Book on Göta kanal – An institutional approach, published

Following the research-project on Göta kanal during the period of planning and construction (1800-1832), which was inititated in 2018, the book An institutional approach to the Göta kanal has been published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The research and the book is based on an institutional evolutionary theoretical view to the Göta kanal. Canals were the major transport infrastructure system besides roads and maritime transport until railroads were introduced.

The Göta kanal, and the canal-era, is seen from a technological, an economic and a political perspective. Comparisons are made with two contemporary major canal-projects; the Erie Canal in the USA (1817–1825) and the Caledonian Canal in Britain (1804–1822). Other contemporary canal programs were of course also around at the time, not least the major French Becquey-plan of the 1820s, which led to a major canal construction programme in the decades to come.

It is argued in the book that the Göta kanal project, as Sweden’s Mega Project of its time, represented an important development step in Sweden as regards learning and innovation and became a starting point for Swedish transport infrastructure projects in the time to come, primarily the railways.

This book builds on and connects to my 2018 book Transport Infrastructure in Time,Scope and Scale, also published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book looks more into the general questions related to transport infrastructure buildning, financing and ownership over time, with a focus on the balance between public and private sector management and ownership.

Göta kanal and the 19th century iron industry

Göta kanal was supposed to be project that led to a number of different goals. It should support Sweden’s reorientation towards the west after the loss of Finland in 1809/10, it should be a tool for connecting the newly finished Trollhätte kanal and the transport flows from Gothenburg to the Baltic Sea, and it should support growth and trade in the regions that it passed. One of the industries that was supposed to gain from the canal was the iron industries. Their produce, heavy iron bars mainly for export. was difficult and expensive to transport by land transport. The iron industry and the iron trade was strictly regulated and in this situation a new transport mode would add new transport alternatives and possibly new markets for the industry.

Stjernsund castle Photo: Björn Hasselgren

The iron mill group connected to Stjernsund castle, in the region of Närke in mid-Sweden was one of the larger iron industries in Sweden by the time Göta kanal was built. The castle was built during the period, until 1821 when Stjernsund and the iron mills att Skyllberg and other places were owned by Olof Burenstam, who died this year.

The relations between Olof Burenstam, the head of the Göta kanal-project Baltzar von Platen and the later owner of Stjernsund castle, the Swedish King Karl XIV Johan, is described in a paper based on research partly financed by the The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, which also ownes the caste since the early 1950s.

The resarch shows that there were several links between the iron industry in the regions where Göta kanal was built; financially, as a buyer and supplier of iron manufacture and when it comes to transport services and export from inte iron mills. The Göta kanal-project thus had both short term and longer term effects on the surrounding economy.

The paper was presented at the Swedish Historians’ Meeting in Umeå on June 15 2023, https://www.umu.se/kalender/svenska-historikermotet-2023_11615445/ Abstract here: https://beyond-production.objects.dc-sto1.glesys.net/projects/1edc7e39-27df-653c-82fe-020287552602/documents/CqcuXPgTaZ6wg9y9ofY08Op1KSPIuNn57n3S5vpY.html

Göta kanal mellan politik, teknik och ekonomi – Göta kanal-projektet 1800-1832

I en artikel i Sjöhistoriska Samfundets tidskrift Forum Navale nr 78 sammanfattar jag arbetsläget i och den preliminära analysen av Göta kanal-projektet utifrån den flerdimensionella analysmodell jag använder.

Forum Navale nr 78

Göta kanal är ett av de största transportinfrastrukturprojekt som genomförts i Sverige. Projektgenomförandet blev betydligt mer komplext och utmanande än beräknat. Tids- och kostnadsramarna kom att överstigas många gånger om. Tidsmässigt mer än den dubbla beräknade tiden, kostnadsmässigt mer än tolv gånger högre kostnad jämfört med den första kostnadsuppskattningen.

