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The Northern Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom: Sweden after 1947
The Flag of the Kingdom of Sweden
The 1947 elections to the Rikstag in Sweden were “snap elections” called by the “Coalition for National Unitarianism” after Sweden's leaders bowed to Germany pressure to adopt democratic reforms which rescinded the "electoral reforms" adopted by the Coalition on National Unitarianism. The Coalition on National Unitarianism was Sweden's ruling coalition, a weird mixture of Unitarian and Nationalist political parties held together by resentment of Sweden's "mutilated victory" and the leadership of Leonard Ekblad, a hero of the Great European War. Leonard Ekblad’s Coalition on National Unitarianism won said electionto the Rikstag, although by a narrower margin with only 254 of 500 seats being won by said party. However Leonard Ekblad would die on September 5, 1947 from a stroke and the Coalition fell apart shortly afterwards as the Unitarian and the nationalist factions of said coalition fell out with each other with the split formally being announced on November 26, 1947. Therefore, until the next Rikstag elections, the Unitarian Party of Sweden would have 142 seats and the Swedish National Congress would have the remaining 112 seats of the former Coalition on National Unitarianism. The next elections would be called on February 16, 1948 after coalition talks failed to bring about a solution to the deadlock caused by the split of said coalition. Said elections would bring about the victory of the Progressive Alliance of Sweden, led by the Norwegian Ronald Fossen, which won 188 out of 500 seats in coalition with the Democeatic Unitarians in the Swedish People’s Alliance, which won 102 seats in the Rikstag
Ronald Fossen, Prime Minister of Sweden (1947-1954)
Ronald Fossen’s government during his first term in office was largely involved with having to rebuild the Swedish government’s relationships with other nations as the previous Coalition for National Unitarianism government had largely pursued a program of autarky via a program of encouraging Swedes to “buy Swedish products” and putting up a “wall of tariffs” as part of their nationalist program. His government did so via opening trade deals with Germania and France (among others) and passing laws which lowered tariffs on foreign goods. However, his government had to deal with another issue: New Sweden. After New England and Virginia declared independence during the Troubles in Britannia, similar secessionist sentiments had crept up amongst New Sweden’s elite with the Assembly of Vinland being formed under the leadership of Harald Brodd. However, Harald Brodd and Ronald Fossen, unlike the Britannian government and it’s colonies, were more than willing to compromise with the Soberg Agreement being signed on March 26, 1951, which created the Dominon of Vinland, a state which shared a monarch with Sweden but was otherwise independent of Stockholm’s rule. However, later that year, Fossen’s coalition government would collapse, forcing through snap elections. The September 1951 elections, the first held after Vinland’s independence and the subsequent redistricting, would result in Fossen’s party winning 195 seats, the Swedish People’s Alliance winning 112 seats, the Swedish Protectionist League winning 75 seats, the Swedish National Congress winning 72 seats, the Unitarian Party of Sweden winning 28 seats in a landslide defeat, and the remaining 18 seats being with the “Norwegian League”, a coalition of parties which were dedicated to “representing Norwegian interests” with some parties calling for Norwegian independence and other parties calling for greater autonomy for Norway.
In the aftermath of the 1951 election, Fossen would forge a new coalition government with the Swedish Protectionist League. Said coalition resulted in several concessions to the SPL in economic and social policies. For instance, the government of Sweden would privatize many state-owned industries set up during the “National Unitarian” regime, with it’s corporatist and populist economic policies which emphasized a degree of state-directed growth to achieve both economic prosperity and self-sufficiency. However, Fossen was able to maintain the welfare state which had been established under the “National Unitarian” regime as part of their populistic policies to buy popular support. This was able to win him large amounts of popularity and he appeared optimistic of winning the next elections. However, tragedy would strike as on February 16, 1954, Aron Larsson, who was connected to various Unitarian and Norwegian secessionist movements, would assassinate the Swedish Prime Minister by shooting at him with a sniper rifle as he gave a speech in Malmo. The new Prime Minister would be Arvid Lindholm, Fossen’s deputy as head of the Progressive Alliance of Sweden.
