The Religious Nationalisms of Queen Victoria of Sweden (1862−1930)

As children of 1871, Queen Victoria's generation was a victorious one that also knew the cruelties of war. The prime concept of Victoria's religious nationalisms was the religiously motivated monarchical principle, in the tradition of German Gottesgnadentum. As the matron of the Swedish nation, she saw her divine calling, understood according to Lutheran principles, as both a soldier and a nurse. During the Great War, her nationalism was closely tied to Germany, but after the fall of the German Empire, and especially after her mother's death in 1923, she began to identiy incereasingly with Sweden. It is fruitless to ask about her private opinions "behind" the mask. Her religious nationalisms belonged to both the queen and the woman.