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III. CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF SWEDEN.
The Navy.
The Swedes have since the most ancient times been a seafaring
nation. During the age of the Vikings the people of the North had the
greatest naval power of the world. But this formidable power was
soon broken up, and, with regard to Sweden particularly, it came to
such a pass that, at the close of the Middle Ages, it had no navy at all.
In later times the fortunes of our naval defense have been very much
varying. But in our days a lively interest for its strengthening has been
awakened and already borne good fruits.
Gustavus Vasa (1523/60) is rightly called the creator of the modern Swedish
navy. The development of the navy was effected under his own vigorous personal
guidance. Erik XIV, his son, kept up the work, and the Swedish navy became
during his time the most powerful of all the navies of Northern Europe. After
his time, however, it was very much neglected.
The inefficiency of the navy and its stationing at Stockholm caused great
damages to the country during the war with Denmark 1675/79. The
establishment of Karlskrona as naval station, and the speedy improvement of the navy
during the later years of Charles XI, were the direct results of this. At the
beginning of the 18th century, Sweden had a navy of no less than 45 rated vessels
besides smaller ones. The steadily growing financial difficulties during the later
part of the reign of Charles XII made it, however, impossible to maintain such
a force.
When peace, after the death of Charles XII, had been re-established, the
naval defense was well cared for by government and parliament. Beside
the regular naval fleet a powerful fleet of various vessels grew up with certain
types of vessels peculiar for Sweden and adapted for its many archipelagoes.
Sveaborg became the chief station and basis for this fleet. Both fleets were, especially
during the reign of Gustavus III, re-inforced to such a degree that Sweden in the
war with Russia 1788/90 could send 26 ships of the line, 12 large frigates, and
more than 350 smaller vessels against the enemy. These were manned with
about 44,000 men and carried more than 5,000 guns. The losses during the war
were great, however, and the Swedish navy has never since regained the same
strength.
Up to the middle of the 19th century Sweden maintained two fleets of
quite a respectable power and quality. Then occurred the great and rapid
changes in vessels and material used in naval warfare by which so many of the
smaller states were left powerless. Sweden procured some ironclads of small type
and some gunboats between 1860 and 1880, but this was much too small a
compensation for the old fleets, particularly when it is considered that the personnel
of the navy at different times had been very much reduced.
In 1882 a committee of the parliament agreed upon a new type of ironclads
of greater dimensions and seaworthiness, greater speed, and more powerful
armament. Since then the naval defense of Sweden has again commenced to
improve, very slowly up to 1895, but after that year and particularly through the
decision of the parliament of 1899, more rapidly, and can with some certainty
be calculated to become adequate to the defense that it is intended for within a few
years.
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