The Treaty of Roskilde
1658
Scania - 350 years after
A summary of personal observations of the situation in the Region of Scania, 350 years after the Swedish invasion and the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde on the 26 February 1658.
On 26 February 1658, after the military takeover of Scania (the three provinces of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge), the Peace Treaty of Roskilde was signed by the two state governments. A change of state citizenship was forces upon the Scanians.
major to the people of Scania? Was it a good or a bad thing? The opinion varies depending on in which camp you reside and where you have your sympathies.
Many members of academia in Lund seems to be of the opinion that it didn’t make any difference in those days - people didn’t really care who their Master King was - and that the time has made all Scanians good and happy Swedes.
The regionalists (nowhere near the number of state nationalists), on the other hand, wonder why the Swedes are so sensitive to the Scanian issue. Why is it, after 350 years, the Scanian issue is so sensitive and inflamed that it is almost impossible to lead a decent and civilised discussion on the subject.
These problems, and others, were discussed on this blog during the month of February 2008 leading up to the date of the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde on the 26 February, 350 years ago.
Göran Hansson
Chairman SSF
2008-02-27
Friday, February 01, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (1). One of the first steps taken by the Swedish government after the conquest was to divide the region of Scania into four administrative units (Halland, Blekinge and Skåne times two). The province of Skåne (densely populated and close to Denmark) posed a particular threat to the new rulers. So the government divided province into two parts - Malmöhus Län (County) and Kristianstad Län.
To make matters worse, the so called Rutger Macklean “enskifte” (land partition of the existing village-based farm system in the late 18th Century), scattered the Scanian farmers from the villages to scarcely placed new farm houses. There was evidently a considerable discontent with the Swedish rule among the rural people at the time (which the Klågerup Riots in 1811 is evidence of, when 1500 farmers revolted against the Swedish authorities). By moving the farm people from the villages (where they could meet on a daily basis and possibly conspire against the new authorities) to farms far apart – the purpose was obviously to pacify the people.
The three provinces of Scania (Halland, Blekinge and Skåne) have perhaps a thousand years of common history - way past the Viking era. Scania has since 1658 been totally divided; geographically, mentally and socially.
The Swedish Scania-policy has evidently been successful so far. Europe, through the European Union, is calling for decentralisation: The Regions of Europe. Sweden has lately started to realise that decentralisation and the abolishment of the state commissioner system may be necessary to achieve a more efficient operation of the state. The state commission for regionalisation – Ansvarskommittén – is calling for a political and administrative decentralisation of Sweden.
At this point in time the state government has efficiently destroyed any feeling of unity, affinity and solidarity between the three historic parts of Scania. Together the region would be a strong negotiation part to the state government and the EU. Instead we have become so weak that we do not seem to be able to agree on anything.
A regionalist can only conclude that the state's Scania policy has been efficient, seen from the centralist’s point of view. The state wins – we loose.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (2). A few weeks ago the party secretary of the largest coalition government party - Moderaterna - declared in the newspapers that his party will not consider implementing the proposal by Ansvarskommittén to decentralise political and administrative powers to the regions. “The (political) parties must locally speak their minds about it or arrange referendums. This issue must be pursued from beneath”, the party secretary said in the newspapers the other week.
How
is it possible to “pursue an issue from beneath” if “beneath” is unaware
of the alternatives? Regionalism, as an alternative to state centralism,
was not at all mentioned during the last election. And not since then
either. One party – Centerpartiet – spoke vaguely about federalism but
failed to convincingly explain what they meant.
The politicians and the public sector representatives are sometimes narrow-mindedly talking about public service and administration and some of them show no hesitations to cut ancient culture regions into pieces and add them to others in order make their task easier.
Newspapers have difficulties reaching over the state propaganda horizon to see the wider European scheme of things. The newspapers in the region are having low mark discussions on weather of not the Scanians want to belong to Sweden or Denmark and are arranging simplistic yay-or-nay ballots on the subject.
If people are unaware of the alternatives how can they possibly be expected to make sound judgements at the ballot boxes? Particularly since many citizens are carrying a heavy load of blurring pro-state propaganda on their shoulders.
The party secretary’s statement appears to be an expression of lack of confidence on part of the central government. He and his political peers are obviously afraid that the whole state may crumble and collapse if the central reins are loosened just a little bit. It’s understandable that tight control of the citizens may have been necessary immediately after the invasion. But why is it still believed necessary after 350 years?
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Scania - 350 years after
(3). The Swedish
constitution is basically weak. One vote in majority in the Riksdag
can, in principle, radically change life for all of the citizens of the
state. There is very little inertia in the system. No president, no
second chamber (senate) and a toothless king
with virtually no political
power to scrutinise the decisions taken by the Riksdag. In addition,
Sweden has no constitutional high court and, according to a leading
article in Sydsvenskan today (titled “Why is it so quite about
the Swedish Constitution?”), the Swedish constitution is not very
clear on one basic and important democratic principle – the local
self-government and autonomy.
In the Swedish political life there is much party tactic talks about restoring and re-establishing (återställare) political decisions taken by the majority. The centre-right coalition giveth and the centre-left taketh away. And the other way around, depending on which side has the Riksdag majority at the time. One side may grant greater self-government to the regional and local governments and the other side, if it wins the next election, may take it away again - with a one-vote majority in the Riksdag.
With a constitution that is unclear on the principles of local and regional self-government, the Riksdag can reduce, manipulate, abuse and ignore this very important principle for any regionalist. One consequence is obvious; local and regional governments have been seen quietly beating around the bush on many issues in order not to upset the state government in fear of retribution.
Why are people in Sweden accepting these democratic shortcomings? The newspaper article may have one answer. “The politicians seem to think that the members of the electorate are not interested in how the Swedish democracy works. Or put in another way: the politicians want the constitution for itself”.
