Stormakten genom tiderna : En historiografisk skiss
(2026) In Scandia 92(1). p.11-32- Abstract
- In Swedish history, the 17th century is usually named stormaktstiden (Great Power Age) and Sweden of the time is called a stormakt (great power). This terminology is not evident and it has a history. Before the middle of the 19th century, historians did not denote the 17th century as an age of any specific greatness, although king Gustav II Adolf was lauded for his performance in the Thirty Year’s War. The concept ”great power” came into being at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and was used about contemporary European foreign politics. In Sweden, it came into use common use in the 1850s. Around 1870, stormakt and stormaktstid were used to denote the Swedish 17th century and that usage made its way into historical works in the next... (More)
- In Swedish history, the 17th century is usually named stormaktstiden (Great Power Age) and Sweden of the time is called a stormakt (great power). This terminology is not evident and it has a history. Before the middle of the 19th century, historians did not denote the 17th century as an age of any specific greatness, although king Gustav II Adolf was lauded for his performance in the Thirty Year’s War. The concept ”great power” came into being at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and was used about contemporary European foreign politics. In Sweden, it came into use common use in the 1850s. Around 1870, stormakt and stormaktstid were used to denote the Swedish 17th century and that usage made its way into historical works in the next decade.
Originally, historians seem to have been aware of the fact that this was a symbolic use of a terminology of contemporary politics, but soon in the early 20th century, it had become a commonplace to name 17th century Sweden a great power and see the Great Power Age as an age of Swedish greatness. The use of this terminology has since than accelerated, while the positive connotations of Greatness largely disappeared in the middle of the last century. Instead, the negative consequences of Sweden’s projection of power outside its borders, both for its neighbours and its subjects, are often stressed.
There is a lack of precision and clarity in the use of this terminology. ”Great power” is seldom defined by historians. There are diverging statements as to just how great the Swedish great power was. Some historians state that Sweden was one of the leading powers in Europe, while others, more realistically, confine it to a leading role in the Baltic area. None of these claims are, however, based on any deeper arguments about Sweden’s place in a European political context. Since Sweden in the 17th century took lively part in the development of the emerging European state system, a system of global historical significance since it has come to cover the entire earth, studies of Sweden’s power politics in a transnational perspective could bring important contributions to the scholarly field of global history. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- I svensk historieskrivning kallas 1600-talet ofta för “stormaktstiden”, och dåtidens Sverige betecknas som en stormakt. Denna terminologi är emellertid inte självklar och har, som denna artikel visar, en historisk bakgrund. Före 1800-talets mitt betecknade historikerna inte 1600-talet som en tid präglad av någon särskild storhet, även om kung Gustav II Adolf hyllades för sina insatser under trettioåriga kriget. Begreppet ”stormakt” uppstod i samband med Wienkongressen 1815 och användes då om den samtida europeiska utrikespolitiken. I Sverige blev det mer allmänt spritt på 1850-talet. Runt 1870 användes uttrycken “stormakt” och “stormaktstid” för att beteckna det svenska 1600-talet, och denna begreppsanvändning fortsatte under de följande... (More)
- I svensk historieskrivning kallas 1600-talet ofta för “stormaktstiden”, och dåtidens Sverige betecknas som en stormakt. Denna terminologi är emellertid inte självklar och har, som denna artikel visar, en historisk bakgrund. Före 1800-talets mitt betecknade historikerna inte 1600-talet som en tid präglad av någon särskild storhet, även om kung Gustav II Adolf hyllades för sina insatser under trettioåriga kriget. Begreppet ”stormakt” uppstod i samband med Wienkongressen 1815 och användes då om den samtida europeiska utrikespolitiken. I Sverige blev det mer allmänt spritt på 1850-talet. Runt 1870 användes uttrycken “stormakt” och “stormaktstid” för att beteckna det svenska 1600-talet, och denna begreppsanvändning fortsatte under de följande decennierna.
