Welcome to the Sweden Portal!

Välkommen till Sverigeportalen!

Featured article

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Anonymous engraving of the Battle of Warsaw

The Battle of Warsaw (also known as the Battle of Rakowitz or Rakowiec) was fought on 31 July 1705 (Gregorian calendar) near Warsaw in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the Great Northern War and the 1701–1706 Swedish invasion of Poland. The battle was part of a power struggle for the Polish–Lithuanian throne, and was fought between Augustus II the Strong and Stanisław Leszczyński and their allies. Augustus entered the Great Northern War as Elector of Saxony and King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and had formed an alliance with Denmark–Norway and Russia. Stanisław Leszczyński had seized the Polish throne in 1704, with the support of the Swedish army of King Charles XII. The struggle for the throne forced the Polish nobility to pick sides; the Warsaw Confederation supported Leszczyński and Sweden, and the Sandomierz Confederation supported Augustus and his allies. The conflict resulted in the Polish civil war of 1704–1706.

In 1705, two events were planned to take place in Warsaw: a session of the Polish parliament to negotiate a formal peace between Poland and Sweden, and the coronation of Stanisław Leszczyński as the new king of Poland. Meanwhile, Augustus and his allies developed a grand strategy that envisioned a combined assault to crush the Swedish forces and restore Augustus to the Polish throne. Accordingly, an allied army of up to 10,000 cavalry under the command of Otto Arnold von Paykull was sent towards Warsaw to interrupt the Polish parliament. The Swedes sent a 2,000-strong cavalry contingent of their own, under the command of Carl Nieroth, to protect it. Encouraged by the fact that he heavily outnumbered the Swedes, Paykull took the initiative and attacked. He managed to cross the Vistula River with his army on 30 July, after a stubborn defence by a few Swedish squadrons, and reached the plains next to Rakowiec, directly west of Warsaw, on 31 July, where the two forces engaged in open battle. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles

Good article

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Charm School is the eighth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 11 February 2011 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It was their first studio album since 2001's Room Service, and their first since vocalist Marie Fredriksson's brain tumour diagnosis in 2002. "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" preceded the album as its lead single, which became the duo's highest-peaking single in almost two decades in territories such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The song also entered Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart—making Roxette the only duo who appeared on that chart in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

The album received mixed reviews, particularly from the Swedish press, who criticised it for being too similar to the band's earlier work, although others commended it for mixing various styles from throughout their discography. International reception was more positive; it was chosen as BBC Radio 2's 'Album of the Week'. The record was a commercial success upon release, becoming their first number one album since the early 1990s in countries such as Germany and Switzerland. It was certified gold in the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland, and platinum in Germany. Within a year of release, the album sold over of 500,000 copies worldwide. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : Breakdancing in Sweden • Graffiti in Sweden • Bertil Jonsson • Swedish design • Swedish Writers' Union/Sveriges Författarförbund • Theatre of Sweden (instead of a redirect) • redlinks in List of members of the Swedish Academy
Stubs : List of all Stub-class Sweden articles
Join : WikiProject Sweden

Main topics

Subdivisions: Counties of Sweden • Municipalities of Sweden • Provinces of Sweden

History: 1975 Occupation of the West German embassy • Ådalen shootings • Consolidation of Sweden • Early Swedish history • Enlightened Absolute Monarchy in Sweden • Early Vasa era • Industrialization of Sweden • Post-war Sweden • Prehistoric Sweden • Rise of Sweden as a Great Power • Suiones • Swedish Empire • Sweden after the Great Northern War • Sweden and the Winter War • Sweden during late 19th century • Sweden during World War II • Swedish allotment system • Swedish emigration to the United States • Union between Sweden and Norway

Politics: Alliance for Sweden • Constitution of Sweden • Foreign relations of Sweden • Government of Sweden • Parliament of Sweden • Riksdag • Swedish general election, 2006 • Swedish general election, 2010 • Swedish neutrality • Swedish welfare

Economy: Swedish krona

Demographics: Education • Ethnic minorities • Languages • Religion • Subdivisions • Cities • People • Healthcare • Immigration

Culture: Cinema of Sweden • Cuisine of Sweden • Music of Sweden • Sports in Sweden • Swedish literature • Tourism in Sweden

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem

On this day

Portal:Sweden/Anniversaries/August/August 30

Did you know...

... that Beyond Dreams, about an ex-convict torn between a heist and housekeeping, won the Church of Sweden's Film Prize?
... that Elin Falk caused a national controversy in 1913 with her proposals for reforming gymnastics in Swedish schools?
... that a set of 12th-century Swedish murals in Finja Church is the main achievement of a workshop that decorated at least ten other churches?
... that in 1927 Berta Persson became the first woman bus driver in Sweden and was nicknamed "Buss-Berta"?

More Did you know facts...

Featured picture

This is a Featured picture that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as one of the highest quality on the site.

Image 1A small greenhouse with grapevines (Vitis vinifera) escaping from the roof hatch, In Gåseberg, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden
Image 2Tjörnbron (the Tjörn bridge) is one of three bridges along Tjörnbroleden that connects the islands of Tjörn and Orust to the mainland.
Image 3Allehandaborgen is a historic office building in Örebro, Sweden that was built 1891.
Image 4A view of the Rådhuset metro station in Central Stockholm
Image 5Mount Helagsfjället (left) and Sylan mountain range, seen from Torkilstöten, Ljungdalen
Image 6Map of Gothenburg, Sweden, published by N. P. Pehrsson in 1888
Image 7A Life Guard in Stockholm
Image 8Katarina Church and cemetery. Södermalm, Stockholm, Sweden
Image 9Steamboat Siljan, built in 1868 for timber floating, at Lake Insjön, Dalarna (Dalecarlia), Sweden