Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subj ...

from 1946 to 1969. He was the leader of the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

and led the government for an uninterrupted tenure of 23 years, one of the longest in any democracy. This led to Erlander being known as "Sweden's longest Prime Minister" referring to both his physical stature – – and tenure (the Swedish word meaning both 'long' and 'tall'). Becoming a member of the World War II coalition government in 1944, Erlander rose unexpectedly to the leadership upon the death of Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson in October 1946, maintaining the position of the Social Democrats as the dominant party in the country. Known for his moderation, pragmatism and self-irony, Erlander often sought approval from the liberal-conservative opposition for his policies, ''de facto'' dropping all pretences of wide-scale nationalizations whilst introducing reforms such as universal health insurance, pension additions and a growing public sector, although stopping short of raising tax levels above the average

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

levels at the time. Until the 1960s,

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

es were lower in Sweden than in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. For most of his time in power, Erlander ran a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

of the Social Democrats. From 1951 to 1957, he instead ran a coalition with the

Farmers' League Farmers' League (german: Bund der Landwirte, BdL, cs, Německý svaz zemědělců) was an ethnic German agrarian political party in Czechoslovakia. Ideologically the party was moderately conservative, having its base in the Sudetenland countr ...

. The Social Democrats held a majority of seats in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

for most of this time and this allowed Erlander to remain in power after the 1956 general election, when the right-wing parties won a majority. A snap election in 1958 then reversed this result. In foreign policy, he initially sought an alliance of Nordic countries, but without success, instead maintaining strict neutrality while building up among the most impressive armed forces in the world (surpassed only by the

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in terms of per-capita spending), making the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

the third largest in the world, while ultimately rejecting nuclear capability, signing the

nuclear non-proliferation treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

in 1968. Erlander's mandate coincided with the

post–World War II economic expansion The post–World War II economic expansion, also known as the postwar economic boom or the Golden Age of Capitalism, was a broad period of worldwide economic expansion beginning after World War II and ending with the 1973–1975 recession. The ...

, in Sweden known as the

record years The record years ( sv, Rekordåren) is a period in the economy of Sweden, dating from the international post–World War II economic expansion to the 1973 oil crisis, and largely coinciding with the mandates of prime ministers Tage Erlander and ...

, in which Sweden saw its economy grow to one of the ten strongest in the world, and subsequently joined the G10. In the 1968 general election, he won his seventh and most successful victory, with the Social Democrats winning an absolute majority of the popular vote and seats in the lower chamber. Erlander resigned the following year during a process of major constitutional reform, and was succeeded by his long-time protégé and friend Olof Palme.

Biography

Tage Erlander was born in Ransäter,

Värmland County Värmland County (''Värmlands län'') is a county or '' län'' in west central Sweden. It borders the Swedish counties of Dalarna, Örebro and Västra Götaland, as well as the Norwegian counties of Viken and Innlandet to the west. Prince Carl P ...

, to Alma Erlander (née Nilsson) and Erik Gustaf Erlander. On his maternal grandmother's side, Erlander descended from the

Forest Finns Forest Finns ( fi, Metsäsuomalaiset, Norwegian bokmål: ''Skogfinner'', Norwegian nynorsk: ''Skogfinnar'', sv, Skogsfinnar) were Finnish migrants from Savonia and Northern Tavastia in Finland who settled in forest areas of Sweden proper and N ...

, who migrated to Värmland from the Finnish province of Savonia in the 17th century. As a student at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Svensk upplagsbok'' from 1929 to 1938. Erlander was elected to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

in 1930 and became a member of parliament in 1932, and was appointed a State Secretary at the

Ministry of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

in 1938. As State Secretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Erlander was one of the most senior officials responsible for the establishment of

internment camps in Sweden during World War II A number of internment camps were operated by Sweden during World War II. These camps were used for internment of, among others, suspected criminals, German refugees, anarchists and Swedish communists. Military personnel from both sides in t ...

