departed. They had changed places with the king. He was now indeed their sovereign lord; and, for all his gentleness, the jealousy with which he guarded, the vigour with which he enforced the prerogative, plainly showed that he meant to remain so. Even the few who were patriotic enough to acquiesce in the change by no means liked it. The diet of 1778 had been obsequious; the diet of 1786 was mutinous. The consequence was that nearly all the royal propositions were either rejected outright or so modified that Gustavus himself withdrew them.
The diet of 1786 marks a turning-point in Gustavus’s history. Henceforth we observe a determination on his part to rule without a parliament; a passage, cautious and gradual, yet unflinching, from semi-constitutionalism to semi-absolutism. His opportunity came in 1788, when the political complications arising out of his war with Catherine II. of Russia enabled him by the Act of Unity and Security (on the 17th of February 1789) to override the opposition of the rebellious and grossly unpatriotic gentry, and, with the approbation of the three lower estates, establish a new and revolutionary constitution, in which, though the estates still held the power of the purse, the royal authority largely predominated. Throughout 1789 and 1790 Gustavus, in the national interests, gallantly conducted the unequal struggle with Russia, finally winning in the Svensksund (9th-10th July) the most glorious naval victory ever gained by the Swedish arms, the Russians losing one-third of their fleet and 7000 men. A month later, on the 14th of August 1790, peace was signed between Russia and Sweden at Värälä. Only eight months before, Catherine had haughtily declared that “the odious and revolting aggression” of the king of Sweden would be “forgiven” only if he “testified his repentance” by agreeing to a peace granting a general and unlimited amnesty to all his rebels, and consenting to a guarantee by the Swedish diet (“as it would be imprudent to confide in his good faith alone”) for the observance of peace in the future. The peace of Värälä saved Sweden from any such humiliating concession, and in October 1791 Gustavus took the bold but by no means imprudent step of concluding an eight years’ defensive alliance with the empress, who thereby bound herself to pay her new ally annual subsidies amounting to 300,000 roubles.
Gustavus now aimed at forming a league of princes against the Jacobins, and every other consideration was subordinated thereto. His profound knowledge of popular assemblies enabled him, alone among contemporary sovereigns, accurately to gauge from the first the scope and bearing of the French Revolution. But he was hampered by poverty and the jealousy of the other European Powers, and, after showing once more his unrivalled mastery over masses of men at the brief Gefle diet (22nd of January-24th of February 1792), he fell a victim to a widespread aristocratic conspiracy. Shot in the back by Anckarström at a midnight masquerade at the Stockholm opera-house, on the 16th of March 1792, he expired on the 29th.
Although he may be charged with many foibles and extravagances, Gustavus III. was indisputably one of the greatest sovereigns of the 18th century. Unfortunately his genius never had full scope, and his opportunity came too late. Gustavus was, moreover, a most distinguished author. He may be said to have created the Swedish theatre, and some of the best acting dramas in the literature are by his hand. His historical essays, notably the famous anonymous eulogy on Torstenson crowned by the Academy, are full of feeling and exquisite in style,—his letters to his friends are delightful. Every branch of literature and art interested him, every poet and artist of his day found in him a most liberal and sympathetic protector.
See R. N. Bain, Gustavus III. and his Contemporaries (London, 1904); E. G. Geijer, Konung Gustaf III.’s efterlemnade papper (Upsala, 1843–1845); C. T. Odhner, Sveriges politiska historia under Konung Gustaf III.’s regering (Stockholm, 1885–1896); B. von Beskow, Om Gustaf III. såsom Konung och människa (Stockholm, 1860–1861); O. Levertin, Gustaf III. som dramatisk författare (Stockholm, 1894); Gustaf III.’s bref till G. M. Armfelt (Fr.) (Stockholm, 1883); Y. K. Grot, Catharine II. and Gustavus III. (Russ.) (St Petersburg, 1884). (R. N. B.)
