Sweden During World War I
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Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, following its long-standing policy of neutrality since the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, remained neutral throughout
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
between 28 July 1914 and 11 November 1918. However, this neutrality was not maintained without difficulty and Sweden at various times sympathised with different parties in the conflict. Despite strong pro-German sentiment both in the Swedish nobility and in Swedish political circles, Sweden did not enter the war on the German side. Instead, Sweden retained
armed neutrality A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type ...
and continued to trade with both the
Entente Powers The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...
and the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
. Swedish trade with Germany, particularly in iron ore, eventually led to exports of food to Sweden being greatly reduced, especially after America's entry into the war in 1917. The resulting food shortages, and public unrest in the form of hunger marches and riots, caused the downfall of Sweden's conservative government which was replaced eventually by a social democrat one, bringing about an era of political reform in Sweden. Sweden intervened militarily in
Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
after the collapse of Russia into civil war and the advent of Finnish independence in 1918 and briefly occupied the islands, which Sweden had long sought to acquire because of a large Swedish population that supported annexation, but which were also claimed by Finland. However Sweden ultimately withdrew following Finnish protests. Significant numbers of Swedes also took part as volunteers in the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
, with the 350-strong Swedish brigade playing a role in the decisive
Battle of Tampere The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the deadly of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Its bloody aftermath saw ...
. At the end of the war, Sweden was not a signatory of the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, which brought the conflict to a conclusion, but Sweden joined the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
, which was formed as a result of the treaty and so it was bound by its restriction of German rearmament. However, Swedish firms provided assistance to their German counterparts that helped them avoid the restrictions of the treaty.


Immediate prewar period


German sympathies

During the early years of the 20th century the sympathies of the Swedish monarch, and of the Swedish military, were believed to be with the Germans due to cultural links and a shared fear of
Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...
. According to the Austrian ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, in 1904, during the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
, Swedish King
Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
had proposed an offensive military alliance with the Ottoman Empire against Russia, which was in a difficult military situation. Oscar's successor,
King Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...
was married to a German,
Victoria of Baden Victoria of Baden (; 7 August 1862 – 4 April 1930) was Queen of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until her death in 1930 as the wife of King Gustaf V. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and kno ...
, a first cousin of
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
, and the Swedish Marshal of the Realm,
Ludvig Douglas Ludvig Vilhelm August Douglas, Count of Mühlhausen, Gondelsheim, Skenninge and Stjernorp, Lord of Langenstein and Stjernorp castles (24 November 1849 – 20 July 1916), was a conservative Swedish politician and official. He was a direct patrili ...
, was also known to be a strong proponent of an alliance with Germany. In November 1910, the general staffs of Germany and Sweden had even met in secret to discuss a joint offensive against
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, but the meeting ended without a binding agreement being reached. While as the royalty of Sweden sympathised with Germany, a number of Sweden's social-democratic politicians were also favourably inclined towards Germany because of their positive view of Germany's social security system and its industrial and scientific achievements. Prominent pro-Germans in the ranks of the Social Democrats included Otto Jarte and
Yngve Larsson Gustaf Richard ''Yngve'' Larsson (; December 13, 1881 – December 16, 1977) was a Swedish political scientist, Municipal commissioner (''Borgarråd''), and Member of Parliament. He was an important force in the urban development of Stockholm d ...
, both of whom were expelled from the
Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...
in 1915 for contributing to a book that urged "courageously lining up on Germany's side".


Rearmament crisis

Rearmament was a special concern in Sweden because of the growing tensions in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. When
Karl Staaff Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1905 to 1906 and again from 1911 to 1914. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party from ...
's government proposed a reduction in military spending and the cancellation of the order for the
coastal defence ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s that were later known as the , more than 30,000 Swedish farmers marched to Stockholm to protest in the
Peasant armament support march The peasant armament support march of 1914 () was a demonstration primarily of Sweden, Swedish farmers on February 6, 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the Courtyard Speech held by King Gustav V to the marchers ...
. In response, King Gustaf gave a speech written by the ardently pro-German explorer
Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...
in the courtyard of the
Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...
in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
that argued for higher military spending. The speech prompted a constitutional crisis in Sweden (the so-called "
Courtyard Crisis The Courtyard Crisis () was a constitutional conflict between Sweden's King Gustaf V and the Liberal Prime Minister Karl Staaff. The crisis has been seen as the culmination of the struggle between the pro-King conservatives and the pro-parliam ...
") because of the interference of the crown in the running of the state, as the
constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
was supposed to be neutral in partisan politics. When King Gustaf refused to tone down his rhetoric on the subject of defence spending, Karl Staaff's government resigned and was replaced by the conservative government of
Hjalmar Hammarskjöld Knut Hjalmar Leonard Hammarskjöld (; 4 February 1862 – 12 October 1953) was a Swedish politician and scholar who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. He was a member of the Riksdag from 1923 to 1938 in the first chamber ...
.


