Ekman II Cabinet 1930–1932
Frisinnade folkpartiet minority cabinet under Carl Gustaf Ekman that governed Sweden through the deepening Great Depression and the 1931 devaluation of the krona, ending in 1932 ahead of the Social Democratic breakthrough.
The Ekman II Cabinet, the second government headed by Carl Gustaf Ekman, governed Sweden from 1930 to 1932. Like its predecessor Ekman I, it was a Frisinnade folkpartiet minority cabinet — the line that today’s Liberalerna descends from — and it took office after replacing the conservative Lindman II Cabinet.
The cabinet’s defining context was the deepening Great Depression, which left roughly one-third of Swedish workers unemployed by 1932. Ekman’s response included the 1931 devaluation of the krona, a move that boosted Swedish exports and partly insulated the country from the worst depression shocks before the global recovery began.
Ekman left office in 1932, succeeded by the very brief Hamrin Cabinet. The longer significance of the Ekman-Hamrin sequence is that it marked the closing chapter of Liberal-led interwar government: the 1932 general election would bring Per Albin Hansson and Socialdemokraterna to power and begin the 44-year era of Social Democratic dominance.