King of Sweden from 1907 to 1950
Gustaf V
(Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 ? 29 October 1950) was
King of Sweden
from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King
Oscar II of Sweden
and
Sophia of Nassau
, a half-sister of
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
. Reigning from the death of his father Oscar II in 1907 to his own death nearly 43 years later, he holds the record of being the oldest monarch of Sweden with the third-longest reign after
Magnus IV
(1319?1364) and
Carl XVI Gustaf
(1973?present). He was also the last Swedish monarch to exercise his royal prerogatives, which largely died with him, although they were formally abolished only with the
remaking of the Swedish constitution in 1974
. He was the first Swedish king since the
High Middle Ages
not to have a
coronation
and so never wore the king's crown, a practice that has continued ever since.
Gustaf's early reign saw the rise of
parliamentary rule
in Sweden although the leadup to
World War I
induced
his dismissal
of Liberal Prime Minister
Karl Staaff
in 1914, replacing him with his own figurehead,
Hjalmar Hammarskjold
, the father of
Dag Hammarskjold
, for most of the war. However, after the
Liberals
and
Social Democrats
secured a parliamentary majority under Staaff's successor,
Nils Eden
, he allowed Eden to form a new government which
de facto
stripped the monarchy of virtually all powers and enacted
universal and equal suffrage
, including for women, by 1919. Bowing to the principles of parliamentary democracy, he remained a popular figurehead for the remaining 31 years of his rule, although not completely without influence. Gustaf V had pro-German and anti-Communist stances which were outwardly expressed during
World War I
and the
Russian Civil War
. During
World War II
, he allegedly urged
Per Albin Hansson
's coalition government to accept requests from
Nazi Germany
for logistics support, arguing that refusing might provoke an invasion. His intervention remains controversial.
An avid hunter and sportsman, Gustaf presided over the
1912 Olympic Games
and chaired the Swedish Association of Sports from 1897 to 1907. Most notably, he represented Sweden (under the alias of
Mr G.
) as a competitive tennis player, keeping up competitive tennis until his 80s, when his eyesight deteriorated rapidly.
[1]
[2]
He was succeeded by his son,
Gustaf VI Adolf
.
Early life
[
edit
]
First years
[
edit
]
Gustaf V was born on 16 June 1858 in
Drottningholm Palace
in
Ekero
,
Stockholm County
, the son of
Prince Oscar, Duke of Ostergotland
and
Princess Sofia of Nassau
. His father was a younger son of the reigning king,
Oscar I
, and as the king's eldest son,
Crown Prince Charles
had no surviving sons, it could be expected that the new-born prince would one day inherit the Swedish throne. At birth he was created
Duke of Varmland
, and on 12 July he was baptised
Oscar Gustaf Adolf
at the
Royal Chapel
of the
Stockholm Palace
by the
Archbishop of Uppsala
,
Henrik Reuterdahl
.
The following year, his brother
Prince Oscar
was born, followed by
Prince Carl
in 1861, and
Prince Eugen
in 1865. The family lived in the
Arvfurstens palats
(
Palace of the Hereditary Prince
), an 18th-century palace located at
Gustav Adolfs torg
in
central Stockholm
, and the summers were spent at
Sofiero Castle
near
Helsingborg
in
Scania
, which the father acquired in 1864. During his early years, the prince was considered to have a weak body constitution, and as a consequence he was treated with
electrotherapy
on May 10, 1871.
[3]
The three eldest princes began their schooling at the newly founded Beskowska School in
Ostermalm
in Stockholm in October 1869. Among the prince's classmates at the school was the future party leader of the
Swedish Social Democratic Party
and three times
Prime Minister of Sweden
,
Hjalmar Branting
.
Crown Prince
[
edit
]
On 18 September 1872 his uncle
King Charles XV
died, and Gustaf's father ascended the throne as King Oscar II. Upon his father's accession to the throne, Gustaf became crown prince of both Sweden and Norway at the age of 14. The new king and queen and their children now moved into the large Stockholm Palace, and the crown prince's schooling at the Beskowska School was interrupted, as he was now to receive his education as heir to the throne at the palace.
