History of Sweden
The first population came to Sweden from the east. In the beginning the land was populated by Sami people (see Finno-Ugrian languages and cultures). Generally we can see that soon after the end of the last ice age, Sweden became populated by Indo-European hunter-gatherers and then farmers during the Nordic Stone Age (10 000 BC – 1700 BC). This was followed by the Nordic Bronze Age (1700 - 500 BC) and Iron Age (500 BC - AD 1050). Societies in Sweden remained on the preliterate tribal and chiefdom levels to the 1st millennium AD. At this time a lot of people had access to this area. As the water was the best traveling connection, the new land of Sweden had many ancestors. The inhabitants of this time frame are people from all over surrounding areas. The country borders did not exist.
It is not known when and how the kingdom of Sweden was born.[2] Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones tribe lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships. Tacitus expressed concern that these Swedes might ally with neighboring tribes and cause trouble for the Roman Empire. This referred to the inhabitants of eastern Sweden: Svealand, primarily around lake Mälaren. From this tribe, Sweden derived its name (see Etymology of Sweden). The southern parts, on the other hand, were inhabited by the Geats in the Götaland territory, and Beowulf speaks of semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the 6th century (600's AD). The northern part, Norrland, was probably mostly populated by Sami.
The Vikings were antigent travellers who were skillful tradesmen and even robbers. During the Viking Age of the 9th and 10th century (900's AD), Swedish vikings travelled east, going to Finland, Baltic countries, and Russia, whose name probably comes from the Slavic name for these Vikings: Rus. There are researchers who are having strong evidence for the name "Roslagen" being taken into the Finnish language as the country name "Ruotsi." The name "Ruotsi" has been latterly referred to word Ryssi (foreigners). Their routes passed the rivers of Russia down south to Constantinople, now present-day Istanbul, Turkey.
With Christianization in the 11th century, the country became consolidated. In the 14th century Sweden, like the rest of Europe, was struck by the Black Death (the Plague), with all its effect.
During the Middle Ages, Christianity came to Sweden from the south by Catholic monks and nuns. Christianity came from the east to Finland possibly via the Vikings. Sweden expanded towards the northern part of the country, Lappland. Finland was gradually incorporated in the kingdom of Sweden during the 12th and 13th centuries, and remained so until 1809.
In 1397, Norway, Denmark and Sweden were united under a single monarch in a treaty known as the Kalmar Union. After several wars and disputes between these nations, King Gustav I of Sweden (House of Vasa) broke free from it in 1521 and established a nation state, considered the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden to the Protestant Reformation. Gustav I is considered to be Sweden's "Father of the Nation".
The 17th century saw the rise of Sweden as one of the Great Powers in Europe, because of successful participation, initiated by King Gustav II Adolph, in the Thirty Years' War and by Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the The Deluge of Poland. During this time Sweden was a nation of some importance in northern Europe, but its overall standing was not comparable to that of Europe's leading nations. Sweden also acquired several mighty enemies and the great power status crumbled in the 18th century, after the Great Northern War (1700 - 1721). Finally in 1809 there was a shift of the rule. The part of the country that was once named Österland (Eastern district) was left by Swedish forces in a battle 1809 in Sveaborg in Finland. Finland became an autonomous Duchy of Imperial Russia.