GUSTAVUS IV. (1778–1837), king of Sweden, the son of
Gustavus III. and Queen Sophia Magdalena, was born at Stockholm
on the 1st of November 1778. Carefully educated under
the direction of Nils von Rosenstein, he grew up serious and
conscientious. In August 1796 his uncle the regent Charles, duke
of Sudermania, visited St Petersburg for the purpose of arranging
a marriage between the young king and Catherine II.’s granddaughter,
the grand-duchess Alexandra. The betrothal was
actually fixed for the 22nd of September, when the whole
arrangement foundered on the obstinate refusal of Gustavus to
allow his destined bride liberty of worship according to the rites
of the Greek Orthodox Church—a rebuff which undoubtedly
accelerated the death of the Russian empress. Nobody seems to
have even suspected at the time that serious mental derangement
lay at the root of Gustavus’s abnormal piety. On the contrary,
there were many who prematurely congratulated themselves on
the fact that Sweden had now no disturbing genius, but an
economical, God-fearing, commonplace monarch to deal with.
Gustavus’s prompt dismissal of the generally detested Gustaf
Reuterholm added still further to his popularity. On the 31st of
October 1797 Gustavus married Frederica Dorothea, daughter of
Charles Frederick, grand-duke of Baden, a marriage which might
have led to a war with Russia but for the fanatical hatred of the
French republic shared by the emperor Paul and Gustavus IV.,
which served as a bond of union between them. Indeed the
king’s horror of Jacobinism was morbid in its intensity, and drove
him to adopt all sorts of reactionary measures and to postpone
his coronation for some years, so as to avoid calling together a
diet; but the disorder of the finances, caused partly by the
continental war and partly by the almost total failure of the crops
in 1798 and 1799, compelled him to summon the estates to
Norrköping in March 1800, and on the 3rd of April Gustavus was
crowned. The notable change which now took place in Sweden’s
foreign policy and its fatal consequences to the country are elsewhere
set forth (see Sweden, History). By the end of 1808 it was
obvious to every thinking Swede that the king was insane. His
violence had alienated his most faithful supporters, while his
obstinate incompetence paralysed the national efforts. To
remove a madman by force was the one remaining expedient;
and this was successfully accomplished by a conspiracy of officers
of the western army, headed by Adlersparre, the Anckarsvärds,
and Adlercreutz, who marched rapidly from Skåne to Stockholm.
On the 13th of March 1809 seven of the conspirators broke into
the royal apartments in the palace unannounced, seized the king,
and conducted him to the château of Gripsholm; Duke Charles
was easily persuaded to accept the leadership of a provisional
government, which was proclaimed the same day; and a diet,
hastily summoned, solemnly approved of the revolution. On the
29th of March Gustavus, in order to save the crown for his son,
voluntarily abdicated; but on the 10th of May the estates,
dominated by the army, declared that not merely Gustavus but
his whole family had forfeited the throne. On the 5th of June
the duke regent was proclaimed king under the title of Charles
XIII., after accepting the new liberal constitution, which was
ratified by the diet the same day. In December Gustavus and
his family were transported to Germany. Gustavus now assumed
the title of count of Gottorp, but subsequently called himself
Colonel Gustafsson, under which pseudonym he wrote most of his
works. He led, separated from his family, an erratic life for
some years; was divorced from his consort in 1812; and finally
settled at St Gall in Switzerland in great loneliness and indigence.
He died on the 7th of February 1837, and, at the suggestion of
King Oscar II. his body was brought to Sweden and interred in
the Riddarholmskyrka. From him descend both the Baden and
the Oldenburg princely houses on the female side.
See H. G. Trolle-Wachtmeister, Anteckningar och minnen (Stockholm, 1889); B. von Beskow, Lefnadsminnen (Stockholm, 1870); K. V. Key-Åberg, De diplomatiska förbindelserna mellan Sverige och Storbrittannien under Gustaf IV.’s Krig emot Napoléon (Upsala, 1890); Colonel Gustafsson, La Journée du treize mars, &c. (St Gall, 1835); Memorial des Obersten Gustafsson (Leipzig, 1829). (R. N. B.)
GUSTAVUS V. (1858– ), king of Sweden, son of Oscar II.,
king of Sweden and Norway, and Queen Sophia Wilhelmina, was
