Sweden and the Scandinavian Defence Dilemma

Abstract

Research on Swedish security policy during the Cold War built on primary sources has been growing over the last 20 years. One of the most discussed issues has been ‘neutral’ Sweden's interaction with the West, and especially the United States and the United Kingdom. The newly published documents from the British Foreign Office (FO) in the volume The Nordic Countries: From War to Cold War, 1944–1951 are, against that background, of considerable value. In this article the ‘Scandinavian defence dilemma’ – that is integrating non-aligned Sweden in the Western security system without being a formal member of it – and its solution during the decisive years of 1948–1949 is discussed against the background of the FO documents. The overall picture given is that the British government played a key role in integrating Sweden into the Western defence structures during these years, a picture that harmonizes well with, and further strengthens, current research. It can be argued that the solution of the Scandinavian defence dilemma was the next best solution for all parties involved: the Western powers had preferred Swedish membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but Sweden's ‘friendly’ neutrality policy was better than a ‘rigid’ neutrality policy, and the Russians had preferred a Sweden without any ties at all to the West, but as long as Sweden stayed outside NATO the solution was acceptable even for them.

Keywords:

• Sweden
• security
• Cold War
• defence
• Scandinavia
• Great Britain
• foreign policy

Notes

1 See, for example, Cole, Neutralité du Jour; Agrell, Den stora lögnen; Neutralitetspolitikkommissionen (NPK), Om kriget kommit …; Silva, Keep Them Strong, Keep Them Friendly; Agrell, Fred och fruktan; Säkerhetspolitiska utredningen, Fred och säkerhet; Moores, ‘“Neutral on our side”’; Aunesluoma, Britain, Sweden and the Cold War; Kronvall and Petersson, Svensk säkerhetspolitik; Dalsjö, Life Line Lost; Nilsson, Tools of Hegemony; Widén, Väktare, ombud, kritiker; Bjereld, Johansson, and Molin, Sveriges säkerhet och världens fred; Mattsson, Neutralitetens tid; Holmström: Den dolda alliansen; and Gribbe, Stril 60.

2 Aunesluoma, Britain, Sweden and the Cold War, 80.

3 Despatch from Bevin to Farquhar, 3 February 1949, FO 371/77400, N1245/1074/63G (No. 177).

4 See, for example, Aalders, Swedish Neutrality and the Cold War, and Noreen, Brobygge eller blockbildning?

5 Minute from Hankey to Bateman, 14 February 1948, FO 371/71724, N1676/577/42 (No. 114).

6 The literature regarding the negotiations on a Scandinavian Defence Union is extensive and comprehensive. Already during the Cold War several solid studies built on primary sources were published (see, for example, Skodvin, Norden eller NATO?; Eriksen, DNA og NATO; Wahlbäck, ‘Norden och blockuppdelningen 1948–49’; Wahlbäck, ‘USA i Skandinavien’ (Parts 1 and 2); Lundestad, America, Scandinavia, and the Cold War; Blidberg, Just Good Friends). For literature published after the end of the Cold War see, for example, Molin, Omstridd neutralitet; Björklund, Samförstånd under oenighet; Zetterberg, ‘Skandinavisk samverkan’; Danielsen, ‘The Security Choices of the Scandinavian Countries’; Rådehed, Förändring av utrikespolitisk linje?; Ekecrantz, Hemlig utrikespolitik; and Olesen and Villaume, I blokopdelingens tegn.

7 Aunesluoma, Britain, Sweden and the Cold War, 65 and xiv.

8 Telegram from Farquhar to Bevin, 13 October 1948, FO 371/71453, N11003/637/63G (No. 151).

9 Agrell, Den stora lögnen; NPK, Om kriget kommit …; Petersson, ‘Brödrafolkens väl’; and Dalsjö, Life Line Lost.

10 Aunesluoma, Britain, Sweden and the Cold War, 70–3, and memorandum by Hankey, 30 September 1948, FO 371/71454, N11084/637/63G (No. 148).

11 Kronvall, Den bräckliga barriären.

12 Brundtland, ‘Nordisk balanse før og nå’.

13 Petersson, ‘The Theory and Practice of the “Nordic Balance”’; Kronvall, Östen Undéns Sovjetsyn.

14 Eriksen and Pharo, Kald krig og internasjonalisering; Olesen and Villaume, I blokopdelingens tegn 1945–1972; Kronvall and Petersson, Svensk säkerhetspolitik; and Wahlbäck, Jättens andedräkt.

15 Record of a meeting chaired by Bateman, 22 October 1948, FO 371/71454, N11864/637/63G (No. 152).

16 Telegram from Bevin to Farquhar, 16 January 1949, 11.55 p.m., FO 371/77392, N547/1071/63) (No. 169).

17 Kronvall, Östen Undéns Sovjetsyn.

18 This was also shown later during the Cold War, for example during the so-called first détente, that is the period between the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's death in 1953 and the Soviet invasion in Hungary. See, for example, Aunesluoma, Petersson, and Silva, ‘Deterrence or Reassurance?’.

19 Kronvall and Petersson, Svensk säkerhetspolitik; Petersson, ‘Neutrality in Swedish Foreign Policy’.

20 Tamnes, ‘Integration and Screening’; Kronvall and Petersson, Svensk säkerhetspolitik.

21 Petersson, ‘Brödrafolkens väl’.

22 See, for example, Agrell, Den stora lögnen; NPK, Om kriget kommit; Petersson, ‘Brödrafolkens väl’; Dalsjö, Life Line Lost; Collmar, ‘Samarbete med gränser’; and Holmström, Den dolda alliansen.

23 Moores, ‘“Neutral on our Side”’.

24 Petersson, ‘“She would not fight unless Attacked”’. Emphasis added by Bryn. See also Gjeseth, Landforsvarets krigsplaner under den kalde krigen.