Editing History of Sweden (section)

===Enlightenment===
{{main|Enlightened Absolute Monarchy in Sweden}}
[[File:Porträtt av Gustav III - Livrustkammaren - 12890.tif|thumb|Gustav III, 1780s]]
Sweden joined in the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] culture of the day in the arts, architecture, science, and learning. A new law in 1766 established for the first time the principle of freedom of the press, a notable step towards liberty of political opinion. The Academy of Science was founded in 1739 and the Academy of Letters, History, and Antiquities in 1753. The outstanding cultural leader was [[Carl Linnaeus]] (1707–78), whose work in biology and ethnography had a major impact on European science.

Following half a century of parliamentary domination came the reaction from the monarchy. [[Gustav III of Sweden|King Gustav III]] (1746–1792) came to the throne in 1771, and in 1772 led a coup d'état, with French support, that established him as an "enlightened despot", who ruled at will. The Age of Freedom and party politics was over. Precocious and well-educated, he became a patron of the arts and music. His edicts reformed the bureaucracy, repaired the currency, expanded trade, and improved defense. The population had reached two million and the country was prosperous, although rampant alcoholism was a growing social problem. Gustav III weakened the nobility and promoted numerous major social reforms. He felt the Swedish monarchy could survive and flourish by achieving a coalition with the newly emerged middle classes against the nobility. He personally disliked the French Revolution but decided to promote additional anti-feudal reforms to strengthen his hand among the middle classes.<ref>Neander N. Cronholm, ''A History of Sweden from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' (1902) ch 35</ref>

After Gustav made war on Russia and did poorly, he was assassinated by a conspiracy of nobles who were angry that he tried to restrict their privileges for the benefit of the peasants. Under the successor, [[Gustav IV of Sweden|King Gustav IV]], Sweden joined [[Napoleonic wars|various coalitions against Napoleon]] but was badly defeated and lost much of its territory, especially Finland and Pomerania. The king was overthrown by the army, which in 1810 decided to bring in one of Napoleon's marshals, Jean Bernadotte, as the heir apparent.

====Colonies and slavery====
Sweden experimented briefly with overseas colonies, including "[[New Sweden]]" in [[Colonial America]] and the "[[Swedish Gold Coast]]" in present-day [[Ghana]], which began in the 1630s. Sweden purchased the small Caribbean island of [[Saint Barthélemy]] from France in 1784, then sold it back in 1878; the population had included slaves until they were freed by the Swedish government in 1847.<ref>Francine M. Mayer, and Carolyn E. Fick, "Before and After Emancipation: Slaves and Free Coloreds of Saint-Barthelemy (French West Indies) in The 19th Century." ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' 1993 18 (4): 251–73.</ref>

====Early urbanisation====
Between 1570 and 1800, Sweden experienced two periods of urban expansion, c. 1580–1690 and in the mid-18th century, separated by relative stagnation from the 1690s to about 1720. The initial phase was the more active, including an increase in the percentage of urban dwellers in Stockholm – a pattern comparable to increasing urban populations in other European capital and port cities – as well as the foundation of a number of small new towns. The second period of urban growth began around 1750 in response to shifts in Swedish trade patterns from the Baltic to the North Atlantic.<ref>Sven Lilja, "Swedish Urbanization c. 1570–1800: Chronology, Structure and Causes," ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' 1994 19 (4): 277–308.</ref> It was characterised by increasing populations in the small towns of the north and west.