Sweden Timeline and History Highlights
Sweden Timeline Highlights
B.C.
4000 – Swedish people start farming culture.
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1700 – The Bronze Age begins in Sweden.
500 – The Iron Age begins.
CE
800 – The Viking Age begins. Swedish warriors attack Northern Europe and Russia.
829 – Christianity is introduced to the Swedes by Saint Ansgar.
970 – Eric the Victorious becomes the first king of Sweden.
1004 – King Olof converts to Christianity, making it the state religion of Sweden.
1160 – King Eric IX. Murdered by the Prince of Denmark.
1249 – Finland becomes part of Sweden after the Second Swedish Crusade led by Birger Jarl.
1252 – The city of Stockholm is founded.
1319 – Sweden and Norway are united under Magnus IV.
1349 – The plague arrives in Sweden. About 30% of the population will eventually die.
1397 – The Kalmar League is founded by Margaret I of Denmark. United Sweden, Denmark and Norway under a single leader.
1520 – Danish forces invade Sweden and execute rebel nobles at the “Stockholm Blood Festival”.
1523 – Gustav Vasa is crowned as the new Swedish King and Sweden declares independence from the Kalmar Union.
1527 – The Swedish Reformation begins. Sweden becomes a Protestant country and breaks ties with the Catholic Church.
1563 – The Seven Years’ War with Denmark begins.
1570 – Treaty of Stettin ends the Seven Years’ War. Sweden waives its claims against Norway.
1628 – The Swedish warship Vasa sank shortly after leaving port on her first voyage. The ship she was salvaged in 1961.
1630 – Sweden joins France and England in the Thirty Years’ War. 1648 – The Thirty Years’ War ends. Sweden gained territory and this started the rise of the Swedish Empire.
1700 – The Great Northern War begins. A war against Russia led by Peter the Great. The Swedish army defeated the Russian army at the Battle of Narva.
1707 – Sweden invades Russia, but bad weather weakens the army.
1709 – The Russians defeat the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava.
1721 – The Great Northern War ends with the defeat of Sweden. The Swedish Empire was greatly reduced.
1809 – Finland is destroyed by Russia.
1813 – Sweden fights France and Napoleon in the Battle of Nations near Leipzig. After the victory they gain control of Norway from Denmark.
1867 – Scientist Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.
1875 – Sweden, Norway and Denmark adopt a single currency called the krona.
1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded for peace, chemistry, physics, medicine and literature.
1905 – Norway becomes independent from Sweden.
1914 – World War I begins. Sweden remains neutral.
1927 – The first Volvo car nicknamed ‘Jacob’ is produced.
1939 – World War II begins. Sweden remains neutral, but is forced to pass troops by Germany.
1943 – Founded by the furniture company IKEA.
1945 – Swedish author Astrid Lindgren publishes the first book about Pippi Longstocking.
1946 – Sweden joins the United Nations.
1972 – The famous pop music band ABBA is formed.
1975 – The last remaining sovereignty of the Swedish royal couple is abolished by a new constitution.
1986 – Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is assassinated. There are many mysteries surrounding this crime, which remain unsolved.
1995 – Sweden joins the European Union.
2000 – The Oresund Bridge opens between Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sweden History Highlights:
Sweden was made known to the world by the Vikings who raided much of Northern Europe in the 9th century. In the coming centuries, Sweden will become a Christian kingdom.
In 1397 Sweden joined the Kalmar League, led by Queen Margaret of Denmark, along with Denmark, Norway and Finland. Sweden eventually withdrew from the alliance. In the 16th century there were attempts to revive the Kalmar Union. Gustav Vasa led the struggle for independence. He laid the foundations of modern Sweden as it is today, breaking away from the Catholic Church with the Reformation.
In the 17th century, the Kingdom of Sweden reached the peak of its power. He controlled Denmark, Russia, Finland, and northern Germany. However, in 1700 Russia, Poland and Denmark united against Sweden to fight the Great Northern War. Sweden put up a good start, but the young Swedish King Charles XII decided to attack Moscow and fell in battle. When the war ended, Sweden was no longer a major power in Europe.
After the Napoleonic Wars she lost Finland to Russia in 1809. But then Sweden won Norway. Norway was part of Sweden until 1905 when the Union was dissolved and it became an independent country. About one million Swedes immigrated to the United States in the late 18th century due to economic depression. The Swedish economy recovered during World War I, but Sweden remained neutral during that time. Sweden also managed to remain neutral during World War II.
Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 but did not join the Monetary Union and still uses the Swedish krona instead of the euro as a means of payment.