General Staff (Sweden)

The General Staff (Swedish: Generalstaben, Gst) was a Swedish government agency established in 1873 and was active until 1937.

General Staff
Generalstaben
Active	1873–1937
Country	Sweden
Allegiance	Swedish Armed Forces
Branch	Joint
Type	Staff
Role	Operational, territorial and tactical activities
Part of	Ministry of Land Defence
Garrison/HQ	Stockholm
Insignia
Branch insignia m/1906
Baldric

History

The General Staff was established in 1873 (SFS 1873:87). Its tasks was to contribute to the military science education in the army, train their officers and deliver them to the service of other agencies, study militarism abroad, elaborate plans for the army's mobilization and its concentration on different battlefields, write the country's military history and nurture its military historical archives, perform the country's military mapping and its study and description in military terms (whereby the Topographical Corps was merged with the General Staff).[1]

The General Staff was initially organized with a chief with a head office and four departments: the Communications Department (1873-1937), Military Statistics Department (1873-1908), Military History Department (1873-1937) with the Military Archives and Topographical Department (1873-1937).[1]

The task to handle the nations military mapping was transferred to the Geographical Survey Office of Sweden (Rikets allmänna kartverk) in 1894. The Military Statistics Department was divided in 1908 into three: the Central Department, Organization Department and the International Department. In 1912 the Communications Department was divided. One part retained the old name, and devoted themselves to the actual transportation policy. The other was called the Technical Department and devoted themselves to the telegraph, telephone, balloons, airplanes, cars and more.[1]

The Technical Department dissolved on 17 December 1931 and was replaced by the Education Department, which also dealt with questions about regulations and instructions relating to the education. The General Staff ceased to exist on 1 July 1937 and its duties were taken over firstly by the Defence Staff and the Army Staff.[1]

Chiefs of the General Staff

The building (Schering Rosenhane's Palace) at Birger Jarls torg 10 where the General Staff was located from 1876 to 1926.[2]

The building at Östermalmsgatan 87 in Stockholm where the General Staff was located from 1926 to 1937.

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Monarch	Ref
1		Raab, HugoColonel Hugo Raab (1831–1881)	5 December 1873	1881	7–8 years	Army	Oscar II	[3]
2		Ryding, AxelMajor general Axel Ryding (1831–1897)	9 February 1882	1885	2–3 years	Army	Oscar II	[4]
-		Rappe, AxelColonel Axel Rappe (1838–1918) Acting	14 July 1882	1885	2–3 years	Army	Oscar II	[5]
3		Rappe, AxelMajor general Axel Rappe (1838–1918)	30 December 1885	1905	19–20 years	Army	Oscar II	[5]
-		Lancken, Ernst von derColonel Ernst von der Lancken (1841–1902) Acting	25 June 1892	4 October 1895	3 years, 101 days	Army	Oscar II	[6]
-		Warberg, CastenColonel Casten Warberg (1845–1910) Acting	1895	1899	3–4 years	Army	Oscar II	-
-		Bildt, Knut GillisColonel Knut Gillis Bildt (1854–1927) Acting	3 February 1899	9 December 1899	309 days	Army	Oscar II	[7]
-		Bildt, Knut GillisMajor general Knut Gillis Bildt (1854–1927) Acting	25 September 1905	3 November 1905	39 days	Army	Oscar II	[7]
4		Bildt, Knut GillisMajor general Knut Gillis Bildt (1854–1927)	3 November 1905	1919	13–14 years	Army	Oscar II Gustaf V	[7]
5		Tingsten, LarsLieutenant general Lars Tingsten (1857–1937)	1919	1922	2–3 years	Army	Gustaf V	-
6		Hammarskjöld, Carl GustafMajor general Carl Gustaf Hammarskjöld (1865–1940)	14 June 1922	1930	7–8 years	Army	Gustaf V	[8]
7		Boustedt, BoMajor general Bo Boustedt (1868–1939)	1930	28 August 1933	2–3 years	Army	Gustaf V	[9]
8		Nygren, OscarLieutenant general Oscar Nygren (1872–1960)	29 August 1933	30 June 1937	3 years, 305 days	Army	Gustaf V	[10]

References

1. "Generalstaben (1873 – 1937)" [The General Staff (1873 – 1937)] (in Swedish). National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. "Schering Rosenhanes palats på Riddarholmen" [Schering Rosenhane's Palace at Riddarholmen] (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
3. Ericson, Lars (1995–1997). "C F Hugo Raab". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 29. National Archives of Sweden. p. 591. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
4. Nevéus, Torgny (2000–2002). "K Axel Ryding". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 31. National Archives of Sweden. p. 104. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. Åselius, Gunnar (1995–1997). "Axel E Rappe". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 29. National Archives of Sweden. p. 687. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
6. Bertil, Broomé (1977–1979). "Ernst F Lancken, von der". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 22. National Archives of Sweden. p. 224. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
7. Boëthius, B. (1924). "Knut Gillis Bildt". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 4. National Archives of Sweden. p. 336. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
8. Hildebrand, Bengt (1969–1971). "Carl Gustaf V Hammarskjöld". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 18. National Archives of Sweden. p. 187. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
9. Kjellberg, H. E., ed. (1934). Svenska Dagbladets årsbok ELFTE ÅRGÅNGEN (Händelserna 1933) [Svenska Dagbladet's Yearbook ELEVENTH VOLUME (Events of 1933)] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Svenska Dagbladet. p. 40.
10. Cronenberg, Arvid (1990–1991). "Oscar E Nygren". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). 27. National Archives of Sweden. p. 704. Retrieved 2017-10-27.

Further reading

• Generalstaben 1873-1923: en minnesskrift [The General Staff 1873-1923: a memorial publication] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1923. SELIBR 577741.