100 years ago...

100 years ago in Sweden was a time of hunger marches and agitation for worker's rights.
This wonderful outdoor play, Vredens dagar; (Days of Rage) describes the events that happened here, in Nyland, in that year and events nearby ten years earlier. The leading part is played by a professional actor and all other parts by amateurs. The play itself was really well done and the staging in Nyland harbour with the Ångerman River as the backdrop added to the magic. The weather was breezy and chilly but we were well wrapped up!
The signs read "Bread and freedom", Peace,  and "Free the Amalthea Man".
The events in the play are seen through the eyes of one young man and the author points out that it only gives that young man's viewpoint and cannot be considered historically accurate.
Naturally, when we got home it was into Wikipedia and the net to see what had really happened and why. This is what I found...
Though Sweden was neutral in WW1 it had drastic effects on society. One of the causes of widespread hunger was that Sweden continued to trade with Germany, leading to an Allied blockade. The combination of selling food to Germany and the Allied blockade led to food scarcity and high prices, so high that workers couldn't afford food.  The ongoing Russian Revolution also led to increased tensions.
These events led to the fall of the government and the first election victory for the Social Democratic party, and two years later to universal suffrage in Sweden. The new government also freed "the Amalthea Man", Anton Nilson.