With such unclear and blurry constitutional conditions, is it any wonder if regionalists in Scania have had a feeling that they have been talking about the Scanian problem to the deaf ears of the state government during the whole of the 20th Century? Like Mr Assarsson, a priest from Helsingborg, who published his book "The Scanian Problem", in 1929.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (4). From 350 years ago to this day, Scanian cultural property has been shipped to the Capital - in the beginning as “war booty” and in modern days under the pretext of “national interest”. The museums, mansions and castles in and around Stockholm are full of historic items of which many have its origin in Scania. For example here:
- The Historiska Museet in Stockholm
- The Nordiska Museet in Stockholm
- Skokloster
- The Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm
- The Botaniska Museet in Uppsala
- The Castle of Gripsholm
- The Palace of Drottningholm
- The Cathedral of Uppsala
- The Diocese library of Lindköping
A quick search at the Historiska Museet reveals 167 pages containing 4154 places situated in the Province of Skåne where some of the museum items have its origins. There are 183 pages of 4654 listed items of cultural property from Skåne. There are 306 pages containing 1833 pictures of items to look at. From the province of Skåne alone! Add to that cultural property from the provinces of Halland and Blekinge.
The State of Sweden has been using its military and administrative superiority to transport cultural property from the region of Scania, and from Danish and other regions, to the Capital. The arguments still used today by the authorities are “national interest” or “ownership take-over”. In a future regionalisation of Europe the central state supremacy over the regions may diminish. This appears to become a precarious situation for the central region which is presently sitting on other regions’ cultural heritage. It must be a great responsibility for it to shoulder.
But Sweden has been constantly unwilling to consider a return of cultural property to both Scania and present day Denmark. The reason may be found in a quotation accredited to one of Sweden’s best known poets Esaias Tegnér:
“If all the stolen property in Swedish museums were to be returned to its rightful owners, the shelves would become rather empty.”
posted by G Hansson
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Scania - 350 years after
(5). By
tradition Scanians (and Swedes) consume a great number of sweet cream
and marzipan buns at Lent. They are called
Fastlagsbulle (Lent
Bun) in Scania (as well as in Finland). Sweden could obviously not
accept the clear and plain word
Fastlagsbulle and had to go to
Germany to pick a name – the word
Semmel (which in
Germany means a simple sweet bun of wheat bread).
The battle begun. Semla – Fastlagsbulle? Who will win? In yesterday’s Sydsvenskan an article about the Fastlagsbulle had Semla written all over it (Swedish journalist?). In another article in today’s paper, the proper word Fastlagsbulle was used (Scanian journalist?)
The State is clearly unable to accept lingual diversity and demands monopoly on the use and interpretation of names and words. The Scanian school children are taught in school from day one that their parents and grandparents lingo is incorrect. Or country bumpkin-ish at best. Swedish is right and Scanian is wrong. These makes young Scanians loose faith in their heritage and as a result often turn their backs to their own regional vocabulary as they grow up. Semla is right and Fastlagsbulle is wrong.
Unfortunately, the Scanian version is clearly loosing the battle. The terrible word Semla is spreading all over the place (it doesn’t even sound tasty!). And that is not the only word on the threat-of-extermination list.
The Scanians are about to replace other perfectly good words such as:
- Sviskon (prunes) with Plumes of Cathrine (who the heck is Cathrine?)
- Skorpmjöl (raspings) with Ströbröd - Sprinkle of Bread (whole loafs?).
Why on earth are we replacing clear and concise names and words with words that are the exact opposite?
The journalists in mass media are routinely using Semla without realising that they are contributing to stripping the Scanians of their identity and self-pride and thereby re-enforcing the feeling of inferiority. Young Scanians feel that they are predestined to become linguistic losers the same way as when they first stepped into a Swedish run class room in pre-school. The Semla invasion reinforces that complex.
But who owns a Word – the state or the people using it? Could 350 years of Swedish re-nationalisation and linguistic propaganda make the Fastlagsbulle a case for international Human Cultural Rights considerations?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (6). Danish King Fredrik III is contributed to utter ”I wish I never learnt how to write” when he was forced to sign the Treaty of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, thereby loosing a large and important chunk of Denmark – Scania. He is also contributed to have ordered the brick-up of all of the windows facing the east at the Castle of Kronborg overlooking the Scanian province of Skåne, only a few kilometres across the Öresund. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant – Denmark efficiently pulled down the blinds towards the former provinces and never pulled them up again. Denmark is showing a blind eye to its former countrymen and the provinces with which it shares a millennium of common history and culture.
Even
people as near as in Copenhagen and Helsingør say that they will “travel
to Sweden” when the visit Skåne and meet “svenskere” (Swedes) when the
enter Malmö and Helsingborg.
Despite the fact that many thousands in Skåne watch Danish television every day there are never any mention in the TV programs that there are Scanians on the viewers’ side of the camera. The Danish weather program shows the weather coming from the west, travels across Jylland and Själland and then jumps straight across Skåne directly to the Island of Bornholm in the Baltics.
The Danish people appear to have totally forgotten that Scania and Denmark have maybe a thousand years of common history. How is this possible? How could it be that every sector of Danish life shows the blind eye, as well as a more or less total disinterest in Scania, while they at the same time as the former Danish lost territories south of its border – Slesvig – is receiving mountains of attention and support?
Is Denmark, after 350 years, still afraid of reprisals from the State of Sweden if they re-open cultural relations with their former provinces east of Öresund or do they just not “give a damn” to quote a famous actor in a famous film from the forties.
Is there any other region in Europe that is in the same isolated situation as Scania in this regard? Hardly.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (7). Every group of people is subjected to language influences from the outside and is continuously changing the way they speak - either through central decree or through social contacts with the neighbouring groups.
In cases were groups of people are subjected to state take-overs – as in the case of Scania – the first and foremost objective is to strip the incorporated regions of its inherited language and replace it with the language of its new masters. This was not an easy task for the state to achieve before the era of mass communication and mass media. The regional languages did not change a great deal.
For
this reason the regional languages in any state were left pretty much
alone up until the end of the 19th Century. By the emergence of mass
communication – i.e. with the emergence of mass travel made possible by
the establishment of a wide railway system at the second part of the
19th Century, it became possible for the state to exercise central
control of the regional languages.
