Editing Moderate Party (section)

=== General Electoral League (1904–1938) ===
The party was founded on 17 October 1904 in a restaurant called ''Runan'' in [[Stockholm]]. The intention was to start a campaign organization in support of the group of Conservatives which had emerged in the [[Parliament of Sweden|Riksdag]]. During the 19th century [[conservatism|conservatives]] had organised themselves in the Riksdag but there was no party to support them. The Swedish right was also threatened by the rise of the [[Swedish Social Democratic Party]] (founded in 1889) and the [[Liberals (Sweden)|Liberals]] (1902). The party was called the ''General Electoral League'' ({{langx|sv|Allmänna valmansförbundet|links=no}}).
[[File:Fredrik Östberg SPA (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Gustaf Fredrik Östberg, was the first chairman of the party.]]
At first, the party was clearly [[nationalist]] and staunchly [[conservative]]. The importance of a strong defence was underlined and other societal institutions embraced by the party were the [[monarchy]] and the [[Rule of law|state of law]]. The party initially held ia [[protectionism|protectionist]] view towards the economy; [[tariff]]s were widely supported as well as interventionist economical measures such as [[agricultural subsidy|agricultural subsidies]]. In the [[Borggårdskrisen|defence policy crisis]] in 1914 (which overturned the parliamentary Liberal government), the party sided with King [[Gustav V of Sweden|Gustaf V]] but stopped short of accepting a right-wing government by royal appointment, instead opting for an independent-conservative "war cabinet" under [[Hjalmar Hammarskjöld]] which was eventually overturned in favour of a Liberal-Social Democratic majority coalition government and thus the breakthrough of parliamentary rule, albeit reluctantly embraced by the right.[[File:Försvaret främst.JPG|thumb|338x338px|An election poster from the party in 1914 stating that military defense comes first.]][[Arvid Lindman]] (often called "The Admiral") became influential in the party and served two terms as [[Prime Minister of Sweden]], before and after the enactment of [[universal suffrage]]. In 1907, he proposed universal male suffrage to the [[Parliament of Sweden|parliament]] and in 1912 he was formally elected leader. But the party voted against universal suffrage and the party again voted against women's right to vote. It was only because the party was in the minority that Sweden was able to grant the right to vote for all, pushed through by the Liberals and the Social Democrats (the left), against the objections of the right. Although not one of the founders of the party and not a prominent ideologist, Lindman and his achievements as a leader are often appreciated as being of great importance to the new party. His leadership was marked by a consolidation of the Swedish right, and by transforming the party into a modern, effective, political movement. Lindman was a very pragmatic politician, but without losing his principles. He was a formidable negotiator and peace broker. For this, he was widely respected, even by his fiercest political opponents and when he resigned and left the parliament in 1935, the leader of the Social Democrats, [[Per Albin Hansson]], expressed his "honest thanks over the battle lines".

From the beginning of the 20th century, [[social democracy]] and the [[labour movement]] rose to replace [[liberalism]] as the major political force for radical reforms. The Moderate Party intensified its opposition to socialism during the leadership of Lindman—the importance of continuance and strengthening national business were cornerstones. But at the same time, recent social issues gained significant political attention; by appeasing the working class, the party also hoped to reduce the threat of revolutionary tendencies. During the governments led by Lindman, several reforms for social progress were made, and it was his first government that initiated the public state [[pension]].

[[File:Second cabinet of Arvid Lindman.jpg|thumb|351x351px|The second cabinet of [[Arvid Lindman]] in 1928.]]
In the 1920s, the Swedish right slowly started to move towards a [[classical liberal]] view on economic issues, mainly under the influence of the liberal economist [[Gustav Cassel]], but the economic downturn following the [[Great Depression]] frustrated the possible liberal transition of their economic policy. Before that occurred the party gained its greatest success yet with 29.4% in [[1928 Swedish general election|the general election of 1928, often called the ''Cossack Election'']], on a clearly anti-socialist programme. The government later formed by the party did not accept the concept of the market economy but continued the protectionist policy by generous financial aid. The government also began complete regulation of agriculture. Production associations, with the objective to administer the regulations and running monopolies on imports, were also established during the period. All this made for a [[corporativism|corporate]] control of the Swedish economy unsurpassed since the popularisation of liberalism at the end of the 19th century.<ref>Norberg, J. (1999). ''Den svenska Liberalismens historia''. Timbro. {{ISBN|91-7566-429-1}}.</ref> The government of Lindman fell in 1930 after the [[Swedish Social Democratic Party|Social Democrats]] and the [[Freeminded People's Party (Sweden)|Freeminded People's Party]] had blocked a proposition for a raised customs duty on grain.

The 1930s saw the party in conflict over how to relate to the rising threat of [[National Socialism]] and [[Fascism]]. Its loosely affiliated youth organisation, the [[National Youth League of Sweden]] ({{langx|sv|Sveriges Nationella Ungdomsförbund|links=no}}) was openly pro-Nazi and set up uniformed "fighting groups" to combat political enemies on the streets.{{citation needed|date=February 2007}} The mother party did not like this development, with Lindman clearly stating that pro-Nazi views were not to be accepted in the party, and in 1933 the National Youth League was separated from the party. While the party set up a new youth league in 1934, called ''The Young Swedes'' (known since 1969 as the [[Moderate Youth League]]), the core of the old one (in spite of some districts, such as Young Swedes-[[Gothenburg]] joining the new one) set up its own party—the [[National League of Sweden]]—taking with them three of the mother party's [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s and unsuccessfully fighting elections as a radical conservative and openly pro-Nazi party.{{citation needed|date=February 2007}}