Ursprungligen verkar historikerna ha varit medvetna om att detta innebar en symbolisk användning av en samtida politisk terminologi. Men redan i början av 1900-talet hade det blivit vanligt att kalla 1600-talets Sverige en stormakt och se stormaktsåldern som en tid av svensk storhet – utan någon vidare problematisering av terminologin. Användningen av denna terminologi har sedan dess accelererat, även om stormaktsbegreppens uttalat positiva konnotationer till stor del försvann i mitten av förra seklet. Istället betonas numera ofta de negativa konsekvenserna av Sveriges maktutövning utanför landets gränser, både för dess grannar och för rikets egna undersåtar.
Det råder, enligt denna artikel, brist på precision och tydlighet i användningen av terminologin även idag. ”Stormakt” definieras sällan av historiker. Det finns också skilda uppfattningar om hur stor den svenska stormakten egentligen var. Vissa historiker hävdar att Sverige var en av de ledande makterna i Europa, medan andra, på ett mer realistiskt sätt, begränsar tolkningen till att se Sverige som en ledande makt i Östersjöområdet. Inget av dessa påståenden bygger dock på några djupare argument om Sveriges plats i ett europeiskt politiskt sammanhang. Eftersom Sverige under 1600-talet tog livlig del i utvecklingen av det framväxande europeiska statssystemet, ett system av global historisk betydelse eftersom det har kommit att omfatta hela jorden, skulle studier av Sveriges maktpolitik i ett transnationellt perspektiv kunna ge viktiga bidrag till det vetenskapliga fältet global historia. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/73417669-9736-4981-80f0-984d4e7fe965
- author
- Gustafsson, Harald LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Sweden, history of historiography, Great Power, 17th century
- in
- Scandia
- volume
- 92
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- Lunds Universitet
- ISSN
- 0036-5483
- DOI
- 10.47868/scandia.v92i1.29334
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 73417669-9736-4981-80f0-984d4e7fe965
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-09 10:51:51
- date last changed
- 2026-06-23 12:55:23
@misc{73417669-9736-4981-80f0-984d4e7fe965,
abstract = {{In Swedish history, the 17th century is usually named stormaktstiden (Great Power Age) and Sweden of the time is called a stormakt (great power). This terminology is not evident and it has a history. Before the middle of the 19th century, historians did not denote the 17th century as an age of any specific greatness, although king Gustav II Adolf was lauded for his performance in the Thirty Year’s War. The concept ”great power” came into being at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and was used about contemporary European foreign politics. In Sweden, it came into use common use in the 1850s. Around 1870, stormakt and stormaktstid were used to denote the Swedish 17th century and that usage made its way into historical works in the next decade.<br/><br/>Originally, historians seem to have been aware of the fact that this was a symbolic use of a terminology of contemporary politics, but soon in the early 20th century, it had become a commonplace to name 17th century Sweden a great power and see the Great Power Age as an age of Swedish greatness. The use of this terminology has since than accelerated, while the positive connotations of Greatness largely disappeared in the middle of the last century. Instead, the negative consequences of Sweden’s projection of power outside its borders, both for its neighbours and its subjects, are often stressed.<br/><br/>There is a lack of precision and clarity in the use of this terminology. ”Great power” is seldom defined by historians. There are diverging statements as to just how great the Swedish great power was. Some historians state that Sweden was one of the leading powers in Europe, while others, more realistically, confine it to a leading role in the Baltic area. None of these claims are, however, based on any deeper arguments about Sweden’s place in a European political context. Since Sweden in the 17th century took lively part in the development of the emerging European state system, a system of global historical significance since it has come to cover the entire earth, studies of Sweden’s power politics in a transnational perspective could bring important contributions to the scholarly field of global history.}},
author = {{Gustafsson, Harald}},
issn = {{0036-5483}},
keywords = {{Sweden; history of historiography; Great Power; 17th century}},
language = {{swe}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{11--32}},
publisher = {{Lunds Universitet}},
series = {{Scandia}},
title = {{Stormakten genom tiderna : En historiografisk skiss}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.47868/scandia.v92i1.29334}},
doi = {{10.47868/scandia.v92i1.29334}},
volume = {{92}},
year = {{2026}},
}