The state of Sweden took immediate ownership of rail communication and, at about the same time, the public school system. The regional language Svealand Swedish soon became norm and standard in Sweden. The Scanian language, for example, was suddenly viewed upon as uneducated and peasant-like.
The next step was to take control of the radio – only one state channel was allowed. Newspapers were to the most part very local and posted no immediate threat to the establishment, so they were left alone.
The next was the emergence of television – same thing, only one state channel. The Preferred Language of Communication was Rikssvenska (Svealand Standard Swedish). Those who couldn’t speak it properly were left out.
In the present era of globalisation of mass media one would think that this centralisation policy is a thing of the past. But it is not. The public opinion-moulding TV and radio (with the exception of a small number of pop music oriented radio channels), broadcasting mass media is almost to a 100% owned by the state or controlled from the Capital. The majority of the press in the Skåne is owned by, and controlled from, Stockholm - mainly by the Swedish medial mogul Bonniers.
The centralisation continues. Both television broadcast and editorial work of newspapers are presently leaving the region in favour of Stockholm. One newspaper in Skåne is independent but heavily dependent on state financial grants for its daily operation.
There is a mass media saying in the centralised France: “If it doesn’t happen in Paris, it doesn’t happen at all”. The same thing in Sweden – just replace Paris with Stockholm.
Scania - 350 years after (8). The name Scania is mentioned as the name for the region perhaps as long ago as the 5th Century. Even Swedish 17th Century schoolbooks mention Scania as the name of the region and Skåne as Scania Propria. With a total re-nationalisation of the people in the newly added territories in mind, the names in Scania had obviously to be either eliminated or Swedenized.
It
wasn’t long after the invasion 350 years ago when the Swedish king
commissioned a cartographer in France to create a new atlas chart over
Sweden. Supposedly he wanted to finish off what he started – to delete
Scania from the map. The rubber-band border of Götaland was again pulled
south to include, not only the earlier added Småland, but also the newly
conquered provinces south of the border. Scania became Southern Götaland
and that’s the way it’s been since then.
The Scanian names of towns, lakes and heights were to a large extent changed to comply with Swedish demand for conformity. Agarp north of Malmö became Åkarp and so on.
You would have thought that this practice has stopped in the modern times of Human Cultural Rights. But it has not. A few years ago the city of Kristianstad asked the government to change the spelling of its name to Christianstad since the founder of the city was the Danish king Christian IV. The request was denied – it was not consistent with Swedish spelling norms.
There are other fresh examples. For instance Gamla Boo in the centre of Skåne. The Swedish Public Road Administration has simply changed the road sign to Gamla Bo. Why? And on who’s directions?
And, by the way, calling a bus Scania is basically as ridiculous as calling a car Sweden. Checking, a decade ago, with Patent- och registreringsverket (the public authority in charge of trade names in Sweden) asking how they could have given the ancient name Scania to a bus and truck manufacturer, the answer by the public servant was: PRV has regarded Scania as a fantasy name and can therefore be allocated as a trade name to the first applicant.
The Scanian identity is efficiently being stripped of its markers and the process is still going on - 350 years after the take-over.
Scania - 350 years after (9). On the surface Scania may look affluent and prosperous. Men and women on the street do not generally look shaggy and penniless. The Scandinavian type welfare system ensures support to those who need it. It is only when the statistics are scrutinised that the regional economic differences show up. (The figures quoted are a decade old but, although the actual value could be slightly different nowadays, I am sure that the comparing differences between the regions haven’t changed much since then.)
The
industry, business, organisations (here)
as well as government authorities and public sector and other head
offices (here)
are so concentrated to the Stockholm area that you wonder how it finds
room for it all. This affects the economic situation in the highly
favoured central region compared to the disadvantaged and brain-drained
regions in other parts of the state. A few examples:
The Gross Regional Product (GRP) was 35 % higher in the Capital and its surroundings than in Scania. The GRP per capita was 28 % higher. Stockholm received almost 600 Swedish kronor in support for culture from the government’s Ministry of Culture compared to just over 90 kronor for the Province of Skåne.
What is worse and more serious is that - at the time the figures were published, and there are no indications that it has changed much in later years - the Research Technology and Development Index (RTD) was heavily tilted in favour of the Capital. (RTD is the collective investment in research and technological development in public and private sectors and is an indicator of the region’s future competitiveness and economic strength, i.e. our future source of employment and income) The RTD in favour of the Capital is more the 300 points over EU average. Scania is the poor cousin on 20 RTD points below EU average, despite its proximity to Europe.
There is a saying in Stockholm that is often used when public funding is proposed to improve its infrastructure: “What is good for the Capital is good for the whole of the country”. Well, it doesn’t look like it, does it?
Scania - 350 years after (10). Regular people say two-thousand-eight but the public sector, including radio and TV, say twenty-hundred-eight. Ordinary people say Euro (ju-ro) but the public sector, including radio and TV, say Ev-ro. Why is there a discrepancy between the authorities and the ordinary people?
Today’s newspaper offers the explanation. It is not the people who are
in charge of the language, it’s the centralised authorities. The use of
twenty-hundred-eight and Ev-ro derives from a decree from
the 1980s by a group called
Språkvårdsgruppen
(literally in English: The Committee for the Preservation of the
Purity of the Language (Nordstedts English Dictionary). Wow! With a
committee name like that there is nothing the little man can do to
protect his version. The State wins and the people loose.
With a committee with such influence on mass media and the school system, is it any wonder why the regional languages and language variations in Sweden live a dangerous life? Many regional language variations does not go well with the Committee whose job it obviously is to make sure that the Svealand Swedish and the central version continue to be the norm and that regional words are branded as “impure” and must go to the refuse dump of obsolete cultures and languages. And it does not seem that Council of Europe's Expert Committee for the Charter on Regional of Minority Languages can do much about it.
And who are the people deciding which words are "pure" and which are "impure"? We note that all but one (Swedish speakers in Finland) organisations and authorities in the committee are Stockholm based. And of course the state radio and television.