On 20 September 1881 in
Karlsruhe
, Germany, he married Princess
Victoria of Baden
, the only daughter of
Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden
and
Princess Louise of Prussia
.
On 8 December 1907 King Oscar II died and the 49-year-old Gustaf succeeded his father as King of Sweden as the fifth monarch from the
House of Bernadotte
.
Public life
[
edit
]
When he ascended the throne, Gustaf V was, at least on paper, a
near-autocrat
. The
1809 Instrument of Government
made the King both head of state and head of government, and ministers were solely responsible to him. However, his father had been forced to accept a government chosen by the majority in Parliament in 1905. Since then, prime ministers had been
de facto
required to have the confidence of the Riksdag to stay in office.
Early in his reign, in 1910, Gustaf V refused to grant clemency to the convicted murderer
Johan Alfred Ander
, who thus became the last person to be executed in Sweden.
At first Gustaf V seemed to be willing to accept
parliamentary rule
. After the
Liberals
won a massive landslide victory in 1911, Gustaf appointed Liberal leader
Karl Staaff
as Prime Minister. However, during the run-up to World War I, the elites objected to Staaff's defence policy. In February 1914, a large crowd of farmers
gathered at the royal palace
and demanded that the country's defences be strengthened. In his reply, the so-called
Courtyard Speech
?which was actually written by explorer
Sven Hedin
, an ardent conservative?Gustaf promised to strengthen the country's defences. Staaff was outraged, telling the King that parliamentary rule called for the Crown to stay out of partisan politics. He was also angered that he had not been consulted in advance of the speech. However, Gustaf retorted that he still had the right to "communicate freely with the Swedish people". The Staaff government resigned in protest, and Gustaf appointed a government of civil servants headed by
Hjalmar Hammarskjold
(father of future UN Secretary-General
Dag Hammarskjold
) in its place.
The 1917 elections showed a heavy gain for the Liberals and
Social Democrats
, who between them held a decisive majority. Despite this, Gustaf initially tried to appoint a Conservative government headed by
Johan Widen
. However, Widen was unable to attract enough support for a coalition. It was now apparent that Gustaf could no longer appoint a government entirely of his own choosing, nor could he keep a government in office against the will of Parliament. With no choice but to appoint a Liberal as prime minister, he appointed a Liberal-Social Democratic coalition government headed by Staaff's successor as Liberal leader,
Nils Eden
. The Eden government promptly arrogated most of the king's political powers to itself and enacted numerous reforms, most notably the institution of complete (male and female) universal suffrage in 1918?1919. While Gustaf still formally appointed the ministers, they now had to have the confidence of Parliament. He was now also bound to act on the ministers' advice. Although the provision in the Instrument of Government stating that "the King alone shall govern the realm" remained unchanged, the king was now bound by convention to exercise his powers through the ministers. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the ministers did the actual governing. While ministers were already legally responsible to the Riksdag under the Instrument of government, it was now understood that they were politically responsible to the Riksdag as well. Gustaf accepted his reduced role, and reigned for the rest of his life as a model limited constitutional monarch. Parliamentarianism had become a
de facto
reality in Sweden, even if it would not be formalised until 1974, when a new Instrument of Government stripped the monarchy of even nominal political power.
Gustaf V was considered to have German sympathies during World War I. His political stance during the war was highly influenced by his wife, who felt a strong connection to her German homeland. On 18 December 1914, he sponsored a meeting in
Malmo
with the other two kings of Scandinavia to demonstrate unity. Another of Gustaf V's objectives was to dispel suspicions that he wanted to bring Sweden into the war on Germany's side.
[4]
Although effectively stripped of political power, Gustaf was not completely without influence. In 1938, for instance, he personally summoned the German ambassador to Sweden and told him that if Hitler attacked
Czechoslovakia
over its refusal to give up the
Sudetenland
, it would trigger a world war that Germany would almost certainly lose.
[5]
Additionally, his long reign gave him great
moral authority
as a symbol of the nation's unity.
