Gustaf V

==Public life==
[[Image:Meeting of Scandinavian kings.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Meeting of the three kings in [[Malmö]], 18 December 1914: [[Haakon VII of Norway]], Gustaf V, and [[Christian X of Denmark]].]]
[[File:Kaiser Wilhelm II. begrüßt König Gustaf Adolf V.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Wilhelm II]] and Gustaf V during the opening of the ferry between Sassnitz and Trelleborg.]]

When he ascended the throne, Gustaf V was, at least on paper, a [[autocracy|near-autocrat]].  The [[1809 Instrument of Government]] made the King both head of state and head of government, and ministers were solely responsible to him.  However, his father had been forced to accept a government chosen by the majority in Parliament in 1905. Since then, prime ministers had been ''de facto'' required to have the confidence of the Riksdag to stay in office.

Early in his reign, in 1910, Gustaf V refused to grant clemency to the convicted murderer [[Johan Alfred Ander]], who thus became the last person to be executed in Sweden.

At first, Gustaf V seemed to be willing to accept [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary rule]].  After the [[Free-minded National Association|Liberals]] won a massive landslide victory in 1911, Gustaf appointed Liberal leader [[Karl Staaff]] as Prime Minister. However, during the run-up to World War I, the elites objected to Staaff's defence policy. In February 1914, a large crowd of farmers [[Peasant armament support march|gathered at the royal palace]] and demanded that the country's defences be strengthened.  In his reply, the so-called [[Courtyard Speech]]—which was actually written by explorer [[Sven Hedin]], an ardent conservative—Gustaf promised to strengthen the country's defences.  Staaff was outraged, telling the King that parliamentary rule called for the Crown to stay out of partisan politics.  He was also angered that he had not been consulted in advance of the speech.  However, Gustaf retorted that he still had the right to "communicate freely with the Swedish people". The Staaff government resigned in protest, and Gustaf appointed a government of civil servants headed by [[Hjalmar Hammarskjöld]] (father of future UN Secretary-General [[Dag Hammarskjöld]]) in its place.

[[File:Lauri Kristian Relander in Stockholm 1925 (2).jpg|thumb|Gustaf V and visiting [[Lauri Kristian Relander|L. K. Relander]], the [[President of Finland|2nd President of the Republic of Finland]], pass an honour guard in 1925 in [[Stockholm]].]]
[[File:Porträtt, kung Gustav V, av Bernhard Österman, 1937-38 - Sörmlands museum - SLM7036.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Gustaf V by [[Bernhard Österman]], 1937/38]]

The 1917 elections showed a heavy gain for the Liberals and [[Social Democratic Party (Sweden)|Social Democrats]], who between them held a decisive majority. Despite this, Gustaf initially tried to appoint a Conservative government headed by [[Johan Widén]].  However, Widén was unable to attract enough support for a coalition. It was now apparent that Gustaf could no longer appoint a government entirely of his own choosing, nor could he keep a government in office against the will of Parliament.  With no choice but to appoint a Liberal as prime minister, he appointed a Liberal-Social Democratic coalition government headed by Staaff's successor as Liberal leader, [[Nils Edén]]. The Edén government promptly arrogated most of the king's political powers to itself and enacted numerous reforms, most notably the institution of complete (male and female) universal suffrage in 1918–1919. While Gustaf still formally appointed the ministers, they now had to have the confidence of Parliament.  He was now also bound to act on the ministers' advice.  Although the provision in the Instrument of Government stating that "the King alone shall govern the realm" remained unchanged, the king was now bound by convention to exercise his powers through the ministers. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the ministers did the actual governing. While ministers were already legally responsible to the Riksdag under the Instrument of government, it was now understood that they were politically responsible to the Riksdag as well. Gustaf accepted his reduced role, and reigned for the rest of his life as a model limited constitutional monarch.  Parliamentarianism had become a ''de facto'' reality in Sweden, even if it would not be formalised until 1974, when a new Instrument of Government stripped the monarchy of even nominal political power.
Gustaf V was considered to have German sympathies during World War I. His political stance during the war was highly influenced by his wife, who felt a strong connection to her German homeland. On 18 December 1914, he sponsored a meeting in [[Malmö]] with the other two kings of Scandinavia to demonstrate unity. Another of Gustaf V's objectives was to dispel suspicions that he wanted to bring Sweden into the war on Germany's side.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.realclearhistory.com/2016/12/07/king_gustav_v039s_no_nazi_sympathizer_3729.html |title=Kin Gustav V's No Nazi Sympathizer |date=7 December 2020 |website=Real Clear History |access-date=26 April 2021}}</ref>

Although effectively stripped of political power, Gustaf was not completely without influence. In 1938, for instance, he personally summoned the German ambassador to Sweden and told him that if Hitler attacked [[Czechoslovakia]] over its refusal to give up the [[Sudetenland]], it would trigger a world war that Germany would almost certainly lose.<ref name="RiseFall">William Shirer, ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'' (Touchstone Edition) (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990)</ref> Additionally, his long reign gave him great [[moral authority]] as a symbol of the nation's unity.