The Courtyard Speech ( Swedish: Borggårdstalet) was a speech written by conservative explorer

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

and Swedish Army lieutenant Carl Bennedich, delivered by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Gustaf V of Sweden Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

to the participants of the

Peasant armament support march The peasant armament support march of 1914 () was a demonstration primarily of Swedish farmers on February 6, 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the Courtyard Speech held by King Gustav V to the marchers at Sto ...

( sv, Bondetåget) at the courtyard of the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Mass ...

in Stockholm. The speech sparked the

Courtyard Crisis The Courtyard Crisis () was a constitutional conflict between the Swedish king and prime minister and significant event in Swedish 20th-century history, marking the last time the Monarch of Sweden directly intervened in a controversial partisan p ...

in Swedish government in February 1914.

Context

The speech was a part in the organized expressions of Swedish conservatives who criticized the liberal

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Karl Staaff 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). Staaf ...

's decision to lower military spending, particularly the decision not to proceed with the construction of a coastal battleship for the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels ...

(then known as the "F-ship", which later became the ''Sverige''-class coastal defence ship), which had been decided upon by the previous right wing government headed by

Arvid Lindman Salomon Arvid Achates Lindman (19 September 1862 – 9 December 1936) was a Swedish rear admiral, industrialist and conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1906 to 1911 and again from 1928 to 1930. He was also th ...

. Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, modernisation of navies and introduction of ''

Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

''-style heavy warships stood at the forefront of naval technology at the time, and the issue generally received a lot of public attention.

Speech

The speech was written by

and Lieutenant Carl Bennedich, well before the date of the planned

peasant armament support march The peasant armament support march of 1914 () was a demonstration primarily of Swedish farmers on February 6, 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the Courtyard Speech held by King Gustav V to the marchers at Sto ...

. The speech was reviewed by several members of the political elite before it was delivered. Hedin showed the speech to the leader of the conservatives in the first chamber, who later became Conservative Prime Minister

Ernst Trygger Ernst Trygger (27 October 1857 – 23 September 1943) was a Swedish jurist professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in ...

; he considered the speech to be brilliant even though he was not sure what the political consequences would be if the speech was delivered by the King. The Conservative politician and previous Prime Minister

and the future Independent Liberal Prime Minister

Gerhard Louis De Geer Baron Gerhard Louis De Geer of Finspång (usually known as Louis De Geer; 27 November 185425 February 1935) was a Swedish politician, who served in the first chamber of the ''Riksdag'' 1901–14, was governor of Kristianstad County 1905–23, a ...

thought that the speech could lead to a constitutional crisis between the King and the members of the Council of State. Prime Minister

was not allowed to see the speech on before it was delivered by the King. The speech was read by Gustav V on the inner courtyard of the Royal Palace as the protestors of the support march had reached the palace. For those of the 30,000 march participants who could not fit the inner courtyard, the speech was immediately read again by Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Prince Carl. The initial line of the speech, ''I redlige män af Sveriges bondestam!'', "Ye honest men of Sweden's yeomanry tribe" remains, because of its archaic grammar and choice of words and because of the political implications and importance of the speech, a famous quote in Swedish politics.I redliga män af Sveriges bondestam!
SvD Debatt
' 8 July 2008, retrieved online 28 December 2016

References

{{Reflist 1914 in Sweden 1914 in politics Political history of Sweden 1910s in Stockholm 1914 speeches Conservatism in Sweden