When the Second World War ended in Europe, the democratic kingdom of Sweden remained as it was when the war commenced – intact and at peace. In May 1945 as in November 1918, Sweden had escaped Europe's fratricidal violence and destruction. What explains Sweden's nearly two-century-long ability to remain outside armed conflict between states? What explains the overwhelming desire of the nation's politicians to remain outside a conflict in which its system of governance, democracy, was so clearly at risk in a Hitler-dominated Europe? More so now than perhaps at any time since the war's conclusion, the current debate about the nation's experience with neutrality, and importantly, its future, is characterised by discussions about its moral content, or lack thereof. Indeed, the importance of neutrality in shaping Sweden's character is difficult to exaggerate, for, as a result of the generations of political and military neutrality, one can virtually speak of a ‘mentality of neutrality’. For the Swedish people, ‘neutrality’ is far more than merely a security policy. As historian Alf W. Johansson has written, ‘Neutrality was not only the country's chosen security policy during the war years; it also created a certain mentality, a particular state of mind.