Swedish merchant shipping in troubled times: The French Revolutionary Wars and Sweden’s neutrality 1793–1801

This article focuses on Swedish merchant shipping in the first decade of the French Revolutionary Wars, when Sweden, due its neutrality, expanded its trade and shipping. The article attempts to balance two contradictory views of neutral shipping: that of high risks of seizure by belligerents, and that of wartime profits. Three different perspectives are employed to demonstrate the complexity of neutral shipping business. Registers of ship documents (fribrev and Algerian sea passes) show the relatively limited impact of political events on shipping activities. Legal documents in diplomatic correspondence illustrate practically how the cases of seized ships were handled on both political and court levels. The debate in print on the case of ship Maria (the convoy affair of 1798) indicates how the issue of neutral prizes became incorporated into the political discourse on international relations and law of nations.