General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Lars Herman Tingsten (13 July 1857 – 10 September 1937) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Minister for War from 1905 to 1907 and Chief of the General Staff from 1919 to 1922.

Early life

Tingsten was born on 13 July 1857 in

Ingatorp Ingatorp is a locality situated in Eksjö Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of S ...

, Sweden, the son of sergeant Lars Magnus Tingsten and his wife Maria Charlotta (née Durling). He was the uncle of

Herbert Tingsten Herbert Lars Gustaf Tingsten (17 March 1896 – 26 December 1973) was a Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher. An influential figure in Swedish political science, he was a professor of political science at Stockholm Unive ...

. Tingsten passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968 ...

'' in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

in 1875 and decided soon to pursue a military career, but at a time with petty military prejudices, it was only with great difficulty that the son of a noncommissioned officer son managed to be accepted as a volunteer officer.

Career

Tingsten was commissioned as an officer in

Hälsinge Regiment The Hälsinge Regiment ( sv, Hälsinge regemente), designations I 14, I 14/Fo 49 and I 14/Fo 21, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were original ...

(I 14) in 1878 with then rank second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1884 and he became lieutenant of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

in 1886 and captain of the General Staff in 1891. Tingsten became major of the General Staff in 1897 and lieutenant colonel in 1901 after he served 1898-99 as major in Svea Life Guards (I 1). Tingsten had advanced within the General Staff where he belonged to the core group, which in the last decades of 1800s, seemed for the army's raise from decay and particularly for the implementation of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. Important was his work as a teacher of tactics at the Royal Military Academy in 1884, and well into the 1900s the cadets studied his seminal textbook on the subject. Tingsten was chief of staff of the 5th Army Division in 1895 and captain of Södermanland Regiment (I 10) in 1896. In the years 1891-1900 he was first teacher at the

Royal Swedish Army Staff College The Royal Swedish Army Staff College ( sv, Kungliga Krigshögskolan, KHS) was a Swedish Army training establishment between 1866 and 1961, providing courses for army officers. It was the home of the Swedish Army's staff college, which provided adv ...

and 1900-02 he was head of department at the Military Statistics Department before returning to the Royal Swedish Army Staff College as its head 1902-04. In 1904 he became a colonel and commander of

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment ( sv, Norrbottens regemente), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited fr ...

(I 19). Early on, he was also used in work of defense policy and for this he was hired in the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

committees appointed both in 1892 and 1901 as well as in numerous military committees. As such, he came in the opportunity to establish relationships with several prominent politicians, which undoubtedly contributed to that he in August 1905 succeeded

Otto Virgin Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

as Minister for War and head of the Ministry of Land Defence in Christian Lundeberg's coalition government. At his departure (7 November the same year) Tingsten remained in the same office in

Karl Staaff Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party (1907–1915) and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden (1905–1906 and 1911–1914). Staaff ...

first cabinet. On 16 May 1906 Tingsten filed along with Foreign Minister Eric Trolle his resignation, which is widely considered to be because of dissatisfaction with the speech that Prime Minister Karl Staaff held the previous day in

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. Second Chamber) was the lower house of the bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the Riksdag of the Estates. The upper house was the Första kammaren. At the time of its abolition the chamb ...

when dealing with

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

. The ministerial crisis, which was triggered hereof, obtained on 29 May 1906, that Staff's ministry was replaced with a new one, with the Director General Arvid Lindman as Prime Minister, in which Tingsten came to remain as Minister for War. When Tingsten resigned he was succeeded by

Olof Malm Olov (or Olof) is a Swedish form of Olav/Olaf (disambiguation), Olaf, meaning "ancestor's descendant". A common short form of the name is ''Olle''. The name may refer to: *Per-Olov Ahrén (1926–2004), Swedish clergyman, bishop of Lund from 198 ...

