On this day in history: First European banknotes, 1661

In November 1656, King Karl X Gustav of Sweden signed two charters creating two private banks under the directorship of Johan Palmstruch, a trade commissioner born in Riga. Palmstruch modeled the banks on those of Amsterdam where he had become a burgher. One bank offered clients a facility to deposit money and issue cheques; the other offered loans financed by short term giro deposits.

In 1660 the copper content of Swedish coins was reduced prompting many of the banks' customers to demand their older coins, which were now worth more as scrap metal than as currency. Since the money had already been lent out, the bank did not have enough coinage to fulfill these requests. Faced with this liquidity problem, Palmstruch's solution was to issue Europe's first banknotes that could be used as currency and exchanged for their value in coinage.

On 16th July 1661, Stockholms Banco issued the first set of Kreditivsedlar ('credit paper') in round denominations - 5, 25, 100 and 1000 kopparmynt. This financial innovation brought new pitfalls. The bank issued too many notes reducing their purchase value and leading to a flood of people wanting to exchange their notes for coins; however, the bank did not have sufficient coins to meet demand. The bank had no novel solution to this new liquidity problem, as a result it was liquidated in 1667.

Charged with irresponsible book-keeping Palmstruch was stripped of his title and sentenced to either death or exile. After the Swedish government reprieved the death sentence Palmstruch (now called Wittmacher) served a two-year prison sentence and died a year after his release.

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On this day in history: Catastrophic volcanic eruption in Iceland, 1783

During the mid-morning of 8th June 1783, a Lutheran priest in southern Iceland called Jon Steingrimsson witnessed the first results of one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in history:

[In] clear and calm weather, a black haze of sand appeared to the north of the mountains. The cloud was so extensive that in a short time it had spread over the entire area and so thick that it caused darkness indoors. That night, strong earthquakes and tremors occurred. [1]

The earth had ripped apart along a sixteen-mile fissure later called the Laki volcano. This fissure intermittently continued to spew lava over the next eight months until its last eruption on 7th February 1784. The results of this eruption were felt across Europe, parts of North America and reportedly as far afield as Asia and North Africa. Understandably, the effects were worst in Iceland where an estimated quarter of the population died as a result.

Diaries and letters of the time help the historian trace the impact of the volcano. In Norway, on the 10th June, Johan Brun (also a Lutheran priest) wrote in his diary about black ash that had fallen from the sky causing plants to whither. Over the next week the dust cloud reached Prague and Berlin. An apparent change in direction of the prevailing winds, meant the 'dry fog' then passed over France on the 18th before it arrived over Britain on the 22nd.

Wherever the cloud appeared, those people who worked the land became ill. As the English poet William Cowper wrote in a letter to Rev. William Unwin in September 1783:

[S]uch multitudes are indisposed by fevers in this country, that the farmers have with difficulty gathered in their harvest, the labourers having been almost every day carried out of the field incapable of work; and many die. [2]

The climactic impact of the eruptions were felt for many years, and may have contributed to the poor harvests across Europe in 1788, which are often seen as a key cause of the French Revolution.

To learn more about the Laki eruptions and their environmental impact, see this excellent article on The Economist web-site.

[1] J. Steingrimsson, K. Kunz (trans.), Fires of the Earth: The Laki Eruption 1783-1784 (Reykjavik, 1998)
[2] W. Cowper, The works of William Cowper Vol. III (London, 1854) - available at Google Books

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On this day in history: Dissolution of union between Sweden and Norway, 1905

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Denmark joined the Second League of Armed Neutrality, which had the aim of protecting neutral shipping from the British policy of searching all ships for French contraband. In response the British decided that Denmark had become an aggressor, driving the Danes closer to Napoleon Bonaparte's France. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the victorious Sweden signed the Treaty of Kiel (1814) with the defeated King of Denmark, who ceded Norway to the Swedes in return for lands in Pomerania.

The Norwegians, however, ignored the treaty and declared their independence. In response, the Swedish king, Karl XIII launched a military campaign in the summer of 1814. The short war ended with the Convention of Moss, a ceasefire and negotiated settlement by which the Norwegian government accepted a loose personal union with Sweden. Norway became a relatively autonomous constitutional monarchy with Karl as king.

By the end of the nineteenth century the union began to show signs of strains. The protectionist measures adopted by the Swedish government affected the Norwegian economy, which was more dependent on foreign trade. Tensions escalated when a succession of Norwegian governments demanded that they be allowed to send their own consuls aboard rather than rely on those appointed by the Swedish foreign minister.

King Oscar II dismissed the Norwegian demands, declaring that such a measure would erode his right to decide on foreign policy. As a consequence of royal intransigence the Norwegian Conservative politicians joined their Liberal counterparts who had long insisted on greater autonomy for their country. In 1905 the Liberal politician and shipping magnate formed a coalition government with the Conservatives. The government had one goal, to enact legislation in the Norwegian parliament (called the Storting) to allow them to appoint their own consuls.