- Klarspråk i Regeringskansliet
- Mediespråksgruppen
- Samspråk
- SIS, Swedish Standards Institute
- Svenska Akademien
- Svenska Språkbyrån i Finland
- Språkrådet
- Sveriges Radio
- Termgrupper
- Terminologicentrum TNC
There is obviously no place for Scanians or the Scanian Academy on this list!
Scania - 350 years after (11). On 26 February 1658 – 350 years ago – Scania was born. At least if you read the Swedish standard history books in Scanian schools. With the exception of a few sporadic occurrences there is hardly a word of Scanian historic events, persons or hallmarks mentioned in the history books every Scanian have had to read during their time in the education system. The Scanian pre-1658 pages are blank – it’s a non-existent period in the minds of people,
But Scanians were taught everything about the Swedish history of the time. They had to read about the how Stockholm was founded in by Birger Jarl in 1252, how Gustav Vasa as a brave freedom fighter managed to rid Sweden of the terrible Danes. We had to follow the “Hero King” Gustav II until his death at Lützen 1632 (we have even gone so far as to commemorate his death on the 6 November every year and eat a special GII-cake to celebrate him). None of these three were ever Kings of Scania.
Nothing wrong with that seen from an academic point of view, it’s always interesting to learn about history. But there are two problems here:
- it is presented to the pupils of the schools in Scania as if it was also their history.
- the Scanian history prior to 1658 is hardly mentioned at all.
The question is if it is possible to live a full life, with pride and dignity, without knowing your own historic background and deprived of a feeling of identity as the case is for the majority of the Scanians? How can Academia in, for instance at the University in Lund, be respected when you realise that researchers have to turn to universities abroad to work on Scanian history? How is it possible for the otherwise enlightened majority of Scanian teachers to continue to babble the Swedish version of pre-1658 history for the kids in schools, thereby ignoring the historic realities outside of the class room walls?
Why are Sweden still pursuing the policy of as-if history in the regional schools, even in this day and age of open flow of information and knowledge in Europe? The history distortion is likely to be revealed sooner or later to, surely, the embarrassment of the Swedish government.
Scania - 350 years after (12). The latest issue of Byahornet (a fantastic cultural journal about life and culture in Skåne) carries an interesting article about an artist from Skåne, to most people virtually unknown – Nils Månsson Mandelgren (1823-99). He travelled around Sweden and Denmark and drew pictures of cultural objects wherever he found them. Over the years he produced hundreds of thousands of drawings and paintings describing life in the country – everything from buildings, churches, tools, clothing as well as pictures of customs and practices of ordinary people.
He
was soon shunned by the Swedish establishment and was fiercely opposed
and counteracted by the
Swedish Central Board of National Antiquities.
His extensive work was particularly opposed by Head of the Board.
Mandelgren was told that he was not allowed to publish his work. In
annoyance and vexation he went to Scanian and Danish estate owners for
financial assistance to travel abroad in order to have his work
published – “Skandinaviska medeltida minnesmärken” (Scandinavian
Memorials of the Middle Ages).
The Scanian peasant’s son was soon met with astonishment in France and outer countries. Soon he was invited into different academies in Amsterdam, Florence, Madrid, St Petersburg and Rome. But not in Sweden!
At old age he wanted to hand over his drawings and paintings to any Swedish university, but no-one wanted them. Eventually the University of Lund reluctantly (sic!) received them. To the very end he hoped that someone would find the money to have them published, but it didn’t happen. For over 100 years the collection has been gathering dust in the hideaways of the Lund University.
I don’t know what to say after reading the story in the Byahornet. It is just too sad.
What was the real reason he was so venomously opposed by the Swedish Central Board of National Antiquities? What’s wrong with the State of Sweden and its establishment treating an exceptional artist so unfairly? And how come this fantastic person and his achievements are so virtually unknown, even here in his own home province?
Scania - 350 years after (13). The government appointed a public inquiry for new political and administrative organisational set-up in Sweden. The idea, one assumes, was that it had found the present one inefficient, expensive and old fashioned. The inquiry committee was named Ansvarskommittén and was appointed in 2003. It presented its findings exactly one year ago – in 2007. The committee proposed that Sweden should make a true division of political and administrative powers to 6 or 9 regions.
In order to obtain some level of "popular" consensus Sweden uses an elaborate system of referrals (remiss) were selected instances have an opportunity to express their opinions on a particular subject. The proposal by the Ansvarskommittén was also subjected to the "remiss" referral procedure.
Going through the list it is obvious that the state is to a large extent asking itself. Very few, if any, from the non-public sector are obviously asked to participate.
One Scanian foundation sent in September 2007 its spontaneous “remiss” to the government in order to inform of its opinion on the subject. Originally it was not accepted by the government’s somewhat square and bureaucratic Secretariat. A quick check at the time revealed: the Secretariat only accepted “official remisses” (i.e. decides who it wants to listen to) and remisses delivered in time (it was a few days late for the deadline). Now it seems that it has changed its mind. It has just recently been added to the list. For those who read Swedish the foundation’s “remiss” is found here.
Scania - 350 years after (14). In today’s newspapers the Minister for Local Governments is airing his opinion abut the future of the regional government in Skåne. Since almost ten years back the regional elected government – Region Skåne – has existed on the good will of the central government. It is still politically “a trial” project and can therefore be revoked at will by the state government. The minister says in the article that he is not prepared make the trial set-up permanent just yet.
The
reason? He wants to wait and see if neighbouring provinces would like to
join the Region Skåne and mentions the Scanian Province of Blekinge
and Province or Kronoberg in the adjacent region of Småland.
One would have thought that ruling by division was a thing of the past. It happened 350 years ago when Scania was cut up in smaller units - each one given its own ruling state commissioner (landshövding). But it is not. The state government still seems to be planning to control the regions by cutting and pasting the provinces at will. The fact that the 3 Scanian provinces in Sweden have a long common history is of little consequence to the Minister and his colleagues.
But the region of Skåne and Blekinge already exist in the form of an EU NUTS region – SE04 Riksområdet Sydsverige. Småland (including Kronoberg) is its own SE09. Why confuse things by including the SE09 NUTS 3 region of Kronoberg (SE92) into the Riksområdet Sydsverige SE04?