. Especially during the first period of Tingsten's time as Minister for War he managed to enforce some partial improvements in the defense system, including the completion of

Boden Fortress Boden Fortress ( sv, Bodens fästning) is a modern fortification, fortress consisting of several major and minor forts and fortifications surrounding the city of Boden, Sweden, Boden, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden. The fortress was originally int ...

and its commandant organization. In 1906 Tingsten was promoted to major general in the army and in 1907 he became commandant in Boden and commandant of Boden Fortress where the spent six years. Tingsten became commander of the 2nd Army Division in 1913 and Inspector of the Infantry in 1915 where he worked tirelessly and successfully for this branch continuous improvement according to the experience of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Thus he acquired in the army's officer corps the honorary title of "General of the Infantry". As Inspector of the Infantry he published ''Infantry Training Regulations'' (''Infanteriets utbildningsföreskrifter'', 1917) and ''Infantry training in drill'' (''Infanteriets utbildning i exercis'', 1918), and he changed or published several instructions regarding the infantry and machine guns. In addition, he wrote a large number of essays in military journals, especially in journal of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1884-1924), mainly about infantry organization and tactics. As Chief of the General Staff from 1919, he met a neither easy or rewarding task, due to the postwar general indifference of the Swedish defense.

Other work

Tingsten was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1891. He was a

civil law notary Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers wit ...

in the Committee on Defence in 1892, secretary in the Committee on Defence in 1900, secretary in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1900 to 1903, chairman of the Committee for the reorganization of Field Medical Corps in 1908, member of several military committees, chairman of the Passage System Committee in 1912, chairman of experts to revise the infantry exercise regulations from 1914 to 1915, chairman of experts to draw up instructions for fortified positions in 1917 and chairman in the equipment committee in 1922.

Later life

When Tingsten retired from active duty in 1922, he could, with an energy that wasn't hindered by old age ailments, pursue his extensive war scientific and military history writing. He became an Honorary

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1927.

Personal life

In 1883 he was married Amy Forssell (1855–1943). Tingsten died in 1937 and was buried at Solna cemetery in

Solna Municipality Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

near Stockholm.

Military career overview

Tingsten's military career: *1878 : second lieutenant of

(I 14) *1884 : lieutenant of Hälsinge Regiment (I 14) *1886 : lieutenant of the

*1886–1892: first teacher at the Royal Military Academy *1891 : captain of the General Staff *1891–1900: teacher at the

*1895–1898: chief of staff of the 5th Army Division *1896 : captain of Södermanland Regiment (I 10) *1897 : major of the General Staff *1898 : major of Svea Life Guards (I 1) *1900 : major of the General Staff *1900–1902: head of the Military Statistical Department *1901 : lieutenant colonel *1902–1904: head of the Royal Swedish Army Staff College *1903 : colonel in the army *1904–1907: colonel and commander of

(I 19) *1905–1907: minister and head of the Ministry of Land Defence *1906 : major general in the army *1907–1913: commandant in Boden *1913 : lieutenant general *1913–1915: commander of the 2nd Army Division *1915–1919: inspector of the Infantry *1919–1922: Chief of the General Staff *1922 : general at his retirement

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King (Royal Order of the Seraphim) (10 December 1927) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword (6 June 1912) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the Order of the Sword (1 December 1905) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Knight_1st_Class_BAR

Knight 1st CLass of the Order of the Sword (1899) * Order_of_the_Polar_Star_-_Ribbon_bar,_pre_1975

Knight of the Order of the Polar Star (1900)

Foreign

Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

(between 1910 and 1915) * PRT_Military_Order_of_Aviz_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand Cross of the

Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz The Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz ( pt, Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis, ), previously to 1910 ''Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz'' ( pt, Real Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis), previously to 1789 ''Knights'' (of ...

(between 1905 and 1908) * St_Olavs_Orden_kommandør_stripe

Commander 2nd Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

(before 1905)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tingsten, Lars 1857 births 1937 deaths Swedish Army generals Swedish Ministers for Defence People from Eksjö Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Commanders First Class of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Grand Crosses of the Order of Aviz