When the king vetoed the legislation the entire government resigned in protest. Oscar declared that he was unable to form a government under those circumstances and in response on 7th June 1905, the Storting unanimously declared that the union with Sweden to be effectively dissolved. In an address they stated,

Whereas all the members of the Cabinet have to-day, in the Storthing, resigned their posts, and whereas Your Majesty in the Protocol of May 27 officially declared that Your Majesty did not see your way clear to create a new Government for the country, the Constitutional Regal power in Norway has thereby become inoperative.

It has therefore been the duty of the Storthing, as the representative of the Norwegian people, without delay to empower the members of the resigning Cabinet to exercise until further notice as the Norwegian Government the power appertaining to the King in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway and the existing laws with the changes which are necessitated by the fact that the union with Sweden, which provides that there shall be a common King, is dissolved in consequence of the fact that the King has ceased to act as King of Norway.

Initially, the Swedish government decried the declaration as an act of rebellion; however, they were open to a negotiated settlement but they demanded that the Norwegian people be asked to decide the future of their state.

The Storting passes the resolution to disolve the union.

The results of the plebiscite held on 13th August gave a ringing endorsement of the Storting's decision, with 99.95% of voters in favour of dissolution. Negotiations between the Swedes and Norwegians began at the end of that month. While some Swedish politicians preferred a hard-line response, the king decided that an end to the union was preferable to war between the two countries. In October both parliaments ratified the terms of the dissolution, with Sweden formally recognising Norwegian independence on the 26th October when Oscar II renounced his and his descendents' claim on the Norwegian throne.

Project Gutenberg hosts an e-text of Karl Nordlund's The Swedish-Norwegian Union Crisis, in which you will find many primary source texts related to the dissolution.

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On this day in history: First session of Finnish Parliament, 1907

In 1809, following occupation by Russian forces during their war against Sweden, the four estates of Finland (clergy, aristocracy, burghers and peasants) pledged loyalty to the Russian Tsar Alexander I, who became the Grand Duke of Finland. He granted the territory a degree of autonomy and their own legislative assembly, which became known as the Diet of Finland.

This assembly met infrequently and became dominated by two parties: one representing the Finnish speakers; the other, those who spoke Swedish. This domination marginalised the liberal parties and hampered constitutional reform. Hope of reform were further eroded by increasing Russification of Finland at the end of the nineteenth century, which brought the country under imperial rule, weakening the power of the Diet. The Finns reacted to this increasing oppressive Russification by calling a general strike during Russia's disastrous war with Japan. The Emperor responded by returning powers to the Diet and promised regular parliaments, elected by universal suffrage.

Around a year and a half months later, on 23rd May 1907 the Parliament of Finland met for the first time. This unicameral legislature was the first in the world elected under a system that granted full political rights to women. Not only did women have the same voting rights as men, they also had the right to stand for election. Indeed, of the two hundred members elected to the first Parliament, nineteen were women.

Tsar Nicholas II limited the powers of the Parliament during a second phase of Russification. When the February Revolution forced the abdication of the Tsar, the Finnish Parliament took its chance and declared independence in 1917. Nevertheless, Finland was far from united: republicans and monarchists fought a bitter civil war a year after independence. The result of which was the foundation of the Republic of Finland in 1919.

The Parliament of Finland website includes pages about the History of the Finnish Parliament and also offers a variety of brochures for download in pdf format including one on its history.

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On this day in history: Stockholm Castle fire, 1697

In the afternoon of 7th May 1697, fire broke out in the Tre Kronor (three crowns) castle in Stockholm, seat of the royal family of Sweden. The fire spread quickly; according to one eye witness the entire building was ablaze within half an hour. In spite of this, guards, officials and servants managed to save much of the contents of the castle, including the body of King Charles XI, who had died only a month earlier. Unfortunately, many records and other historical documents were lost, as were around three quarters of the collection of books in the Royal Library, and of those books saved from the flames many were damaged by being thrown out of the windows when the stairwells became impassable.

Within days a court was convened to discover who was at fault for the fire. Three men were found guilty of neglect of duty: the fire marshal, Sven Lindberg; and the two soldiers on fire watch, Mattias Hanson and Anders Andersson (who was away from his post running an errand for Lindberg's wife). Initially, Lindberg and Hanson received the death sentence, but the king commuted this sentence to running the gauntlet seven times followed by six years hard labour. Andersson ran the gauntlet five times. Lindberg died from the wounds he received from running the gauntlet, which involved running between two rows of soldiers who rained blows upon the guilty party.

To find out more about this subject see 'The Stockholm Castle fire of 1697' at the web site dedicated History of the Codex Gigas (a historical copy of the Bible).

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On this day in history: West German embassy siege in Stockholm, 1975

On the 24th April 1975, members of a group of armed revolutionary group from Germany known as the Red Army Faction entered the West German embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. They took the embassy staff hostage in the hope that they could negotiate the release of their fellow revolutionaries held in German prisons. These prisoners included Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, whose names were used by the media referring to the group as the Baader-Meinhof Gang as opposed to the Red Army Faction.