Early war period


July Crisis

During the
July Crisis The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the Great power, major powers of Europe in mid-1914, Causes of World War I, which led to the outbreak of World War I. It began on 28 June 1914 when the Serbs ...
, both King Gustaf and
Knut Wallenberg Knut Agathon Wallenberg (19 May 1853 – 1 June 1938) was a Swedish banker and politician, he was also a Knight of the Order of the Seraphim. Wallenberg was Minister for Foreign Affairs 1914–1917, and member of the Riksdag's '' Första kammar ...
, the Swedish foreign minister, gave assurances to the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
that in a war between Germany and Russia, Sweden would never stand on Russia's side, and that although Sweden would issue a declaration of neutrality at the start of the conflict she would retain the freedom to take other action later. The assurances given by King Gustaf and Knut Wallenberg led the German secretary of the foreign ministry,
Gottlieb von Jagow Gottlieb von Jagow (22 June 1863 – 11 January 1935) was a German diplomat. He served as the State Secretary of the German Foreign Office between January 1913 and 1916. Early life Born in Berlin, Jagow was educated at the University of Bonn. He ...
, to believe that Germany would be supported by Sweden in the upcoming conflict. Talks even took place between the military and naval staffs of Sweden and Germany on cooperation, and preliminary arrangements were made for Germany to use bases and anchorages on the east coast of Sweden and on the island of
Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...
. Wallenberg also warned the Germans that Sweden could not intervene too soon as this might prompt a British intervention in the conflict, although this in turn led the German minister in Stockholm, Franz von Reichenau, to suggest that if Britain entered the conflict Germany should issue an ultimatum demanding that Sweden join the war. At the same time messages were sent by the Swedish foreign ministry to Russia promising that Sweden would remain neutral, although troops were sent to watch Sweden's frontier with Russian-ruled
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
.


Declarations of Neutrality

Sweden declared neutrality in the Austro-Serbian conflict on 31 July 1914, and in the general conflict of Germany against France and Russia on 3 August. Both declarations left open the possibility that Sweden might later change her position if other countries joined the conflict. On 2 August, however, Wallenberg, speaking to the British minister in Stockholm, had repeated his assertion that if Sweden were driven into the war, she would never fight on the side of Russia. Apparently fearful that Germany might issue an ultimatum demanding Sweden choose sides (something the German Kaiser had threatened to do during a visit by King Gustaf to Germany in 1913) Wallenberg also promised Franz von Reichenau that Swedish neutrality would be "benevolent" to Germany. The position of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
also concerned Wallenberg, as he believed that the Norwegians would prefer to intervene on the British side if they entered the war. On 8 August the two countries (Sweden and Norway) issued a joint declaration of neutrality warning that they would maintain their neutrality against all belligerents and would guarantee each other's neutrality. A further joint declaration was made by the three kings of
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, Norway, and Sweden in 18 December 1914, and the Swedish army units that had been sent to the Finnish border were stood down.


