Prior to the Masked Ball

We don’t know who wrote the paper called “The danger of the political balance of Europe”. However, it is quite easy to find out who commissioned it. The German memorandum published anonymously in 1790 in London was commissioned by Gustav III of Sweden; that is to say by the absolutist king that died one year before Louis XVI, however, he wasn’t guillotined but died during a masked ball. We tell the story of a man that wanted to shift the balance of power of his country in his favour.

Artikeltext:

The Balance of Power

To begin with, let’s figure out what is meant by the word balance in politics. A major German encyclopaedia (Meyers Grosses Konversations-Lexikon) published in 1908 defines the term in this way: “... a relationship of power between co-existing states implying that none one of them is able to impair the independence or the fundamental rights of another state in the long term without encountering effective resistance and having to fear for itself.”

In other words: There is a balance if no powerful entity centralises that much power in itself that an alliance of opponents would no longer be able to put it in its place. However, that’s exactly what Gustav III had done, not regarding foreign but domestic politics.

The Balance of Power in Sweden

In the coup d’état of 1772, Gustav III had considerably limited the power of the Privy Council. Since Charles XII had died, the noblemen, the clergy, the citizens and the peasants had gathered in the Council to negotiate compromises with the king. These compromises ensured the prosperity of and, above all, the peace in Sweden. Gustav III put an end to it.

He changed the country in a hurry. Not all about it was bad. After all, the new king was a supporter of the Enlightenment. He abolished torture and established the freedom of the press. He promoted the industrial, agricultural and financial sectors. He founded the Swedish Academy and had several outstanding artists come to the Swedish court. Yes, he even intended to establish a Swedish colonial empire and, for this purpose, founded a stock company specialised in the profitable business of slave trade.

At this point, it should be clear that Gustav III was not interested in the welfare of mankind, instead, he wanted to turn Sweden into a rich model state and make it one of Europe’s leading powers. 

The Balance of Power in Europe

Of course, all of these innovations cost a lot of money. And, as it is the case with all changes, even though many benefited from the innovations, there were also many people suffering because of it. The king didn’t care about that. He was not patient enough to reform Sweden slowly. And when the national debt and the dissatisfaction of his subjects grew too much, he simply started a war – that’s always an efficient method to distract attention from the problems of domestic politics.

At the end of June 1788, he sent troops to Russia to conquer new territories. He had the spectacular idea of taking St. Petersburg by surprise and thus forcing the tsarina to cede territories controlled by her to Sweden. The attack failed miserably.

And it got even worse. The noble officers refused to execute Gustav’s orders to conquer the Finnish border fortress Fredrikshamn. The mutinous troops offered peace to Russia on their own initiative. Furthermore, Denmark entered the war and at that point, at the latest, things got hairy for the Swedish king. 

The Danger of the Political Balance of Europe

At this time, a memorandum was published in several metropolises and languages at the same time. In French, the paper published in London and Stockholm was called “Du peril de la balance politique, ou exposé des causes, qui l’ont altéré dans le Nord depuis l’avenement de Catherine II au Throne de Russie”. At the same time, a printer in London published the English version: “The danger of the political balance of Europe, translated from the French of the King of Sweden”. And German editions – one of these can be seen in the library of the MoneyMuseum – were published in 1790, too, in London and in Hamburg. They bear the title: “Über die Gefahr des politischen Gleichgewichts in Europa”.

Who wrote the paper? We don’t know. However, it is certain that the King of Sweden was somehow involved in the matter. After all, he presented himself in the English version as the translator from French, and translating is a rather unusual activity for a monarch...

Gustav III made use of the then very modern form of political journalism in order to denounce his opponent Catherine II of Russia by combining facts and defamatory statements in the memorandum. The paper claims that she cheated on her husband, an ideal ruler, and betrayed him when she forced him to abdicate in order to come to power herself. Since then, she had been conquering territory after territory, Courland and, of course, Poland. The author even made the daring statement that Catherine II of Russia was the mind behind the opposition to Gustav III in Sweden. 

The last chapter reveals the addressee of the memorandum: Denmark should show compassion and stop supporting Russia. England and Prussia should persuade Denmark to do so. In fact, Denmark stopped intervening in the war and Gustav III could thus focus on his domestic opponents and Russia. 

And Once Again: The Balance of Power in Sweden

Gustav eliminated the pro-Russian officers and made use of the pretext in order to pass a law reforming the constitutional framework bearing the attractive name “Union and Security Act”. This act deprived the Council of all powers that would have enabled it to threaten the king.

At once, Gustav III had eliminated all formerly powerful noblemen and politicians. In the same year, he achieved the decisive victory over Russia. 

Therefore, Gustav had sole power in Sweden. Things did not stay this way for long. Noblemen were already conspiring against him in order to murder the tyrant. During a masked ball taking place in the night between the 16 and the 17 March 1792, Jacob Johan Anckarström fatally wounded the king with a handgun.

Gustav III suffered for almost two weeks before he finally died. It would be interesting to know whether he had any regrets on his death bed about shaking the balance of his country.

Google published the entire text of the German version, and you can read the memorandum in English at the HathiTrust website.

Giuseppe Verdi turned this event into an opera. If you would like to see it, YouTube has a video of a 1986 performance of the Vienna State Opera.

Wikipedia offers an overview about the parallels between the opera and the actual course of events of the assassination of Gustav III.