General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Lars Herman Tingsten (13 July 1857 – 10 September 1937) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Minister for War from 1905 to 1907 and Chief of the General Staff from 1919 to 1922.

Early life

Tingsten was born on 13 July 1857 in Ingatorp, Sweden, the son of sergeant Lars Magnus Tingsten and his wife Maria Charlotta (née Durling). He was the uncle of

Herbert Tingsten Herbert Lars Gustaf Tingsten (17 March 1896 – 26 December 1973) was a Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher. An influential figure in Swedish political science, he was a professor of political science at Stockholm Univer ...

. Tingsten passed '' studentexamen'' in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

in 1875 and decided soon to pursue a military career, but at a time with petty military prejudices, it was only with great difficulty that the son of a noncommissioned officer son managed to be accepted as a volunteer officer.

Career

Tingsten was commissioned as an officer in Hälsinge Regiment (I 14) in 1878 with then rank second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1884 and he became lieutenant of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

in 1886 and captain of the General Staff in 1891. Tingsten became major of the General Staff in 1897 and lieutenant colonel in 1901 after he served 1898-99 as major in

Svea Life Guards The Svea Life Guards (), also I 1, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that was active in various forms 1521–2000. The unit was based in the Stockholm Garrison in Stockholm and belonged to the King's Life and Household Troops (''Kungl. Maj: ...

(I 1). Tingsten had advanced within the General Staff where he belonged to the core group, which in the last decades of 1800s, seemed for the army's raise from decay and particularly for the implementation of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. Important was his work as a teacher of tactics at the Royal Military Academy in 1884, and well into the 1900s the cadets studied his seminal textbook on the subject. Tingsten was chief of staff of the 5th Army Division in 1895 and captain of Södermanland Regiment (I 10) in 1896. In the years 1891-1900 he was first teacher at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College and 1900-02 he was head of department at the Military Statistics Department before returning to the Royal Swedish Army Staff College as its head 1902-04. In 1904 he became a colonel and commander of

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment (), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Norrb ...

(I 19). Early on, he was also used in work of defense policy and for this he was hired in the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

committees appointed both in 1892 and 1901 as well as in numerous military committees. As such, he came in the opportunity to establish relationships with several prominent politicians, which undoubtedly contributed to that he in August 1905 succeeded Otto Virgin as Minister for War and head of the

Ministry of Land Defence Ministry of Land Defence () was in a broad sense, one of the eight ministries, in which the Government of Sweden, Swedish government administration was divided into. Its head was called Minister of War. The Ministry of Land Defence Department was es ...

in Christian Lundeberg's coalition government. At his departure (7 November the same year) Tingsten remained in the same office in Karl Staaff first cabinet. On 16 May 1906 Tingsten filed along with Foreign Minister

Eric Trolle Eric Trolle may refer to: * Erik Trolle Erik Trolle (or Erik Arvidsson) (c. 1460–1530) was elected regent of Sweden in 1512, during the era of Kalmar Union. He was Justiciar of Närke and a Lord High Councillor of Sweden from 1487. Biography ...

his resignation, which is widely considered to be because of dissatisfaction with the speech that Prime Minister Karl Staaff held the previous day in

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. "Second Chamber", often abbreviated 'AK'; referred to in some non-Swedish sources as the Chamber of Deputies) was the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the R ...

when dealing with

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. The ministerial crisis, which was triggered hereof, obtained on 29 May 1906, that Staff's ministry was replaced with a new one, with the Director General

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 has been des ...

as Prime Minister, in which Tingsten came to remain as Minister for War. When Tingsten resigned he was succeeded by Olof Malm. Especially during the first period of Tingsten's time as Minister for War he managed to enforce some partial improvements in the defense system, including the completion of

Boden Fortress Boden Fortress () is a modern fortress consisting of several major and minor forts and fortifications surrounding the city of Boden, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden. The fortress was originally intended to stop or delay attacks from the east or co ...

and its commandant organization. In 1906 Tingsten was promoted to major general in the army and in 1907 he became commandant in Boden and commandant of Boden Fortress where the spent six years. Tingsten became commander of the 2nd Army Division in 1913 and Inspector of the Infantry in 1915 where he worked tirelessly and successfully for this branch continuous improvement according to the experience of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Thus he acquired in the army's officer corps the honorary title of "General of the Infantry". As Inspector of the Infantry he published ''Infantry Training Regulations'' (''Infanteriets utbildningsföreskrifter'', 1917) and ''Infantry training in drill'' (''Infanteriets utbildning i exercis'', 1918), and he changed or published several instructions regarding the infantry and machine guns. In addition, he wrote a large number of essays in military journals, especially in journal of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for military (army and air force) and de ...

(1884-1924), mainly about infantry organization and tactics. As Chief of the General Staff from 1919, he met a neither easy or rewarding task, due to the postwar general indifference of the Swedish defense.

Other work

Tingsten was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1891. He was a

civil law notary Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of contentious jurisdiction, noncontentious private law, private civil law (legal system), civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and gi ...

in the Committee on Defence in 1892, secretary in the Committee on Defence in 1900, secretary in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1900 to 1903, chairman of the Committee for the reorganization of Field Medical Corps in 1908, member of several military committees, chairman of the Passage System Committee in 1912, chairman of experts to revise the infantry exercise regulations from 1914 to 1915, chairman of experts to draw up instructions for fortified positions in 1917 and chairman in the equipment committee in 1922.

Later life

When Tingsten retired from active duty in 1922, he could, with an energy that wasn't hindered by old age ailments, pursue his extensive war scientific and military history writing. He became an Honorary

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1927.

Personal life

In 1883 he was married Amy Forssell (1855–1943). Tingsten died in 1937 and was buried at Solna cemetery in

Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...

near Stockholm.

Military career overview

Tingsten's military career: *1878 : second lieutenant of Hälsinge Regiment (I 14) *1884 : lieutenant of Hälsinge Regiment (I 14) *1886 : lieutenant of the

*1886–1892: first teacher at the Royal Military Academy *1891 : captain of the General Staff *1891–1900: teacher at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College *1895–1898: chief of staff of the 5th Army Division *1896 : captain of Södermanland Regiment (I 10) *1897 : major of the General Staff *1898 : major of

(I 1) *1900 : major of the General Staff *1900–1902: head of the Military Statistical Department *1901 : lieutenant colonel *1902–1904: head of the Royal Swedish Army Staff College *1903 : colonel in the army *1904–1907: colonel and commander of

(I 19) *1905–1907: minister and head of the

*1906 : major general in the army *1907–1913: commandant in Boden *1913 : lieutenant general *1913–1915: commander of the 2nd Army Division *1915–1919: inspector of the Infantry *1919–1922: Chief of the General Staff *1922 : general at his retirement

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King (Royal Order of the Seraphim) (10 December 1927) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1912) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

(1 December 1905) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Knight_1st_Class_BAR

Knight 1st CLass of the

(1899) * Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

(1900)

Foreign

Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(between 1910 and 1915) * PRT_Military_Order_of_Aviz_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand Cross of the

Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...

(between 1905 and 1908) * Commander 2nd Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(before 1905)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tingsten, Lars 1857 births 1937 deaths Swedish Army generals Ministers for defence of Sweden People from Eksjö Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Commanders First Class of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Grand Crosses of the Order of Aviz