From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swedish politician (1720?1796)
Carl Fredrik Pechlin
|
---|
1774 painting by Per Krafft the Elder
|
|
Born
| 8 August 1720
|
---|
Died
| 29 May 1796
(1796-05-29)
(aged 75)
|
---|
Political party
| Hats
,
Caps
|
---|
|
Baron Carl Fredrik Pechlin
(8 August 1720 – 29 May 1796) was a
Swedish
politician
and
demagogue
.
Life
[
edit
]
He was son of the
Holstein
minister at
Stockholm
, Johan Pechlin, and brother of
Johanna Lohm
. After moving to Sweden at age six, he was educated in
Sweden
, and entered the
Swedish army
. He rose to the rank of
major-general
, but became famous by being the type par excellence of the corrupt and egoistic Swedish parliamentarian of the final period of the
Age of Liberty
; he received for many years the
sobriquet
of "General of the Riksdag".
Pechlin first appears prominently in Swedish politics in 1760, when by suddenly changing sides he contrived to save the
Hats
from
impeachment
. Enraged at being thus excluded from power by their former friend, the
Caps
procured Pechlin's expulsion from the two following
Riksdags
. In 1769 Pechlin sold the Hats as he had formerly sold the Caps, and was largely instrumental in preventing the projected indispensable reform of the Swedish
constitution
. During the revolution of 1772 he escaped from Stockholm and kept quietly in the background. In 1786, when the opposition against
Gustavus III
was gathering strength, Pechlin reappeared in the Riksdag as one of the leaders of the malcontents, and is said to have been at the same time in the pay of the
Russian
court
. In 1789 he was one of the
deputies
whom Gustavus III kept under lock and key until he had changed the government into a semi-
absolute monarchy
.
It is fairly certain that Pechlin was behind the plot for murdering Gustavus in 1792. On the eve of the
assassination
(16 March) the principal conspirators met at his house to make their final preparations and discuss the form of government which should be adopted after the king's death. Pechlin undertook to crowd the fatal
masquerade
with
accomplices
, but took care not to be there personally. He was arrested on 23 March but nothing definite could ever be proved against him. Nevertheless, he was condemned to
imprisonment
in the fortress of
Varberg
, where he died four years later.
[2]
References
[
edit
]
Attribution:
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|