Swedish History Trivia Quiz

Answer: His father died in an aircraft accident

Sadly, the Swedish crownprince, Gustav Adolf, died in a plane accident at Copenhagen airport, Kastrup, in 1947. The Prince Gustav Adolf Memorial Fund was created in 1948, for the promotion of child welfare.

Answer: Denmark

Kristian II, or Kristian the Tyrant as he was called in Sweden, came from Denmark and was responsible for the "Stockholm Bloodbath" (8-9 November 1520), in which 80 people was executed. Kristian executed them because they were supporters to Sten Sture, who was one of his enemies.
Kristian II was a Danish and Norwegian king, who also reigned Sweden 1520-1521.
Kristian killed the supporters to Sten Sture because Sten wanted to depose him.

Answer: False

Sweden was neutral in both World Wars. The Swedes didn't want to be involved in either war, so they decided to be neutral. Because of this, the Germans were able to use the Swedish railways to transport equipment, which indirectly aided the invasion of Norway in 1940.

Answer: Norway

Sweden and Norway were joined in a 'personal union' (that is, they shared the same monarch) from 1814-1905, when the Norwegians voted themselves out of the union.

Answer: Victoria

Carl-Philip was supposed to succeed Carl Gustav, because he was Carl Gustav's first born son, but later the Swedish parliament changed the law, so that the first born child (Victoria) would be the next sovereign, regardless of gender.

Answer: Kristina

The Swedish Queen, Kristina took over the throne after her father, Gustav Adolf II, died in Lützen, Germany. She never wanted to be the queen of Sweden, so she abdicated on 6 June 1654 and went to Rome to become a Catholic. Her cousin, Karl Gustav X, became the next reigning monarch.

Answer: Karl XII

Karl XII, Swedish king between 1697 and 1718, was great at war, but died from a button. Karl was a great warrior, and won many battles, until he was defeated at Poltava, Russia, in 1709. He then fled to Turkey, came back to Sweden in 1715, just to realize that Sweden had lost its land in Russia and in several other places.
He tried to win it back, but was shot through his temples (probably from one of his own soldiers) with a button, while trying to take Norwegian land.

For many years scientists been wondering what he was shot with. All they have found is a tiny leadball. But now that tiny leadball (which caused Karl XII´s death) seems to be a button from on of his own men´s coats.

Answer: Raoul Wallenberg

Raoul Wallenberg was the brave swede who risked his life to save Jews during World War II.
He saved them by issuing them with "Swedish protective passes" which was printed in yellow and blue, with the coat of arms of the Three Crowns of Sweden in the middle, and then added the appropriate stamps and signatures. Raoul's protective passes had no value whatsoever under international law. However, in practice they worked and gave many Hungarian Jews the intended protection. He came to Budapest in 1944, was "taken care of" by Russian military in January 1945.
According to Russian information, he died in a Russian prison on the 17 July 1947.

Answer: Gustav II Adolf

Gustav II Adolf, yet another great warrior-king, intervened in the Thirty Years War in 1630, took a lot of Catholic land, but was defeated and killed in the haze in Lützen in November 1632. His successes against the Habsburg armies were so stunning that at the time he was given Latin nickname "Stupor Mundi", which may be translated as "The Wonder [literally 'amazement'] of the World".

Answer: Sälen

Vasaloppet starts in Sälen and ends in Mora, after about 56 miles of skiing. Vasaloppet is named after Gustav Vasa ( reigned 1523-60), who skied from Mora to Sälen, after trying to get the villagers of Mora to rise up against Kristian the Tyrant. When they didn't want to help him, he got so angry that he rushed away on his ski.

After a while, the villagers of Mora changed their minds, so they sent away their two best skiiers to catch up with him - which they did on in Sälen. That's why the Swedes celebrate Vasaloppet every year, to honor Gustav Vasa, but instead of skiing from Mora to Sälen, they do it they other way round, Sälen - Mora.