very good political and military state. Successful campaigns had put fear into the opponent and rumours grew that Charles XII had divine qualities; after all he was a king under God, was he not? But from here on it went downwards. Not that the military campaigns were unsuccessful, on the contrary Sweden was winning the battles in Poland.
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Instead it was the strategy that caused problems. Tsar Peter had conquered large areas of the Baltic provinces, allowing him access to the important trade routes that could to some extent finance his campaigns against the Swedish territories. Due to some serious strategic faults made by Charles XII, he had now managed to jeopardize the entire situation in the Baltic region. Bengt Liljegren states in “Karl XII, en “; “As a tactician Charles XII was astounding, as a strategist he was a catastrophe for Sweden. “The real turning point of the war was the Swedish campaign against Russia. It was a campaign leading them far into enemy territories with no hope of reinforcements or supplies.
When the tables later turned in the success in the field, the Swedish Karolin’s 1 found themselves with a very small marginal, or practically close to no chance of victory. The campaign was a very hazardous undertaking by Charles XII that in due time ended in disaster, resulting in the loss of 10 000 Swedish Karolin’s lives. The Russian campaign was one of many disorganised and unsuccessful campaigns into enemy country. Charles XII intentions were to recapture the Baltic provinces but if he would have prioritized them from the beginning instead of launching massive assaults in Poland, the disastrous Russian campaign might never have been necessary. An alliance between the two battling countries could also serve as an alternative solution, creating a secure front for Sweden, allowing them to operate in Poland and at the same time rearm for possible attacks from Russia. “There are historians that say that the fall of the Swedish Empire was only a matter of time, since Sweden’s limited resources could not compete against the Russian’s.
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The growing power of Russia was impossible to stop.” The fact that Sweden eventually was doomed to fall is based on several facts, one of them is stated in the quote above, that Sweden had insufficient amounts of resources to compete with the Russians in the long run. So even if Charles XII had managed to win the Russian campaign, Sweden would in the long run eventually lose the war, partly because off the superiority of the Russians in regard to the amount of resources they possessed. But there were also other contributing fac tors. Firstly Sweden suffered from having a large population problem; there were simply too few men to support the country, since all of them were drafted to the army. This had in turn a very negative effect on the economy, which is clearly conveyed in the quote below by B. Liljegren in “Karl XII, en “; “The long duration of the great northern war resulted in a large deficit of men in Sweden.
The women had to take over the men’s duties in agriculture with great burden. The country was in a state of economical collapse. ” Secondly Sweden fought against many countries, giving them many enemies. Doing some easy maths on having many enemies and no alliances will give a negative result, and ultimately defeat in the long run for Sweden. The condition that Sweden was in contributed to its fall, but ultimately it was Charles XII bad strategy and grand illusion that ultimately put a period end to the Swedish Empire.” Charles XII personally played a big part of the outcome.
In the place as ruler under God he managed to gather unrestricted power, which he used to the full. ” In 1719, 30 th November the second Norwegian campaign came to an abrupt end with the death of Charles XII, though it would take additionally a year before the actual Northern War was declared over. Fact is that absolutism brings great responsibility to the King. Charles XII had the responsibility to protect and serve the people of Sweden.
However, Charles XII failed both of these responsibilities; firstly his responsibility to the people by letting them be exposed to constant war, and since war is expensive it also brought the people immense poverty. Secondly his Great Northern war did not serve the people in any way, instead it brought them shame and betrayal. “You cannot say that Charles XII did a good effort as King of Sweden. His task was to maintain and mourn for Sweden and its population, something that he decidedly failed to achieve. “It has now been concluded that the actions Charles XII saw necessary to take in order to ensure the survival of the Swedish Empire, based on his grand illusion, ultimately lead to its fall. Yet there remains one more crucial question to be answered, which is how political reforms could emerge from the actions of Charles XII, leading to the end of absolutism.
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After the great Northern War Sweden was in a very bad shape, both economically and constitutionally. During Charles XII reign as regent, Sweden had managed to go from a prospering – to a deprived country in only two decades. A time of total war inevitably affected the country. “By 1778 the sufferings which a period of two decades of continuous war had brought with it had irretrievably alienated the Swedish people. ” The ones who suffered the most were of course the people of Sweden whose hatred and despise was centred, not towards the heroic qualities of the King, but to absolutism as a political system, and this is very important to emphasis on. For the ideas of monarchy continued to live on in Sweden, and still do to this day, with all its elegancy and mystery surrounding it.
But the thought of the monarch possessing all power, was not so welcomed among the people of Sweden after the death of Charles XII. Though the people felt confident that the political system must reform, it was the aristocracy of Sweden that made the real changes in the political climate. For the aristocrats (Council, Estates and Bureaucrats) were also to a great extent affected by the abuse of absolutism. “That is my will. Thus will it be.
“The above quote uttered by Charles XII conveys the essence of absolutism and to some extent also explains how it could be abolished. If Charles XII had a will to do something there was no one who could oppose him, even if it was wrong. The result of this is easy to comprehend, for the failed responsibility, the bad judgement and the grand illusion all emerged from the fact that Charles XII had absolute power with no one to oppose him, ultimately leading to the abolishment of absolutism as a constitution. Therefore Charles XII Great Northern War is the soul reason for why absolutism was beginning to be questioned in Sweden. Charles XII had abused his powers, resulting in large dissatisfaction from the people but most importantly from the aristocrats (since it was they who now could make a difference in the political system).
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Consequently the actions and efforts of Charles XII became absolute responsible for the political reforms in Sweden.
“The age of liberty began with a revolution. Neither movement was tumultuous or, violent, and no Swedish blood was shed. ” The foundation for how absolutism ended after Charles XII death, apart from his abuse of it, lies in the fact that Charles XII never managed to produce an heir to the throne, there was simply no regent to take over after his death. This brought an unique opportunity for all victims of absolutism, the Council, the Estates, the bureaucrats and above all the people to restore the tradition of aristocratic constitutionalism, as it had existed in the previous century. Taking power from the monarch and distributing it to the four elements, Council, Estates, bureaucrats and people. These four elements, the aristocrats and the people, were the ones who now possessed the absolute power in Sweden (though the people had merely influential power, rather than direct).
In order to achieve this goal, to rid absolutism, the aristocrats needed to secure a monarch who would ascend the throne with the ultimatum that the King, or Queen, formally renounced its supposed hereditary right and divine power. This would leave the aristocrats with the actual power, since they now could chose another regent if the present one violated the terms of agreement. This was indeed a true revolution, for the entire governmental structure had practically been transformed from the regent to the aristocrats. Implementing these parliamentary reforms in Sweden gave birth to the beginning of a new era, an era taking one step towards a more democratic society, and though the people did not possess the absolute power, it was, as mentioned, one step in the right direction. Forming the foundation for the future Swedish democratic state.
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