Peasant armament support march


Peasant armament support march of 1914 was a demonstration primarily by Swedish farmers held on February 6th 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the Courtyard Speech held by king Gustav V to the marchers at the royal palace.

Context

The support march was a conservative response to the defence policies of the Swedish Liberal Prime Minister Karl Staaff. As the tensions of the arms race preceding the First World War grew stronger, Staaff's decision to slow down Swedish armament was met with great discontentment by Swedish conservatives.

Organization

The initiative of the march came from land owner Uno Nyberg, and the organisation of housing and otherwise for the Swedish farmers that travelled to Stockholm for the march was carried out by grocery shop-owner J. E. Frykberg. Though called “the farmers' march” in Swedish, participants came from a wider range of conservatives. The conservative explorer and writer Sven Hedin, also participated in the preparation of the march by writing the Courtyard Speech.