Editing Optical telegraph (section)

====First network: 1795–1809====
The first operational line, Stockholm to [[Vaxholm]], went into service in January 1795. By 1797 there were also lines from Stockholm to [[Fredriksborg]], and [[Grisslehamn]] via [[Signilsskär]] to [[Eckerö]] in [[Åland]]. A short line near [[Gothenburg]] to [[Marstrand]] on the west coast was installed in 1799. During the [[War of the Second Coalition]], Britain tried to enforce a blockade against France. Concerned at the effect on their own trade, Sweden joined the [[Second League of Armed Neutrality]] in 1800. Britain was expected to respond with an attack on one of the Nordic countries in the league. To help guard against such an attack, the king ordered a telegraph link joining the systems of Sweden and Denmark. This was the first international telegraph connection in the world. Edelcrantz made this link between [[Helsingborg]] in Sweden and [[Helsingør]] in Denmark, across the [[Öresund]], the narrow strait separating the two countries. A new line along the coast from [[Kullaberg]] to [[Malmö]], incorporating the Helsingborg link, was planned in support and to provide signalling points to the Swedish fleet. [[Battle of Copenhagen (1801)|Nelson's attack]] on the Danish fleet at [[Copenhagen]] in 1801 was reported over this link, but after Sweden failed to come to Denmark's aid it was not used again and only one station on the supporting line was ever built.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 105–109</ref>

In 1808 the Royal Telegraph Institution was created and Edelcrantz was made director.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 114</ref> The Telegraph Institution was put under the jurisdiction of the military, initially as part of the [[Swedish Engineer Troops|Royal Engineering Corps]].<ref name="Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 120">Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 120</ref> A new code was introduced to replace the 1796 codebook with 5,120 possible codepoints with many new messages. The new codes included punishments for delinquent operators. These included an order to the operator to stand on one of the telegraph arms (code 001-721), and a message asking an adjacent station to confirm that they could see him do it (code 001-723).<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 116</ref> By 1809, the network had 50 stations over {{nowrap|200 km}} of line employing 172 people.<ref name="Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 117"/> In comparison, the French system in 1823 had {{nowrap|650 km}} of line and employed over three thousand people.<ref name="Greene2016"/>

In 1808, the [[Finnish War]] broke out when Russia seized Finland, then part of Sweden. Åland was attacked by Russia and the telegraph stations destroyed. The Russians were expelled in a revolt, but attacked again in 1809. The station at Signilsskär found itself behind enemy lines, but continued to signal the position of Russian troops to the retreating Swedes. After Sweden ceded Finland in the [[Treaty of Fredrikshamn]], the east coast telegraph stations were considered superfluous and put into storage. In 1810, the plans for a south coast line were revived but were scrapped in 1811 due to financial considerations. Also in 1811, a new line from Stockholm via [[Arholma]] to [[Söderarm]] lighthouse was proposed, but also never materialised.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 117–118</ref> For a while, the telegraph network in Sweden was almost non-existent, with only four [[telegraphist]]s employed by 1810.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 118, 120</ref>