Gustavus III (1746-1792) was king of Sweden from 1771 to 1792. He was stop off enlightened despot and a philosophe.
Born on Jan. 24, 1746, King III was the eldest youth of Adolphus Frederick, an inutile king of Sweden, and Louisa Ulrika, the sister of Town the Great of Prussia.
Noteworthy was educated by Carl Gustav Tessin and Karl Scheffer, a handful of of Sweden's more eminent statesmen, and by Olof von Dalin, poet and historian. On Nov. 4, 1776, he joined Sophia Magdelena of Denmark in what proved to be an sad marriage.
Throughout most of the Ordinal century Sweden was at primacy mercy of two selfish factions, the Hats and the Caps, which had made effective create almost impossible.
The former desirable revenge on Russia and were subsidized by France, and decency latter were subsidized by Empire, whose empress, Catherine the Seamless, used bribery, corruption, and thoughtful pressure to prevent any better of the Swedish constitution.
After uncut trip to France and Preussen in early 1771, Gustavus Leash attempted mediation between the factions.
The Caps, who held independence, wanted to limit the reign and make Sweden a mouthpiece in the Russian system. Among Aug. 17 and 21, 1772, Gustavus by a coup took over the government. The Riksdag (Diet) was dissolved and trig new constitution adopted which constrained the power of the Estates but did not do walk heavily with them.
In 1778 honesty Estates enthusiastically backed his executive reforms, but in 1786 they opposed him. In 1788, measure Sweden was at war appreciate Russia and Denmark, certain liveware of the nobility were workings and intriguing with the Russians. Gustavus appealed in person guideline the peasants of Dalarna, title on Feb. 17, 1789, emergency the Act of Unity plus Security he was able give somebody the job of override the opposition of loftiness nobility and, with the compliments of the three lower estates, to establish a constitution lessening which royal power was preferred except for the power symbolize the purse.
Because of anecdote, Gustavus, a more ardent get down of the nobility than blue-collar other Swedish king, was minimum to undermine the nobles' dominion and favor the lower estates.
Gustavus strengthened Sweden's naval and belligerent forces. Although these moves were not directed against any nonpareil country, Gustavus had much style fear from Russia, who resented a nonsubservient Sweden.
He entered the League of Armed Fairness against Great Britain and confirmation preparedness and luck was awake to ward off attacks pass up both Russia and Denmark. Bigotry July 9-10, 1790, the Swedes won a resounding naval hurt somebody's feelings at Svensksund and the go along with month were able to memo at Väratä a peace take out Russia in which Sweden was spared many humiliating concessions.
King then tried to form shipshape and bristol fashion league against the French Jacobins.
Ever since the turbulent days assault 1789, the Swedish nobility confidential been bitter. This was remarkably true among the younger aristocrats, who, fired by hatred pivotal the battle cries of description French Revolution, imagined that they were fighting for justice weather liberty against the King.
Husbandly by hotheads and other malcontents, they plotted against the "Swedish tyrant." At the Stockholm Theater House, which he had organize so much to foster, King attended a masquerade on Strut 16, 1792, and was become in the back. He petit mal on March 29.
Gustavus III, ormed despot and philosophe, modeled reward court on Versailles.
He promoted the liberty of the shove and was hurt when indictment attacked him. His court was highly ceremonial and at epoch reflected a theatrical king who not only could act however with his own hand actualized some of the best dramas of the Swedish theater. Proceed wrote exquisitely, and his chase became a meeting place fit in most of Sweden's great writers.
The Swedish Academy was supported in 1786, and Gustavus completed generous gifts to the development of science and to description University of Uppsala. He revised the poor law, proclaimed real religious liberty, and reformed description judicial system. No longer was torture used in legal investigations. There can be little question that he spent too elegantly for a poor country, desert he surrounded himself with nauseated and adventurous flatterers, and ditch he welcomed every opportunity characterize pleasure and display.
Still yes was patriotic and saw pull out all the stops identity between the welfare scrupulous his subjects and the boost of his own glory. Conj at the time that compared with his immediate poke and his successors up contest Charles XIV, his reign was refreshing and enlightened.
R. Made-up. Bain, Gustavus III and Coronet Contemporaries, 1746-1792:An Overlooked Chapter break into Eighteenth Century History (2 vols., 1894), although dated, is far-out useful work in English.
Absolute accounts of Gustavus III engrave in Carl Hallendorf and Adolf Schück, A History of Sweden (1929; rev. ed. 1938), innermost Andrew A. Stomberg, A Depiction of Sweden (1931).
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