Information on Sweden
- Thread starter Alamo
- Start date
Here's a wiki link, don't know if it'll help much on your timeline. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_in_World_War_II
I think the language might be a problem, what little books I got is in Swedish. Attentatet i Pålsjö Skog by Hasse Alfredson is the only Swedish WWII AH I can come up with.
A relative to the actors Maggie and Jake have this site.
http://www.arcticwar.com/
A relative to the actors Maggie and Jake have this site.
http://www.arcticwar.com/
Most books are in Swedish I am afraid. However, I have a good library of them and can answer specific questions. Here's some information I can provide.
1. Swedish armed forces (like Finns and Norwegians) practised a lot of marksmanship.
2. Swedish artillery was weak, but the number of mortars was very high. 47mm, 80mm and 120mm mortars were in each infantry regiment and had radio-equipped forward observers for them. Sweden was nearly on par with mortars per man with the Soviets, who had the most.
3. The higher army leadership was reactionary and pro-German up to late 1943. They were also very nationalist though, and would probably fight. The navy and air force were much more pro-allied. The navy slipped to the British that the Bismarck had been seen by HMS Gotland headed out to sea, the air force command offered joint planning with the allies against the Germans in Norway for 200 modern fighters.
4. Total armed forces was about 600 000 plus 100 000 in the Home Guard. Weak early war, rather strong by late war.
5. Sweden had a good defence industry. The only thing really lacking was a good air engine development. The J 22 domestic fighter introduced late 1943 was powered by a pirated Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp of 1066Hp.
6. Early war there were some interventionists in the government. Richard Sandler (foreign minister until replaced early 1940 by Christian Günther) and Gustav Möller (minister of the interior/social minister) were both very pro-nordic cooperation.
7. The industrial elite, some of the academic elite, the remnants of the old nobility, parts of the royal house and the upper command of the army were pro-German, especially early war, but in general, the massive majority of the population were pro-finnish and pro-allied. The Swedes never forgave the Germans the invasion of Norway. Any forcved German invasion of a Nordic country will make a Swedish alliance with Germany ASBish - at best a co-belligrent status a la Finland is possible, in case of a direct Soviet or Allied attack.
8. Swedish social democrats, who from 1931 had a firm grip of government, was anti-communist and worked hard against the communist influence in the unions, which was on the rise as the Soviets drove the Germans out. The communists gained influence lost during the winter war and during the metal strike February-June 1945 they won the strike but lost the battle of influence against the social democrats.
9. The Swedish liberals and conservatives were decidedly on the defensive during this time. They were unable to even obstruct the social democratic march towards a modern welfare society. They had won the 1928 election (called the Cossack Election, since they used posters with Red Cossacks siezing private property "saved crowns" and "hard-worked farms") but lost 1931, mainly due to the events at Ådalen. It would not be until 1976 that non-socialists could form a government again.
10. Sweden had 6-12 months supplies for all industries, the army and food for the population stored for a war situation.
So, if you ask more specific questions, I can answer them.
1. Swedish armed forces (like Finns and Norwegians) practised a lot of marksmanship.
2. Swedish artillery was weak, but the number of mortars was very high. 47mm, 80mm and 120mm mortars were in each infantry regiment and had radio-equipped forward observers for them. Sweden was nearly on par with mortars per man with the Soviets, who had the most.
3. The higher army leadership was reactionary and pro-German up to late 1943. They were also very nationalist though, and would probably fight. The navy and air force were much more pro-allied. The navy slipped to the British that the Bismarck had been seen by HMS Gotland headed out to sea, the air force command offered joint planning with the allies against the Germans in Norway for 200 modern fighters.
4. Total armed forces was about 600 000 plus 100 000 in the Home Guard. Weak early war, rather strong by late war.
5. Sweden had a good defence industry. The only thing really lacking was a good air engine development. The J 22 domestic fighter introduced late 1943 was powered by a pirated Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp of 1066Hp.
6. Early war there were some interventionists in the government. Richard Sandler (foreign minister until replaced early 1940 by Christian Günther) and Gustav Möller (minister of the interior/social minister) were both very pro-nordic cooperation.
7. The industrial elite, some of the academic elite, the remnants of the old nobility, parts of the royal house and the upper command of the army were pro-German, especially early war, but in general, the massive majority of the population were pro-finnish and pro-allied. The Swedes never forgave the Germans the invasion of Norway. Any forcved German invasion of a Nordic country will make a Swedish alliance with Germany ASBish - at best a co-belligrent status a la Finland is possible, in case of a direct Soviet or Allied attack.