Projektet som pågick 1810-1832 hotades flera gånger av finansiella problem som kunde lett till att det avbröts. Över tid kom det statliga inflytandet över projektet, som drevs i aktiebolagsform, att öka. Vid öppnandet hade ändock ca 30 procent av kostnaderna täckts av privata insatser. Endast med stöd från staten kunde dock kanalen fullföljas och en rimligt lönsam drift inledas från 1832.

Göta kanal-projektet analyseras här från en flerdimensionell ansats (se ovan) där teknik, politik och ekonomi är de väsentliga faktorerna. Projektet delas också in i olika faser över tid med olika influens för de olika faktorerna. Med hjälp av analysansatsen ges en överblick över projektet och en möjlighet att bedöma olika faktorers påverkan på genomförande och utfall av kanalprojektet. Ett förhållande som analyseras är balansen mellan offentlig-sektor insatser och privat-sektor insatser i projektet, och balansen mellan offentligt och privat.

Aktieteckningsbok Göta kanalbolag April 1810

Göta kanals betydelse för teknikutveckling och innovationskraft i Sverige och svensk industri är utan tvekan stor. Dels tillfördes teknologi från de ledande marknaderna vid tiden, främst England, dels attraherades drivna ingenjörer och byggledningskompetens att komma till projektet. Bildandet av Motala Verkstad år 1822 var en viktig bad för Sveriges kommande industrialisering under de kommande decennierna. Motala Verkstad, liksom Västgötalinjen av kanalen, från Vättern (straxt norr om Karlsborg) till Vänern (Sjötorp), har i år 200 års-jubileum. En viktig milstolpe för svensk ingenjörskonst och infrastrukturbyggande.

Artikeln kan läsas här: Göta kanal mellan politik, ekonomi och teknik

Baltzar von Platen and Fredrik Henrik af Chapman – a naval union

As two well known figures in Swedish maritime history Af Chapman, masterbuilder and naval engineer and Von Platen, initiator to the building of Gota Kanal, are both well placed in history writing in Sweden and with some foreign acknowledgment.

Af Chapman

Af Chapman being the elder was active as master constructor and ship-builder for a generation of Swedish naval ships from the 1770s and instrumental in Gustavus IIIs aspirations to strengthen the Swedish fleet, to meet enemies to the West and East.

Von Platen

Von Platen, born into upper military circles, made a career in the navy from the late 1770s and up until the late 1790s, when he shifts into engaging in canal-projects like Trollhatte Kanal and later Gota Kanal.

In a chapter for the Swedish Naval Museum’s (https://www.marinmuseum.se/en) Annual Book centering on Af Chapman I add some higher to less familiar background to an exchange over time between the two:

Letters exchanged between the two and a diary written by von Platen on journeys with af Chapman’s ships in the 1780s kept in the Von Platen archive at the Royal Library in Stockholm shows both a surprisingly strong criticism from the younger von Platen and a collegial discussion on ship-building in the early years of the 1800s.

• 

• 

Von Platen’s 1780s diary (left) and letter from Af Chapman (right) cordially greeting von Platen

Reference to the book here:

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1529157&dswid=-2419

The political economy of Göta Kanal

A presentation of the ongoing Göta Kanal research project was made in relation to the Annual Meeting of the Association of Swedish and Norwegian Canals, held in Motala on March 31 2020.  The presentation dealt with the constitutional and political environment of the Göta Kanal-project and its contemporary canal-projects the Caledonian Canal and the Eire Canal. The Göta Kanal-project and its key players was undoubtedly closely affected by and involved in the events during the 1809 revolutionary events in Sweden. Also in other countries there was a relation between these major transport infrastructure projects and general social developments.

Göta Kanal was initiated and constructed during the lates stages of what is often called the Canal Mania. The Mania was perhaps primarily a phenomenon in the UK, but influenced other countries as well. In the research project I compare Göta Kanal to the contemporary canal projects in Scotland, the Caledonian Canal and the US Erie Canal.

