摘要：Sweden is a small, industrially well advanced, export-dependent social democratic experiment in the far north of Europe. The early pre-industrial development in the resource-based sectors of forestry, mining and steel was boosted during the country's period as a great political power during the 1600s, when the manufacturing and export of arms became important drivers of development.In the 1880s, 70% of the Swedish population of 4.5m was sustained by agriculture and only 11% by manufacturing and mining. During this decade 10% of the population emigrated, mainly to the USA. The agricultural crises of the 1860s and 70s forced large proportions of the rural population to leave the countryside and an urban proletariat developed. Rapid industrialization was underpinned by legislated freedom of trade (1846 and 1864), which saw the end of the traditional guilds.The average life span for men was 45 and for women 48. The normal working day was 12-14 hours. Twelve of every 100 newborn boys died in their first year of life, one in five never saw their 20th birthday. Twenty percent of all children never saw any form of schooling at all, and religion/Lutheranism made up 90% of basic education. The right to vote was dependent on annual income and private wealth; only six in every 100 citizens could vote (Beckholmen, 1984).