Germany offers an alliance

In early 1915,
Arthur Zimmermann Arthur Zimmermann (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1940) was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire from 22 November 1916 until his resignation on 6 August 1917. His name is associated with the Zimmermann Telegram during World War ...
, the Under-Secretary of State at the German foreign ministry, approached Hammarskjöld, who was on a visit to Berlin, with an offer of potentially forming a "Nordic Block" under Swedish leadership in return for an alliance between Sweden and Germany. Whilst Hammarskjöld rebuffed this first offer, Zimmermann persisted and approached Ludvig Douglas with an offer for a renewed
Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...
covering Finland and the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. Douglas then conveyed this offer to King Gustaf on 8 June 1915, and also to Hammarskjöld and Wallenberg, however only King Gustaf received it positively. Following this failure,
Prince Maximilian of Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes (publishing company), Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). al ...
, a cousin of the Swedish Queen Victoria, made a further overture to King Gustaf. Prince Max had been instructed by Kaiser Wilhelm II and
Erich von Falkenhayn Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was a German general and Ottoman Field Marshal who served as Prussian Minister of War and Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War. Falkenha ...
, who wished to integrate Sweden into the German ''
Mitteleuropa (), meaning Middle Europe, is one of the German terms for Central Europe. The term has acquired diverse cultural, political and historical connotations. University of Warsaw, Johnson, Lonnie (1996) ''Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends' ...
'', to obtain an alliance with a view to a joint attack on St. Petersburg, in return Germany was willing to offer material and military support as well as the promise of
Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
(which contained a Swedish-speaking population, and the fortification of which by the Russians during 1915 caused concern in Sweden), an adjustment of the frontier, and an independent or autonomous Finland. King Gustaf rejected this offer on 20 November 1915 as, without a clear
casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...
, he could not be sure of popular support for the war. On 1 December 1915 two leading pro-German Swedish political figures, the Social Democrat Otto Järte, and the conservative editor Adrian Molin, had an audience with King Gustaf in which they urged him to join the war on Germany's side. They urged him to consider that "If the Entente wins, ideas of republicanism and parliamentarism will win the ratification of world history". According to Otto Järte's account, the King stated repeatedly that he was of the same view and that Sweden would "speed into action" once German forces had entered Finland; however, according to Järte the King also stated that as a constitutional monarch he could not make any binding promises. Whilst talk of an alliance eventually came to nothing, Sweden did favour Germany over Russia in at least one important respect. Knut Wallenberg, without the knowledge of Hammarskjöld, allowed the Germans to use Swedish ciphers to communicate with their embassies overseas, and these communications were carried over the telegraph cables used by Sweden to communicate with their embassies. This allowed the Germans to communicate with their embassies via Stockholm without their communications being so easily censored and intercepted by the British. Despite claiming that they would end the practice in late 1915, a scandal erupted in 1917 when it became known that a telegram from the German chargé d'affaires in Argentina, Count Luxburg, to Berlin proposing that certain Argentine ships be "sunk without trace" had been transmitted via the facilities of the Swedish foreign ministry. This became known as the "Luxburg Affair". Swedish exports to Germany increased massively after the war started, with exports for the two months December 1914 to January 1915 being eight times that of December 1913 to January 1914. This great increase in exports helped Germany mitigate the effect of the stringent Allied blockade on German trade.


Swedish military preparedness during the war


Army

During the entirety of the war, the active strength of the Swedish army never exceeded 13,000 men, even after the doubling in strength requested in Hammarskjöld's Army Bill of 1914 of reserve formations from six to twelve infantry divisions and a cavalry division. As the war went on and the threat of invasion receded, the number of active, deployable men was by 1918 to fall as low as 2,000. Whilst relatively well equipped by the standards of 1914, as the war went on this force was less and less well prepared for fighting a conflict according to the prevailing standards of the day. For example, in 1914 the number of machine guns in a Swedish army division's establishment (24) was roughly the same as that of a division of the German or French army, however by 1918 French army divisions had 108 heavy and 405 light machine guns, whilst German army divisions had 108 heavy and 216 light machine guns, yet the number of machine guns in a Swedish army division in 1918 was still 24. The situation with field artillery was similar: in 1914 the average Swedish infantry battalion was supported by 3.6 field guns, a figure similar to that of the great powers, yet by 1918 the equivalent figure for a German battalion was 8.4 and for a French battalion was 12, and it was still 3.6 for a Swedish infantry battalion. In terms of doctrine and tactics, the Swedes were inexperienced in modern warfare. The only experienced officers in the Swedish army were those who observed the ongoing war on the Western, Italian and Eastern fronts of the world war, or who volunteered for service in one of the belligerent armies.


