Sweden, under the sway of the Cap faction, seems in danger of falling prey to the political ambitions of Russia.

It appears on the point of being absorbed into the Northern Accord sought by the Russian vice-chancellor, Count Nikita Panin.

It seems to many that only a swift and sudden coup d'état can preserve Sweden's independence.

At this juncture Gustav III is approached by Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten, a Finnish nobleman, who has incurred the enmity of the Caps, with the prospect of a revolution.

He undertakes to seize the fortress of Sveaborg in Finland by a coup de main.

Once Finland is secured, he intends to embark for Sweden, join up with the king and his friends near Stockholm, and force the estates to accept a new constitution dictated by the king.

The plotters are reinforced by Johan Christopher Toll, another victim of Cap oppression.

Toll proposes to raise a second revolt in the province of Scania, and to secure the southern fortress of Kristianstad.

After some debate, it is agreed that Kristianstad should openly declare against the government a few days after the Finnish revolt had begun.

Duke Charles (Karl), the eldest of the king's brothers, will thereupon be forced to mobilize the garrisons of all the southern fortresses hastily, ostensibly to crush the revolt at Kristianstad, but on arriving in front of the fortress, he is to make common cause with the rebels and march upon the capital from the south while Sprengtporten attacks it simultaneously from the east.

The entire revolutionary enterprise is underwritten with loans procured from the French financier Nicolas Beaujon, arranged by the Swedish ambassador to France, Count Creutz.