Swedish History
From the Vikings and Christianisation to the union with Denmark, the Vasa era, the welfare state, EU membership and NATO: a brief history of Sweden.
Scandinavia was first mentioned in 79 AD. The writer referred to the “Hilleviones”, which probably meant the Swedes. In the last centuries of the first millennium (800–1000), the Varangians (Swedish Vikings) expanded eastwards. Contact with Christians began as early as around 830 AD, and King Olof Skötkonung was baptised in 1008, but until about 1200 much of the population remained pagan. In 1160 King Erik IX was even murdered by nobles belonging to an anti-Christian alliance.
At the end of the 14th century, Margaret I of Denmark united the crowns of Denmark, Norway and Sweden through skilful marriage and power politics; in 1397 the Kalmar Union was sealed in Kalmar. With interruptions, it lasted until 1523. In 1520 the Danish King Christian II had numerous Swedish nobles and clergy executed in Stockholm (the “Stockholm Bloodbath”). This mass execution helped spark the uprising led by Gustav Vasa, who was elected king in 1523. Inspired by the ideas of Martin Luther, Gustav I Vasa introduced the Reformation, which was completed in 1544.
In the 17th century Sweden rose through a series of wars to become a European great power (the Swedish Empire, 1611–1721). It lost this position with its defeat in the Great Northern War (1700–1721). Finland was lost to Russia in 1809, and in 1814 Norway entered a union with Sweden that ended peacefully in 1905. Sweden has not fought a war since its brief campaign against Norway in 1814; its policy of neutrality dates from this period after the Napoleonic Wars. During the Second World War Sweden remained officially neutral, but it supported Finland with volunteers and materiel when the Soviet Union attacked it in 1939/40.
In the 20th century Sweden developed into a welfare state. The country joined the European Union in 1995, and voters rejected the euro in a referendum in 2003. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Sweden abandoned its decades-long policy of military non-alignment and became a member of NATO on 7 March 2024.