If the minister’s reasoning will materialise, and Kronoberg joins region Skåne, what will then happen to the ancient Scanian province of Halland? It is clearly too small to become a region of its own. Will it join Småland? Or be cut in half and handed over to its neighbours to the north and east? So, a piece of Småland to Scania and a piece of Scania to Småland? Confusing? Absolutely.
However there is a simple and beautiful solution. Reinstate the regions of Scania and Småland as the only logical solution – and the “logic” is not necessarily the logic of the history and the cultural identity as such, but rather the Logic of the Geography. All the pieces will then come together and the Minister needs not to play with borders anymore.
For the benefit of the Minister a complete recipe for a logical regional division is found here (in Swedish only).
Scania - 350 years after (15). There are some reasons to believe that the Scanian flag can be traced back to the year 1103. That was the year when the Church opened up its first branch in Scandinavia. The first Archbishop of Scandinavia settled in Dalby, south of Lund.
One theory of the origin of the Scanian flag is that the first Archbishop brought it with him in the form of a banner with a gold cross (English Swedish) on a red background. He made it the symbol of the Diocese of Lund (Scania), consisting of the four Scanian provinces of Halland, Skåne, Blekinge and the Island of Bornholm. This diocese survived in its entity until the Swedish invasion 1658. Many are, however, questioning this explanation as a possible origin of the Scanian flag.
But other flags have vague or mythological explanations as well. The Danish flag, for instance, fell down from the sky in a critical stage of a sea battle in the Baltic Sea in 1219 and granted Denmark victory.
Sweden didn’t want to be outdone. A myth was created whereas
Swedish flag projected
itself on the sky over the head of the king Erik the Holy in 1157. He
took that as a sign from God.
Despite the mythology surrounding the Swedish and the Danish flags it is, for some reason, only the Scanian flag that has been opposed and questioned over the years. It still - even at this day and age - appears to be a red bull-rag for some people. State nationalistic newspapers have been trying to connect the Scanian flag to xenophobia, separatism and the like.
In the last few years the acceptance of the regional flag has spread, maybe with the help of flag supporting organisations. Some municipalities are in the forefront in the use of the flag while others are still reluctant to use it. There is still a long way to go before the flag of Scania will be as widely accepted as many other regional flags in Europe - to stream alongside state, EU and local flags, like here in Helsingborg.
State nationalism in Sweden is strong and deeply rooted, even after 350 years. The Swedish intolerance to regional cultural symbols is therefore apparent and considerable.
Scania - 350 years after (16). Over the years Scania (in particular Skåne) has been portrayed in Sweden as the Realm of Food - Madariket. Once upon the time, this was probably a correct description, seen in a Swedish context. Scania was an important part of Denmark and had close historic relations with northern continental Europe with its more developed food culture. Scania, being a fertile costal flatland, had easier access to both agricultural and marine foodstuff. This would certainly show on the food tables of the ordinary people of the past.
Centuries of
wars prior to 1658 and
the consequences of the invasion started a decline in the Scanian food
culture. The decline has continued to this day. Propaganda about the
wholesomeness of
svensk husmanskost with
falukorv and “good old
honest”
prickigkorvsmörgås, as
the crowning glories of Swedish food culture, has nowadays also
influenced the minds of the Scanians.
The
state’s big-is-better politics in business and manufacturing has also
helped to falukorvize the regional food culture. Only fifty years ago
the towns and villages in Scania were full of small dairy shops,
butchers and bakeries. Farmers were selling their produce on town
squares every Saturday. The landscape was scattered with
breweries
as
well as dairy and meat producers. Today you would have to search hard to
find any of these producers and vendors - perhaps one or two fresh food
shops in the major cities. All you see are huge supermarkets and large
food manufacturing plants.
According to the ninth article of the Treaty of Roskilde the Scanians were assured of their privileges, old laws and customs. But the process of Swedification was soon implemented by the new rulers. This eventually also led to, in its extension, a diminishment of the “madariket”.
There are organisations today trying recreate the “madariket” (1 2) but the tradition link has been severely broken by the policies of 350 years of Swedish governments doing what they promised not to do in the Treaty of Roskilde.
Despite the efforts by these organisations to recreate the “madariket”, we will probably get our future cheeses from Denmark, sausages from Germany, salami from Poland and beer from Belgium. And maybe some knäckebröd from Värmland or Dalarna. Scania is, sadly enough, likely to have missed the European food train.
Scania - 350 years after (17). In an interesting article in Sydsvenskan today, the author scrutinizes the Swedish government’s relation to the European Union. On several issues the government acts as if the EU does not exists. Proposals and government bills are prepared and presented – and then withdrawn because they did not correspond with the existing EU rules and regulations. After every fiasco described in the article the journalist makes rhetorically, on behalf of the ministers, the pertinent excuse “EU? Oh, I didn’t think of that?”
The tug-of-war between the state and the EU on who should hold the political power goes on. The Swedish government is time and time again acting as it is unaware of the fact that Sweden has been a member for 13 years. The article is, as an example, referring to the EU parliament election manifest of the largest coalition party. It states: “We want the EU to continue to be a co-operation between states”. What? Do they not know that the EU is already to a large extent a supra-state union?
The Minister of Local Governments made public the other day his decision to postpone the decision to make the regional government of Skåne permanent. He wanted to wait and see if the Småland province of Kronoberg could be a part of an extended Scanian region.
One would assume that he must have known that the Swedish government had already decided to establish NUTS 2 regions along the old cultural regional border of Scania (minus Halland) and Småland. And yet he is going on with the government’s long tradition of regional cut-and-paste policy.
But did he really know? After reading the article in Sydsvenskan today, you wonder. Could it be that he is just as unaware of what’s going on in the European Union as his colleagues appears to be? In such case somebody ought to tell him. Maybe a job for the Ansvarskommittén?
Scania - 350 years after (18). There are many ways to strip a culture region of its identity. Many ways have been, and still are, practised by the central government all over the State of Sweden. Svealand has a history of expansion through military or colonial means. The process of creating uniformity (försvenskning) demanded a strong central government controlling all aspects of society. Architecture is one such area where the Swedish standard conformity process has been very harsh in Scania.