Alleged Nazi sympathies
[
edit
]
Both the King and his grandson
Prince Gustaf Adolf
socialised with
Nazi
leaders before World War II, though arguably for diplomatic purposes. Gustaf V attempted to convince
Hitler
during a visit to Berlin to soften his persecution of the Jews, according to historian Jorgen Weibull. He was also noted for appealing to the
leader
of
Hungary
to save its Jews "in the name of humanity."
When Nazi Germany invaded the
Soviet Union
in June 1941, Gustaf V tried to write a private letter to Hitler thanking him for taking care of the "
Bolshevik
[6]
pest" and congratulating him on his "already achieved victories".
[7]
He was stopped from doing so by Prime Minister
Per Albin Hansson
.
[8]
During the war Gustaf V invited
Swedish Nazi
leader
Sven Olov Lindholm
to
Stockholm Palace
. The King had friends in Lindholm's movement.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Midsummer crisis 1941
[
edit
]
According to Prime Minister Hansson, during the
Midsummer crisis
, the King in a private conversation had threatened to abdicate if the government did not approve a German request to transfer a German infantry division, the so-called
Engelbrecht Division
, through Swedish territory from southern Norway to northern Finland in June 1941, around
Midsummer
. The accuracy of the claim is debated, and the King's intention, if he really made the threat, is sometimes alleged to be his desire to avoid conflict with Germany. The event has received considerable attention from Swedish historians and is known as
midsommarkrisen
, the Midsummer Crisis.
[12]
Confirmation of the King's action is contained in German Foreign Policy documents captured at the end of the war. On 25 June 1941, the German Ambassador in Stockholm sent a "Most Urgent-Top Secret" message to Berlin in which he stated that the King had just informed him that the
transit of German troops
would be allowed. He added:
The King's words conveyed the joyful emotion he felt. He had lived through anxious days and had gone far in giving his personal support to the matter. He added confidentially that he had found it necessary to go so far as to mention his abdication.
[13]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Gustaf V was thin, and known for his height. He wore
pince-nez
eyeglasses and sported a pointed mustache for most of his teen years.
Gustaf V was a devoted tennis player, appearing under the pseudonym
Mr G
. As a player and promoter of the sport, he was elected to the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
in 1980. The King learned to play tennis during a visit in Britain in 1876 and founded Sweden's first tennis club on his return home. In 1936 he founded the King's Club. During his reign, Gustaf was often seen playing on the
Riviera
. On a visit to Berlin, Gustaf went straight from a meeting with Hitler to a tennis match with the Jewish player
Daniel Prenn
. During World War II, he interceded to obtain better treatment for Davis Cup star
Jean Borotra
of France and his personal trainer and friend Baron
Gottfried von Cramm
of Germany, who had been imprisoned by the Nazi Government on the charge of a homosexual relationship with a Jew.
Haijby affair
[
edit
]
Allegations of a love affair between Gustaf V and
Kurt Haijby
led to the court paying 170,000
kronor
under the threat of blackmail by Haijby. That led to the so-called Haijby Affair and several controversial trials and convictions against Haijby, which spawned considerable controversy about Gustaf V's alleged homosexuality.
[14]
In 2021 the alleged events surrounding the Haijby Affair were adapted into a fictional miniseries for
Sveriges Television
called
En Kunglig Affar (A Royal Secret)
, directed by
Lisa James Larsson
and written by
Bengt Braskered
.
[15]
Death
[
edit
]
After a reign of nearly 43 years, Gustaf V died in
Stockholm
of acute bronchitis with bronchietasis on 29 October 1950. His 67-year-old son Gustaf succeeded him as
Gustaf VI Adolf
.
Honours
[
edit
]
- National honours
[16]
- Foreign military ranks
[18]
-
Denmark: General
a la suite
in the
Royal Danish Army
, 1909
-
Russian Empire: Admiral a la suite in the
Imperial Russian Navy
, 1909
-
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Honorary Admiral in the
Royal Navy
, 3 november 1908.
