Sweden's Forgotten Colony: The 1785 Founding of Swedish Guinea

When you think of Sweden's empire, you think of the Baltic — not West Africa. But in 1785, Sweden briefly carved out a sliver of territory in what is now Ghana. This episode follows the improbable story of Swedish Guinea, a colony founded by the Swedish Africa Company under King Gustav III. We explore the fort at Carolusborg, the trade in gold and enslaved people that sustained it, and the geopolitical chess game that pitted Sweden against Denmark, the Netherlands, and local African polities like the Fante and Ashanti. Discover how a single fort named after a Swedish king became a pawn in Atlantic rivalries, how the colony survived for barely a decade before being captured by the Dutch, and why this forgotten chapter still echoes in Sweden's relationship with its own colonial past. Featuring the Treaty of Bremen, the 1786 expedition of Adolf Ludvig von Bahr, and the everyday reality of life on the Gold Coast — a world away from Stockholm's royal palaces and frozen lakes.

#SwedishGuinea #GoldCoast #GustavIII #Carolusborg #SwedishAfricaCompany #AtlanticHistory #Colonialism #SlaveTrade #Fante #Ashanti #Denmark #Netherlands #AdolfLudvigVonBahr #TreatyOfBremen #1785 #SvenskaAfrikanskaKompaniet #History #FexingoHistory

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