8. Swedish social democrats, who from 1931 had a firm grip of government, was anti-communist and worked hard against the communist influence in the unions, which was on the rise as the Soviets drove the Germans out. The communists gained influence lost during the winter war and during the metal strike February-June 1945 they won the strike but lost the battle of influence against the social democrats.
9. The Swedish liberals and conservatives were decidedly on the defensive during this time. They were unable to even obstruct the social democratic march towards a modern welfare society. They had won the 1928 election (called the Cossack Election, since they used posters with Red Cossacks siezing private property "saved crowns" and "hard-worked farms") but lost 1931, mainly due to the events at Ådalen. It would not be until 1976 that non-socialists could form a government again.
10. Sweden had 6-12 months supplies for all industries, the army and food for the population stored for a war situation.
So, if you ask more specific questions, I can answer them.
Sweden had the most successful foreign policy out of all countries during WW2. They were able to play both the Allies and the Axis brilliantly up until the end of the war.
It certainly helped that we could read the German
codetraffic from late 1940 thanks to a Matematical
genius Arne Beurling, he did not have a machine, no
uncoded messages, nothing yet he managed to break
the German code in a month and design a machine to use.
the feelings for UK was rather hostile because we have heard
about Churchills plans for bombing or ocupying the orefields
in the north and of course the destroyer affair, we had bought
some small destroyers from Italy and we sent down skeletoncrews
to man them and sail home but in the northsea they were intercepted
by British navalforces, Commodore Hagman wanted to fight but
were persuaded by the other officers not to because they had only
skeletoncrews and very little ammunition, this ofcourse created a
severe diplomatic crisis. Orford Ness all over again.
codetraffic from late 1940 thanks to a Matematical
genius Arne Beurling, he did not have a machine, no
uncoded messages, nothing yet he managed to break
the German code in a month and design a machine to use.
the feelings for UK was rather hostile because we have heard
about Churchills plans for bombing or ocupying the orefields
in the north and of course the destroyer affair, we had bought
some small destroyers from Italy and we sent down skeletoncrews
to man them and sail home but in the northsea they were intercepted
by British navalforces, Commodore Hagman wanted to fight but
were persuaded by the other officers not to because they had only
skeletoncrews and very little ammunition, this ofcourse created a
severe diplomatic crisis. Orford Ness all over again.
Rattenfänger von Memphis
Donor
An excellent 1992 book on Sweden during World War II (and the other European neutrals) that I greatly enjoy for its wealth of minute details is "Neither Friend Nor Foe: The European Neutrals in World War II" by Jerrold M. Packard.
Each neutral country's changing situation is charted throughout the war such as Portugal's reaction to first the Australian and Dutch seizure of East Timor, closely followed by the Japanese, the detailed plans the Swiss had for a national redoubt in the event of a German invasion and the intentional German air raids on Belfast (as well as the accidental German air raids on Dublin in January and May 1941) and how the Irish reacted both officially and in public opinion.
Since you asked specifically about Sweden, here is an excerpt from the book, on the issue of Sweden allowing Germany to transfer troops and supplies across Sweden to occupied Norway and to the Russian front:
Each neutral country's changing situation is charted throughout the war such as Portugal's reaction to first the Australian and Dutch seizure of East Timor, closely followed by the Japanese, the detailed plans the Swiss had for a national redoubt in the event of a German invasion and the intentional German air raids on Belfast (as well as the accidental German air raids on Dublin in January and May 1941) and how the Irish reacted both officially and in public opinion.
Since you asked specifically about Sweden, here is an excerpt from the book, on the issue of Sweden allowing Germany to transfer troops and supplies across Sweden to occupied Norway and to the Russian front:
Finally an excerpt on Swedish rationing during the war:
Food was not as scarce as you might think. While egg, meat and flour was heavily rationed, potatoes, milk (standardised to 3% fat to free fat for cheese, cream, butter etc), vegetables and fish (the fishing fleet was able to continue throughout the war, and with little competition from Estonian, Soviet, Latvian and Lithuanian and recuced such from Germany, Finland and Denmark) was always free from rationing.
You can live rather well on fish, potatoes, milk and vegetables.
You can live rather well on fish, potatoes, milk and vegetables.