Navy

Sweden began the 20th century with one of the strongest navies outside of the great powers, comprising 13 major warships. By 1914 it had gained an additional small mine-laying cruiser (the HSwMS ''Clas Fleming''), as well as 8 destroyers and 10 submarines. However, Sweden lacked any true
dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...
-type warships, and, of the three heavy Sverige-class warships ordered before the war, only one was completed before the war's end ( HSwMS ''Sverige'', launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917). The coastal defence branch of the Swedish armed forces, the '' Kustartilleriet'' (coastal artillery), fell within the purview of the navy, had a strength of 7,500 men in 1914 (roughly half of the Navy's total active strength of 15–16,000 officers and rating). Despite its name, the ''Kustartilleriet'' did not consist only of artillery units, but also included infantry regiments formed separately to those of the army, and included both mobile and static defence forces. The main weight of defending Swedish neutrality during the war fell on the Swedish navy.


Air forces

The Swedes began the war with relatively few aircraft in military service, with reconnaissance groups being formed in both the army and the navy. The Swedish navy's group was originally formed in 1911, when a single Blériot monoplane was gifted to the navy. In 1913 a special naval aviation corps, the "Marinens Flygväsende" (MFV) was founded in Stockholm, and by 1914 this had expanded to include, in addition to the Blériot, two Henri Farmans and a Donnet-Leveque flying boat, all of which were based at Oscar Frederiksborg. During the war the total Swedish strength was expanded to a few dozen aircraft, many of these being bought through private subscription. In 1916 fighter aircraft were added to Sweden's air forces. However, Sweden's airforces were lacking in experience, doctrine, and tactics, and it was not until 1926 that an independent airforce was established.


Sweden and the naval war


Mining of the Oresund

Throughout the war Germany applied pressure on Sweden and Denmark to close the channels connecting the Baltic sea to the (Allied-dominated) North Sea to Allied warships. Whilst Denmark had given into this pressure and mined the
Danish straits The Danish straits are the straits connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. Historically, the Danish straits were internal waterways of Denmark; however, following territorial losses, Øresund and Fehmarn B ...
at the outbreak of the war, Sweden resisted demands that its side of the
Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...
should be mined. Eventually Germany relented in return for a promise that Sweden's lighthouses in the Øresund would be switched off and markers showing the way through the channel would be removed if the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
was sighted in the sound. When Royal Navy submarines entered the Baltic through the sound in October 1914, the Germans demanded that the Swedes carry out their promise. In October 1915 British submarines operating in the Baltic successfully sank several German cargo ships as well as the armoured cruiser . A German warship opened fire on a Swedish submarine killing a member of the crew. According to the captain of the ''Hvalen'', the submarine was flying the Swedish naval flag at the time and was sailing in Swedish home waters. Compensation was later paid to the widow of the crew-member and an apology was issued. In the wake of these sinkings, Germany applied renewed pressure to the Swedes to lay mines in the Øresund channel, and laid mines within the four-mile-limit for
territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...
claimed by Sweden, but outside the three-mile-limit actively enforced by Sweden. Another concern was that British and French merchant ships, which had been stranded in the Baltic when war began, were being brought back to the UK and France via the Kogrund Channel (''Kogundsrännan'') running through the Øresund straits, which the Swedes believed might invite a German response. Sweden eventually mined the Kogrund Channel in a move announced on 28 July 1916, closing it to all but Swedish ships which would be led through the minefields by pilots. The mining of the channel drew criticism from the Allied powers, causing them to describe Sweden as “neutral with reservations.” However the Swedes responded to this by stating that the Kogrund Channel had not been an international channel, having been dredged only to allow for the transit of Swedish
cabotage Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. The term originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well. Cabotage rig ...
, and as such was purely a domestic channel which had only gained international significance due to the acts of other powers, and that as a result the mining of the channel was purely a domestic matter.


Aftermath of the Battle of Jutland

In the aftermath of the
Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
, the bodies of both British and German sailors were washed ashore in Sweden. The Swedish authorities took care to collect these bodies and have them interred, British and Germans alike, on the island of Stensholmen. The most well known among these casualties was the German writer Gorch Fock (real name Johann Kinau), who was among the crew of the sunk light cruiser SMS ''Wiesbaden'' and whose body was found on the Swedish shore near
Fjällbacka Fjällbacka is a locality situated in Tanum Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, with 859 inhabitants in 2010. It is located approximately from Gothenburg, from Oslo and from Stockholm, and is mostly known as a summer tourist resort. ...
.