Another tragedy would strike Sweden as the 62-year old King Valdemar III would die on September 26, 1954 from a sudden stroke. His only son, Prince Nicholas, had died in 1948 from a car accident at the age of 26 along with his wife before they could have a child, leaving his two daughters Astrid and Viktoria, who were polar opposites of one another in their political views but shared an intelligence and charm. Princess Astrid was the older one, born in 1925. From a young age, she developed a reputation as a intelligent, charming, and talented woman. She was also kind-hearted, warm, and gentle as well despite being well-known as a “tomboy”. Politically, she was very progressive in her political views, being sympathetic to both Democratic Unitarianism and later Yangism. In addition, she already was married to Prince Magnus of Denmark, third son of King Leo of Denmark with the couple having two daughters, Katarina, born in 1951, and Irene, born in 1953. Princess Viktoria, born in 1929, would also be seen as highly intelligent and charming as well but in contrast to her sister, would be viewed as cold, cruel, and distant with some people who analyzed her concluding she was a high-functioning sociopath. Politically, she was fairly reactionary in her Protectionism, heavilly influenced by the Nieuwe Staat, where she had studied for college. While Princess Astrid would be crowned Queen of Sweden, her younger sister Viktoria would be prominent in Protectionist circles of Swedish politics in later years.
Queen Astrid I of Sweden (1954-2003)
Arvid Lindholm’s government would prove to be short-lived for elections would be called in early 1955. Said elections would produce a majority for Lucas Sparv and his Swedish People’s Alliance. Another major event in the Swedish election of 1955, though noticed by few, would be the election of the 37-year old actress turned politician Nathalie Anderberg to the Rikstag on the “list” of the Swedish People’s Alliance along with the election of Thomas Blomstedt on a constiuency seat in Narvik running on the Swedish National Congress. Both of them would be prominent in Swedish politics in the latter part of the 20th Century as well. Lucas Sparv’s government would try to implement Democratic Unitarian policies during it’s tenure in office but their policies would be derailed by the outbreak of the Great Asian War. Sparv’s government would take part in the Braunplan but would remain neutral until September 26, 1958 due to the fact Sweden was neither a member of the European Defense Commission nor prominent enough to warrant being a founding member of the United States. Sparv’s government would only declare war on the Unified Indian State and it’s allies on September 26, 1958 due to a mixture of diplomatic pressure and the lingering threat of India. However, while training the “Swedish Expeditionary Corps” would begin almost immediately, transporting the three infantry divisions (the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Infantry Divisions) and the 2nd Armored Division which would be the four divisions making up said corps would take until April 1959 due to winter making sealift from Sweden near-impossible due to harsh seas. It would take the Swedish Expeditionary Corps until the middle of May to arrive in Ceylon and they would only be fully ready for combat operations in mid-August due to the fact they still had to be transported to the front lines. However, under the command of Major General Rolf Axelsson, the Swedes would distinguish themselves in some of the harshest fighting in the Indian Front.
The Flag of the Kingdom of Sweden
The 1947 elections to the Rikstag in Sweden were “snap elections” called by the “Coalition for National Unitarianism” after Sweden's leaders bowed to Germany pressure to adopt democratic reforms which rescinded the "electoral reforms" adopted by the Coalition on National Unitarianism. The Coalition on National Unitarianism was Sweden's ruling coalition, a weird mixture of Unitarian and Nationalist political parties held together by resentment of Sweden's "mutilated victory" and the leadership of Leonard Ekblad, a hero of the Great European War. Leonard Ekblad’s Coalition on National Unitarianism won said electionto the Rikstag, although by a narrower margin with only 254 of 500 seats being won by said party. However Leonard Ekblad would die on September 5, 1947 from a stroke and the Coalition fell apart shortly afterwards as the Unitarian and the nationalist factions of said coalition fell out with each other with the split formally being announced on November 26, 1947. Therefore, until the next Rikstag elections, the Unitarian Party of Sweden would have 142 seats and the Swedish National Congress would have the remaining 112 seats of the former Coalition on National Unitarianism. The next elections would be called on February 16, 1948 after coalition talks failed to bring about a solution to the deadlock caused by the split of said coalition. Said elections would bring about the victory of the Progressive Alliance of Sweden, led by the Norwegian Ronald Fossen, which won 188 out of 500 seats in coalition with the Democeatic Unitarians in the Swedish People’s Alliance, which won 102 seats in the Rikstag
Ronald Fossen, Prime Minister of Sweden (1947-1954)
Ronald Fossen’s government during his first term in office was largely involved with having to rebuild the Swedish government’s relationships with other nations as the previous Coalition for National Unitarianism government had largely pursued a program of autarky via a program of encouraging Swedes to “buy Swedish products” and putting up a “wall of tariffs” as part of their nationalist program. His government did so via opening trade deals with Germania and France (among others) and passing laws which lowered tariffs on foreign goods. However, his government had to deal with another issue: New Sweden. After New England and Virginia declared independence during the Troubles in Britannia, similar secessionist sentiments had crept up amongst New Sweden’s elite with the Assembly of Vinland being formed under the leadership of Harald Brodd. However, Harald Brodd and Ronald Fossen, unlike the Britannian government and it’s colonies, were more than willing to compromise with the Soberg Agreement being signed on March 26, 1951, which created the Dominon of Vinland, a state which shared a monarch with Sweden but was otherwise independent of Stockholm’s rule. However, later that year, Fossen’s coalition government would collapse, forcing through snap elections. The September 1951 elections, the first held after Vinland’s independence and the subsequent redistricting, would result in Fossen’s party winning 195 seats, the Swedish People’s Alliance winning 112 seats, the Swedish Protectionist League winning 75 seats, the Swedish National Congress winning 72 seats, the Unitarian Party of Sweden winning 28 seats in a landslide defeat, and the remaining 18 seats being with the “Norwegian League”, a coalition of parties which were dedicated to “representing Norwegian interests” with some parties calling for Norwegian independence and other parties calling for greater autonomy for Norway.
