Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Reign of Gustavus Adolphus, 1611–1632 - D. Domestic Development
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166 A History of Sweden
ings. But why might not Sweden become wealthy like
other lands ? Could it not build up a flourishing com-
merce and thriving industries? But to do this he would
have to renew his grandfather’s work for trade and
navigation. At the time of his accession the Swedish
cities lay idle, decayed, and in ruins, as he himself
says. The constant wars and the misrule of John III
had destroyed the work of Gustavus Vasa. All foreign
trade was now in the hands of foreigners, who carried
away raw materials and brought them back as manu-
factured products at greatly increased prices. This
evil the king sought to remedy. He tried to stir up
the enterprise of cities by granting them special privi-
leges. Many new cities were founded. Gothenburg,
which had been destroyed by the Danes in the recent
war, was rebuilt, nearer the sea, in its present location.
Foreigners were permitted to sell their goods in cer-
tain cities only and for a limited time each year, and
only in wholesale quantities.
To encourage Swedish foreign trade men of means
were induced to make investments in trading com-
panies. Such corporations were the Copper Company,
which had the monopoly of exporting the country’s
copper output, the most important Swedish export;
and the South Sea Company, Sweden’s first attempt
to engage in trade with lands beyond the sea. These
plans of Gustavus Adolphus filled the Dutch, the fore-
most commercial nation of that day, with fear and
jealousy. But they could soon draw a sigh of relief.
There was a dearth of capital in Sweden, and those
who had money would rather spend it for luxuries than
for the country’s benefit.
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