Modern Swedish history for the citizenship test

In the past, Sweden lived mostly from farming. Then industry grew, and today most people work in services. Sweden also became a democracy.

How did industrialisation change Sweden?

Around 1800, about 2.3 million people lived in Sweden. Nine out of ten lived in the countryside. In the 1800s, farming became more efficient. Many people without land then moved to the cities, where new factories opened. Industrialisation means that factories and industries become more and more important for the economy.

Urbanisation means that more and more people live in cities and towns. An urban area (tätort) has houses close together and at least 200 inhabitants. Around 1930, about half of all Swedes lived in an urban area.

Why did so many people emigrate to America?

In the 1860s, Swedish harvests were poor. This is called crop failure (missväxt). It made many Swedes move abroad.

In 1860–1930, about 1.4 million people emigrated from Sweden. Most went to America. Until 1930, more people left Sweden than moved here. Since the 1930s, more people usually move here than leave.

How did Sweden become a democracy?

Before 1866, the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) had four estates (stånd): nobility, clergy, burghers (townspeople) and peasants. Each estate was a group with its own rights. In 1866, Sweden got a Riksdag with two chambers (kamrar, parts). Only men could vote. They also had to own a farm, have wealth or earn at least 800 kronor a year.

Around 1900, many people fought for the right to vote, for example in popular movements (folkrörelser) and trade unions.

Important steps:

• 1909: The Riksdag decided that men aged 24 and over could vote for the Second Chamber, regardless of income or wealth. But, for example, a person who had not paid tax could not vote. Nor could anyone who got help from poor relief, society's support for poor people. The poor relief rule was removed only in 1945.
• 1913: An association for women's right to vote began to collect names. Over 350,000 people signed. The Riksdag received the names in 1914.
• 1917: The king, Gustav V, promised that he would no longer interfere in who forms the government. This is called the breakthrough of parliamentarism (parlamentarismens genombrott). Parliamentarism means that the government can only rule if the Riksdag supports it.
• 1918: The Riksdag agreed in principle to universal and equal suffrage (allmän och lika rösträtt). It applied first to the local and regional elections in spring 1919.
• 1919 and 1921: The Riksdag changed the constitution in two decisions. Women and men then also got equal voting rights in Second Chamber elections.
• 1921: Women voted for the first time in a Riksdag election. Five women were elected.

For a long time, adults could also be declared legally incompetent (omyndiga), not treated as adults by law. They then could not vote. The Riksdag removed this possibility in 1989. See Democracy and how Sweden is governed and Elections and parties.

What was the people's home (folkhemmet)?

In 1932, the Social Democrat Per Albin Hansson became Prime Minister. In 1928, he had already spoken about the people's home. This meant a society where the state takes more responsibility for people's well-being.

In 1935, a new law on the folkpension was decided, a state pension for older people. In 1938, it was decided that all employees would get two weeks of holiday. In 1950, the Riksdag decided that all children would go to school for nine years. In 1960, ATP was introduced, an extra pension based on how much a person had earned. In 1962, the Riksdag decided to introduce compulsory school (grundskolan), a common school for all children. See The welfare society.

Sweden during the world wars and the Cold War

Sweden did not take part in either world war. On 1 September 1939, war began between Germany and Poland. On the same day, the government declared that Sweden would be neutral, which means not taking sides. In December 1939, four parties formed a coalition government (samlingsregering), where several large parties rule together. In 1940–1943, German soldiers were allowed to travel on Swedish trains to and from occupied Norway.

Sweden also took in many war refugees. About 70,000 children from Finland were brought here to be safe. In autumn 1943, about 7,000 Jews fled from Denmark across the Öresund strait, helped by Danish and Swedish fishermen. In April 1945, the Red Cross's White Buses (vita bussarna) began to arrive in Sweden. They had picked up freed prisoners from the Nazis' concentration camps, prison camps where many were killed.

After the Second World War came the Cold War. Two blocs stood against each other, one led by the USA and one by the Soviet Union. Sweden joined no military alliance, an agreement to defend each other. The aim was that Sweden could stay neutral if war came. The policy is often summed up as "non-alignment in peace, aiming at neutrality in war" (alliansfrihet). See Sweden and the world, for example the EU and NATO.

After the war: the record years and the Million Programme

After the war, Swedish factories were not destroyed, while large parts of Europe had to be rebuilt. The economy grew fast for many years. This time is often called the record years. Growth was especially high in the early 1960s, about 5 percent a year on average.

Industry lacked workers. So Sweden looked for labour in the Nordic countries and in countries such as Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia. Moving to another country to work is called labour immigration (arbetskraftsinvandring). In 1945–1990, about 500,000 Finns moved to Sweden.

There was also a housing shortage. More people moved to the cities, the population grew and wages rose. In 1965–1974, just over one million homes were built. This period is called the Million Programme (miljonprogrammet).

Crises in the 1970s and 1990s

Industry had big problems in the 1970s. Wages rose fast, and oil became much more expensive. So Swedish goods became expensive to make. The worst was the industrial crisis of 1977. Then Sweden's GDP, the value of everything produced in the country, fell.

In the early 1990s, a new crisis came, and GDP fell for several years in a row. The krona then had a fixed exchange rate, a set value against other currencies. In autumn 1992, the Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, tried to defend the krona. For a few days, the Riksbank raised one of its interest rates to 500 percent. That was not enough, and the krona got a floating exchange rate, set by the market.

From industrial society to information society

In the mid-1960s, services made up 45 percent of the value in the economy. In 2015, the share was 70 percent. Services are work that does not make goods, for example in healthcare and schools.

In an information society, IT (computers and the internet) is an important part of work and everyday life. In 2000, the government proposed a goal. Sweden would become the first country with an information society for all.

See also what the citizenship test contains and how to study for the test.

Words to know

Word	Meaning
Utvandra	To emigrate
Folkrörelse	A movement with many members working for one goal