After Denmark was defeated in the Napoleonic wars, Norway was ceded to Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel. Norway had meanwhile declared itself independent and this led to the Campaign against Norway, which was fought in 1814. It ended with the Convention of Moss, which forced Norway into a union with Sweden that was not dissolved until 1905. The 1814 campaign also signified the last of the Swedish wars.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a significant population increase, which the writer Esaias Tegnér in 1833 famously attributed to "the peace, the (smallpox) vaccine, and the potatoes",[3] with the population doubling between 1750 and 1850. Many looked towards America for a better life, and although not affluent, many Swedes had sufficiently high incomes to be able to afford the boat tickets necessary to make the journey across the Atlantic. It is believed that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States. In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city). Most Swedish immigrants moved to the Midwestern United States, with a large population in Minnesota. Some Swedes also moved to Canada, and others in smaller numbers went to Argentina (see Swedish settlement in Argentina) but most of the Argentine Swedes "returned" to Sweden under easy immigration programs to admit foreigners of Swedish parentage, in the late 20th century. [citation needed]
Sweden was traditionally less developed than Western Europe (though more affluent than much of Eastern and Southern Europe); industrialization began in earnest after 1870. During the late 19th century, Sweden was influenced by Protestant temperance movements, mainly of American origin. As a result of their intense propaganda, it is often claimed that alcohol consumption was unusually high in Sweden at this time.[4] However, there is no factual ground for believing that alcohol consumption was higher than in other comparable countries.
Strong grassroots movements sprung up during the latter half of the 19th century (unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups). They were all based on democratic principles and built a strong base for Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. As the Industrial Revolution progressed during the century, people gradually began moving into cities to work in factories, and became involved in Socialist unions. A Socialist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of Parliamentarism, and the country was democratized.
Sweden remained neutral during World War I and World War II as claimed by itself, although its neutrality during World War II has been highly debated. Sweden was forcibly under German influence for most of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. The Swedish government felt that it was in no position to openly disagree with Germany, but it did attempt to help the Allies in secret. Many refugees were saved partly because of Sweden's neutrality, among them many Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe. (See further Sweden during World War II). In the period between two world wars, Sweden welcomed "back" a small wave of Russian Swedes from Russia and the Ukraine, descendants of settlers from Gotland went to Eastern Europe in the 12th century, were pushed out. (see Crimean Goths, a now-extinct ethnic group believed to have Gotlander or Scandinavian ancestors in the Crimea). [citation needed]
Following the war, Sweden took advantage of intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources, making it possible to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe, leading it to be one of the richest countries in the world by 1960. Sweden was part of the Marshall Plan but continued to stay non-aligned during the Cold War, and is still not a member of any military alliance. During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party (in Swedish: Socialdemokraterna) and established a welfare state, striving for a "well being for all"-policy. After the first three decades of the 20th century, Socialist principles lead to idealist policies to improve Sweden's quality from life once held as the least developed in Europe before World War I. By the 1930s, Sweden had achieved one of Europe's highest living standards and this title continued well into the mid-20th century.
Sweden joined the European Union in 1995. During the Cold War, Europe's non-aligned Western countries, except Ireland, had considered membership unwise as the then European Community, although not involved in military co-operation, was strongly associated with NATO countries; following the end of the Cold War, Sweden, Austria and Finland joined. However, in a 2003 consultative referendum, Swedish citizens declined to adopt the Euro. Sweden remains non-aligned militarily although it participates in some joint military exercises with NATO (and other) countries (i.e. Russia that Sweden had positive diplomatic relations with, and Japan, another pacifist oriented country) and has extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry. Sweden has a long history of participating in international military operations, including most recently, Afghanistan, where Swedish troops are under NATO command, and in EU sponsored peace keeping operations in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cyprus.
Sweden's economic performance worsened beginning in the 1970s followed by being hit in the oil embargos of 1973-74 and 1978-79. Middle-class Swedes began to organize in complaints on the mishaps of Socialist "welfare state" policies in the 1980s. Following a recession in the early 1990s as a result of the global economic slowdown, national measures were taken to liberalize the economy. Although the basis of the welfare state have been maintained a number of economic reforms have been implemented, including a reform of the pension system, privatization of state-owned companies and liberalization of markets. The economic situation has improved significantly since then with growth rates outpacing those of the "Eurozone". A country known for very low crime rates compared to other developed countries, esp. with the United States due to Sweden's inaccessibility to firearms and historic gun control laws, Sweden has had two political murders in recent history: those of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 that been a 25-year mystery to find the assassin, and foreign minister Anna Lindh in 2003.
Source: Wikipedia