ABSTRACT
Swedish population trends prior to 1750 were not of such a nature as to lead to general awareness of a population problem. There were some periods of growth, as in the sixteenth century, and some periods of decline through plague, famine, and war. But the movements of the population pendulum induced by these causes were always narrower than those caused by imperialistic adventures, which brought about sometimes a gain, sometimes a loss, of whole provinces. Then came such an increase of population that a problem of major social import was bound to arise. From 1750, and more markedly from 1800, the total population grew considerably “with the onset of peace, vaccine and potatoes” as the national poet Tegnér has well said. It increased from 1¾ million in 1750 to 2⅓ million in 1800, to 3½ million in 1850, to 5 million in 1900, and to 6 million in 1925. To show how these millions were assimilated is to reveal the dramatic shift in Swedish social structure.
