Timeline of Swedish history
This is a timeline of Swedish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Sweden and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Sweden. See also the list of Swedish monarchs and list of Prime Ministers of Sweden.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by
expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
1st century
2nd century
Year | Date | Event |
100 | | The Iron Age settlement at Uppåkra is founded. |
6th century
8th century
9th century
10th century
11th century
12th century
13th century
14th century
15th century
16th century
Year | Date | Event |
1520 | | The Stockholm bloodbath occurs at the order of Christian II of Denmark. |
1523 | | Gustav Vasa liberates Stockholm, reasserting Sweden's independence from Denmark-Norway and initiating the monarchical rule of the House of Vasa. |
1524 | | The Treaty of Malmö is signed. Denmark-Norway recognizes the independence of Sweden, while in return Sweden renounces its claims to Scania and Blekinge. |
1526 | | The first Swedish translation of the New Testament is published. |
1529 | | The Westrogothian Rebellion takes place. |
1531 | | The Third Dalecarlian Rebellion, also knows as the Bell Rebellion (Klockupproret) begins, and is suppressed two years later. |
1535 | | War with Lübeck leads to the expulsion of the Hanseatic traders, who previously had a monopoly on foreign trade. |
1540 | | The first full Swedish translation of the Bible, the Gustav Vasa Bible, is published. |
1542 | | Nils Dacke starts a peasant uprising in Småland, which is defeated the following year. |
1554 | | Border skirmishes between Sweden and Russia lead to the outbreak of the Russo-Swedish War (1554-1557). |
1555 | | A Description of the Northern Peoples (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus) by Olaus Magnus is published. |
1561 | | Estonia becomes a Swedish dominion. |
1567 | | The Sture Murders take place at the order of King Eric XIV. |
1577 | February 26 | Eric XIV dies in imprisonment, most likely murdered. |
1584 | | The city of Karlstad is founded. |
1592 | | Poland and Sweden enter into a short-lived personal union following the crowning of Sigismund III Vasa as King of Sweden. |
1598 |
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A conflict between Duke Charles, later King Charles IX, and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland, leads to the outbreak of the War against Sigismund. |
September 25 | The Battle of Stångebro takes place. |
1599 | | The War against Sigismund ends, resulting in the deposition of King Sigismund. |
17th century
Year | Date | Event |
1600 | March 20 | The Linköping Bloodbath takes place. |
1610 | | The Ingrian War between Russia and Sweden begins. |
1611 | | Denmark declares war on Sweden, initiating the Kalmar War. |
1613 | | The Treaty of Knäred is signed, ending the Kalmar War. Sweden is obligated to pay a ransom of one million thaler for the return of the fortress of Älvsborg. |
1614 | | The city of Kristianstad is founded. |
1617 | February 27 | The Treaty of Stolbovo is signed, ending the Ingrian War. Russia cedes the province and fortress of Kexholm, southwestern Karelia and the province of Ingria to Sweden, laying the foundation for Sweden's rise as a Great Power. |
1621 | | The city of Gothenburg is founded. |
1628 | August 10 | The sinking of the Swedish warship Vasa. |
1630 | | Sweden enters the Thirty Years' War. |
1631 |
April 13 |
The Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder takes place. |
September 7 | The Battle of Breitenfeld takes place. |
1632 | November 6 | The Battle of Lützen takes place. King Gustav II Adolf is killed in battle. |
1638 | | The colony of New Sweden is established along the Delaware River in North America. |
1648 | | The Thirty Years' War ends, with Sweden among the winners. The Peace of Westphalia grants Sweden the provinces of Western Pomerania, Wismar, and the bishoprics of Bremen-Verden. |
1650 | | The colony of the Swedish Gold Coast is established on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana. |
1654 | | Queen Christina abdicates her throne and converts to Roman Catholicism, creating a major scandal. |
1658 | February 26 | Treaty of Roskilde. Denmark-Norway cedes the provinces of Blekinge, Bornholm, Bohuslän, Scania, Trøndelag and Halland to Sweden. |
1663 | | The colony of the Swedish Gold Coast is seized by Denmark, and integrated in the Danish Gold Coast. |
1666 | | Lund University is founded. |
1668 | | The Swedish National Bank (Sveriges Riksbank) is founded. |