War-time iron-ore trade

Prior to the outbreak of war, the export of
iron-ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
had been a major business for Sweden. The iron-ore trade was run by an association in which the Swedish government was a member, and production of iron-ore for export was fixed at 22,500,000 tons for the period 1907–1938. Iron
mining in Sweden The mining industry in Sweden has a history dating back 6,000 years. Historically, Sweden's most famous mine is the copper Falun Mine in Dalarna, which made a significant contribution to the Swedish economy for several centuries. Sweden today ...
was not affected by the advent of war, production was maintained at 6–7 million tons throughout the war period. However, the destination of Sweden's exports of iron ore did change. The iron-ore fields of
Gällivare Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...
, which in pre-war years produced on averaged 1,200,000 tons of iron-ore, most of which was shipped for export from the port of
Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...
on the Baltic, could no longer export to the Allied countries and instead all of their produce went to Germany. In 1915 alone, Germany's demand for high-grade Swedish iron ore summed some 4 million tons. By contrast, the iron-ore fields of
Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...
, whose produced was exported through the Norwegian port of
Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...
via the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
and the Atlantic, became overwhelmingly dominated by exports to the allies, with only 5% of exports going to Germany whereas German exports had previously constituted 70%. The Swedish ships that did continue carrying iron-ore from Narvik to Germany avoided the British blockade by hugging the Norwegian coast and remaining in Norwegian waters as much as possible. British imports of Swedish iron ore totalled 5–600,000 tons annually during the war, in comparison the entire British national stock of iron ore in June 1916 had been 253,000 tons, highlighting British reliance on Swedish iron-ore exports.


Late war period


Food shortages and downfall of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld

As a result of food shortages caused by the Allied blockade on imports, the sinking of Swedish ships during the German U-boat campaign, and also a bad harvest, by January 1917 the Swedish government had begun rationing of bread, sugar, and flour. The
American entry into World War I The United States entered into World War I on 6 April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British and an a ...
on the side of Allies in April 1917 greatly increased the pressure on Sweden to conclude an agreement on trade and shipping favourable to the Allied powers. One specific request was that the Swedish reduce their iron-ore exports to Germany in return for increased supplies of food from the Allies. Despite the food shortage, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld had continued to resist an agreement that might loosen the blockade in return for reducing exports to Germany due to fear of angering the Germans and being seen as favouring the Allies. Hammarskjöld had also come into conflict with his foreign minister Knut Wallenberg over a mooted trade agreement with Britain and a defence co-operation agreement with Norway. Hammarskjöld's refusal to negotiate trade agreements with the Entente countries resulted in unrest in Sweden. Hammarskjöld's government also became weakened around this time when the "Luxburg Affair", involving Swedish facilities being used to transmit secret messages targeting allied shipping for the Germans, became known. Angered by Hammarskjöld's rejection of trade with the Entente, Hammarskjöld's allies in the Swedish parliament rebelled against him. In early 1917, a combination of protests over food shortages and the failure of the
Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
to approve increased defence spending, forced Hammarskjöld to resign. King Gustaf called on the conservative
Ernst Trygger Ernst Trygger (27 October 1857 – 23 September 1943) was a Swedish jurist, professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in t ...
to form a government, however he lacked the necessary support in the Riksdag to do so, so he was instead replaced by Carl Swartz in March 1917. The replacement of Hammarskjöld by Swartz did not prevent further disturbances, which were inflamed by heavy-handed policing of so-called "hunger marches". Nor did the food situation in Sweden improve, as rationing was extended to include potatoes. In May 1917 disturbances hit the island of
Seskarö Seskarö (Meänkieli: ''Seittenkaari'') is a locality situated in Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 491 inhabitants in 2010. It is located on the island with the same name which is about 20 km2 and situated in the Haparan ...
in northern Sweden, where fighting broke out between the local population and the military in which the police had to intervene. The island was only pacified after a shipment of food reached the island and a number of local men were jailed. The largest disturbance occurred on 5 June 1917, when 20,000 people assembled near the Riksdag in Stockholm to hear the response of Carl Swartz to a request from Hjalmar Branting to introduce universal suffrage and constitutional reform, and were dispersed by mounted police. Swartz served as Swedish prime minister for only seven months before being forced from power after the Swedish elections of 1917 and replaced by the liberal government of
Nils Edén Nils Edén (25 August 1871 – 16 June 1945) was a Swedish historian and liberal politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1917 to 1920, and along with Hjalmar Branting acknowledged as co-architect of Sweden's transition from ...
. Following Edén's election disturbances subsided as the social-democrats stopped supporting them, though demands for reforms, including an 8-hour day and improved living conditions, continued. However, it was not until 29 May 1918 that the British blockade of trade with Sweden was completely lifted. The sinking of Swedish ships by German U-boats continued until the end of the war and were eventually to total 280 ships with a loss of 800 lives.


