The Vinbräcka strike, also known as the Vinbräcka conflict or the Vinbräcka riots, was a strike conducted by the workers of the mining company Skandinaviska Bolaget (English: The Scandinavian company) in Vinbräcka,

Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...

. The conflict started when strikebreakers hired from England attempted to carry out the striker's work by unloading stone from the steamship ''Flora'' but were faced with resistance from the strikers. Police were called in to engage the strikers but did not manage to quell the uprising. Eventually, the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

vessel HSwMS ''Skäggald'' was called in to restore order. The

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

bombarded the strikers and landed a small force of soldiers which made the strikers disperse.

Background

During the 1800s, the stone mining industry in

had seen much growth leading to people from all over Sweden emigrating there in search of work. Although the workers were initially unorganized, the start of the 20th century saw many workers' unions being established in the area with the miners often being described as especially radical which would often spark conflict between the workers and the employers. This was the case in 1908 when the workers of the stone mining company, Skandinaviska Bolaget went on strike in Vinbräcka.

Strike

To compensate for the loss of workers due to the strike, the employers hired numerous strikebreakers from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

being transported by junkboat.

4–6 July

On 4 July, the steamship ''Flora'' had sailed from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

to unload stone in the harbor of Vinbräcka. However, one of the strikebreaker's junkboats, the ''Rex'', was blocking the ''Flora''s way. The commotion managed to draw in a crowd of circa 100–150 strikers who were there to witness the strikebreaker's troubles. The striker's presence saw the deployment of the police in order to provide cover for the strikebreakers, however, this angered the crowd making one start throwing cooked potatoes towards the law enforcement. Conflict erupted when one policeman responded by hitting one of the strikers in the head with his baton, the workers started throwing stones at the police and blocked any attempt by the strikebreakers to conduct their work. During the day the crowd grew to around 400 people which was too much for the 6 policemen present to handle drawing the conflict to a standstill. On 6 July, some of the cargo onboard ''Flora'' was destroyed by strikers. During the riots, the strikers were reported to have sung several Swedish

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

songs including the "Lumplena Visan" and "På Åbyfjordens Strand".

7 July

At 7:00 on 7 July, the gunboat HSwMS ''Skäggald'' arrived under Captain Liljecrantz to aid the strikebreakers in conducting their work. The strikers were very loud upon the gunship's arrival making Liljecrantz threaten the demonstrators with military action if they were to become violent. At 10:00, the strikebreakers resumed their work under the cover of HSwMS ''Skäggald'' as well as additional police forces which had made landfall to re-enforce the strikebreakers. Several bailiffs had also made their way to Vinbräcka, including the crown chief sheriff Hyllengren. The strikers bombarded law enforcement as well as the strikebreakers with rocks; one rock, originally aimed at a policeman, accidentally hit Hyllengren in the back of the head so that blood emerged from the wound. This prompted Hyllengren to yell out to the strikers "Ser ni hvad ni gjort!? Nu må det vara slut!" (English: Do you see what you have done!? Now this has to end!). Shortly thereafter, gunfire rang out from the strikers nearly hitting another sheriff. The police thus responded with gunfire of their own as the strikebreakers retreated to the ''Rex'', fire also came from ''Skäggald'' and allegedly also by the strikebreakers, but despite the efforts of the government forces, the strikers continued to block any attempts by ''Flora'' to unload her cargo. The soldiers aboard HSwMS ''Skäggald'' thus made landfall and fired over the heads of the strikers which finally made them retreat up towards the mountain.

Aftermath

The strikebreakers managed to conduct their work undisturbed under the protection of the government forces. They were finished at 17:30 and headed out to sea onboard ''Rex'' under the continued escort of ''Skäggald''. The following years have seen much debate over if the shots from HSwMS ''Skäggald'' were blank or not and some also alleged that the strikebreakers also played a role in bombarding the strikers. Nevertheless, this was the first instance in Swedish history where the military opened fire against strikers.

References