Oscar I of Sweden

Oscar I (Paris, July 4, 1799-Stockholm, July 8, 1859), born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte, was King of Sweden and Norway. 1844 to 1859.

Oscar promoted the economic prosperity of his two kingdoms better than his predecessors. He sought peace and social reforms that would allow progress towards a rule of law and greater freedoms and sought the political integration of the three Nordic kingdoms.

Childhood and youth

Óscar was born in the city of Paris on July 4, 1799. He was the son of the French Minister of War Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte and Desideria Clary. He lived his childhood partly in Paris next to his mother, in Joseph Bonaparte's Mortefontaine castle, or in the Bernadotte castle. At that time he had his first tutor, with whom he would begin his French education.

Shortly after his father was appointed Crown Prince of Sweden (August 21, 1810), Oscar became third in the line of succession, after Bernadotte's male line was recognized as the heir. At that time, Óscar traveled to Sweden and received the title of Duke of Södermanland from King Charles XIII. Given his important place in the line of succession, Oscar quickly learned the Swedish language, which enabled him to serve as interpreter for his father. In 1812 he was appointed lieutenant colonel in the army, in 1815 he was promoted to colonel and in 1817 to general. During the 1810s he learned the Norwegian language and was educated in the various areas of human knowledge, such as administration, law, science, and art. He also studied German and the Lutheran religion, in which he was confirmed in 1815.

Crown Prince

Josefina de Leuchtenberg, wife of Oscar I, in a portrait of 1835.

Gustava Gyldenstolpe (Jaquette Löwenhielm), lover of Óscar I, in an engraving of 1824.

Swedish actress Emelie Högqvist (1812-1846), another of the lovers of Oscar I.

When Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte became king (as Charles XIV John of Sweden) in 1818, Oscar was elevated to crown prince of Sweden and Norway. In 1819 he was made a general in the Swedish and Norwegian armies, and given command of various infantry, artillery, and cavalry detachments.

In 1822 he became engaged to Josephine of Leuchtenberg, the daughter of Eugene de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and granddaughter of Empress Josephine. The wedding took place in Stockholm on June 19, 1823.

From February 1824, the prince briefly held the post of Viceroy of Norway and together with his wife took up residence in the city of Kristiania. On October 11 he declined the post and returned to Stockholm. He would again be viceroy from 1833 to 1834, when he participated in the re-founding of the Norwegian parliament. The following years, when his father was visiting Norway, Oscar took charge of the government for the first time.

He was director of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts and the University of Lund in 1824. He also cultivated lithography and musical composition.

In 1840 he published a letter about the Swedish prison system, in which he presented his proposals for its reform, challenging the death penalty, torture and deportation and favoring the improvement of prison conditions and human rights in the prisons. His work was translated into various European languages and earned him international prestige.

King of Sweden and Norway

Oscar took the reins of government on March 8, 1844 and was crowned in Stockholm on September 28 of the same year (he was never crowned in Norway). From the beginning, his government was restricted by the fight in parliament between liberals and conservatives, as well as by his rather plural council of ministers and by his own irresolution. The king showed certain moderate liberal tendencies, a position that was uncomfortable for both the conservative and liberal wings, and he led the continuous rejection of the proposals sent by the monarch. The pressure exerted from parliament was essential for the constant changes in his council of ministers. He attached special interest to social policy and repeatedly spoke out for reform of the Swedish legal and penal system.

Among the reforms he was able to carry out, there were some important ones aimed at improving the country's economy, such as tax simplification and customs legislation for free trade. In the social aspect, he achieved freedom of the press -which was used to criticize the king-, the tax on alcoholic beverages, the establishment of the age of majority for single women at 25, and greater religious freedom.

To calm the disagreement of the Norwegians, he established the equality of the two kingdoms within the union and endowed it with an emblem that was incorporated into the flag of both kingdoms. He unsuccessfully sought the social integration of the two peoples, which undid a long-lasting association in the future.

Foreign Policy

Oscar sympathized with the Scandinavian movement that emerged in student groups in Copenhagen in the mid-XIX century and had several meetings with the King of Denmark, Cristián VIII, who brought about the rapprochement between the two States. When the war of the duchies between Denmark and the German Confederation and Prussia broke out shortly after the reign of Frederick VII began, Óscar I decided to intervene on the Danish side and send Swedish-Norwegian troops to Funen and Jutland, and later to northern Schleswig. The troops did not participate in the war, but rather acted as a factor of political pressure. Peace was signed in 1852, maintaining the integrity of the kingdom of Denmark.

Óscar ended his father's indulgent policy towards Russia. During the Crimean War, he decided to declare the neutrality of Sweden-Norway in December 1853. However, he was pressured by France and Great Britain in 1855 to participate in the coalition against the tsar. Óscar tried in the negotiations with the western powers to wrest Finland (lost by Sweden) from Russian rule. Despite everything, Sweden-Norway could not enter the war, as the conflict ended shortly after (April 1856). Óscar participated in the peace negotiations, but could only obtain the demilitarization of the Åland Islands and, on the other hand, enmity with Russia.

In 1856, Óscar resumed his Scandinavian policy and came into contact, through emissaries, with Danes prone to this policy, as well as with Frederick VII. But France and Great Britain spoke out against a possible Nordic union, and the Danish king finally gave up.

Last years

Oscar I's health, always weak, began to fail in the early 1850s, and in 1857 it worsened drastically. Faced with the impossibility of governing, his son Carlos was appointed regent by agreement of the parliament of both kingdoms on September 25 of that same year. After a long agony, he died in Stockholm on July 8, 1859. His mortal remains rest in the Riddarholmen Church of that city.

Offspring

Married to Josephine of Leuchtenberg in 1823, Óscar I also had an extramarital affair with the famous Swedish actress Emilie Högqvist and another relationship with the aristocrat Jaquette Löwenhielm.

Children with Josephine of Leuchtenberg:

1. Charles (1826-1872), Duke of Escania, King of Sweden and Norway from 1859 to 1872 as Charles XV.
2. Gustavo (1827-1852), Duke of Uppland.
3. Oscar (1829-1907), Duke of Östergötland, King of Sweden from 1872 to 1907 and Norway from 1872 to 1905 as Oscar II.
4. Eugenia (1830-1889).
5. Augustus (1831-1873), Duke of Dalecarlia.

Children with Emilie Högqvist:

1. Hjalmar Högqvist (1839-1874).
2. Max Högqvist (1840-1872).

Daughter with Jaquette Löwenhielm:

1. Oscara.

Ancestors

Prior to: Carlos XIV Juan	King of Sweden 8 March 1844-8 June 1859	Successed by: Carlos XV
	King of Norway 8 March 1844-8 June 1859
Prior to: Vacant from Prince Charles John (1816) Himself	Virrey of Norway 1824 1833	Successed by: Himself Vacant to Prince Charles (1857)