You may recall that the pro-French Hats were in power in the early 1740s, when Fritz pressured France into bribing/subsidizing Sweden into invading Russia, to keep Russia out of the Silesian War. That did not end well.
Then in 1756, Ulrike attempts to institute absolutism. She is caught by the Hats, who make her sign a public "I won't do it again" apology letter, which she finds very humiliating. That same year, the Seven Years' War starts, and the pro-French Hats being in power is how Sweden ends up entering the war on the side of France, i.e. against Fritz, who is now fighting a 4-front war. Or as I like to say, a 3.5 front war, because Sweden isn't able to present a credible threat. Which is how all their neighbors (Russia, Prussia, Denmark) want to keep it.
After the Seven Years' War goes badly and there's a financial crisis, there's an extraordinary diet called in 1765. The discredited Hats fall from power and the pro-Russian Caps get a chance to try their hand at the wheel. In 1765, Sweden signs a defensive alliance with Russia and Gustav gets engaged to Frederik V's daughter, and in the following year, 1766, Sweden concludes an alliance with Britain.
Since Britain and France are arch-enemies, this means Sweden has definitively abandoned their pro-French ways. This is a mutual decision: Choiseul, who's in power in France, is disenchanted with the Hats, as they haven't proven very useful, and they're very expensive. The French stop paying even arrears on the subsidies they owe Sweden from all those years of alliance.
So Sweden's foreign policy has done an about-face after the Caps come to power. But the Caps' economic policies prove unpopular and their reign short-lived. Many Swedes were not happy with all the Russian interference, and Russia had to spend a *lot* of money on bribes. Ulrike is basically at social war with the Russian ambassador Osterman. Per Michael Roberts, "The queen, reported Osterman, had only to hear that he had organized a reception or a dinner to choose the same evening for one of her own."
Things get super complicated starting in 1768, which is not coincidentally the first year that this series of write-ups was intended to cover. (I eventually realized you need 1764-1767 to get the rationale for the civil war in Poland, but the really interesting stuff is 1768-1772.)
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1764-1772 Foreign policy: Sweden: The Hats and Caps, an eternal merry-go-round
Date: 2024-01-16 10:05 pm (UTC)Then in 1756, Ulrike attempts to institute absolutism. She is caught by the Hats, who make her sign a public "I won't do it again" apology letter, which she finds very humiliating. That same year, the Seven Years' War starts, and the pro-French Hats being in power is how Sweden ends up entering the war on the side of France, i.e. against Fritz, who is now fighting a 4-front war. Or as I like to say, a 3.5 front war, because Sweden isn't able to present a credible threat. Which is how all their neighbors (Russia, Prussia, Denmark) want to keep it.
After the Seven Years' War goes badly and there's a financial crisis, there's an extraordinary diet called in 1765. The discredited Hats fall from power and the pro-Russian Caps get a chance to try their hand at the wheel. In 1765, Sweden signs a defensive alliance with Russia and Gustav gets engaged to Frederik V's daughter, and in the following year, 1766, Sweden concludes an alliance with Britain.
Since Britain and France are arch-enemies, this means Sweden has definitively abandoned their pro-French ways. This is a mutual decision: Choiseul, who's in power in France, is disenchanted with the Hats, as they haven't proven very useful, and they're very expensive. The French stop paying even arrears on the subsidies they owe Sweden from all those years of alliance.
So Sweden's foreign policy has done an about-face after the Caps come to power. But the Caps' economic policies prove unpopular and their reign short-lived. Many Swedes were not happy with all the Russian interference, and Russia had to spend a *lot* of money on bribes. Ulrike is basically at social war with the Russian ambassador Osterman. Per Michael Roberts, "The queen, reported Osterman, had only to hear that he had organized a reception or a dinner to choose the same evening for one of her own."
Things get super complicated starting in 1768, which is not coincidentally the first year that this series of write-ups was intended to cover. (I eventually realized you need 1764-1767 to get the rationale for the civil war in Poland, but the really interesting stuff is 1768-1772.)