The three canals, though in different scales, are illustrated above.

From a constitutional point of view the projects were carried out in different environments. Göta Kanal in the midst of a constitutional upheaval, with the 1809 revolution in Sweden after the loss of Finland to Russia. Britain had a stable constitutional setting, but as for Scotland the 18th century had seen a number of conflicts, and there was a need for projects that could enhance the economy and (rural) growth in general. In New York State the Erie Canal was connected both to development and unification efforts in the wide geography of the state, but was also a project in relation to which different legal and institutional/constitutional disputes were played out, e.g. as regards the right of the federal level to engage in internal improvements of this sort.

Baltzar von Platen, the leading person in the Göta Kanal-project, was indeed well-connected, both to the pre 1809 regime and in the new liberal constitutional monarchy from 1809. Von Platen had close contacts to the leading men of the 1809 revolution and, as a member of the Nobility, had the opportunity to become placed in the constitutional committee of the new Parliament. Von Platen was in close cooperation with one of the revolution’s most active players, Georg Adlersparre and also linked to Hans Järta, the first finance-minister in the new regime and with Santesson, who would become one of the main share holders of Göta Kanal.

The process of actually having the Parliament to vote in favor of the Canal-proposal was in the hands of some individual Members of Parliament, where Mayor Gezelius of the city close to the Canal (Vadstena) and Santesson where instrumental. Following the discussions in Parliament during 1809 the final decisions where taken early in 1810, and the Government decided on the Privileges and Regulations of the Göta Kanal-company. Things were set in motion.

Privilege

Regulation

Left April 11 1810 privileges and right regulations of the Göta Kanal-company. The Regulations also outlined how the coming subscription of shares in the Göta Kanal company should be organized.

 

 

 

It should not come as a surprise, following von Platen’s close involvement in the 1809 revolutionary process, that the Canal-project would become also in the implementation of the process, closely linked to the Government. The naming of the first lock as “The Constitution” is thus perhaps more to be expected than a surprise.

The first lock of Göta Kanal from the West, into lake Vättern, The Constitution.

A further discussion of the political economy of Göta Kanal reflected in the presentation given today: Motala 200331

 

Swedish version of the Erik Gustaf Geijer – book released

The English version of the collection of historic and social essays by Swedish 19th century historian Erik Gustaf Geijer, published in 2017 was followed by a Swedish version of the book issued in November 2019. The title in Swedish is “Frihet och Framsteg” which alludes to Geijer’s strong interest for both Freedom and Development as two central themes in social development.

The book contains the same essays as the English version from 2017, thus covering five decades of Geijer’s production. From the 1803 Panegyric on the Rgent Sten Sture the Elder (Äreminne över Riksföreståndaren Sten Sture d.ä.), over the far reaching philosophical 1818 essay on the development of Western civilization as seen through the lens of social organization in Feudalism and Republicanism (Feodalism och Republikanism) and to the last essay published by Geijer in 1847 An Economic Dream (En Ekonomisk Dröm) summing up most of Geijer’s social and historical discourse.

A broad introduction to Geijer as a scholar and writer is given by Professor em Lars Magnusson. I provide a reflection on one of Geijer’s most well-known social reflections from the late 1830s, the Poor Law Essays  (Fattigvårdsfrågan). In these Geijer discusses the causes and possible remedies to pauperism in his current time, in history and in the future to come.

The Swedish 1870s edition of Erik Gustaf Geijer’s collected works has been the starting point for the texts included in the volume. These texts have been edited slightly to bring the language more up to date for Swedish readers, primarily as reagards spelling.

The book was presented at a seminar on November 17 2019 held at the Stockholm head office of the Swedish Steel Producers’ Association (Jernkontoret), an organization closely connected to the history of the Geijer family with its history in iron mining and iron works in the Swedish region Värmland. Historian My Hellsing and Political Scientist Stig-Björn Ljunggren commented on the book and around Geijer and his time.