It was particularly the cities, towns and villages in the western part of Skåne that were hardest hit by the standardisation process. Whole city centres have been torn down and replaced with standard apartment blocks and similar shopping complexes around the city squares. A blindfolded person who enters into a modern Swedish town square would hardly be able to tell what part of the country he is in - the squares look almost the same all over. Lately one town in Skåne has tried to remedy the Swedish demolition type town planning. The town of Staffanstorp had to start from scratch and re-do the whole town centre. The result is very good.
Architecturally Scania is historically part of a southern Scandinavia and northern Germany tradition. Cross timber was a common and long-lasting building material. The family houses often had the Skånelänga characteristics. The angle of the roofs were either 45 or 50 degrees in order to withstand the tough weather conditions with sometimes high winds and drifting snow. For the last fifty years these houses have become very rare, although there has been a small renewed interest in later years. The standard Swedish wooden houses, often with a totally foreign 30 degree or less roofing, have been spread all over the landscape with little or no regard to history and tradition. Basically, it’s a sad story.
Of course you wonder what the towns and villages in Scania would have looked like if the ice on the Stora Belt hadn’t been so thick and strong on that February day in 1658. One may get some idea by taking a trip to Ystad (1 2 3), a town that has to this day been able to withstand the Swedish conformity ambitions.
Scania - 350 years after
(19). The
majority of the member state governments of the EU, as well as the US,
have opted to support a limited independence to Kosovo to the dismay of
Serbia and Russia. Maybe we should congratulate the new nation-state. Or
should we?
Both a political party from Kosovo and a foundation from Scania joined an international organisation situated in The Hague – the UNPO - in 1993. Kosovo brought their grievances to the organisation and the member from Scania brought theirs. The member from Kosovo wanted self-rule through total independence since this was the only alternative available to them after the breakdown of Yugoslavia. Total independence and a place in the UN General Assembly was the dream for many regions in the East bloc in the wake of the fall of the Iron Curtain.
The member from Scania advocated for self-government (regionalism) within the framework of the Swedish and European constitutions. This meant a strong regional elected government capable of negotiating on an equal basis with both the state government and the EU. The proposed tool for distributing power between the different levels is the Principle of Subsidiarity. This vision requires a supra-state “overseeing” organisation such as the EU to make sure that the state behaves fairly and do not take unjust advantage of its present superiority. The regions of the Balkans did not have the benefit of the EU and demanded therefore the only possible solution they knew – independence.
The Foreign Minister of the Swedish government is interviewed today’s newspaper about the decision to grant independence to Kosovo. The foreign minister suggests that Sweden should move slowly forward. He refers to “deeply rooted Swedish traditions”: only to recognise a state based on three principles:
1. One people
2. A defined territory
3. An organisation controlling the territory
The number of failed states and the many borderline states are on the increase. Corruption, human rights abuses, dictatorship, tyranny, destruction of the environment and the disappearance of cultures and languages all over the world should b added to the conscience of the state system. Doesn't all this indicate that the state system is collapsing and no longer functions the way it was anticipated by its ardent advocates? Shouldn't there, for instance, be a quality criteria attached to the principle of Controlling the territory?
Another one of the Swedish three principles - One people - is interesting seen from another point of view. Which state does not have several nations and peoples – recognised or unrecognised - within its borders? Hardly any.
Isn’t it time to revaluate the state system and start to realise that it is fast becoming yesterday’s political solution? The establishment a new little independent state seems to be like simply moving the existing problems to a new size level without actually solving them.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (20). Nations and Peoples! These words have been a red cloth in front of the Swedish government’s eyes for ages. When it’s used in international human rights text it has protested and demanded that it should be replaced with “populations”. Why is the government so sensitive? Simply because it has for a long time been engaged in “nation building”, i.e. it tries to create a nation out of a state. One nation, one people, one history, one culture and one language.
Recognising a nation or a people within its borders or admit that regional identities exist could jeopardise centuries of state nation building. The central state concept will then be put in question and demands for regional self-determination will be called for based on UN resolution UN 1514 §2 from 1960: “All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”
So far the government has been successful in disregarding the content of the UN resolution, and others like it, by refusing to recognise any national identities within its borders. It has been successful partly because it gets great help from the press. Today’s Sydsvenskan runs a large article on the population increase in the province of Skåne. “Skåne received 14857 new citizens. One eights of all Swedes are nowadays Scanians”, the article says.
Every person who settles in Scania is, according to the paper,
automatically a Scanian regardless of whether the person consent to it
or not. At the same time the paper by its choice of words denies the
right to those who want to be associated with a Scanian identity.
Denying nations and peoples the right to self-determination is understandable for a state that has placed all of its cards on the concept of nation-building centralism. But it is less understandable that a newspaper, and a regional one at that, plays along with it. Obviously Sydsvenskan regards every person living in Scania as a “Scanian”. The government regards them as Swedes. What the people themselves think is of little regard by either one.
But the paper only need to look across the Öresund to find a better, more open and human rights oriented source of a definition of a nation or a people – the Danish priest and philosopher Frederik Grundtvig. He wrote: ”Til et folk de alle hører som sig regner selv dertil.” Rough translation: “To a people all those belong who include themselves in it.”
People should be allowed to decide with whom they want to culturally associate with. Not the state or the mass media. Learn from Grundtvig.
Scania - 350 years after (21). Scania has been the name of the region since the beginning of history – maybe as far back as the 4th Century. Even Swedish schoolbooks from the 17th Century mentioned Scania as the name of the region. One would have thought that Sweden would have respected the long history of the region’s name. But it didn’t.
The government authority in charge of trade names (PRV) gave the name to a truck and bus manufacturer, now situated in mid-Sweden. A telephone call fifteen years ago to the PRV gave the explanation: the PRV regarded Scania as a fantasy name to be given as a trade name to the first applicant.
Scania as a name for the region can therefore not be used in any business related circumstances since it nowadays is the property of a truck and bus manufacturer. To call a truck or a bus Scania is about as ridiculous as calling a car Scotland.
