Swedish “neutrality” in the Second World War

Abstract

This article discusses the interaction of Sweden and Nazi Germany during the pre-war period and the years of World War II. The new stage of perception of military history in the changed geopolitical realities of the beginning of the third millennium causes increased public interest in this problem and heated debates in scientific community of historians, political scientists and journalists. A number of the Swedish and Russian historians call into question the “neutrality” in foreign policy of Sweden in the period of World War II. Various groups of sources were used in preparation of this article. Of great value are the documents which are stored in the Swedish State Archive (Riksarkivet) in Stockholm. Materials of Funds of Department of Foreign Policy of Sweden (Utrikesdepartementets arkiv) which contained the main documents and agreements with the foreign states, diplomatic correspondence, reports of the state persons, the review of the foreign press on the main questions of international policy, some Swedish editions “Aftonbladet”, “Dagens Nyheter”, etc. were used as well We describe various points of view which developed in the Swedish historiography in the neutrality assessment, consider its characteristic features and its “specific character” which does not allow Sweden to be called a classically neutral country in the period under study. The main directions of effective social, economic and political interaction of Sweden and Nazi Germany are presented. The thesis is proved that Sweden, which was traditionally declaring constant neutrality in foreign policy, allowed a number of derogations from its canons during the military period for self-preservation. The conclusion is drawn that the Swedish neutrality is of “special character”, which does not allow Sweden to be called a classically neutral country in the 1930s-1940s. Refs 38.