Swedish Envoy Carl Otto Morner Picked Sweden’s King on His Own Initiative, and Without Any Authorization
In 1810, Sweden had a serious problem: an aging, ailing, and heirless king, Charles XIII, who might drop dead at any moment. The king’s heirless demise could lead to a succession crisis that would plunge the country into civil war. It was a particularly vulnerable moment for Sweden, a once powerful kingdom but now a second rate power, whose survival depended on playing off Europe’s major powers.
In 1810, there were only three major powers in Europe far as Sweden was concerned: Russia, France, and Britain. Russia coveted Sweden. Napoleon’s France was allied with Russia. Britain was too committed to fighting the French in Spain to help Sweden. Thus, internal Swedish strife could give neighboring Russia a pretext to invade in order to “restore order”. Once in Sweden, the Russians would install a puppet king, and turn Sweden into a Russian vassal state.
Enter Baron Carl Otto Morner (1781 – 1868), a Swedish courtier and member of the Riksdag – Sweden’s legislative body. On his own initiative, and without authorization from the Swedish government, Baron Morner went ahead and offered the Swedish crown to one of Napoleon’s Marshalls, Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (1763 – 1844).
Bernadotte had risen rapidly through the ranks during the French Revolution, going from sub-lieutenant in 1792 to brigadier general in 1794. Campaigning in the Low Countries, Germany, and Italy, he developed a reputation as a disciplinarian who kept his troops under tight control. In 1796, he saved the French army in Germany from destruction following its defeat by the Austrians, and ensured its safe retreat across the Rhine.
Bernadotte first met Napoleon in 1797, and the two developed a friendship, but it eventually ended because of rivalries and misunderstandings. While relations were still good, however, Napoleon recognized Bernadotte’s talents, and in 1804, appointed him a Marshall of France. In 1805, Napoleon further rewarded Bernadotte by making him Prince of Ponto Corvo in Italy.
Relations began souring during the Prussian campaign in 1806. Napoleon severely criticized Bernadotte for failing to bring his corps to the hard-fought battles of Jena-Auerstadt, and barely refrained from court-martialing him for dereliction of duty. The relationship was sundered at the 1809 Battle of Wagram, after which Napoleon relieved Bernadotte of command for his poor handling of his troops.
Fortune smiled on Bernadotte soon thereafter, however, when Morner came calling. While Bernadotte had not been a great general while serving under Napoleon, he had been a humane one. After one battle, he treated Swedish prisoners kindly enough that, when they returned to Sweden, they had nothing but good things to say about him. It happened just when Sweden was looking for a crown prince.
Morner was a Swedish envoy in Paris, when he offered the crown to Bernadotte in 1810. The Swedish government, surprised and affronted by Morner’s unauthorized offer, had him arrested. The more the Swedes thought about it, however, the more appealing Bernadotte seemed, and the French Marshall’s candidature gradually gained favor. In August of 1810, the Riksdag elected him crown prince, the king appointed him to command Sweden’s armies, and Bernadotte became regent.
Once Bernadotte assumed the regency and governance of Sweden, he cast about for an accomplishment to solidify his authority. The opportunity came when Napoleon was weakened after his 1812 invasion of Russia ended in catastrophe. In 1813, Bernadotte switched sides, signed a treaty with Britain, declared war on France, and landed a Swedish army in northern Germany. In alliance with the Austrians, Russians, and Prussians, he got his payback against Napoleon by helping defeat him in the war’s biggest and bloodiest battle, at Leipzig, in 1813. After the war, he returned to Sweden, where he established the Bernadotte Dynasty, whose royal family reigns to this day.