The Age of Liberty: Sweden 1719-1772

by Michael Roberts

Overview

After three-quarters of a century in which Sweden had been reckoned as one of the great powers of Europe, it fell almost overnight into the position of being one of the weakest. But if in international affairs this was a period of decrepitude, in domestic affairs it was a period of remarkable achievements. Between 1720 and 1772 Sweden had the most advanced constitution in Europe. Foreign observers regarded her as 'the freest country in the world'. To an analysis of the principles and practice of the constitution, and of the nature and functioning of Swedish parties, the central chapters of this book are devoted. The final chapter attempts to explain why it was that in 1772 Gustav III was so easily able to bring the Age of Liberty to an end, and why an egalitarian social revolution, which had seemed imminent, was temporarily aborted by his coup d'état.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521527071
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/30/2003
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; 1. The predicament of a minor power; 2. Swedish liberty: in principle and in practice; 3. The rise of party, 1734–1746; the Hat ascendancy, 1747–1764; 4. The Caps in power, 1765–1769; 5. The end of an age; Bibliography; Index.