Court yard speech
Encyclopedia
Sven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin KNO1kl RVO was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, and travel writer, as well as an illustrator of his own works...
and senior general Carl Bennedich and delivered by king Gustav V to the participants of the Peasant armament support march
Peasant armament support march
Peasant armament support march of 1914 was a manifestation primarily by Swedish farmers held on February 6th 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the court yard speech held by king Gustav V to the marchers at the royal palace....
. The speech sparked a governmental crisis in Sweden in February 1914.
Context
The speech was a part in the organized expressions of Swedish conservatives who criticized the liberal prime minister Karl Staaff'sKarl Staaff
Karl Albert Staaff was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden ....
decision to cut down on military defense. Particularly the decision not to proceed with the building of a coastal battleship (then known as the "F-ship", which later became the Sverige class coastal defence ship) that had been decided upon by the previous right wing government headed by Arvid Lindman
Arvid Lindman
Salomon Arvid Achates Lindman was a Swedish Rear Admiral, Industrialist and conservative politician...
. In the years leading up to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, modernization of navies and introduction of "Dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
"-style heavy warships stood at the forefront of military spending in many countries, and this issue generally received a lot of public attention.
The making of the speech
The speech was written by Sven HedinSven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin KNO1kl RVO was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, and travel writer, as well as an illustrator of his own works...
and a senior general Carl Bennedich, well before the date of the planned oppositional Peasant armament support march
Peasant armament support march
Peasant armament support march of 1914 was a manifestation primarily by Swedish farmers held on February 6th 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the court yard speech held by king Gustav V to the marchers at the royal palace....
. The speech was reviewed by several members of the political elite before delivered. Hedin showed the speech to then under parliament chairman, and later conservative prime minister Ernst Trygger
Ernst Trygger
Ernst Trygger was a Swedish jurist professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in the government of Arvid Lindman...
, who considered the speech to be brilliant, even though he was not sure what the political consequences would be if the speech was delivered by the king. Both Liberal politician previous prime minister Arvid Lindman
Arvid Lindman
Salomon Arvid Achates Lindman was a Swedish Rear Admiral, Industrialist and conservative politician...
and later liberal prime minister Louis de Geer
Gerhard Louis De Geer
Baron Gerhard Louis De Geer of Finspång was a Swedish politician, who served in the first chamber of the Riksdag 1901-14, was governor of Kristianstad County 1905-23, and Prime Minister of Sweden for 121 days in 1920-1921.-Biography:Louis De Geer was son of the baron and former prime minister...
thought that the speech could lead to a governmental crisis. The prime minister at the time however, Karl Staaff
Karl Staaff
Karl Albert Staaff was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden ....
was not allowed to see the speech on beforehand.
The speech was read by king Gustav V on the inner court yard of the royal palace as the protestors of the support march had reached the palace. For those of the 30'000 march participants who could not fit the inner court yard, the speech was immediately reread by crown prince Gustav Adolf
Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
Gustaf VI Adolf - Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf - was King of Sweden from October 29, 1950 until his death. His official title was King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends. He was the eldest son of King Gustaf V and his wife Victoria of Baden...
and prince Carl
Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
Prince Carl of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Västergötland , was the third son of King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway and Sophia of Nassau.-History:...
.