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 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090019-6

Chronology (u/ou)

800-1060
 * Swedish Viking expeditions head eastward. Rurick founds Russian State at Kiyev (about 862).

829-1160
 * Christianity comes to Sweden.

1157-1293
 * Conquest of Finland takes place.

1397
 * The Union of Kalmar brings the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark under one crown and ensures desultorily until c. 1520.

1435
 * The first parliament (Riksdag) is convened, comprising representatives of the nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants.

1523
 * Sweden becomes an independent national state under Gustav Vasa as King.

1630-48
 * Sweden battles with brilliant success in the Thirty Years' War, losing King Gustavus Adolphus at the battle of Lutzen in 1632.

1809
 * Sweden surrenders Finland to Russia.
 * June
 * Sweden obtains a new constitution, the Instrument of Government, the first of four fundamental laws on which the present political system is based.

1810
 * August
 * Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, is proclaimed heir-apparent to the Swedish throne by the Riksdag; he assumes the crown in 1818 as Charles XIV John.
 * September
 * The Act of Succession, the second fundamental law, is adopted, confirming the Bernadotte line on the male side as heirs to the throne.

1814
 * January
 * Denmark is forced to cede Norway to Sweden by the Peace of Kiel. A 2-month war with Norway, Sweden's last, brings Norway into union with Sweden.

1866
 * January
 * The Riksdag Act, the third fundamental law, is adopted, replacing the old representative assembly with its four estates by a bicameral body.

1882
 * Swedish emigration (constituting 20% of mean population between 1860 and 1930) to the United States reaches its peak.

1889
 * April
 * The Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party is founded.

1905
 * May
 * Union with Norway is dissolved.

1914-18
 * Sweden maintains neutrality in World War I.

1919
 * Universal suffrage is attained with granting to vote to women.

1920
 * March
 * The first Social Democratic cabinet is formed under Hjalmar Branting.

1932
 * October
 * The Social Democrats become the ruling party and form a government under Per Albin Hansson.

1939-45
 * Swedish maintains neutrality in World War II.

1946
 * November
 * Sweden joins the United Nations.

1948
 * April
 * Sweden becomes a charter member of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, later the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

1949
 * The Freedom of the Press Act, the fourth fundamental law, updates previous laws safeguarding liberty of the press.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090019-6