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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, welcome to the show. I'm Eves

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Speaker 1: and you're listening to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show that uncovers a little bit more about history every day.

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Speaker 1: Today it's March. The day was March sixteen sevento. Gustav

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Speaker 1: the Third of Sweden was shot at a masked ball

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Speaker 1: at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. He died on

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Speaker 1: March twenty nine after the wound became infected. Gustaf the

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Speaker 1: Third succeeded his father as King of Sweden in seventeen

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Speaker 1: seventy one. Throughout most of the seventeen hundreds, the Rick's

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Speaker 1: Dog or national legislature of Sweden was at the mercy

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Speaker 1: of two rival factions, the Hats and the Caps. When

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Speaker 1: Gustav began his reign, he attempted mediation between the factions.

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Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy two, he range for a coup to

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Speaker 1: take over the government and a new constitution was adopted.

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Speaker 1: The new constitution increased the crown's powers at the expense

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Speaker 1: of the riks Dog of the estates or the Diet,

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Speaker 1: made up of the nobility, clergy, burghers and peasants. But

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Speaker 1: it did not completely abolish it. Over the next several years,

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Speaker 1: Gustav introduced many reforms. He abolished torture as a tool

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Speaker 1: of legal investigation, free trade was encouraged, and freedom of

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Speaker 1: the press was granted. He also strengthened Sweden's naval and

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Speaker 1: military forces. The the Estates initially supported his reforms, the

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Speaker 1: riks Dog of seventeen eighty six opposed most of them.

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Speaker 1: Looking to gain support from his opposition and taking advantage

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Speaker 1: of Russia's war with Turkey, Gustav went to war with

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Speaker 1: Russia in seventeen eighty eight, but the war did not

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Speaker 1: help his position, and some members of the nobility were

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Speaker 1: working with the Russians. He appealed to the three lower

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Speaker 1: Estates and in seventeen eighty nine the Union and Security

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Speaker 1: Act increased royal power and undermined much of the nobility's power.

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Speaker 1: Sweden want a big naval victory at spin Soon in

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Speaker 1: July of seventeen ninety in the Russo Swedish War. The

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Speaker 1: war ended with a peace treaty the next month, but

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Speaker 1: much of the Swedish nobility, especially younger aristocrats, were developing

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Speaker 1: an increasing hatred towards the king and his power, the

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Speaker 1: nobility began conspiring to kill the king and reform the government.

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Speaker 1: On March sixteenth Sevo, Gustav was eating dinner at the

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Speaker 1: Royal Opera House in Stockholm when he received an anonymous

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Speaker 1: letter saying that his life was threatened. Gustav still chose

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Speaker 1: to go to the mast ball that night and his

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Speaker 1: masquerade dress. On the way to the ball, the king

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Speaker 1: was shot by Jacob Johan Ankerstrom, a military officer from

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Speaker 1: a noble family. Gustav twitched, but he did not fall.

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Speaker 1: He was escorted away from the scene to his room.

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Speaker 1: Some of the conspirators, including Ankerstrom, were arrested, and Gustav

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Speaker 1: continued to act as head of state as he attempted

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Speaker 1: to recover from the shooting, but the wound became infected

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Speaker 1: and he developed sepsis. Gustaf the Third died just thirteen

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Speaker 1: days after he was shot. His funeral took place on

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Speaker 1: May fourteenth. Gustaf the third son Gustaf the fourth, Adolf,

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Speaker 1: succeeded him as king under the regency of his uncle

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Speaker 1: until he reached adulthood. I'm Eve Steff Coote, and hopefully

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Speaker 1: you know a little more about history today than you

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Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you haven't gotten your fill of history yet,

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Speaker 1: you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: t d I h C podcast. If you prefer something

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Speaker 1: a little bit more formal, then you can write us

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Speaker 1: at this day at I heart media dot com. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for tuning in, and we'll catch you tomorrow same place. Yeah.

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