1674 | December 24 | Sweden invades Brandenburg, triggering the Swedish-Brandenburg War. |
1675 | | Denmark invades Scania, triggering the Scanian War. |
1676 |
June 1 |
The Battle of Öland takes place. |
August 17 |
The Battle of Halmstad takes place. |
December 4 | The Battle of Lund takes place. |
1677 |
June 26 |
The Siege of Malmö takes place. |
July 14 | The Battle of Landskrona takes place. |
1678 | | The Invasion of Rügen takes place. |
1679 | August 23 | The Treaty of Fontainebleau is signed, restoring all Danish conquests during the Scanian War to Sweden. |
1680 | | The city of Karlskrona is founded. |
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The Great Reduction of 1680 is enacted, returning to the Swedish Crown lands that had earlier been granted to the nobility. |
1697 | May 7 | The castle of Tre Kronor burns down, destroying a significant portion of Sweden's national library and royal archives. |
18th century
Year | Date | Event |
1700 | | An alliance consisting of Denmark-Norway, Saxony, Poland and Russia declares war on Sweden, initiating the Great Northern War. |
|
The Battle of Narva takes place. |
1702 | July 8 | The Battle of Kliszów takes place. |
1706 | October 13 | The Treaty of Altranstädt is signed, following Sweden's victorious invasion of Poland. King Augustus the Strong is forced to renounce his claims to the Polish throne and his alliance with Russia. |
1708 | January 1 | Charles XII crosses the Vistula, initiating the Swedish invasion of Russia. |
1709 | June 27 | The Battle of Poltava takes place. The Swedish army under Charles XII is destroyed by the Russian forces of Peter the Great, marking the beginning of Sweden's decline as a Great Power. |
1710 | February 28 | The Battle of Helsingborg takes place. Denmark's last attempt to regain Scania fails. |
1713 | February 1 | The Skirmish at Bender, a battle to remove Charles XII and the remnants of his army from the Ottoman Empire, takes place. |
1718 | November 30 | Charles XII is killed at Frederikshald. |
1719 | | The Treaties of Stockholm are signed, requiring Sweden to cede parts of Swedish Pomerania to Prussia and Bremen-Verden to Hanover. |
1720 | | The Treaty of Frederiksborg is signed, requiring Sweden to cede Schleswig to Denmark-Norway. |
1721 | | The Treaty of Nystad is signed, requiring Sweden to cede Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia. |
1731 | | The Swedish East India Company is founded. |
1732 | | Carl Linnaeus departs on his Expedition to Lapland. |
1735 | | The first edition of Carl Linnaeus' Systema Naturae is published. |
1739 | June 2 | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is founded. |
1741 | August 23 | The Battle of Villmanstrand takes place. |
1742 | | Anders Celsius proposes the Celsius temperature scale. |
1743 | | The Fourth Dalecarlian Rebellion breaks out. |
1756 | | An attempted coup d'état by Queen Louisa Ulrika and a few devoted nobles to reinstate absolute monarchy in Sweden is exposed and subdued. |
1757 | | Sweden enters the Seven Years' War. |
1762 | May 22 | The Treaty of Hamburg is signed, concluding Sweden's involvement in the Seven Years' War. |
1766 | | The Freedom of the Press Act is enacted, abolishing censorship and restricting limitations only to vocal opposition to the king or the Church of Sweden. |
1768 | | The December Crisis (1768) fails to increase royal power. |
1772 | | Absolute monarchy is reintroduced in Sweden through the Revolution of 1772. |
1773 |
|
Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovers oxygen. |
| The Royal Swedish Opera is founded. |
1782 | | Sweden purchases the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy from France. |
1786 | March 20 | The Swedish Academy is founded. |
1788 | | Sweden declares war against Russia, beginning the Russo-Swedish War (1788-90). |
1790 | | The Treaty of Värälä is signed, concluding the Russo-Swedish War. |
1792 | March 16 | King Gustav III is assassinated at a masked ball. |
19th century
20th century
21st century
Year | Date | Event |
2000 | July 1 | The Øresund Bridge is opened, creating a road and railway connection between Sweden and mainland Europe. |
2003 | | Voters decide not to adopt the Euro as the country's official currency. |
2009 | May 1 | Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden. |
2010 | | Military conscription is abolished in Sweden. |
See also
- Cities in Sweden
References
Further reading
External links
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