Swedish History
Stormaktstiden, folkhemmet, neutralitet — the eras every Swede learns at school.
A thousand years in fifty lines: runstenar to NATO, Vasa the king and Vasa the ship, folkhemmet built and debated — långsam att besluta, snabb att genomföra.
- 1
vikingatiden
the Viking Age
Tip: lit. the same — roughly 800 to 1050.
- 2
en runsten
a rune stone
Tip: lit. the same — thousands still standing.
- 3
en handelsväg österut
a trading route east
Tip: lit. the same — Swedish Vikings went east.
- 4
medeltiden
the Middle Ages
Tip: lit. the same.
- 5
kristnandet
the Christianisation
Tip: lit. the same.
- 6
Kalmarunionen
the Kalmar Union
Tip: lit. the same — three kingdoms, one crown.
- 7
Stockholms blodbad
the Stockholm bloodbath
Tip: lit. the same — 1520.
- 8
Gustav Vasa
Gustav Vasa
Tip: lit. the same — the founding king.
- 9
reformationen
the Reformation
Tip: lit. the same.
- 10
stormaktstiden
the Great Power era
Tip: lit. the same — the 17th century empire.
- 11
trettioåriga kriget
the Thirty Years' War
Tip: lit. the same.
- 12
ett östersjövälde
a Baltic empire
Tip: lit. the same.
- 13
ett örlogsfartyg som sjönk
a warship that sank
Tip: lit. the same — Vasa, 1628, on its maiden voyage.
- 14
och bärgades 1961
and was raised in 1961
Tip: lit. the same.
- 15
förlusten av Finland
the loss of Finland
Tip: lit. the same — 1809, a third of the realm.
- 16
det sista kriget
the last war
Tip: lit. the same — 1814.
- 17
tvåhundra år av fred
two hundred years of peace
Tip: lit. the same — unique in Europe.
- 18
neutralitet
neutrality
Tip: lit. the same.
- 19
alliansfrihet
non-alignment
Tip: lit. the same — the precise term.
- 20
som upphörde 2024
which ended in 2024
Tip: lit. the same — NATO membership.
- 21
utvandringen till Amerika
emigration to America
Tip: lit. the same — a quarter of the population left.
- 22
nödår
famine years
Tip: lit. the same — the 1860s.
- 23
industrialiseringen
industrialisation
Tip: lit. the same.
- 24
arbetarrörelsen
the labour movement
Tip: lit. the same.
- 25
en storstrejk
a general strike
Tip: lit. the same — 1909.
- 26
allmän rösträtt
universal suffrage
Tip: lit. the same — 1921 for women.
- 27
folkhemmet
the people's home
Tip: lit. the same — the founding metaphor of the welfare state.
- 28
ett samhälle som ett gott hem
a society as a good home
Tip: lit. the same — Per Albin Hansson, 1928.
- 29
Saltsjöbadsavtalet
the Saltsjöbaden agreement
Tip: lit. the same — 1938, labour peace.
- 30
den svenska modellen
the Swedish model
Tip: lit. the same.
- 31
en kompromiss mellan kapital och arbete
a compromise between capital and labour
Tip: lit. the same.
- 32
rekordåren
the record years
Tip: lit. the same — the postwar boom.
- 33
miljonprogrammet
the million programme
Tip: lit. the same — a million homes in ten years.
- 34
en välfärdsstat
a welfare state
Tip: lit. the same.
- 35
gratis utbildning och sjukvård
free education and healthcare
Tip: lit. the same.
- 36
ett högt skattetryck
a high tax burden
Tip: lit. the same — and broadly accepted.
- 37
statsministermordet
the murder of the prime minister
Tip: lit. the same — Olof Palme, 1986.
- 38
ett fall som aldrig löstes
a case never solved
Tip: lit. the same.
- 39
en förlorad oskuld
a loss of innocence
Tip: lit. the same — how it's described.
- 40
finanskrisen
the financial crisis
Tip: lit. the same — the early nineties.
- 41
en valuta som släpptes fri
a currency floated
Tip: lit. the same — 1992.
- 42
EU-medlemskapet
EU membership
Tip: lit. the same — 1995, by referendum.
- 43
ett nej till euron
a rejected euro
Tip: lit. the same — 2003.
- 44
en färjekatastrof
a ferry disaster
Tip: lit. the same — Estonia, 1994.
- 45
en tsunami utomlands
a tsunami abroad
Tip: lit. the same — 2004, hundreds of Swedes died.
- 46
en flyktinghöst
a refugee autumn
Tip: lit. the same — 2015.
- 47
ett land som debatterar sig självt
a country that debates itself
Tip: lit. the same.
- 48
en konsensuskultur
a consensus culture
Tip: lit. the same.
- 49
långsam att besluta
slow to decide
Tip: lit. the same.
- 50
och snabb att genomföra
and fast to implement
Tip: lit. the same.