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History
Written records survive only from late in the Middle Ages. But the
number and variety of fortifications, assembly places, votive sites
and graves is impressive.
The Viking Age was getting under way by the 9th century, and vast
repositories of Roman, Byzantine and Arab coins attest to the wealth
and power Swedish Vikings accumulated over the next century.
Vikings travelled mostly to the east, making their mark in Russia,
as well as trading with (and pillaging) Byzantine territories.
Sweden declared itself neutral at the outbreak of WW I and was
governed bilaterally until 1917. But food shortages caused unrest
and consensus was no longer possible. For the first time a social
democratic government took control.
The social democrats dominated politics after 1932, reworking the
liberal tendencies of the 1920s to join economic intervention with
the introduction of a welfare state. These trends were scarcely
interrupted until the 1970s when economic pressures began to cloud
Sweden's social goals.
Culture
Although Sweden has a modern industrial culture, its people have
maintained provincial traditions as a result of the country's isolated
location.
Swedish artists such as motion-picture director Ingmar Bergman and
dramatist August Strindberg have exercised a profound effect in
the international artistic community.
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