Transit of German troops through Scandinavia (WWII)
Encyclopedia
The matter of German troop transfer through Finland and Sweden during World War II
was one of the more controversial aspects of modern Scandinavian history beside Finland
's co-belligerence
with Nazi Germany
in the Continuation War
, and the export of Swedish iron ore during World War II
.
The Swedish
concession to German demands during and after the German invasion of Norway
in April–June, 1940, is often viewed as a significant breach with prior neutrality
-policies, that were held in high regard in many smaller European nations. After they were publicly acknowledged, the Soviet Union
immediately requested a similar but more far-reaching concession from Finland, which invited the Third Reich to trade similar transit rights through Finland in return for weaponry badly needed by the Finns. This was the first significant proof of a changed, more favorable, German policy vis-à-vis Finland, that ultimately would put Finland in a position of co-belligerence with Nazi Germany in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union (June 25, 1941 – September 4, 1944).
on April 9, 1940, Sweden and the other remaining Baltic Sea countries became enclosed by Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union
, then on friendly terms with each other as formalized in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
. The lengthy fighting in Norway resulted in intensified German demands for indirect support from Sweden, demands that Swedish diplomats were able to fend off by reminding the Germans of the Swedes' feeling of closeness to their Norwegian brethren. With the conclusion of hostilities in Norway this argument became untenable, forcing the Cabinet to give in to German pressure and allow continuous (unarmed) troop transports, via Swedish railroads, between Germany and Norway.
The extent of these transports was kept secret, although spreading rumors soon forced prime minister Per Albin Hansson
to admit their existence. Officially the trains transported wounded soldiers and soldiers on leave (permittent-tåg), which would still have been in violation of Sweden's proclaimed neutrality
.
In all, close to 100,000 railroad car
s had transported 1,004,158 military personnel on leave to Germany and 1,037,158 to Norway through Sweden by the time the transit agreement was disbanded on 15 August 1943.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union
in early summer of 1941, Operation Barbarossa
, the Germans on June 22 1941 asked Sweden for some military concessions. The Swedish government granted these requests for logistical support. The most controversial concession was the decision to allow the railway-transfer of the fully armed and combat-ready 163rd Infantry Division from Norway to Finland.
In Sweden the political deliberations surrounding this decision have been called the "midsummer crisis". Research by Carl-Gustaf Scott argues however that there never was a "crisis", and that "the crisis was created in historical hindsight in order to protect the political legacy of the Social Democratic Party
and its leader Per Albin Hansson
."
in March 1940 required Finland to allow the Soviet Navy
to establish a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula
, at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland
. The treaty didn't contain any provisions for troop and material transfer rights, and Finland's leadership was left with the impression that the Soviet Union would supply the base by sea.
On July 9, two days after Sweden had officially admitted to have granted transfer rights to Germany, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
demanded free transfer rights through Finland, using Finnish Railways. In the ensuing negotiations the Finns were able to limit the number of Soviet trains simultaneously in Finland to three. An agreement was signed on September 6.
's occupation of Norway brought to the fore the need to transfer troops and munitions not only by sea, but also through the neutral
countries of Sweden and Finland. The most convenient route to northernmost Norway was a rough truck road that passed through Finland. Diplomatic relations between Finland and the Third Reich improved after the Winter War
, when Germany had sided with the Soviet Union, and on August 18 an agreement was reached that allowed Germany to set up supporting bases along the long Arctic truck road. The agreement was kept secret until the first German troops arrived in the port of Vaasa
on September 21.
The German transfer rights were in breach of, if not the letter, then the spirit of the Russo-Finnish Moscow Peace Treaty, as well as the Russo-German Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
, but the Finns greeted the agreement as a balance against the increasing pressure from the Soviet Union. The transit road through northern Finland had a significant symbolic value, but in transit volume it was of lesser significance until the run up to Operation Barbarossa
, when the route was used to deploy five Wehrmacht
divisions in northern Finland.