Swedish occupation of the Åland Islands

During late 1917, as the German army advanced on the Russian capital of St. Petersburg,
Richard von Kühlmann Richard von Kühlmann (3 May 1873 – 16 February 1948) was a German diplomat and industrialist. From 6 August 1917 to 9 July 1918, he served as Germany's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and led the delegation that negotiated the Treaty of ...
, the new German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, renewed Germany's offer to champion Swedish sovereignty over
Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
in return for increased support for the German war effort from Sweden that included increased iron-ore exports. Germany's support for Sweden's claim under this proposal would take the form of either occupying the islands and then handing them over to Sweden, or negotiating for their transfer to Sweden in the upcoming peace talks. With the declaration of
Finnish independence Finland declared its independence on 6 December 1917. The formal Declaration of Independence was only part of the long process leading to the independence of Finland. History Proclamation of Empress Elizabeth (1742) The subject of an independe ...
on 6 December 1917, and Sweden's recognition of Finland without reservation on 4 January 1918, the situation became even more complex. Whilst the Åland islands were linguistically Swedish, and 95% of voters had voted for Swedish annexation in a referendum, the Finns claimed the islands as a historical part of the
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...
. Knowing that King Gustaf favoured the annexation of the Åland islands to Sweden, von Kühlmann approached King Gustaf with them in secret on 11 November and 17 December 1917. Both King Gustaf and the Swedish government reacted cautiously to these overtures, responding on 23 December with letters to Austria, Turkey, and Germany requesting only that Sweden's interest in the islands be safeguarded, and proposing neutralisation of the islands as the best solution. This situation changed, however, when, on 13 February 1918, exaggerated reports of atrocities committed on the Åland islands by Russian soldiers prompted the Swedish government to launch a military expedition to the islands. The Swedish army deployed to the islands and a stand-off ensued with the Russian garrison. A week later Germany, acting in response to a request for support from the Finnish Whites who also claimed the islands, informed the Swedes that they intended to occupy the islands and that Swedish forces were to leave immediately. A German force landed and took the Russian garrison prisoner as they were about to leave. Eventually an agreement was reached for a joint German-Swedish occupation of the islands that lasted until 25 April 1918, when Swedish forces eventually withdrew in the face of Finnish protests.


Sweden and the Finnish Civil War

With the outbreak of the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
between the communist "Reds" and the nationalist-democratic "Whites", steps were taken by various actors within Sweden assist the cause of the Whites. The organisation ''Finlands vänner'' (Friends of Finland) was formed in January 1918 with financing from the Swedish business sector to provide support and recruits to the White armies. In addition to this, approximately 1,100 Swedes volunteered for service with the White forces, of whom roughly 500 saw combat. These volunteers included officers of the Swedish army. The largest group of Swedish volunteers that served with the White army was a roughly 350-strong unit dubbed the "
Swedish Brigade The Swedish Brigade (, ) was a paramilitary unit composed of 1,000 Swedish volunteers to assist the White Guards during the 1918 Finnish Civil War. The brigade participated in the Battle of Tampere between 28 March and 6 April. 34 members o ...
". Whilst this unit was kept in reserve for much of the war, it was deployed at the decisive
battle of Tampere The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the deadly of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Its bloody aftermath saw ...
. It was at Tampere that the Swedish Brigade suffered its first casualty (a right-wing historian by the name of
Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...
), and their casualties in the taking of the city went on to be heavy. The Swedish Brigade suffered 34 men killed and 50 wounded in the battle. Sweden also provided a group of six aeroplanes that was to provide the leader of the Finnish Whites, Marshal Mannerheim, with valuable intelligence. Swedish support for the Whites also included financial support from Swedish business interests, and military munitions which were delivered by Swedish warships. Medical and veterinary support was also provided. In terms of support for the Reds in Swedish society, even though Sweden's new social-democratic/liberal government was towards the left side of the political spectrum, social-democratic/liberal politicians like
Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...
and Johannes Hellner were sympathetic to the Whites as they were seen as the legitimate government and the Reds were seen, in contrast, as undemocratic and too close to communist Russia. Few Swedes volunteered to serve with the Reds and there was little support for them until close to the end of the war, when reports of poor treatment of captured Reds prompted calls in ''
Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...
'' (a left-wing news paper) to support them.


