The New Student's Reference Work/Gustavus V

Gus′tavus V, king of Sweden, was born on June 6, 1858, and became king on December 8, 1907, at the death of Oscar his father. In 1881 he married a daughter of the duke of Baden, thus uniting the rights of his house with the claims of the House of Vasa, as his wife is a descendant of the last Vasa king. As regent frequently after 1896, when King Oscar was sick or absent, he displayed qualities that changed public opinion from suspicion to respect. But estimates of his character and future policy differ. As most of his friends are business men and he is not intellectual and artistic like his father, he will probably be a more practical ruler. It is declared that he has no tendency to tyranny, and it is asserted that in foreign policy he leans to Germany.