The book was reviewed on January 6 2020 in one of the major Swedish newspapers Sydsvenska Dagbladet by Per T Ohlsson: https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2020-01-06/gediget-om-erik-gustaf-geijer-mannen-som-definierade-den

Frihet och framsteg för Sverige

(Publicerad på Di-debatt 2019-11-30)

Erik Gustaf Geijer ägnade sin gärning åt hur det svenska skulle gestaltas i en tid av omvälvningar och vikande framtidstro. Han sin tids främsta konservativa ”influenser” innan han insåg att det var genom att omfamna utvecklingen som framsteg nås, skriver Björn Hasselgren, aktuell med boken ”Frihet och framsteg – Erik Gustaf Geijer i urval”, på Timbro Förlag.

Erik Gustaf Geijer ägnade sin gärning åt hur det svenska skulle gestaltas i en tid av omvälvningar och vikande framtidstro. Han sin tids främsta konservativa ”influenser” innan han insåg att det var genom att omfamna utvecklingen som framsteg nås, skriver Björn Hasselgren, aktuell med boken ”Frihet och framsteg – Erik Gustaf Geijer i urval”.

Sverigebilden utmanas återkommande i vår historia. Just nu känner många att det som ”är” Sverige håller på att gå förlorat. Mycket verkar osäkert. Kulturen, identiteten, välfärden och friheten tycks vara ifrågasatta som aldrig förr. Tekniken ger framsteg men tycks också hota samhällets stabilitet.

Men det är en felaktig syn. Sverigebilden har varit utsatt för utmaningar förr och självförtroendet har vacklat tidigare. Men Sverige har återvunnit stabiliteten.

En av dem som ägnade nästan hela sitt verksamma liv åt frågan om Sveriges frihet och framsteg var Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783–1847). Med ett ursprung från oansenlig by i det inre av Värmland, ännu i dag en avkrok, kom Geijer att få en betydelse i det offentliga Sverige som få tidigare och senare.

I sin person och gärning förenade han flera till synes oförenliga ståndpunkter. Upplysningsfilosof, nationalist, konservativ och marknadsliberal med socialt patos. Skald och tonsättare. Rapp rapportör från samtidens England, Tyskland, Frankrike och Belgien. Beundrare av brittiskt samhällsliv, intagen av tysk idealistisk filosofi. Demokrat och kungavän. Alltid med skarp analys.

Hur det svenska skulle gestaltas i en tid av snabb omvandling och utmaningar var Geijers främsta ämne. Han prövade återkommande dessa frågor i sina skrifter, föreläsningar och som politisk aktör i tidens stela ståndsriksdag.

Att historien för Sveriges del var nära förknippad med spelet mellan en självägande och fri bondebefolkning och en överhet representerad av kungamakt och adel var något som Geijer ofta återkom till i sin samhällsanalys.

Hur kollektiven och individen samspelade var något som ständigt utsattes för hans ingående prövning. Hur skulle historia och traditioner kunna leva sida vid sida med den alltmer utbredda liberalismen och individernas enskilda uttryck, sammanfattade i Geijers ”personlighetsprincip”?

En avgörande frågeställning var om det var möjligt att se positivt på Sveriges och individernas framtid. Geijers tid, liksom vår egen, präglades utan tvekan av närmast oöverstigliga utmaningar och prövningar.

Skulle Sverige som nation över huvud taget överleva efter förlusten av Finland 1809? Skulle en någorlunda stabil samhällsordning kunna etableras i en tid som drev självägande bönder till att bli ofria arbetare i städernas råa industrikultur utan skyddsnät? Skulle friheten för medborgarna kunna värnas eller en förtryckande överhet lämna folkflertalet i sticket?

Geijer vacklar dock aldrig i sin grundanalys. Det är genom att följa utvecklingen och genom att utnyttja de fördelar som den nya tiden bär med sig som frihet och framsteg för Sverige kan uppnås. Det går inte att hemfalla till en reaktionär konservatism.

