APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090017-8
Chronology
800-1060
- Swedish Viking expeditions head eastward. Rurick founds Russian State at Kiyev (about 862).
829-1160
- Christianity comes to Sweden.
1157-1293
- Conquest of Finland takes place.
1397
- The Union of Kalmar brings the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark under one crown and ensures desultorily until c. 1520.
1435
- The first parliament (Riksdag) is convened, comprising representatives of the nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants.
1523
- Sweden becomes an independent national state under Gustav Vasa as King.
1630-48
- Sweden battles with brilliant success in the Thirty Years' War, losing King Gustavus Adolphus at the battle of Lutzen in 1632.
1809
- Sweden surrenders Finland to Russia.
- June
- Sweden obtains a new constitution, the Instrument of Government, the first of four fundamental laws on which the present political system is based.
1810
- August
- Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, is proclaimed heir-apparent to the Swedish throne by the Riksdag; he assumes the crown in 1818 as Charles XIV John.
- September
- The Act of Succession, the second fundamental law, is adopted, confirming the Bernadotte line on the male side as heirs to the throne.
1814
- January
- Denmark is forced to cede Norway to Sweden by the Peace of Kiel. A 2-month war with Norway, Sweden's last, brings Norway into union with Sweden.
1866
- January
- The Riksdag Act, the third fundamental law, is adopted, replacing the old representative assembly with its four estates by a bicameral body.
1882
- Swedish emigration (constituting 20% of mean population between 1860 and 1930) to the United States reaches its peak.
1889
- April
- The Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party is founded.
1905
- May
- Union with Norway is dissolved.
1914-18
- Sweden maintains neutrality in World War I.
1919
- Universal suffrage is attained with granting to vote to women.
1920
- March
- The first Social Democratic cabinet is formed under Hjalmar Branting.
1932
- October
- The Social Democrats become the ruling party and form a government under Per Albin Hansson.
1939-45
- Swedish maintains neutrality in World War II.
1946
- November
- Sweden joins the United Nations.
1948
- April
- Sweden becomes a charter member of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, later the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
1949
- The Freedom of the Press Act, the fourth fundamental law, updates previous laws safeguarding liberty of the press.
17
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090017-8
