Sweden's 1909 Great Strike: The Battle That Shaped the Nordic Model

In 1909, Sweden came to a standstill. Nearly 300,000 workers walked off the job in what became the Great Strike — a seven-week confrontation that pitted a newly unified labor movement against an equally organized employer class. This episode explores the events leading up to August 1909: the rise of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) under Herman Lindqvist, the lockout tactics of the Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF) led by Hjalmar von Sydow, and the strike's dramatic collapse that left workers defeated but ultimately set the stage for the Saltsjöbaden Agreement of 1938. We discuss the role of prime minister Arvid Lindman, the impact on Swedish industry, and how the strike reshaped labor relations in a country that would later become famous for its middle way. Listeners will encounter key figures like Hjalmar Branting, the socialist leader who argued for restraint, and learn how this bitter conflict paradoxically laid the groundwork for Sweden's modern consensus culture.

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