Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Gerhard Louis De Geer of Finspång (usually known as Louis De Geer; 27 November 185425 February 1935) was a Swedish politician, who served in the first chamber of 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 ...

'' 1901–14, was governor of

Kristianstad County Kristianstad County ( sv, Kristianstads län) was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 31 December 1996 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County. The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad. See also * List of gov ...

1905–23, and Prime Minister of Sweden for 121 days in 1920–1921.

Biography

Louis De Geer was born into a Swedish noble family on November 27, 1854, son of the former prime minister

Louis Gerhard De Geer Baron Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång (18 July 181824 September 1896) was a Swedish statesman and writer. He was born at Finspång Castle in Risinge parish. He was a lawyer, and in 1855 became president of the Göta hovrätt, or lord justice ...

(1818–1896) and Countess Caroline Wachtmeister, daughter of Count Carl Axel Wachtmeister. He was born in Kristianstad in the province of Scania,

. After juridical studies at the University of Uppsala, he entered politics. He was a member of the first chamber as a representative of

1901–14 and served as governor of that county 1905–23. De Geer was at first a moderate liberal, but became a member of the minority party in the first chamber. At the inception of the Liberal Coalition Party in 1912, he joined them. By 1914, he left that party, and becoming a political maverick. In the following years he was chairman of the committee that came up with the suggestion of an

eight-hour work day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

in 1919, which strengthened his ties to the social democrats. The sitting prime minister Hjalmar Branting had to resign after the election loss in 1920, but stalled the process just to block a right-wing government. The Head of State, King

Gustav V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

, queried the party leaders about the conditions of the party-based parliament. The right-wing leaders protested, but the social democrats accepted the interim government appointed by the King. The king called De Geer to the office of prime minister, in a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

of liberals and moderate conservatives. The government was to sit until the parliamentary elections in October 1921, the first elections with general voting rights. Neither the left nor the right parties supported De Geer and his government. When a proposition on higher duty on coffee, by minister of finance

Henric Tamm Henric is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Carl-Henric Svanberg (born 1952), Swedish businessman, chairman of Volvo and CEO of telecommunications company Ericsson * Fredrik Henric af Chapman (1721–1808), Swedish shipbuilder, s ...

, was heavily voted down, Tamm put himself up for a vote of confidence, and was forced to resign office. Three days later, De Geer followed his resignation. De Geer's resignation came after the other ministers of the government had composed a joint letter of resignation, demanding the king to choose between them and the prime minister.

Person

In the early 1900s Louis De Geer was everything a politician should be: from a noble family and a high-ranking government official. His father had implemented the ''representationsreformen'' in 1865, and now he would hand over power to the parties after the first election with general voting rights.

Political beliefs

He strongly opposed any plans to keep the union between Sweden and Norway against the will of the Norwegian people. In the issue of voting rights, he joined the liberal party line and the demands for majority elections. He was a clear proponent of a strong army, unlike the liberal party leader

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 ...

. De Geer was of a reclusive and mild character. Neither the left nor the right felt compelled to support his government – on the contrary, both sides wanted to be able to portray the government as an enemy for the coming election.

References

Bibliography

:: Books * * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Geer, Louis (1854-1935) 1854 births 1935 deaths People from Kristianstad Municipality Members of the Första kammaren Prime Ministers of Sweden County governors of Sweden Swedish nobility Uppsala University alumni Children of national leaders Swedish people of Belgian descent