ABSTRACT
One of the most influential groups within the political system in Sweden during the eighteenth century was constituted by the leading merchants in Gothenburg and Stockholm. They were mostly involved in the lucrative iron trade but also associated with long-distance trade companies such as the East India Company. Most of these mercantile activities required support from the state, for example, in the form of policies governing the flow of goods and diplomatic assistance in negotiating trade agreements with other countries. The state in turn augmented its revenues from trade through the collection of tolls and excises.1 The close connection between leading merchants and the state was thus, as in other European countries, in general mutually advantageous to both parties and strongly contributed to the state’s abilities to act in the highly competitive international arena.2