In 1943, as Germany's prospects began to wane, Swedish public opinion turned against the agreement, and pressure from England and USA mounted, the Swedish Cabinet declared on June 29, 1943 that the transits had to stop before October 1943. On August 5, it was officially announced that the transits were to cease.
is a 1996 alternate history novel by Hans Alfredson
. In the book a group of Swedish communists blow up a German train passing through Sweden, killing Eva Braun
who was on board. Hitler is infuriated and invades Sweden, which surrenders on May 12, 1941.
"Konjak & nazister" ("Cognac and Nazis"), a song by Euskefeurat
, tells the story of a sabotage on a German train in Abisko
where they drill a hole in the bottom of a freight car to get to the large barrel of cognac there.
Karl Gerhard
performed the song "Den ökända hästen från Troja" (The Infamous Horse of Troy) in 1940 and it was later banned. The song used the tune by Isaak Dunajevskij with new words in Swedish by Lille Bror Söderlundh
. When the song was performed, a large Dalecarlian horse
was brought onto the stage, but instead of legs it had column
s. It also had a fifth column
that opened and Karl Gerhard stepped out.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was one of the more controversial aspects of modern Scandinavian history beside Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's co-belligerence
Co-belligerence
Co-belligerence is the waging of a war in cooperation against a common enemy without a formal treaty of military alliance.Co-belligerence is a broader and less precise status of wartime partnership than a formal military alliance. Co-belligerents may support each other materially, exchange...
with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
, and the export of Swedish iron ore during World War II
Swedish iron ore during World War II
Swedish iron ore was an important economic factor in the European Theatre of World War II. Both the Allies and the Third Reich were keen on the control of the mining district in northernmost Sweden, surrounding the mining towns of Gällivare and Kiruna...
.
The Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
concession to German demands during and after the German invasion of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in April–June, 1940, is often viewed as a significant breach with prior neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
-policies, that were held in high regard in many smaller European nations. After they were publicly acknowledged, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
immediately requested a similar but more far-reaching concession from Finland, which invited the Third Reich to trade similar transit rights through Finland in return for weaponry badly needed by the Finns. This was the first significant proof of a changed, more favorable, German policy vis-à-vis Finland, that ultimately would put Finland in a position of co-belligerence with Nazi Germany in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union (June 25, 1941 – September 4, 1944).
German troops through Sweden
After Denmark and Norway were invadedOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
on April 9, 1940, Sweden and the other remaining Baltic Sea countries became enclosed by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, then on friendly terms with each other as formalized in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
. The lengthy fighting in Norway resulted in intensified German demands for indirect support from Sweden, demands that Swedish diplomats were able to fend off by reminding the Germans of the Swedes' feeling of closeness to their Norwegian brethren. With the conclusion of hostilities in Norway this argument became untenable, forcing the Cabinet to give in to German pressure and allow continuous (unarmed) troop transports, via Swedish railroads, between Germany and Norway.
The extent of these transports was kept secret, although spreading rumors soon forced prime minister Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson , was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his...
to admit their existence. Officially the trains transported wounded soldiers and soldiers on leave (permittent-tåg), which would still have been in violation of Sweden's proclaimed neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
.
In all, close to 100,000 railroad car
Railroad car
A railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
s had transported 1,004,158 military personnel on leave to Germany and 1,037,158 to Norway through Sweden by the time the transit agreement was disbanded on 15 August 1943.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in early summer of 1941, Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, the Germans on June 22 1941 asked Sweden for some military concessions. The Swedish government granted these requests for logistical support. The most controversial concession was the decision to allow the railway-transfer of the fully armed and combat-ready 163rd Infantry Division from Norway to Finland.
In Sweden the political deliberations surrounding this decision have been called the "midsummer crisis". Research by Carl-Gustaf Scott argues however that there never was a "crisis", and that "the crisis was created in historical hindsight in order to protect the political legacy of the Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
and its leader Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson , was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his...
."
Soviet troop transfers through Finland
The Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Winter WarWinter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
in March 1940 required Finland to allow the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
to establish a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula
Hanko Peninsula
The Hanko Peninsula , also spelled Hango, is the southernmost point of mainland Finland. The soil is a sandy moraine, the last tip of the Salpausselkä ridge, and vegetation consists mainly of pine and low shrubs...
