Johan Christopher Toll
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
statesman and soldier, was born at Mölleröd in Scania (now part of Hässleholm Municipality
Hässleholm Municipality
Hässleholm Municipality is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the city Hässleholm....
, Skåne County
Skåne County
Skåne County is the southernmost administrative county or län, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the historical province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the town of Malmö...
. Toll came of an ancient family, of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
origin, which can be traced back to the 13th century, but migrated to the Baltic provinces
Dominions of Sweden
The Dominions of Sweden or Svenska besittningar were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by Governors-General under the Swedish monarch, but within certain limits retained...
in the 16th century.
Toll's father was one of Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
's warriors, his mother a descendant of the aristocratic Gyellenstjernas. In his youth Johan Christopher served in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, and then, exchanging the military for the civil service, became head ranger or överjägmästare of the Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 1 January 1997 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County.The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad.- List of Governors :...
.
Royal conspirator
During the RiksdagRiksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
of 1771-1772 the dominant "Caps" deprived him of his post, and Toll, shrewdly guessing that the king was preparing a revolution, almost forced his services on the conspirators, Georg Magnus Sprengtporten
Georg Magnus Sprengtporten
Count Georg Magnus Sprengtporten, or Göran Magnus Sprengtporten as he preferred to call himself, was a Swedish, Finnish and Russian politician, younger brother of Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten....
declaring that a man who knew so much of their most secret plans must either "be killed or squared" To Toll was assigned by far the most difficult part of the enterprise. It was his business to secure the important southern fortress of Kristianstad
Kristianstad
Kristianstad is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 35,711 inhabitants in 2010.-History:The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark, the city's name literally means 'Town of Christian', as a planned city after the burning of the town of Vä...
. Two days after the coronation, on May 21, 1772, he set forth from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
with twenty-two pounds wherewith to corrupt a garrison and revolt a province. He had no sort of credentials, and the little that was known about him locally from the official point of view was not to his credit. Finally, in the fortress itself there was but one man known to be a safe royalist, namely, Captain Abraham Hellichius. On June 21 Toll reached Kristianstad. By sheer bluff Toll first won over Hellichius, and, six weeks later (August 12), the whole garrison of Kristianstad, arresting the few officers who proved recalcitrant; taking possession of the records and military chest, and closing the gates in the face of the "Cap" high commissioner who had been warned by the English minister, John Gooderich, that something was afoot in the south. Seven days later Gustav III
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
's coup d'état - at Stockholm completed the revolution.
Politician
Toll was liberally rewarded and more and more frequently employed as his genius as an administrator and his blameless integrity came to light. His reforms in the commissariat department were epoch-making, and the superior mobility of the Swedish forces under Gustav III was due entirely to his initiative. But it was upon Toll's boundless audacity that Gustav chiefly relied. Thus as Gustav, under the pressure of circumstances, inclined more and more towards absolutism, it was upon Toll that he principally leant. In 1783, Toll was placed at the head of the secret "Commission of National Defence " which ruled Sweden during the king's absence abroad without the privity of the Council. It was he who persuaded the king to summon the RiksdagRiksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
of 1786, which, however, he failed to control, and in all Gustav's plans for forcing on a war with Russia Toll was initiated from the first. In 1786 he had already risen to the rank of major-general and was Gustav's principal adjutant. It was against Toll's advice, however, that Gustav, in 1788, began the war with Russia. Toll had always insisted that, in such a contingency, Sweden should be militarily as well as diplomatically prepared, but this was far from being the case. Nevertheless, when the inevitable first disasters happened, Toll was, most unjustly, made a scapegoat, but the later successes of the war were largely due to his care and diligence as commissary-general. After the death of Gustav III Toll was for a short time war minister and commander-in-chief in Scania and, subsequently, was sent as ambassador to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Unjustly involved in the so-called "Armfelt conspiracy" he was condemned to two years imprisonment; but was fully reinstated when in 1796 Gustav IV attained his majority. At the Riksdag at Norrköping
Norrköping
Norrköping is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest...
in 1800, he was elected marshal of the Diet (Lantmarskalk
Lantmarskalk
Lantmarskalk, or "Lord Marshal", was the title of one of the speakers of the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates, from 1627 to 1866 and of the Diet of Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906. The Lantmarskalk was appointed by the Estate of the Nobles and also served as its speaker...
), and led the royalist party with consummate ability. On this occasion he forced the mutinous nobility or riddarhuset to accept the detested Act of Union and Security
Act of Union and Security
The Union and Security Act , alternately Act of Union and Security was proposed by king Gustav III of Sweden to the assembled Estates of the Realm during the Riksdag of 1789. It was a document, adding to the Swedish Constitution of 1772 new provisions and divisions of power...
by threatening to reveal the names of all the persons suspected of complicity in the murder of the late king. Subsequently he displayed great diplomatic adroitness in his negotiations with the powers concerning Sweden's participation in the war against Napoleon.
Military commander
In the War against NapoleonFirst War against Napoleon
The Pomeranian War or the First War against Napoleon, was the first involvement by Sweden in the Napoleonic Wars when the country joined the Third Coalition to assist in the overthrow of Napoleon.-Background:...
, Toll assisted in the defence of Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
. The fortress was compelled to surrender on August 20 by Marshal Brune, whereupon the Swedish army of 13,000 men, which had retired to Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
, seemed irretrievably lost. It was saved by Toll, who cajoled the French marshal into a convention whereby the Swedish army
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army is one of the oldest standing armies in the world and a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces; it is in charge of land operations. General Sverker Göranson is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army.- Organization :...
, with all its munitions of war, was permitted to return unmolested to Sweden on September 7, 1807. For this exploit Toll received his marshal's baton. It was in the camp of Toll, then acting commander-in-chief in Scania, that Gustavus IV was about to take refuge when the western army rebelled against him, but he was arrested in the capital before he could do so. Toll retained his high position under Bernadotte, who, in 1814, created him a count. He died unmarried.