During the last 15 to 20 years the Province of Skåne has been subjected to massive anti-Scanian propaganda from both Swedish politicians and mass media. Skåne has been associated with phenomena such as xenophobia and separatism. Both the people and its symbols have been collectively so smeared by these negative associations that it has lately become difficult to use Skåne as a useful trade name.
Is it possible to repair the damage and get the ownership of the names back to its rightful owners – the people of the region?
Scania - 350 years after (22). Uppåkra, close to the City of Lund in the Province of Skåne, is a huge archaeological site. It is revealing a large urban settlement spanning more than one thousand years, from about the first century BC to about 1000 AD. Surveys with metal detectors have resulted in more than 20,000 objects. The objects are made mainly from bronze, silver, gold and iron. It is quite clear that the Uppåkra site was a highly developed settlement with extensive trade with parts of Europe. One rather famous object is here.
Presently the responsibility for the excavation and storage rests on
Sweden through the University of Lund. The Swedish government has in the
past been demonstrating a rather lukewarm interest in the site, maybe
because it is so occupied in trying to find the Cradle of Sweden in
Birka.
But Uppåkra is more than just the concern of a single state. The whole of Scandinavia should have an interest since it must have been affecting every corner of the peninsula. Because of its contacts with the rest of Europe at the time, which the objects obviously reveal, there must also be a wider European interest in the site.
Three influential politicians and the State Commissioner in Skåne wrote an article in the paper the other day aimed at the two governments of Sweden and Denmark. They proposed that, since the Uppåkra site is of such magnitude, the responsibility for the excavation should lay with both governments.
Good thinking. But is it likely to happen? Probably not. The Swedish central government is not likely to know how to deal with it since the Uppåkra site may out-shine the Birka project. It would also contradict centuries of propaganda making the Mälardalen and its vicinity virtually the centre of Scandinavia. The Danish government, on the other hand, has for 350 years turned a blind eye to its former provinces and has demonstrated that it would hardly do anything that may upset Sweden.
It is unacceptable that such a great archaeological project should remain in the hands of petty state governments having vested interests to diminish or ignore the importance of such a great ancient settlement. Maybe it is time for European institutions to step in and take the responsibility for the Uppåkra project.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (23). The head of the museum in the northern Italian town of Cividale de Friuli was a fan of the Lombards – the Langobardis. At his museum in the centre of town he had a big atlas of Europe on which he marked the path of the migration of the Lombards - from the northernmost part of Germany, southeast around the Alps and south to the Friuli and Lombardy regions. He suspected that the Lombards may even have their origin at the other side of the South Baltic Sea and pointed vaguely at Scania. I thought at the time that it must be fantastic if these people had its origin in Scania. If this was the case it could generate considerable history tourism from Northern Italy to the benefit of our region.
Fifteen years ago I was visited by a researcher from Florida in the USA.
She was a fan of the old heroic poem about
Beowulf from the 8th
Century. From studying the geographical hints in the texts she concluded
that the events described in the poem must have taken place here in
Skåne. If this was the case it would generate considerable tourism from
the UK and US - where Beowulf is much better
known than here - to
the benefit of our region.
One author I know made the claim that the Viking movement originated in the north western part of Skåne and spread from here to the rest of Northern Europe – the British Isles, Norway, Iceland and then on to Greenland and North America. If this was the case it could, exploited properly, act as a magnet for tourism from all over the world.
A
freelance historian spent considerable time and efforts to connect
Scania to the settlement of the Normans in the region of
Normandy in the
northern part of France. He concluded that the Viking chieftain
Rollo must have come
from Scania. One such piece of evidence was that his research showed
that many towns and villages in Normandy have Scanian
names (pdf) - but
Frenchified. Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror
(Hastings 1066). Through William, he is a direct ancestor and
predecessor of the present-day
British
royal family,
including Elizabeth II. Fancy that! If this is correct we would have a
huge potential for history tourism.
But unfortunately Scania is without a history and the Scanians generally unaware of specific historic events of the region. The Scanian academia is beating around the bush on these subjects. The tourism industry in Scania is either unaware of these historic connections or for some reason reluctant to, or prevented from, capitalising on it.
The Lombard, Beowulf, Viking and Normandy connections could have made the Scanians proud and exited about the region's historic background as well as being able and free to properly capitalise on history tourism. The 350 years with Sweden has prevented that from happening.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (24). The historic Scanian language is not recognised by the Swedish government as a language but “as a Swedish dialect” . It is therefore not covered by the Council of Europe’s Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. It is clearly regarded by the establishment as fair game for ridicule, degradation and humiliation. One example of the treatment the Scanian language comes from a journalist at one of Sweden’s largest newspapers. The journalist wrote about and experience he had when he watched television and listened to the assistant national soccer team manager (a Scanian).
“I know that he is Swedish [---] but I didn’t understand a word he said.
[---] Just imagine that I got sick from eating bad food. As I was
vomiting I tried to communicate. [---] Then I would sound exactly like
the assistant manager and his horrible and appalling Scanian speech.
When I hear him speak I am convinced that the ancient Scanian forefather, the first one ever to put a spade on the Scanian humus-rich soil at about 2000 years ago so, was a CP. Solidly brain damaged, that is. And this ancient Scanian taught his children to speak this weird and retarded way. And their children taught their children to do the same. I have a request to the television company: please subtitle the assistant manager and his speech impediment called Skånska”.
Where else in the civilised Europe would a group of people be humiliated in this way without consequences?
The Scanian language is still alive even though the younger generations are increasingly shifting to something more Svealand-ish. And no wonder. The Swedish radio and television generally uses Svealand Swedish in its broadcasts. Even the regional stations are oriented this way. Some of the few Scanians on the TV screens reading broadcast news are linguistically conforming opportunists and often adapt a non-existent in-between gibberish dialect. Svealand Swedish is standard on the PA systems in shopping malls, railway carriages, elevators as well as in recorded telephone messages and the like.