, at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
. The treaty didn't contain any provisions for troop and material transfer rights, and Finland's leadership was left with the impression that the Soviet Union would supply the base by sea.
On July 9, two days after Sweden had officially admitted to have granted transfer rights to Germany, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
demanded free transfer rights through Finland, using Finnish Railways. In the ensuing negotiations the Finns were able to limit the number of Soviet trains simultaneously in Finland to three. An agreement was signed on September 6.
German troop transfers through Finland
In the summer of 1940, Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's occupation of Norway brought to the fore the need to transfer troops and munitions not only by sea, but also through the neutral
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
countries of Sweden and Finland. The most convenient route to northernmost Norway was a rough truck road that passed through Finland. Diplomatic relations between Finland and the Third Reich improved after the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, when Germany had sided with the Soviet Union, and on August 18 an agreement was reached that allowed Germany to set up supporting bases along the long Arctic truck road. The agreement was kept secret until the first German troops arrived in the port of Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
on September 21.
The German transfer rights were in breach of, if not the letter, then the spirit of the Russo-Finnish Moscow Peace Treaty, as well as the Russo-German Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, but the Finns greeted the agreement as a balance against the increasing pressure from the Soviet Union. The transit road through northern Finland had a significant symbolic value, but in transit volume it was of lesser significance until the run up to Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, when the route was used to deploy five Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
divisions in northern Finland.
Timeline
Originating from http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq736.html [Link is dead ATM 2006-11-23]- April 9, 1940, The invasion of Denmark and Norway
- Sweden accepts German demands for import and export of products to/from Norway as before — i.e. no war material.
- April 16, 1940
- Food and oil supplies permitted transport to northern Norway to "save the population from starvation" after the war had emptied the reserves.
- Troops, including 40 "red-cross soldiers" were denied transit
- April 18, 1940
- The 40 "red-cross soldiers" were accepted for transit together with a train loaded with sanitary material. However when this turned out to contain 90% food, according to the Swedish customs, further requests for transit of "sanitary material" were rejected.
- April to June, 1940
- Norway protests that Sweden is taking the neutrality too seriously, expecting more support for Norway.
- German civil sailors were given individual transit visa.
- Wounded soldiers were transported through Sweden, and 20 further "red-cross soldiers" and a physician were allowed to pass together with five wagons with food stuff.
- June 18, 1940
- As the war in Norway was finished, German demands for transit were repeated with greater emphasis. The Swedish parliament did formally modify the neutrality policy according to the German demands. (England and France were informed before the parliament debate.)
- July 7, 1940
- Sweden's Prime Minister admits the transit in a public speech in LudvikaLudvikaLudvika is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 14,018 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:The conurbation of Ludvika extends over the border of Smedjebacken Municipality, where about 400 inhabitants live....
.
- Sweden's Prime Minister admits the transit in a public speech in Ludvika
- July 8, 1940
- Swedish agreement with Nazi Germany formalized:
- 1 daily train (500 man) back and forth TrelleborgTrelleborgTrelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 25,643 inhabitants in 2005. It is the southernmost town in Sweden.-History:...
–KornsjøKornsjøKornsjø is a village in Enningdalen in Halden, Norway on the border to Sweden. The village has 250 residents . At Kornsjø is the bordercrossing for the railway lines Østfoldbanen and Norgebanan . Previously change of crew was performed at Kornsjø Station, but this has since been closed.... - 1 weekly train (500 man) back and forth Trelleborg–NarvikNarvikis the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
- 1 daily train (500 man) back and forth Trelleborg
- The agreement with Germany was later increased.
- Swedish agreement with Nazi Germany formalized:
- July 9, 1940
- The Soviet Union demands troop transfer rights through Finland
- July 15, 1940
- Protests from Norway's exile CabinetGovernment in exileA government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
, and from the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's government, against Swedish concessions for German demands.
- Protests from Norway's exile Cabinet
- August, 1940
- After the Soviet occupationMilitary occupationMilitary occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of the Baltic Republics, they are annexed to the Soviet Union, making the Soviet Union a dominant power at the Baltic SeaBaltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
beside the Third Reich.