Geijer hade prövat också denna väg. Inspirerad av tysk hegeliansk filosofi och brukspatriarkala ideal från järnbruken i hembygden försökte Geijer en tid finna en fortsatt balans i tillvaron genom att slå vakt om de gamla stånden i samhället och i riksstyrelsen. Han blev en period dåtidens främsta konservativa ”influenser”.

Men det var inte hållbart. Han insåg det successivt i takt med att han tog del av framstegen i de industrialiserande länderna. Och den politiska analysen av möjligheterna i en demokratiserad samhällsstruktur som USA, som Alexis de Tocqueville så effektivt beskrev, tog Geijer vidare.

I en klassisk artikel från 1838 bryter så Geijers nya samhällsanalys fram med kraft. De gamla stela samhällsanalyserna går inte längre att förlika med den nyare tidens krav. Nu gäller det i stället att se till den nya tiden. Individuell utbildning till flertalet är det viktiga och att inse att medelklassen är den nya kraft som kommer att bära upp samhället framöver.

Så blir Geijer sista tio levnadsår en enda utdragen analys av hur den nya tidens krav ska kunna förenas med behovet av stabilitet och förnuft.

Att bejaka den nya tekniken är en väsentlig del i denna analys. De nya maskinerna och produktionsmöjligheterna kommer inte att leda till utarmning och fattigdom, tvärtom, de kommer att leda till frigörelse och välstånd. Handeln för till oss inte bara varor som vi behöver och vill ha, utan också nya idéer och inspiration.

Kommunikation och transporter är viktiga delar i moderniseringsprogrammet för Geijer. Han besöker bygget av Göta Kanal och berömmer det viktiga och utmanande projektet med sin potential att förnya och förstärka den svenska nationen och ekonomin.

Sommaren 1846, hans sista, reser han med sin familj i Europa, med tåg, och ser Paris och Bryssel. Han inspireras och övertygas om liberalismens och industrialismens fördelar.

Genom att ta till oss Erik Gustaf Geijers samhällsanalys får vi en nyckel till förståelse för hur Sverige blev det Sverige vi har i dag – en liberal demokrati och marknadsekonomi – och vilken avgörande betydelse detta haft för enskildas frigörelse.

Geijers texter tar oss med på en myllrande bildad resa som är utmanande men berikande. Det bestående intrycket är ett framtidshopp. Ha tilltro till individernas förmåga att forma sina liv efter egen förmåga, med den inneboende viljan att bidra till gemensamma värden. Var öppen för omvärlden och nya intryck. Ta initiativ för framtiden, men glöm inte historien.

“Freedom in Sweden” presenterad på Geijerska Släktföreningens årsmöte

Söndagen den 12 augusti 2018 presenterade jag den volym med Erik Gustaf Geijers texter översatta till engelska som utkom i augusti 2017 på Timbro Förlag. Presentationen gavs på Geijerskolan i Ransäter, i samband med Geijerska Släktföreningens årsmöte.

Presentationen omfattade ett antal nedslag i och reflektioner kring Eriks Gustaf Geijers liv och verk:

– Geijer som romantiker/idealist och anglosaxiskt inspirerad liberal

– Föreläsningsserien i Uppsala 1815-17 om svensk historia

– Götiska förbundet och Iduna, mitt i produktionen och med eftertankens blick 1844.

– Några reflektioner om “affallet” 1838

– Noteringar kring Geijers europaresa och sista sommar 1846 – mötte han Marx i Bryssel?

Presentation här:

Erik Gustaf Geijer – 12 aug 2018 Ransäter

Challenges for the Stockholm Region in planning and transportation

In the future the Stockholm Region is facing some difficult challenges in relation to the organization och regional planning and the financing of transport infrastructure. The currently high rates of foreign immigration is making the challenges more difficult compared to earlier growth periods in the Stockholm Region. New solutions are necessary, both for regional planning, transport system related questions and for housing, In this report these questions and dilemmas are discussed. And new solutions are suggested.