In the aftermath of the 1951 election, Fossen would forge a new coalition government with the Swedish Protectionist League. Said coalition resulted in several concessions to the SPL in economic and social policies. For instance, the government of Sweden would privatize many state-owned industries set up during the “National Unitarian” regime, with it’s corporatist and populist economic policies which emphasized a degree of state-directed growth to achieve both economic prosperity and self-sufficiency. However, Fossen was able to maintain the welfare state which had been established under the “National Unitarian” regime as part of their populistic policies to buy popular support. This was able to win him large amounts of popularity and he appeared optimistic of winning the next elections. However, tragedy would strike as on February 16, 1954, Aron Larsson, who was connected to various Unitarian and Norwegian secessionist movements, would assassinate the Swedish Prime Minister by shooting at him with a sniper rifle as he gave a speech in Malmo. The new Prime Minister would be Arvid Lindholm, Fossen’s deputy as head of the Progressive Alliance of Sweden.
Another tragedy would strike Sweden as the 62-year old King Valdemar III would die on September 26, 1954 from a sudden stroke. His only son, Prince Nicholas, had died in 1948 from a car accident at the age of 26 along with his wife before they could have a child, leaving his two daughters Astrid and Viktoria, who were polar opposites of one another in their political views but shared an intelligence and charm. Princess Astrid was the older one, born in 1925. From a young age, she developed a reputation as a intelligent, charming, and talented woman. She was also kind-hearted, warm, and gentle as well despite being well-known as a “tomboy”. Politically, she was very progressive in her political views, being sympathetic to both Democratic Unitarianism and later Yangism. In addition, she already was married to Prince Magnus of Denmark, third son of King Leo of Denmark with the couple having two daughters, Katarina, born in 1951, and Irene, born in 1953. Princess Viktoria, born in 1929, would also be seen as highly intelligent and charming as well but in contrast to her sister, would be viewed as cold, cruel, and distant with some people who analyzed her concluding she was a high-functioning sociopath. Politically, she was fairly reactionary in her Protectionism, heavilly influenced by the Nieuwe Staat, where she had studied for college. While Princess Astrid would be crowned Queen of Sweden, her younger sister Viktoria would be prominent in Protectionist circles of Swedish politics in later years.
Queen Astrid I of Sweden (1954-2003)
Arvid Lindholm’s government would prove to be short-lived for elections would be called in early 1955. Said elections would produce a majority for Lucas Sparv and his Swedish People’s Alliance. Another major event in the Swedish election of 1955, though noticed by few, would be the election of the 37-year old actress turned politician Nathalie Anderberg to the Rikstag on the “list” of the Swedish People’s Alliance along with the election of Thomas Blomstedt on a constiuency seat in Narvik running on the Swedish National Congress. Both of them would be prominent in Swedish politics in the latter part of the 20th Century as well. Lucas Sparv’s government would try to implement Democratic Unitarian policies during it’s tenure in office but their policies would be derailed by the outbreak of the Great Asian War. Sparv’s government would take part in the Braunplan but would remain neutral until September 26, 1958 due to the fact Sweden was neither a member of the European Defense Commission nor prominent enough to warrant being a founding member of the United States. Sparv’s government would only declare war on the Unified Indian State and it’s allies on September 26, 1958 due to a mixture of diplomatic pressure and the lingering threat of India. However, while training the “Swedish Expeditionary Corps” would begin almost immediately, transporting the three infantry divisions (the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Infantry Divisions) and the 2nd Armored Division which would be the four divisions making up said corps would take until April 1959 due to winter making sealift from Sweden near-impossible due to harsh seas. It would take the Swedish Expeditionary Corps until the middle of May to arrive in Ceylon and they would only be fully ready for combat operations in mid-August due to the fact they still had to be transported to the front lines. However, under the command of Major General Rolf Axelsson, the Swedes would distinguish themselves in some of the harshest fighting in the Indian Front.
- Whiteshore
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