. In the camps, which were kept secret to the Swedish public, people from various ethnic minorities as well as political dissidents were interned, particularly Communists and Soviet Union sympathisers. In 1942, State Secretary Erlander together with then Minister for Social Affairs

Gustav Möller Gustav Möller (6 June 1884 – 15 August 1970) was a prominent Swedish Social democratic politician, credited as the father of the social security system and the Welfare state, also called Folkhemmet. He was a Member of Parliament in 1918-19 ...

initiated a nationwide registration of the Swedish Travelers, a branch of the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

that has been resident in Sweden for 500 years. The purpose of the registration was, according to a newspaper article, to make the base for "radical measures" against this "bottom layer of the Swedish population". In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, similar lists were established that were handed over to the Nazis during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

Premiership

Erlander ascended to the cabinet in 1944 as

minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

, a post he held to the next year, when he became Minister for Education. When Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson suddenly died in 1946, Erlander unexpectedly was chosen as the successor and subsequently also as the leader of the party. Retaining the positions of the Social Democrats from a potent Liberal opposition under

Bertil Ohlin Bertil Gotthard Ohlin () (23 April 1899 – 3 August 1979) was a Swedish economist and politician. He was a professor of economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1929 to 1965. He was also leader of the People's Party, a social-libe ...

in his first election, he later formed a coalition with the

between 1951 and 1957. His working relationship with the party's leader, Gunnar Hedlund (Minister for Home Affairs in the coalition government), is known to have been good. Under Erlander, the central pillars of the Swedish welfare state were enacted between 1946 and 1947, a period known as the Social Democratic "Harvest Time." In 1946 and 1947, three major reforms were enacted that introduced a basic pension, general child allowances and sickness cash benefits. The National Housing Board was set up as the central authority providing subsidized loans and rent controls, while the National Labor Market Board was established to coordinate the nationalized local employment offices and supervise the union-controlled but state-subsidized unemployment insurance funds. In 1947, a tax reform was carried out that reduced income taxes in low-income brackets, introduced an inheritance tax, and raised the marginal tax rate for higher tax brackets. In 1948, a general child allowance was made payable to all persons in Sweden with at least one child under the age of 16. In 1947, housing allowances for families with children were introduced. In 1954, housing allowances were introduced for pensioners. In 1960, the income-test for the children's pension was abolished. In 1950, a ten-year experimental period was established to build up a nine-year compulsory comprehensive school to replace the old parallel system. A law of 1955 provided state subsidies for municipally organized vocational schools, while a law of 1958 provided state subsidies for adult education centers. In 1962, a final decision was made on nine-year comprehensive school; implemented over a ten-year period. A law of 1964 revised upper secondary school; introduced special preparatory vocational school () to complement the high school ('' gymnasium''). A law of 1964 expanded higher education; new decentralized universities and colleges. A law of 1967 instituted municipal adult education (). In 1955, medical insurance that provided earnings-related benefits was introduced, and the following year the Social Democrats sponsored a law on "social help" which further extended social services. A maternity allowance was introduced in 1962 that provided a six-month period of paid leave to new mothers, and a reform of unemployment benefits in 1968 doubled the maximum duration of such benefits from 30 to 60 weeks. Erlander coined the phrase "the strong society", describing a society with a growing public sector taking care of the growing demand on many services that an affluent society creates. The public sector, particularly its welfare state institutions, grew considerably during his tenure as Prime Minister, while nationalizations were rare. In order to maintain employment for his vast electorate and Swedish sovereignty as a non-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

member, the armed forces was greatly expanded, reaching an impressive level by the 1960s, while nuclear capability was ultimately dropped after outcries, not least from the Social Democratic Women's League. The question of nuclear weapons as a means to deter a possible attack remained a divisive factor in Swedish society and among Social Democrats and prompted diplomatic agreements with the United States, guaranteeing intervention in the case of an invasion. Sweden signed the

in 1968, dropping all pretenses of developing a nuclear weapon. Resigning at 68 in 1969, with an absolute majority for the Social Democrats in the second chamber since 1968, Erlander was succeeded by 42-year-old Olof Palme, who, although more radical, had in many ways been Erlander's student and protégé. From 1972 to 1982, Erlander published his

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

s in six volumes. He died on 21 June 1985 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

at the age of 84 from pneumonia and heart failure. After a ceremony in Stockholm, his funeral crossed the country and returned to his home town of Ransäter, Värmland, in a triumphant procession for the final rest. Aina and Tage Erlander 1964

Personal life

In 1930, he married Aina Andersson. He was the father of mathematician Sven Erlander, who published much of the content of his father's diaries from 2001 on.

Awards

Erlander was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gust ...

in 1984.

Notelist

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erlander, Tage 1901 births 1985 deaths People from Munkfors Municipality Prime Ministers of Sweden Swedish Lutherans Swedish Ministers for Education Leaders of the Swedish Social Democratic Party Members of the Andra kammaren Swedish memoirists Lund University alumni Swedish people of Forest Finnish descent People from Värmland People from Värmland County 20th-century memoirists 20th-century Lutherans Recipients of the Illis quorum