Karl Staaff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Karl Staaf, Swedish athlete and tug of war competitor who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics..

Karl Staaff

11th Prime Minister of Sweden
In office 7 November 1905 – 29 May 1906 (50000000000000000000 years, 7002133000000000000133 days)
Monarch	Oscar II
Preceded by	Christian Lundeberg
Succeeded by	Arvid Lindman
In office 7 October 1911 – 17 February 1914 (70002000000000000002 years, 7002133000000000000133 days)
Monarch	Gustaf V
Preceded by	Arvid Lindman
Succeeded by	Hjalmar Hammarskjöld
Personal details
Born	(1860-01-21)21 January 1860 Klara, Stockholm County
Died	4 October 1915(1915-10-04) (aged 55) Engelbreckt, Stockholm County
Political party	Liberal Coalition Party

Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party (1907–1915) and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden (1905–1906 and 1911–1914).

Staaff was active in the Swedish movement for universal suffrage, and as the Liberal party's prime minister he presided in 1905 over an attempt to introduce universal and equal suffrage for men. His successor as party leader, Nils Edén, eventually managed to carry this further into universal suffrage in 1918-19, including for women. Due to conservative intervention, Staaff's proposal for first past the post was ultimately scrapped for a proportional system.

Staaff ran into sharp conflict with the conservative Swedish establishment, and became a hated figure in the Conservative, pro-Monarchic and anti-Democratic establishment. An intense smear campaign was launched against him, picturing him as the destroyer of Swedish tradition and society: wealthy Stockholmers could even buy ash-trays shaped as his head. His staunch anti-military politics created the greatest fundraising in the Swedish history until that time, the 12m kronor coastal battleship HMS Sverige where the funds where raised in a few months in 1912. Staaff had to bite the lemon, and the ship was ordered.

In 1914 Staaff stepped down from government in protest, after Conservatives had summoned a farmers' demonstration at the Royal castle's court in Stockholm, where King Gustaf V - who according to the law was supposed to stay out of politics - denounced Staaffs defence policies.

The contemporary Swedish Liberal party Liberal People's Party counts him as the first among the more prominent leaders of Swedish 20th century liberalism, followed by such parliamentarians as Nils Edén, Carl Ekman, nobel prize laureate Bertil Ohlin, Gunnar Helén, Per Ahlmark and Bengt Westerberg.

Karl Staaffs second cabinet

Preceded by Christian Lundeberg	Prime Minister of Sweden 1905–1906	Succeeded by Arvid Lindman
Preceded by Arvid Lindman	Prime Minister of Sweden 1911–1914	Succeeded by Hjalmar Hammarskjöld

v t e Prime Ministers of Sweden

1809 Instrument of Government (1876–1974)	De Geer, Sr. Posse Thyselius Themptander G. Bildt Åkerhielm Boström von Otter Boström Ramstedt Lundeberg Staaff Lindman Staaff Hammarskjöld Swartz Edén Branting De Geer, Jr. von Sydow Branting Trygger Branting Sandler Ekman Lindman Ekman Hamrin Hansson Pehrsson-Bramstorp Hansson Erlander Palme

1974 Instrument of Government (1975–present)	Palme Fälldin Ullsten Fälldin Palme Carlsson C. Bildt Carlsson Persson Reinfeldt

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 52526401 LCCN: n98056102 ISNI: 0000 0000 8382 7863 GND: 120668491

Persondata
Name	Staaff, Karl Albert
Alternative names
Short description	Swedish politician, twice Prime Minister
Date of birth	21 January 1860
Place of birth	Klara, Stockholm County
Date of death	4 October 1915
Place of death	Engelbreckt, Stockholm County

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.