Whatever they were called, the group of self styled urban guerrillas had formed in the early 1970s after Meinhof and three others had helped Baader escape custody from a library in a research institution where he had been allowed to study, without handcuffs. Baader was serving a sentence for involvement in two fire bombings in response to the clampdown on radical student activities in West Germany. The group followed an extreme form of Marxist-Leninist ideology, which they saw as justification for their campaign of political assassinations that they funded by robbing banks. Needless to say, the West German government saw them as terrorists, not only for their actions but for their links to Palestinian groups such as Fatah and Black September.

The West German police captured several members of the RAF in June and July 1972. There was no further action by the Faction until the embassy siege three years later carried out by members of a radical anti-psychiatric group who had allied themselves with the RAF. The six hostage-takers - Hanna-Elise Krabbe, Karl-Heinz Dellwo, LutzTaufer, Bernhard Rössner, Ulrich Wessel and Siegfried Hausner - killed one hostage, the Military Attache, Baron von Mirbach when the Swedish police did not withdraw when the group demanded it. The German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, refused to negotiate with terrorists, and in response the RAF shot another hostage: an economic attaché called Hillegaart.

As the Swedish police stormed the embassy the explosives, with which the hostage-takers had rigged the building, accidentally ignited. The RAF members and the remaining hostages were all injured in the blast with Siegfried Hausner dying from his wounds. Nevertheless, this was far from the end of the RAF. In 1977, West Germany was rocked by a campaign of assassinations, which became known as the 'German Autumn'. Yet, following the apparent suicides of the principle activists in the RAF during 1976 and 1977, the group became less active until they finally called off their campaign in April 1992.

To learn more about the RAF see (the somewhat sympathetic article) 'A Brief History of the Red Army Fraction' on the World History Archives web site. Alternatively you can read the 'Who were the Baader-Meinhof gang?' article on the BBC web site.

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On this day in history: First Volvo car produced, 1927

Eighty years ago today the Swedish vehicle manufacturer Volvo produced their first car. On 14th April, 1927, the first ÖV4 - nicknamed the 'Jakob' left the company's Hisingen factory in Gothenburg driven by Sales Director, Hilmer Johansson. The ÖV4 - Öppen Vagn 4 cylindrar ("Open Carriage 4 cylinders") - had a 1940cc engine producing 28hp; however, the cabriolet design did not suit the Swedish climate.

Three years earlier, two employees of ball bearing manufacturer AB SKF, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, decided that Sweden needed a car industry. So, they founded Volvo - Latin for 'I roll' - as a subsidiary of AB SKF. The company went on to produce their first truck in 1927; in 1934, they manufactured their first bus; and after World War II, a very successful line of tractors.

For more information about Volvo through the years, see the history page on their web site.

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On this day in history: Prohibition ended in Finland, 1932

At 10 am on the 5th April 1932, the shops of Oy Alkoholiliike Ab opened for the first time for the sale of alcohol, ending nearly thirteen years of prohibition. Since 1st June 1919, the production, sale and storage of alcohol had been illegal in Finland, following the success of an abstinence campaign that had grown since the late-nineteenth century. Yet, over time, public opinion shifted to oppose prohibition.

In 1888, over thirty temperance organisations formed a national organisation with a membership of nearly 6,000. By 1905 the movement had grown to around 50,000 members in approximately 600 local societies. Throughout this period the Finnish government enacted various measures to limit the production and consumption of alcohol culminating with a prohibition bill passed in 1907.

Finland was then part of the Russian Empire, and any bill required the Csar's ascent for it to become law. In the case of the prohibition bill, the ascent was not forthcoming, much to the disappointment of the temperance movement. In 1909, an amended bill suffered a similar fate, but the Russian Revolution enabled the promulgation of the act on 20th May 1917.

On 1st June 1919 this act came into effect, with only the supply of alcohol used for industrial, medical and scientific being legal. Nevertheless, many ran the risk of fines and prison sentences to produce alcohol using illegal stills [pictured], or by smuggling it into the country. Prohibition did little to curb the demand for alcohol, with seizures of intoxicating liquor rising from 296,070 litres in 1920, to 1,052,490 litres in 1930.

During the following year a number of unofficial surveys showed a majority in favour of repeal of prohibition. 120,000 women signed a petition against prohibition, and a judicial body sent a memorandum to the government noting that prohibition was having the opposite effect to that intended as alcoholism was on the increase. The government decided to hold an consultative referendum on the issue on 29th and 30th December, which resulted in 217,208 votes in favour of the continuation of prohibition compared to 546,332 votes for repeal.

On 19th January 1932, the Finnish parliament voted 120 to 45 in favour of a bill to repeal prohibition. They went on to pass the Alcohol Act act in the following month, which allowed for the sale of alcohol by Oy Alkoholiliike Ab. This state-owned company, now known as Alko, still enjoys a monopoly of sales of strong beer and spirits.

Source
J. H. Wuorinen, "Finland's Prohibition Experiment", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (Sep., 1932), pp. 216-226

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