Carl Gustaf Ekman

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Carl Gustaf Ekman

Carl Gustaf Ekman (born October 6, 1872 in Munktorp , municipality of Köping , † June 15, 1945 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish politician and Prime Minister of Sweden .

Family and career

The son of a soldier and farmer already had to help out on the farm as a twelve-year-old and had to acquire his education self-taught . In addition, he became involved early on in the abstinence movement , whose sickness and funeral fund ( Nykterhetsvännernas sjuk- och begravningskassa ) he ran in Eskilstuna . In addition, in 1908 he became editor-in-chief of the liberal daily Eskilstuna-Kuriren .

Political career

Member of the Reichstag

His first candidacy for the Reichstag as a candidate in the constituency Eskilstuna was unsuccessful, as this constituency was shaped by industry and dominated by the Social Democrats . Ekman began his political career only in 1911 when he was elected member of the upper house of the Reichstag, where he initially represented the constituency of the Gävleborg province . As a member of parliament, he soon earned a reputation as a main proponent of an absolute ban on alcohol. In 1913 he was elected member of the Reichstag for a constituency of Stockholm , which he then represented until 1932.

Liberal party leader

In 1924 Ekman became chairman of the newly founded Frisinnade folkpartiet , after which the Liberala samlingspartiet had split up shortly before due to different points of view on alcohol policy .

In the following years he was on the one hand the most influential, but on the other hand also the most controversial politician of the 1920s. Within the Social Democratic Party in particular, he was viewed as a “class traitor” because despite his simple background he was a member of a non- socialist party. Ekman was actually also largely responsible for the resignation of the social democratic governments of Karl Hjalmar Branting in 1923 and of Rickard Sandler in 1926, but on the other hand also of the conservative government of Arvid Lindman in 1930 .

Prime Minister 1926 to 1928

After the resignation of the government Sandler he was on 6 June 1926 by King Gustav V for the first time Prime Minister appointed. He succeeded in securing alternating majorities from left and right parties. In addition to reforming local taxes, he also reformed the school system. During his tenure, he was also Minister of Finance for a short time from June to September 1926.

However, after the election victory of the conservative Allmänna Valmansförbundet (General Electoral Association) on October 1, 1928, he had to surrender the office of Prime Minister to Arvid Lindman .

Prime Minister 1930 to 1932

Carl Gustaf Ekman's government from 1930

On June 6, 1930, together with the chairman of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, Per Albin Hansson, he succeeded in overthrowing the Lindman government over a planned increase in the consumption tax on grain by means of a vote of no confidence . He was then reappointed Prime Minister by the King.

His second term of office was, however, strongly influenced by the stock market crash on Black Thursday of October 24, 1929 and the resulting global economic crisis , which also hit Swedish industry and agriculture hard. In doing so, his insistence on budgetary discipline hampered the introduction of costly programs to stimulate the economy.

The collapse of Ivar Kreuger's detonator monopoly led to heated political disputes, especially since Ekman was accused of having received payments. This affair ultimately led to his resigning from his post as Prime Minister on August 6, 1932, a month before the Reichstag election, and then almost completely withdrawing from politics. The Frisinnade Folkpartiet also got into a crisis. Two years later a new liberal party, the Folkpartiet, was founded .

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personal data
SURNAME Ekman, Carl Gustaf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish politician, member of the Riksdag and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Munktorp
DATE OF DEATH June 15, 1945
Place of death Stockholm