User:Realpolitik agenda/pre 1939

This page is about the situation in Sweden, immediately prior to World War II.

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Background

Domestic background

Political background

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Sweden, as in many other nations, was lined with strikes and public disorder, due to appalling working conditions and the working class rising against the state. In 1908 alone there were about 300 strikes.

Since the 1880s, the socialistic movement in Sweden had been divided in two flanges, the revolutionary (communist) and the reformist (social democratic), the latter being the larger one.

In 1917, Sweden’s need for a new political system was apparent from the riots. The rules of the democracy were changed, and the electorate’s size grew. In 1921, the first free election was held in Sweden. This led to greater left wing influence on the state, which meant that the conservatives' influence shrunk. Despite this, women, men with tax debts, men who had not fulfilled their military service, the extremely poor, and the mentally handicapped were not eligible to vote.

These reforms were seen as far too radical by some of the right wings and conservatives, who wanted strong leaders, and did not believe in democracy.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the confrontations between employers and employees in Sweden continued. In 1931, this culminated with the Ådalen shootings, an incident where the military opened fire on a riot. In the same year, a secret upper class (Sw: borgare) militia – “Munckska kåren” was exposed. It consisted of about 2000 men, and had access to heavy weaponry. It was disbanded the next year.

A new, stable government led by the social democrats and Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson took control in 1932. A policy of cooperation and consensus was pursued, which led to furthering the fissure between the revolutionary and reformist left. The distance between the two, at least on the ideological level, was somewhat close to outright enmity, and the communists often named the social democrats “the social fascists”.

Apart from the time of "the vacation government" (Sw: semester regeringen) between June 19th and September 28th in 1936, Per Albin Hansson would be the prime minister of Sweden until his death in 1946.

Military background

Since the 1890s, the army of Sweden was, in case of war, organized in four divisions, with the regiments of northern Norrland and Gotland as separate units. This organization was outdated, and in 1942, a new military organization was adopted.

Sweden had very few tanks in the inter-war era. For a time, the entire armored corps consisted of ten Stridsvagn mf/21, a German First World War tank. These tanks appeared too late to enter that war for Germany. After the Versailles treaty, the tanks were secretly purchased by Sweden as assemblage kits of tractors.

In the 1936 “Försvarsbeslut” (directly translates to “Defence resolve” in English; a governmental decision made about every five years, concerning the military's organization and development), it was decided to organize two tank battalions. Fale Burman, chief of “Arméns utrustningsdetalj” ("army materiel command" in English), comments in 1937:

“_ _ _Härför krävdes total nyanskaffning av deras viktigaste innehåll, stridsvagnarna. Redan på ett tidigt stadium fick vi dock klart för oss att om vi enbart valde kanonutrustade vagnar skulle de högst komma upp till ett antal av 15 -20.”
(This, required a new acquisition of their main content, tanks. Already at an early stage, it was clear to us that if we simply chose the cannon-equipped tanks, their numbers would maximally reach a number of 15-20.)

To make sure training on a battalion level would be possible, machine gun-equipped tanks were purchased.

By 1939, Sweden had 48 Czech-built tanks with machine gun armament and about 20 tanks armed with a 37mm gun, built by Landsverk AB.

International relations

Norway

• Union with Sweden until 1905
• Potential war in 1905
• No fortifications along the common border
• Malmbanan, Narvik

Finland

In 1809, Russia conquered Finland from Sweden in the Finnish War. Finland entered a personal union with the Russian Empire as a grand duchy with extensive autonomy. During the period of Russian rule the country generally prospered. However, in the early twentieth century Russia tightened its grip on Finland, causing wide-spread resentment. When revolution broke out in Russia in 1917, Finland declared independence. In 1918, the Finnish Civil War broke out between the generally right-wing government supporters and left-wing rebels. The war ended with the victory of the government forces, supported by Germany, and the expulsion of Russian troops.

