Sweden. Victor Alfred Nilsson
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Victor Alfred Nilsson
Sweden
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066155551
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I Sweden in Prehistoric and Early Historic Times—Archæological Finds and Classical Testimony
CHAPTER II Dawn of Swedish History—Heimskringla and Ynglingatal
CHAPTER III The Viking Age—Ansgar, the Apostle of Sweden
CHAPTER IV Early Christian Era—Stenkil’s Line and Interchanging Dynasties
CHAPTER V The Mediæval State—The Folkung Dynasty
CHAPTER VI Unionism versus Patriotism—Margaret, Engelbrekt and Charles Knutsson
CHAPTER VII Unionism versus Patriotism—Uncrowned Kings of the Sture Families
CHAPTER VIII Revolution and Reformation—Gustavus Vasa
CHAPTER IX Reformation and Reaction—The Sons of Gustavus I.
CHAPTER X Period of Political Grandeur—Gustavus II. Adolphus
CHAPTER XI Period of Political Grandeur—Queen Christine
CHAPTER XII Period of Political Grandeur—Charles X. and Charles XI.
CHAPTER XIII Period of Political Grandeur—Charles XII
CHAPTER XIV Period of Liberty—The Aristocratic Republic
CHAPTER XV Gustavian Period—Gustavus III. and Gustavus IV. Adolphus
CHAPTER XVI The Constitutional Monarchy—Charles XIII. and the early Bernadottes
CHAPTER XVII Parliamentary Reform—Charles XV
CHAPTER XVIII Progress and Prosperity—Oscar II
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G
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P
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INTRODUCTION
The kingdom of Sweden occupies the eastern and larger part of the Scandinavian peninsula, covering an area of one hundred and seventy thousand six hundred and sixty square miles, with a population of somewhat more than five millions. Sweden is of nearly the same width, from east to west, throughout her whole length. If the country were divided into four equal parts, the southernmost part would correspond to the district of Gothaland, the next to the district of Svealand, consisting of most of what is north of the lakes Venar and Vetter and what is south of the Dal River, while the two remaining parts together would make up the district of Norrland. Gothaland, in ancient times called Sunnanskogs (South of the Woods), consists of the old provinces Scania, Bleking, Smaland and East Gothland by the Baltic, Halland and Bohuslæn by the North Sea, and West Gothland of the interior. Svealand, or Nordanskogs, consists of the provinces Sœdermanland and Upland by the Baltic, south and north of Lake Mælar, respectively, Dal, Vermland and Dalecarlia on the Norwegian frontier, and Nerike and Westmanland of the interior. Norrland consists of the provinces of Gestrikland, Helsingland, Medelpad, Angermanland and Westerbotten by the Gulf of Bothnia, a branch of the Baltic, and Herjedal, Jemtland and the Lapmark on the Norwegian frontier. A great number of islands form part of the kingdom, of which the two largest, Gothland and Œland, are situated in the Baltic. One-twelfth of the area, or as much as the whole state of Denmark, consists of water.
Sweden is politically united with Norway and ruled by the same king, these united kingdoms forming the largest realm in Europe next to Russia, Sweden herself ranking as the sixth in size.
Sweden is a country which offers striking varieties in scenery and conditions. In the southernmost province of Scania, an ancient home of culture, the nightingale and the stork dwell in the fertile plains, and the walnut, mulberry and chestnut trees render ripening fruit. Central Sweden is a wooded plateau, rich in rocky hills and inland seas. Although barren lands occupy large areas, these parts are characterized by a loveliness and picturesqueness which are still more pronounced in the northern provinces along the coast. Only in the inner mountainous regions of Norrland is the scenery of real grandeur where the white-capped giants appear in vast groups, or in isolated peaks of six thousand to seven thousand feet in altitude, where a hundred glaciers with glacier rivers, moraines and erosions cover a surface almost as large as the glaciers of Tyrol, and where, in the turbulent course of mighty rivers, are formed tremendous waterfalls, one of them, The Hare’s Leap, being the largest in Europe.
Geologically considered, Sweden is situated around the centre of the ancient Scandinavian land-ice, and in the greater part of the country only two of the geological series, the oldest and the youngest, are represented. Thus the uneven, undulating surface of the Archæan rocks, on which almost the whole country is firmly set, is in general covered