Carl Swartz

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Carl Swartz

Carl Johan Gustaf Swartz (born June 5, 1858 in Norrköping , † November 6, 1926 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish politician and Prime Minister of Sweden (Sveriges State Minister) .

Studies and professional career

The son of a tobacco factory owner holds a degree in Law from 1877 to 1879 at the University of Uppsala , and from 1879 to 1881 at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn .

After completing his studies, he joined his parents' snus factory (tobacco factory), which had been founded in 1751 by his ancestor Petter Swartz. From 1883 to 1906 he was also director of Sparbank and Enskilda Bank von Norrköping and later from 1912 to 1917 chairman of the board of the then private Sveriges Centralbank . In 1917 he was also chancellor of Uppsala University for a short time.

The philanthropist left his home as a museum and library in his hometown. After his death, the tobacco factory closed in the 1930s and was later demolished.

Political career

Member of Parliament and Minister of Finance

Swartz began his political career in 1900 when he was elected member of the Reichstag , where he represented the constituency of Norrköping.

In May 1906 he was appointed finance minister by Arvid Lindman in his first cabinet . He held this office until the end of Lindman's tenure on October 7, 1911.

During his tenure as State Councilor and Minister of Finance, he introduced some reforms, in particular a progression in income tax and wealth tax .

After the merger of some right-wing groups in the Reichstag, he became deputy chairman from 1912 to 1914 and then a member of the governing body of the newly founded National Party ( Första kammarens nationella parti ). As such, he played a leading role during the First World War, in particular as chairman of the Standing Committee on Supply from 1915 to 1917.

Prime Minister from 1917

After the resignation of the government of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld due to foreign policy pressure and internal unrest, he was appointed Prime Minister by King Gustav V on March 30, 1917.

Swartz's main task was, in particular, to calm the bourgeoisie , who feared that the previous February Revolution in Russia on May 1, 1917 would also lead to unrest in Stockholm . Swartz, however, banned bourgeois guards during the May Day demonstrations after the Social Democratic Party pledged to avoid unrest. Without this prudent action by the Prime Minister, there could also have been uprisings and a domestic political crisis.

The war-related famine led to unrest, which only subsided after the potato harvest began in early summer 1917. Swartz also began negotiations with the Triple Entente ( UK , France and Russia) to secure the delivery of food that his predecessor Hammarskjöld had prevented.

The Social Democratic Party took advantage of the unrest caused by the famine to demand universal suffrage , women's suffrage and a move away from the 40 percent threshold in local elections. The Swartz government was divided on this issue: while the ministers for public administration and finance, Oscar von Sydow and Conrad Carleson, declared that they would resign if Swartz did not give in to the demands of the Social Democrats and now the Liberal Party , Foreign Minister Arvid Lindman called for one Maintaining the status quo . Treasury Secretary Carleson got support from the industry, which called for an end to the electoral crisis. Swartz wanted to combine the decision with the parliamentary elections planned for spring 1918. This made him the first Swedish Conservative Prime Minister to recognize the sovereignty of the people to determine the government. King Gustav V recognized this attitude and left Swartz in the office of Prime Minister.

However, due to the involvement of his son in a black market scandal , Swartz suffered a significant loss of votes in the subsequent early election and therefore had to resign as Prime Minister on October 19, 1917. He was succeeded by the liberal politician Nils Edén .

literature

Web links

Commons : Carl Swartz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl Johan Gustaf Swartz. Norrköping Library archived from the original on September 7, 2003 (se).;
personal data
SURNAME Swartz, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Swartz, Carl Johan Gustaf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish politician, member of the Riksdag and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Norrkoping
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1926
Place of death Stockholm