Sweden's 1809 Coup: The Constitution That Changed Everything

In 1809, Sweden faced its most severe crisis since the Great Northern War. King Gustav IV Adolf's disastrous Finnish War against Russia ended with the loss of Finland, a third of the realm. In March, a group of officers led by Georg Adlersparre and Carl Johan Adlercreutz staged a coup, deposing the king and installing his elderly uncle as Charles XIII. But the real revolution came in June: a new constitution, the Instrument of Government 1809, which radically limited royal power and established a separation of powers inspired by Montesquieu. This episode traces the coup's dramatic events, the drafting of the constitution by a committee including Hans Järta, and how Sweden, despite losing Finland, laid the foundation for its modern parliamentary system and its long tradition of peaceful neutrality.

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