1941: Sweden

Virtually cut off from foreign countries by the double British-German blockade at the beginning of 1941, Sweden was completely surrounded by warring countries after June 28. It had to deal with persistent demands from belligerents, as well as with domestic problems arising from insecurity and shortages of vital commodities.

National Defense.

At the opening of the Riksdag on Jan. 11, the defense outlay for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1941, was estimated at 1,800,000,000 kronor (about $400,000,000). On Jan. 19 civic meetings were held throughout the country to win support for a new defense loan of 500,000,000 kronor, and Vice Admiral Fabian Tamm announced that one ship a week would be added to the Swedish Navy during the first half of 1941. Plans for the entire year included completion of 36 mine sweepers, 8 motor torpedo boats, 2 new destroyers, and doubling of the submarine fleet. On the other hand, Sweden was forced to sell two of its largest ships to belligerents. The Stockholm, which was built in Italy, was sold to the Italian Government early in November, because no arrangements could be made for delivering it to Sweden. The Kungsholm, 20,067-ton motor ship, was taken over by the United States in mid-December. The worst naval disaster in Sweden's history occurred near Stockholm on Sept. 17. Explosions sank three of the most modern destroyers (which had cost about $2,000,000 each), killing 31 sailors and wounding 12.

Domestic Precautions.

As the Russo-German war approached, the Swedish Government took special measures to safeguard its security at home. Swedish police, at 6 a.m. on June 4, began simultaneous raids on Communist centers throughout Sweden, including the Headquarters of the Communist party in Stockholm and the offices of Ny Dag, the leading party newspaper. The raiders removed large quantities of documents, and detained about 20 Communists. The police made new attacks on pro-Soviet groups in July, accusing them of participating in an international organization which delivered explosives for sabotage against shipping.

A constitutional amendment allowing for censorship in times of war or danger of war, which had been initially passed in 1940, was made a law on June 18. Minister of Foreign Affairs Günther said that he hoped it would not be necessary to use the permission granted in this amendment.

About the same time the Riksdag appropriated 131,000,000 kronor to promote better housing as a safeguard against unemployment. The Government stipulated that there must be no private profiteering or trade union difficulties on Government building projects, and that rents in the new houses must be as low as in similar houses built before the European war. To prepare for possible air raids, Sweden constructed numerous granite-roofed shelters — over 300 in Stockholm alone.

Foreign Relations.

The double blockade of Sweden was not eased until March, when both London and Berlin agreed to let a few ships pass through each month. As Germany's control of the European continent increased, Sweden's neutrality became more precarious in the face of German demands. On April 27, however, when four German soldiers from Norway crossed the Swedish border into the northern province of Vaesterbotten, the neutrality guard interned them. Early in June the Swedish Supreme Court unanimously rejected the demand of four German firms for funds they had deposited in Sweden before the war.

The Russo-German conflict raised many new problems for the Swedish Foreign Office. To prepare for the outbreak of hostilities, Swedish naval officials announced on June 9 that Sweden had mined its territorial waters on the east coast between Stockholm and the Aaland Islands and that all ships going north to the Bay of Bothnia must use the inner passage through the Swedish skerries. On June 25, however, Sweden permitted a division of German troops to pass from Norway to Finland. Britain promptly sent a protest accusing the Swedes of yielding to German pressure.

After Finland had openly joined Germany in attacking Russia, and Sweden had showed unwillingness to cooperate, the German press vigorously criticized Sweden and warned that Finland would assume future leadership in the North. The typical Swedish response to the German editorials was printed in the prominent Labor paper Arbetet of Malmö: 'Sweden has no position of leadership to maintain or abandon. There is no evidence that Finland aspires to one either.' Sweden continued to be in German disfavor throughout the summer, and Germany designated Sept. 1 as the date on which Sweden must close its consulates in Norway, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Belgium and Northern France, excepting those in Oslo, Delfzijl (Netherlands), Rotterdam, Brussels and Paris. On Sept. 2 Swedish authorities announced that no citizen of Sweden would be allowed to give military service to any foreign country other than Finland. This ruling was made to counter German attempts at recruiting Swedes to serve in one of their military units.

Relations with Finland were considerably better than those with Germany. In spite of its own food shortages, Sweden sent Finland large amounts of food and clothing. On June 29, however, Swedish authorities announced that there would be no independent corps of volunteers sent to Finland and that individuals who wanted to fight for Finland should enroll in Swedish-speaking military units in Finland.

Foreign Trade.

Although the double blockade of Sweden was somewhat relaxed after March, it was a serious handicap to foreign trade throughout the year. Most of Sweden's trade was with Germany and neighboring countries under German domination. In January it was announced that a Swedish-German trade pact had been signed Dec. 14, 1940, to provide for $500,000,000 worth of trade between the two countries during 1941. Sweden had signed a trade treaty with Denmark on Dec. 20, 1940, covering the first half of 1941. Under it, payments were cleared through the German Clearing Office in Berlin. A commercial agreement in June and a supplementary pact signed on July 1 provided for trade during the latter half of the year at the same level as the first half. The main Swedish export was lumber, while the main Danish export was sugar. A Swedish-Norwegian clearing agreement signed April 8 provided for exports of 55,000,000 kronor ($13,000,000) worth of grains and other foodstuffs to Norway and imports of Norwegian products valued at 60,000,000 kronor ($14,280,000).

On April 1, Sweden concluded a trade treaty with Finland, which provided for exports to Finland valued at 43,000,000 kronor and imports from Finland valued at 23,000,000. After the outbreak of the new war between Finland and Russia, Sweden agreed to send Finland additional supplies of iron and steel, rye, wheat flour, butter, potatoes, fats, syrup and molasses, canned meat and vacuum dried rations.

During the first nine months of the year total Swedish exports were valued at 981,000,000 kronor and imports at 1,205,000,000 kronor. Imports exceeded exports considerably during the first five months, but were reduced in the summer, when they just about equaled exports.

Food and Other Supplies.

Despite the many obstacles to foreign trade, Sweden's food consumption during 1941 was estimated at only 20 per cent below that of 1939. It was reported that more bread and vegetables were consumed. The only serious deficiency was in fats, which were cut to half of normal consumption. No smörgasbord could be served in restaurants after July 1. Eggs were rationed after Sept. 24 to allow seven eggs per person each month. Peas and beans were confiscated by the Government for military purposes.

Industrial production fell below expectations, mainly because promised deliveries of coal from Germany were not forthcoming. The iron and cement industries were the chief sufferers. The coal shortage, however, was partially made up by the production of peat. It was estimated that Sweden has over 8,000,000,000 tons of peat reserve, which would have the heat value of 5,500,000,000 tons of coal — enough to meet the country's requirements for 700 years at the present rate of consumption. The lack of fuel for motor vehicles was met by altering their machinery so that they could use charcoal or wood. In August it was announced that at least 100,000 motor vehicles in Sweden were using this type of fuel. In October, however, the Government assumed control of all firewood. Another measure for alleviation of the fuel problem was the distillation of slate oil in spite of the expense of the process. Rubber also was extremely scarce, and Swedes resorted to extensive use of scrap supplies.

As 1941 ended, Sweden was proud of having retained its neutrality, but had little hope of improving its economic or political situation during the coming year. See also FINLAND; NORWAY.