The Stockholm Region is currently experiencing an intensive phase of growth. You have to go back to the 1960s to find a corresponding rate of population growth. Stockholm’s rapid growth is raising a number of questions about how the region should tackle the challenges of the future. How will housing construction keep pace and how do we ensure that roads and railways are being expanded to meet this growing volume of traffic?

The Region is expanding primarily through foreign immigration and high birth rates. Migration from other parts of Sweden accounts for a very small part of the population growth of the Stockholm Region. Even future population growth is expected to be driven by immigration and a positive net birth rate. The growth of the Stockholm Region is consequently challenging in more ways than we usually talk about.

In this report when it comes to regional planning and the transport system, we present ideas on how to modernise and streamline community building and thereby create better conditions for dealing with the future challenges that the Stockholm Region is facing.

A new standing negotiation delegation, consisting of the local, regional and national actors in the Stockholm Region. The negotiation delegation would have as its task to reach agreements concerning the direction and funding of the future transport system in the region, as well as to follow up on agreements previously concluded as regards transport infrastructure investments. General planning issues such as the location of housing and workplaces in the region would be another task for the delegation.

Four different models for the future organisation and financing of the activities in the area of planning and transportation are discussed. These represent different blends of public and private cooperation and different geographical focuses, from national to local.

The different models are examples of pathways for the future development. It is though likely that the future will show examples of combinations of these development models rather that either of them. The discussion is further developed in the report.

The report was previously published by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (2014:7) but has been revised in relation to the English translation. The report was written by Tore Englén, Björn Hasselgren, Göran Långsved and Lennart Weiss. The project was financed by Veidekke AB and the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

Report here

Seminar on Erik Gustaf Geijer at Uppsala University 15 March 2018

Erik Gustaf Geijer – a curious mind in a time of change

On 15 March 2018 a seminar was held at Uppsala University, on Erik Gustaf Geijer texts and the new translation.

Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783-1847) was a leading thinker and scholar of 19th century Sweden, active as historian, politician, public debater, composer and writer of lyrics and songs. From Värmland, he became one of Uppsala’s most renowned professors, and his presence is still obvious as portrayed in the grand statue outside the Main Building.

Celebrated long after his death in 1847 Geijer has today a less prominent role in the Swedish consciousness. Internationally he is more or less unknown, the lack of translations one reason.

Reading Erik Gustaf Geijer today, what stands out is the profound knowledge and wide experience he had in many scholarly fields. Geijer is well worth reading and discussing today! The big moral and political questions are still with us, and his vision vibrant.

Through the translation of some of Geijer’s main texts he becomes more accessible to a wider readership. The volume Freedom in Sweden – Selected works of Erik Gustaf Geijer was published in 2017 by Timbro Förlag.

The seminar treated major themes in Erik Gustaf Geijer’s work and explored his relevance in his time and ours.

Presentations were given by:

Björn Hasselgren, PhD, Uppsala University
Introduction to the translation project and to Erik Gustaf Geijer Presentation here

Prof Lars Magnusson, Uppsala University
Erik Gustaf Geijer – historian, politician and economist

Prof Daniel B Klein, George Mason University and Ratio Institute
Erik Gustaf Geijer as Moral Philosopher Presentation here

Gunnar Petri, LL.D. from Uppsala University, f. State Secretary and CEO of STIM
Geijer and Järta – two of a similar mind in 1820s Uppsala

Presentations were held in Swedish and English.

Björn Hasselgren, Lars Magnusson, Daniel B Klein and Gunnar Petri during the final discussion.

A video from the seminar is available here: Seminar at Facebook

The seminar was kindly sponsored by the Economic History Department at Uppsala University. Timbro Förlag participated offering the Geijer-volume at special price.