Just as one should be able to see where you are, you should also be able to hear where you are – a sound environment. Unless we start to appreciate cultural and linguistic diversity as an enriching quality for all humanity and that culture and language is inevitably connected to one another, the result can only be continued cultural and linguistic poverty and destitution.
True, Scanian is not the only small language living a dangerous life on the brink of extinction. Unfortunately the new European way of looking at the value in preserving the smaller cultures and languages has not yet reached the rulers in Stockholm.
Scania - 350 years after (25). It is likely that no other region in Sweden has produced so much literature about itself as Scania. The book production started during the latter part of the 19th Century and is still going on. There are a multitude of books and literature still being produced about the history, the landscape, the humour, the people, the food and the culture - filling many metres of bookshelf space.
The odd thing is that all this literature does not seem have made any particular impact on the general public. Most people are still ignorant of the Scanian history and accepts uncritically the Swedish as if- variety. The books clearly never made it to minds of the people in the academic sector, the school classrooms or the mass media.
The authors behind the books must have had a purpose for writing them but it appears that they have spoken for deaf ears. It is known that some of the more well know Scanian history book authors of the 20th Century ended their lives as bitter men for having been ignored or criticised for their work and efforts. Some even clamed to have been harassed on the workplace or when doing business because of their Scanian interest and activities.
The leadership of a Scanian foundation realised in the late 1980s that there was little point of continuing to talk to the deaf ears of the Swedish establishment. It went abroad to seek support for the Scanian cause, which had been started by some of the authors that has filled the Scanian bookshelves with books – Assarsson, Hellberg, Hjörne, Lindal, Blom, Johannesson, Våhlin, Fabricius (Danish), Broberg and Röndahl – to mention some of the great Scanian history authors of the 20th Century.
In 1991 the foundation joined the Federal Union of the European Nations (FUEN) in Flensborg and in 1993 the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) in The Hague. That’s 17 and 15 years ago respectively. The members of the foundation have over the years been very active in these organisations. It is odd that the establishment - including mass media, politicians or academia - have similarly ignored this fact. Not once have they been in contact with the foundation for information. People on the streets of the Scanian towns and cities are therefore, to this day, generally unaware of the foundation and its work.
Burning books and hiding or ignoring “dangerous” information are two branches of the same three. The thoughts and ideas that are hidden in the pages of the burning books will not be eliminated by the book burners’ bonfire, despite the wishes of the one holding the match.
It is similarly likely that the facts in the Scanian history books, now so efficiently concealed and ignored by the establishment, will one day be revealed to the Scanians.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Scania - 350 years after (26). On this day 350 years ago, the Treaty of Roskilde was signed by representatives of the two governments of Sweden and Denmark. The Scanians themselves had little to say about the subject. There are reasons to omit the word Peace in the name, which is often used in connection with the treaty. Anyone who has followed the accounts of what took place on Scanian grounds after the signing of the document knows that the subsequent events were anything but peaceful.
Three history professors at the University of Lund are today running articles in two major newspapers and on the web site of the state radio in order to commemorate the Treaty of Roskilde. All three are conciliatory and over-smoothing in favour of the Swedish position. One suggests that Swedenisation was never the goal for the power elite of the day – it is just the product of a present day myth.
The second one suggests that the Scanian of 350 years ago never understood that they were Danish then and therefore did not care if the masters were Danish of Swedish. Well, they were apparently bothered enough to have their population reduced by 38-45 percent (Röndahl) during the decades after the invasion - before they came to realise that they didn’t care!
The third article today heads “The subdued and suppressed Skåne is a myth”. The article is trying to cast suspicion on those supporting a Scanian identity by connecting them to xenophobia and right-wing populism. The author of the article is consistently, and in this context unscientifically, talking about Skåne and not Scania (Skåneland).
So, there you have it, Scanians - go back to the usual life of humble obedience. Instead of claiming the right to our history, culture and historic language we should continue to be grateful to Sweden for giving us University in Lund, as the article in Sydsvenskan suggests. The Lund University of the Three Professors.
The basic question to be asked is this: What has made the Scanians so manageable? What historic events are behind the shyness and humbleness, which is preventing them to stand up and speak up for their cause? Let’s go to an article written by one of the most well known Swedish authors Ludvig Nordström (1882-1942) and search for an answer. He is mostly known for his radio series Lortsverige (Dirt-Sweden) about the appalling lack of hygiene in many Swedish homes. In an article headed The Scanian Inferiority Complex he wrote:
“There is something that gnaws away the soul of the Scanians. The question is: what could it be? Seen from the outside the Scanians have managed to capture a position in Sweden. … And yet. They feel that they still have not been successful. Why? What is the reason?
The answer lies in their self-characterisation; that they really do not belong to Sweden but to Europe. They feel isolated in a Swedish context and the reason for this feeling of isolation is their unquestionable higher level of civilisation. …. They have managed to obtain a, on the surface, stronger position and more power in Sweden with the help of his higher level of civilisation but has not managed to incorporate it into Sweden.
Sweden, with the lower level of civilisation has conquered him and he accepts that and has offered the new country his strength. But it is not his kind of civilisation that has, and still have, characterised this land. When he has tried to turn it into something more victorious in Sweden he has been misunderstood and has therefore failed. He then returned into his limited isolation and lived his own life. But every time the Swedes have made jokes about the Scanians they have touched this inner wound and when this has happened over and over again, and often in a spiteful and malevolent manner, it has eventually created a hypersensitivity, which is perceived as the peculiar Scanian touchiness.
This is, as far as I can see, and actually for anyone with a reasonably
open mind, the cause of the obvious Scanian inferiority complex. The
Scanians feel inferior, not before the Swedes, but before themselves.”
This article was written sometimes in the 1930s and still holds strong in its analysis. Although much time has elapsed since the time it was written and many people has moved in and out of the region, the inferiority complex still prevails and prevents Scania to grow to its real potential. It will continue to be a repressed appendix to Svecia Propria. The continuing attempts to perpetuate the Scanian identity problem are illustrated by today’s newspaper article. It suggests that the notion of Scania as a subdued region is a myth. This will certainly help to perpetuate that repression.
