May 30 in Swedish History

Sweden cedes Guadeloupe, the Caribbean island and one of historically four Swedish colonies in the Americas. 

  • Guadeloupe, south of yet another Swedish colony, Saint-Barthélemy, north of the Barbados.

  • May 30 in Swedish History
    1814: By the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, Sweden cedes Guadeloupe, the Caribbean island located in the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles (after having held it for a brief period of 15 months). Guadeloupe once more became French. When Sweden held the island at the end of the Napoleonic wars, it was purely of formal character, no Swedes were on the island during those 15 months.

  • The beautiful island of Guadeloupe belonged to Sweden for a mere 15 months in the early 1800s.

  • The island was captured by England from France in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (who later became King Karl XIV Johan of Sweden), was one of Napoleon’s most entrusted military leaders, but because of his move to Sweden in 1810 he lost a lot of land in France. England then negotiated with Sweden to form an alliance against Napoleon and offered King Karl XIII and Crown Prince Karl XIV Johan (Bernadotte) the island in order to change sides in the war against Napoleon and as compensation for other losses.

  • The four former Swedish colonies in the Americas (where Tobago was never settled at all - it was merely an attempt):
    New Sweden (1638–1655; lost to the Dutch) Covered by us earlier: Sweden's brief turn as a European "superpower"
    Tobago (1733; attempt for settlement thwarted by natives)
    Saint-Barthélemy (1784–1878; sold or rather given, back to France)
    Guadeloupe (1813–1814; returned to France)