Compilation of Swedish History Quiz

Answer: Kalmar Union

The union lasted from 1397 in the reign of Queen Margarete I of Denmark (reigned 1387-1412) till 1523, when Swedish king Gustav Vasa was declared king of Sweden. Norway stayed with Denmark as "Denmark-Norway" until 1814, when Sweden gained Norway at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Answer: 1521

This war is called the "Swedish War of Liberation". Sweden did not agree to the costly wars by Denmark to conquer Holstein and Pomerania. After two years of bloody rebellion, the fighting stopped. King Gustav Vasa was made king, and Sweden also gained the territories of Scania and Blekinge.

Answer: Delaware

Although the parts of the colony were in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well, the capital, Fort Christina, was in Delaware. It was on the Delaware River and the Schuylkill River, and was the first of the three colonies that Sweden had in the New World.

The others were St. Barthélemy in the West Indies which was Swedish from 1784-1878, when it was sold to France. (The capital is still called Gustavia after the Swedish king, Gustav III). Guadeloupe was also very briefly Swedish towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Answer: Gustavus Adolphus

King Vasa was not alive during the Thirty Years' War, nor was Karl VIII. Christian II was a Danish leader.
Gustavus II Adolphus propelled his country to a golden age, which would last throughout the 17th century. During this time, Sweden held Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and a strip of territory on the German Baltic coast, including several ports, such as Wismar and Stralsund. Sweden was very active in regional and European politics at that time.

Answer: Netherlands

Belgium did not exist in 1655, when it was under Spanish rule. England, while eventually acquiring the area of New Sweden, was not fighting in North America at that time. Russia, though a major rival to Sweden in Europe, didn't colonize anywhere near the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer: Finland

The Finnish war lasted from 1808 to 1809. The Russians won. After a year and a half of bloody fighting, peace was eventually made, with the Russians gaining Finland, which had a limited measure of autonomy.

Answer: Dynamite

Alfred Nobel created the Nobel prize award after he read his own obituary in a newspaper. The article described him as a terrible person, who had created an explosive causing thousands of people to die. To change his legacy from this reputation of being a merchant of death to that of a celebrated humanitarian, he founded the Nobel Prizes.

Answer: 1905

Norway, after about 600 years of being a subject nation, became independent in 1905. The vote for Norwegian independence for Norwegians was overwhelming. 368,392 people voted for independence, while only 184 voted against.

Answer: Neutral

Seeing the devastating conquest of Norway, Sweden decided not to join the Allies, as Nazi Germany would most likely conquer them, nor did that country join the Axis, as Russia would triumph over Sweden. Sweden did, however, grant the German army passage across Swedish territory.

Answer: None of these three

In 2014 Sweden was able to look back on 200 years of neutrality. In the 20th century Sweden was very exposed to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In the Cold War Sweden, though part of the West, never joined NATO, and only joined the EU in 1995.