THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The outbreak of the First World War during the summer of 1914 was a major test of Sweden’s military neutrality. Many Swedes continued to fear, as their ancestors had done for centuries, that Russia might make a concerted push across the Baltic Sea. Yet, like Denmark and Norway, it maintained its neutral stance vis-à-vis the belligerents. For most of the Swedish population saw little to be gained by entering the war. Russia may have feared a Swedish attack, in 1915, in concert with Germany, but from the Swedish side there was little appetite for such a military adventure. The Independent Conservative prime minister, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953), though sympathetic towards Germany, strove consistently to keep Sweden out of the affray. Even the Social Democrat Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925) supported neutrality, despite the fact that he imputed military responsibility for the war to the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary. With overwhelming popular opinion against entering the war on both sides of the political spectrum, therefore, Sweden maintained its formal neutrality throughout the war.

It was no easy task. Both Entente and German pressure on Swedish neutrality was considerable, but it took an economic, rather than military, form. By satisfying many of the material demands of both sides, Sweden prevented any military infringement of its stance and this brought in considerable economic benefits in the process. In the spring of 1915, for example, Britain was in especial need of Swedish timber and Germany of Swedish horses, so both sides benefited from the country’s neutrality, and the sales proceeded with little hindrance. Sometimes, however, actions by Sweden, under heavy pressure from one of the belligerents, did arouse conspicuous annoyance, even retribution, from the other. For example, Swedish mining of the Kogrund Channel, on the Swedish side of the Sound, in the summer of 1916, under pressure from the Germans, seriously antagonised Britain, closing, as it did, the latter’s maritime access to and from the Baltic.