Arvid Posse

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arvid Posse

Count Arvid Rutger Fredriksson Posse (born February 15, 1820 at Rosendal Castle , Helsingborg municipality , † April 24, 1901 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish politician and Prime Minister of Sweden ( Sveriges State Minister ) .

Studies and professional career

Posse completed a law degree at Lund University from 1835 , which he graduated in 1840. He then became a candidate judge at Hovrätt and the district courts of Skåne län and Blekinge . He then became Deputy District Judge (Vice Häradshövding). In 1846 he was first appointed as a clerk at the Court of Appeal and then a year later as a judge at the Court of Appeal.

In 1849 he resigned from the judicial service in order to devote himself to agriculture and other businesses on his Gut Charlottenlund.

Political career

Member of the Reichstag

Posse began his political career in 1856 with the election to the aristocratic house in the Reichstag of the Estates, where he represented the interests of the nobility until 1858. During this time he was also chairman of the banking committee (Bancoutskottet) .

In the noble house he was later from 1862 to 1863 also chairman of the approval committee (Bevillningsutskottet) , where he was a strong advocate of free trade . As a member of parliament, he was an opponent of the reform of the electoral law, because he feared that it would limit the voting shares of the large landowners.

In the aristocratic house from 1865 to 1866 he was chairman of the government committee (Statsutskottet) and as such feared a bad future for Sweden due to the future majority of peasants in parliament when the electoral reform came into force . At the same time he was president of the district council of Malmöhus län from 1865 to 1868 .

Despite his previous harsh criticism he was at the first meeting of the existing only also bicameral Reichstag in 1867 by the lower house speaker of the agrarians and therefore convenient for majority leader of the first chamber, which he held until 1881, representing the counties Herrestad and Ljunit in Ystad belonged to.

From this agrarian group, under his chairmanship, the countrymen's party (Lantmannapartiet) emerged as early as 1867 , which quickly came into opposition to the government. For a long time Posse remained the undisputed most prominent and influential member of the Reichstag.

From 1867 to 1875 he was again chairman of the government committee and in the special parliament from 1871 deputy chairman of the electoral committee (Särskilda Utskottet) .

Speaker of Parliament and Prime Minister

After the government reform of 1876, which resulted in Sweden only having one Prime Minister responsible for government affairs in the future, he became Speaker of the Lower House on March 20, 1876.

After the resignation of Prime Minister Louis De Geer , he became Prime Minister of Sweden (Sveriges State Minister) on April 19, 1880 . At the same time he was Minister of Finance from December 7, 1880 to March 8, 1881.

Drawing of soldiers who were subject to the classification system, in uniforms from 1830

As Prime Minister he was now responsible for solving important tasks that had existed since the parliamentary reform of 1867 and had led to De Geer's resignation.

On the one hand, the centuries- old system of division of the army required reform, as the traditional structure was too much of a burden for the peasants. On the other hand, a reform of the property taxes (Grundskatter) was necessary, which indirectly had to do with the classification system. At first, a solution to the problem seemed possible, especially because he was counting on the support of old party friends.

In 1883 his government presented the plans in the Reichstag, which in particular provided for a gradual reform of property taxes and the introduction of a voluntary professional army with state pay. Surprisingly, however, he did not receive the necessary support from the House of Lords, as the countrymen's party in particular rejected the reform.

For this reason Posse resigned as Prime Minister on June 13, 1883.

Arvid Posse (painting by Amalia Lindegren , 1891)

Later offices

After his resignation as Prime Minister, he was President of the Administrative Court of Appeal from 1883 to 1889.

From 1882 to 1890 he was a member of the First Chamber of the Reichstag as a representative of the province of South Kalmar , but increasingly stayed out of the important political decisions of the day. However, during the dispute between supporters of free trade on the one hand and protectionism on the other , he voted against the introduction of grain tariffs.

In addition, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy for Land and Fortschaft in 1879. He was also an honorary member of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund since 1878 and of the Royal Society of Naval Officers since 1880.

Others

Posse's niece Sigrid Lindström (née Posse) (1856-1946) survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 as a first class passenger.

literature

Web links

Commons : Arvid Posse  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Posse, Arvid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Posse, Count Arvid Rutger Fredriksson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish lawyer, MP and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Rosendal Castle, Helsingborg (municipality)
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1901
Place of death Stockholm