Aftermath


Cultural and societal impact

During the war, a number of antiwar authors had risen to prominence within Sweden. These included
Elin Wägner Elin Matilda Elisabet Wägner (16 May 1882 – 7 January 1949) was a Swedish writer, journalist, feminist, teacher, ecologist and pacifist. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1944. Biography Elin Wägner was born in Lund, Sweden as th ...
,
Anna Lenah Elgström Anna Helena Maria "Anna Lenah" Elgström (29 December 1884 in Helsingborg – 23 December 1968 in Stockholm) was a Swedish author. Life and career Elgström studied art in Stockholm and Paris and wrote in '' Social-Demokraten'' until 1948. She ...
,
Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...
and Marika Stiernstedt. Swedish poets, including Karl Gustav Ossiannilsson,
Bertil Malmberg Bertil Frans Harald Malmberg (13 August 1889 - 11 February 1958) was a Swedish writer, poet, and actor. He was born in Härnösand to Teodor Malmberg and Hanna Roman. Malmberg is the 1956 winner of the Dobloug Prize, a literature prize awarded ...
, and
Ture Nerman Ture Nerman (18 May 1886, in Norrköping – 7 October 1969) was a Swedish socialist journalist, author, and political activist. He also wrote poems and songs. Nerman was a vegetarian and a strict teetotaler. Alcoholism was a major social pro ...
used the medium of war-poetry to explore various themes. During the war the Swedish media had been divided into a number of differing camps depending on their position on the war. The large conservative outlets, including ''
Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...
'', ''
Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...
'' (which was majority-owned by German interests), and ''
Nya Dagligt Allehanda ''Nya Dagligt Allehanda'' (New Daily Everywhere), also known as the ''NDA'' was a Swedish conservative-leaning newspaper published in Stockholm from 1859 to 1944. History The ''Nya Dagligt Allehanda'' was founded as a continuation of another n ...
'' had been broadly pro-German. Left/liberal-leaning newspapers such as ''
Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...
'', on the other hand, were more pro-allied. Finally, ''
Stockholms-Tidningen ''Stockholms-Tidningen'' () was a Swedish-language morning newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden, between 1889 and 1984 with an interruption from 1966 to 1981. It was one of the major dailies in the country together with ''Dagens Nyheter'' and ...
'', Sweden's largest news paper at the time, was relatively neutral and pro-government. The rise to power of social-democratic politicians also permanently altered the Swedish political landscape, as many aspects of Liberal policy were implemented, and universal suffrage was accepted.


Treaty of Versailles and German postwar re-armament

Sweden was not a signatory of the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, which brought the war to an end, but the Swedish diplomat Marcus Wallenberg (senior), the half-brother of Knut Wallenberg, took part in negotiations at Versailles in relation to Swedish assets in Germany. However, in 1920, Sweden joined the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
, which was formed as a result of the treaty, and so was bound by its restriction of
German rearmament German rearmament (''Aufrüstung'', ) was a policy and practice of rearmament carried out by Germany from 1918 to 1939 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which required German disarmament after World War I to prevent it from starting an ...
. Despite the Versailles restrictions, Swedish firms provided assistance to German counterparts that helped them avoid the restrictions of the treaty, ultimately aiding the rearmament efforts of Nazi Germany before the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The assistance included assembling Junkers military aircraft and manufacturing artillery weapons for
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
.


See also

* Swedish intervention in Persia *
Sweden during World War II Sweden maintained its policy of neutrality during World War II. When the war began on 1 September 1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear. But by a combination of its geopolitical location in the Scandinavian Peninsula, ''realpolitik'' maneuveri ...
*
Seskarö Uprising As a consequence of the 1917 food shortage in Sweden, the residents of Seskarö went against the authority of the Swedish government by forcibly purchasing bread from local bakeries when the supplies from the mainland failed to reach demand. Lat ...


References

{{Authority control 1910s in Sweden
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...