During the inter-war period, the relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union was tense. Some elements in Finland maintained the dream of "Greater Finland" which included the Soviet-controlled part of Karelia. The proximity of the Finnish border to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) caused worry in the Soviet leadership.* Once a part of Sweden proper

• Mutual defence
• Reunite
• Åland

Germany

• Second language in schools
• Royal relations
• Herman Göring

the Soviet Union

In Sweden, Russia had always been seen as the innate enemy. From 1523 up to the ending of the last war with Swedish participation in 1814, a state of war between the two had existed for 67 years. In the peace that followed the Finnish War, all of Finland was ceded to Russia, and Sweden was reduced to two thirds of its former size.

In the October Revolution, Russia had become the Soviet Union. Many of the Swedish communists were cooperating with the new Soviet regime, and sought to realize the world revolution. Compromise and parliamentarism were thought to stand in the way of a better, more equal society.

En route to war

Military balance in the Baltic

Sweden's long-standing policy of neutrality was tested on many occasions during the 1930s. The challenges came from a strongly rejuvenated, nationalistic Germany. From 1919 until 1935, Sweden had been an active supporter of the League of Nations. Most of Sweden's energy in the international arena had been directed towards preservation of the League.

The Swedish non-aligned policy was founded on the assumption that there were two opposing powers in the Baltic, Germany and the Soviet Union; because these two powers needed to guard against each other, they could only deploy minor forces against Sweden or other non-aligned countries, which made defense of a small country feasible. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed at the end of August 1939, upset this balance.

Pre-war preparations

In 1936, the Swedish government started augmenting its military preparedness as the international situation worsened. Military spending went from $37 million in 1936, to $50 million in 1937, to $58.575 million in 1938, and then increased over fivefold to $322.325 million in 1939. During World War II itself, military spending peaked at $527.575 million in 1942.

During European hostilities, Swedish industry had to supply an increased share of domestic goods, due to the German blockade of the North Sea, while satisfying the vastly increased demand for armaments. Before the war, annual production of armaments typically totaled tens of millions of Swedish kronor, but during the war, output exceeded SEK 1 billion (US$240 million).

Not only was the Swedish government buying material to strengthen its defenses, it began drafting conscripts. On May 6, 1938, the government called up the entire conscript class of 1923, then at the age of 35, for short periods of training. In addition to this, the Swedish Cabinet ordered that one quarter of the 1938 military draft intake be retained for further training.

In 1940, the Hemvärnet ("Swedish Home Guard"), was created. Its units comprised of small groups of former soldiers who were equipped with rifles, machine guns, ammunition, medicine and uniforms. They had the option to buy additional materials such as skis, sweaters and marching boots. The Lottorna ("Swedish Women's Voluntary Defense Service") had been created in 1924.

While arming itself, Sweden felt that it was necessary to articulate and enforce its policy of neutrality. Per Albin Hansson stated shortly before the Second World War began:

"Friendly with all other nations and strongly linked to our neighbors, we look on no one as our enemy. There is no place in the thoughts of our people for aggression against any other country, and we note with gratitude assurances from others that they have no wish to disturb our peace, our freedom, or our independence. The strengthening of our defense preparations serves merely to underline our fixed determination to keep our country outside the conflicts among others and, during such conflicts, to safeguard the existence of our people."

Other members of the Swedish government expressed similar sentiments. Georg Homin, a captain on the General Staff, stated:

"Without a defensive force we cannot follow any policy of our own, our declarations become merely empty words, and we leave the country's fate to chance or to the decision of others. With a defense as strong as Swedish conditions allow we secure for ourselves the basis of a continued independent Swedish policy."

Images

Ådalen shootings. This picture of the demonstration was taken shortly before the military opened fire.

The Swedish King Gustaf V and Prince Gustaf Adolf in Berlin 1939 to present a medal to Hermann Göring.

Sources

References

• Adolfsson, Mats (2007). Bondeuppror och gatustrider: 1719-1932 (in Swedish). Natur och kultur ; Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek. ISBN 9789127026339.
• Linder, Jan (2002). Andra Världskriget och Sverige (in Swedish). Stockholm: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek. ISBN 9197405639.
• Wangel, Carl-Axel (1982). Sveriges militära beredskap 1939-1945 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Militärhistoriska Förlaget. ISBN 9789185266203.