The Swedish post office was founded in February 1636. Drawing on examples from continental Europe, the post office was established as a postal relay by which the mail was transported from one town to another. Like those all over Europe, the organized Swedish postal systems simplified economic and political exchange and made it easier to transport information and goods from one part of the continent to another. In the early seventeenth century, Sweden’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) highlighted the need for regular information from the continent, and models for organizing a postal system were found on the European continent. In addition, the domestic debate over the abuse of the peasant farmers’ obligation to provide horses for the transportation of nobles and royal messengers also contributed to the establishment of the post office. The latter was seen as a means to counteract widespread abuse. The Swedish post office, however, differed in two significant ways from its European sister organizations. First, the Swedish post office was the post of the Swedish state and eventually became an integrated part of the state administration. The organization was created to serve the needs of the state bureaucracy. Second, the Swedish postal routes were manned by allotted peasant farmers, so called postbönder [post-peasants]. These peasants were given exemptions from taxation and conscription as compensation for their work. On the continent, the postal relays were usually manned by hired personnel, namely people employed by the postal organization. The Swedish choice of an infrastructure built on peasants is explained by the limited capacity and rudimentary organization of the state administration. The postbönder were the backbone of the Swedish post office until the 1870s.

This book examines Nordic cities from 1850 and their transformation from traditional, oligarchic towns to modern, inclusive welfare cities.

In the contemporary world, the role of cities as hotbeds for progressive change has become increasingly topical. Historical studies on how Nordic cities addressed social and environmental questions a hundred years ago and how they eventually created new and inclusive policies for the future is a useful contribution to the current debate. The concept of the welfare city is addressed and elaborated upon to analyse the attempts by urban authorities to solve the problems following industrialization and urbanization. From the late nineteenth century, municipal public services promoted the integration of new groups in the urban community including workers, immigrants, women and children. The contributions in this book analyse various examples of welfare and public services that include infrastructure and transport systems, health care, housing conditions, outdoor life and entertainment. The chapters highlight the arguments and considerations promoting welfare policies, while also addressing differences between the Nordic countries. The evolution of the Nordic welfare city was a process of several overlapping phases or dimensions.

An important conclusion of this book is that the evolution of the Nordic welfare city was a process of several overlapping phases or dimensions. This chapter suggest that this development should be interpreted as a succession of different types of welfare cities with specific characteristics; the patriarchal, the economic, the social, the universal, and the neoliberal welfare city. The model covers the whole period from c. 1850 to the present, addressing municipal organization as well as political regimes. We also contend that it was not material infrastructure by itself, but rather the ongoing contestation and negotiation over a plethora of various welfare services that eventually contributed to a widening and strengthening of urban citizenship. The types of welfare cities suggested thus represent different outcomes from the ongoing struggle over material and cultural networks, involving paupers as well as politicians and professional experts.

This introductory chapter argues for the use of the concept of ‘welfare city’ to understand and explain the development of modern public services and welfare systems. Previous research has hitherto put too much emphasis on the welfare state and on the period after 1945. This book calls for a shift in perspective, from the national level, to the local level, as well as a focus on the decisive period 1850–1940. Urban areas and cites were of paramount importance for the establishment of public services and welfare systems. The analytical framework deployed in this book, therefore, places urban politics in front of national politics and shifts the chronological focus to an earlier period in time. This theme and its adjacent argument are explored through studies of the Nordic countries. The chapters contain various examples on welfare and public services that includes infrastructure and housing projects, but also health care, education, outdoor life and entertainment. Together, the contributing authors claims that it is necessary to analyse local politics in order to explain the discursive changes that paved the way for a wave of investments in public services and social welfare in the period. 

Vladimir Putin och Ryssland har åberopat historien för att motivera sitt pågående krig i Ukraina. Hänvisningar tillbaka till Kievriket på 800-talet används för att forma en berättelse om det storryska riket som Ukraina sägs tillhöra. Putins påståenden är klassisk propaganda och historiskt felaktiga. Från flera håll har också den ryske presidentens beskrivning av historien kritiserats. En som inte skulle hållit med Vladimir Putin är till exempel Karl XII. Vid sekelskiftet 1700 bedrev den svenska kungen en aktiv politik, och förde ett krig, där ett av målen var ett självständigt Ukraina. För Karl XII och svenskarna var Ukraina inte en del av Ryssland – det var en egen stat.