The Courtyard Speech (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: Borggårdstalet) was a speech written by conservative explorer Sven Hedin 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 tit ...

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 ( sv, Bondetåget) at the courtyard of the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The speech sparked the Courtyard Crisis 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 i ...

Karl Staaff's decision to lower military spending, particularly the decision not to proceed with the construction of a coastal battleship for the Swedish Navy (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 one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 Sven Hedin and Lieutenant Carl Bennedich, well before the date of the planned peasant armament support march. 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; 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, an ...

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