Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [14]
In recent years, rapid changes had begun to affect the make-up of the country. In October 2006, partly as a result of the general sense that Sweden had been relying too heavily on unemployment benefits and had become a nation of ‘bystanders’, the long-entrenched Social Democrats lost their leadership position in the Swedish Parliament. The centre-right Alliance Party won the election, with new Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt campaigning on a ‘work first’ platform.
* * *
The Southeast Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 killed more people from Sweden than from any other nation outside Asia, with almost 600 Swedes still unaccounted for.
* * *
Toward the end of 2008, in response to the global economic crisis, Sweden’s central banks cut interest rates by half a point, announcing plans to drop them again within six months. The slump was also beginning to make itself felt in housing prices and slowed construction. The Swedish krona had dropped to its weakest level since 2002. And, as ever, economic tensions were reflected in social anxieties. An annual survey of attitudes toward ethnic diversity, conducted by Uppsala University researchers, indicated twice as many Swedes had an ‘extremely negative’ attitude toward racial diversity now than in 2005. (Researchers added, however, that Sweden is still well ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of encouraging and tolerating diversity.) An October 2008 study showed that one in three Swedes, particularly the young and single, would like to live in a ‘gated community’ protected by fences and door codes.
Return to beginning of chapter
TIMELINE
* * *
c 10,000 BC Ice sheets melt and hunters follow reindeer into a newly uncovered Sweden.
c 1700–500 BC Petroglyphs, including ‘The Lovers’, are carved into the rocks at Vitlycke, Tanum.
1008 Sweden’s first Christian king, Olof Skötkonung, is baptised at St Sigfrid’s Well in Husaby.
1050s An unknown Viking scratches runic graffiti onto a statue in Athens.
1160 King Erik Jedvarsson destroys the last remnants of paganism in Sweden.
1252 Birger Jarl founds the city of Stockholm.
1350s The Black Death kills a third of the population.
1397 Danish regent Margrethe unites Denmark, Norway and Sweden under the Union of Kalmar.
1477 Scandinavia’s oldest university is founded at Uppsala.
1523 Gustav I becomes the first Vasa king.
1628 The royal warship Vasa sinks on her maiden voyage.
1700 Peak of the Swedish empire.
1766 Swedish parliament passes the world’s first Freedom of the Press Act.
1832 The Göta Canal opens, linking Sweden’s west and east coasts.
1930s The worldwide Depression sparks off plans for the Swedish welfare state.
1986 Prime Minister Olof Palme is assassinated while walking home from the cinema.
1991 Sweden applies for membership in the European Community.
1992 The 50-kronor bill is discontinued and the 20-kronor bill is introduced.
1994 In a storm on the Baltic Sea, the ferry Estonia sinks, killing 852 passengers, including 551 Swedes.
1995 Sweden joins the European Union.
1996 The 50-kronor bill is re-introduced, featuring a portrait of singer Jenny Lind.
1999 Volvo announces the sale of its Volvo car division to Ford Motor Company, for Skr50 billion.
2000 The Öresund Bridge links Sweden and Denmark.
2001 Parliament votes 260 to 48 against abolishment of the monarchy.
2003 In a national referendum, Sweden votes against adopting the single currency of the European Union.
2005 Swedish Flag Day becomes a national holiday.
2006 Total immigration into Sweden is 95,750, up nearly 50% from previous year.
Return to beginning of chapter
The Culture
* * *
THE NATIONAL PSYCHE
LIFESTYLE
POPULATION
SPORT
MULTICULTURALISM
MEDIA
ARTS
* * *
THE NATIONAL PSYCHE
Blonde, blue-eyed, cold and reserved: while these four elements may make up the prevailing stereotype of Swedes, the reality is much more complex and contradictory.