[19]
-
German Empire: General a la suite in the
Imperial German Army
, 1909
-
German Empire: Admiral a la suite in the
Imperial German Navy
, 1909
-
Restoration (Spain): Admiral a la suite in the Spanish Navy, 1928
-
German Empire: Honorary commander of the third Life Grenadier Regiment "Konigin Elisabeth", 1909
- Foreign honours
[20]
-
Norway:
-
Denmark:
- Hungary:
-
Kingdom of Italy:
[26]
-
Restoration (Spain):
Knight of the Golden Fleece
,
30 June 1881
[27]
- Siam
: Knight of the
Order of the Royal House of Chakri
,
13 July 1897
[28]
-
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:
-
Austria: Grand Cross of the
Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
-
Belgium: Grand Cordon of the
Order of Leopold
-
Brazil:
Grand Cross of the Southern Cross
-
Chile: Collar of the
Order of Merit
- China
:
Order of Propitious Clouds
, 1st Class
-
Czechoslovakia:
Collar of the White Lion
,
1937
[33]
-
Kingdom of Egypt: Collar of the
Order of Muhammad Ali
-
Estonia:
-
Ethiopian Empire: Collar of the
Order of Solomon
,
1945
[36]
-
Finland:
Grand Cross of the White Rose
, with Collar,
1919
[37]
-
German Empire:
- Greece
:
Grand Cross of the Redeemer
- Iran:
-
Kingdom of Iraq: Grand Collar of the Order of the Hashimites
-
Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Chrysanthemum
,
29 July 1881
[45]
-
Latvia:
Commander Grand Cross of the Three Stars
, with Collar
-
Monaco:
Grand Cross of St. Charles
,
6 April 1875
[46]
-
Netherlands:
Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
-
Ottoman Empire:
-
Peru:
Grand Cross of the Sun of Peru
, in Diamonds,
1923
-
Poland:
Knight of the White Eagle
,
15 June 1928
[47]
-
Kingdom of Portugal:
-
Kingdom of Romania:
-
Russian Empire:
- Venezuela: Collar of the
Order of the Liberator
-
Kingdom of Yugoslavia:
Grand Cross of the Star of Karađorđe
Arms
[
edit
]
Upon his creation as Duke of Varmland, Gustaf V was granted a coat of arms with the Arms of Varmland in base. Upon his accession to the throne, he assumed the Arms of Dominion of Sweden.
-
Arms as crown prince from 1872 to 1905
-
Arms as crown prince from 1905 to 1907
-
Greater Coat of Arms of Sweden
-
Royal Monogram of King Gustaf V of Sweden
Issue
[
edit
]
Swedish author Anders Lundebeck (1900?1976) allegedly was an extramarital son of King Gustaf V,
[49]
an allegation purported by Lundebeck himself
[50]
and to some extent supported by existing facts.
[51]
Ancestry
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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"Gustaf V"
.
NE Nationalencyklopedin AB
(in Swedish)
. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
"Haijbyaffaren"
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2021
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von Dardel, Fritz (1913).
Minnen, Fjarde delen 1871?1872
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- ^
"Kin Gustav V's No Nazi Sympathizer"
.
Real Clear History
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- ^
William Shirer,
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
(Touchstone Edition) (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990)
- ^
Hadenius, Stig (2005).
Gustaf V: en biografi
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ISBN
978-91-85057-20-7
.
- ^
Dagens Nyheter
070729
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"King Gustav V of Sweden: Nazi Sympathiser?"
.
RoyaltyRobert Blogger and writer
. 15 June 2020
. Retrieved
26 April
2021
.
- ^
"Karaktarsmord pa doda svenskar"
.
Svenska Dagbladet
(in Swedish). 18 September 2002
. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
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ISBN
9789185057887
- ^
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- ^
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)
- ^
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- ^
Heumann, Maths (1978).
Rattsaffarerna Kejne och Haijby
(in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.
ISBN
91-1-787202-2
.
- ^
"A Royal Secret: The intriguing true story of King Gustaf V, Sweden's first gay king"
.
www.voguescandinavia.com
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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- ^
Sveriges och Norges statskalender
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, retrieved
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- ^
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,
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a
b
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[
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.
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- ^
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- ^
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"?????????????????????????????? ?????????????"
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- ^
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- ^
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(in Czech),
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- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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a
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,
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- ^
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- ^
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.
- ^
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in
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Bonniers
ISBN
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p 35
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