- After the Soviet occupation
- August 18, 1940
- A German envoy agree on troop transfer rights with Finland's leadership:
- The WehrmachtWehrmachtThe Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
is granted rights to use- the ports of VaasaVaasaVaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
, OuluOuluOulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, KemiKemiKemi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio. It was founded in 1869 by royal decree, because of its proximity to a deep water harbour....
and TornioTornioTornio is a town and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , with a total population of . It borders to the Swedish municipality of Haparanda...
.
- the ports of Vaasa
- rail lines from the ports to YlitornioYlitornioYlitornio is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Lapland at the shore of the Torne River, opposite to Övertorneå. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
and RovaniemiRovaniemiRovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...
. - roads from Ylitornio and Rovaniemi to Northern Norway, and to establish depots along the roads.
- The Wehrmacht
- The agreement was later expanded to include the port of TurkuTurkuTurku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
.
- A German envoy agree on troop transfer rights with Finland's leadership:
- September 6, 1940
- The troop transfer treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed:
- Soviet Union can use rail lines from the Soviet border to Hanko.
- Only three trains are allowed to be simultaneously in Finland.
- The troop transfer treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed:
- April 1941
- As the German plans for an attack on Russia was taken seriously by the Swedish government, it was discussed between the Cabinet and the Commander-in-chief how Sweden could react in case of a war between Germany, Finland and Russia.
- The Commander-in-chief warned for the danger in a continued neutrality policy, that could provoke German anger and occupation. Plans for cooperation with Germany and Finland were made.
- Single Cabinet members considered cooperation with the Soviet Union, however this was fiercely rejected by a large cabinet majority.
- As the German plans for an attack on Russia was taken seriously by the Swedish government, it was discussed between the Cabinet and the Commander-in-chief how Sweden could react in case of a war between Germany, Finland and Russia.
- Midsummer, 1941
- In connection with Germany's attack on Russia on Midsummer's Day 1941, Sweden had its most serious cabinet crisis:
- June 22, 1941, with Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
the German invasion of the Soviet Union starts.- Germany demanded to transit the fully armed division Engelbrecht (163. inf. div) from Norway to Finland.
- June 23, 1941
- The Cabinet discuss the requested transit of one armed division (Division Engelbrecht) from northern Norway to northern Finland. Agrarians, Liberals and the Right supported acceding to the combined Finnish-German request. Some Social Democrats opposed it.
- The king declared "he would not be a party of giving a negative answer to Finland's and Germany's request", which was tactically cited by the prime minister in terms of an abdication-threat. It has not been decisively shown whether the prime minister's interpretation was pure tactic, or if he in fact had perceived an honest ambition to consider abdication from the side of the king, but the prime minister's record and personality speaks for the tactic-theory.
- June 24, 1941
- The Social Democratic parliament group decides, with the votes 72-59, to try to convince the other parties for a rejection, but to agree in case they insisted.
- The other parties seemed prepared to split the Cabinet.
- June 25, 1941
- The Swedish government accept the transit of Division Engelbrecht.
- June 22, 1941, with Operation Barbarossa
- In connection with Germany's attack on Russia on Midsummer's Day 1941, Sweden had its most serious cabinet crisis:
- June 25, 1941
- Soviet Union stages a major air assault with 460 planes against Finnish targets.
- Finnish government issues a statement that Finland is at war, the Continuation WarContinuation WarThe Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
.
- July 9, 1941
- The German Troop transporter Tannenberg, Preussen and Hansestadt Danzig are sunk by Swedish mines in Swedish water outside southern ÖlandÖland' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...
. 200 Germans drowned.
- The German Troop transporter Tannenberg, Preussen and Hansestadt Danzig are sunk by Swedish mines in Swedish water outside southern Öland
- July 11, 1941
- Finland's official ambitions on a Greater FinlandGreater FinlandGreater Finland was an idea which was born in some irredentist movements emphasizing pan-Finnicism and expressed a Finnish version of pre-World War II European nationalism. It was imagined to include Finland as well as territories inhabited by ethnically-related Finnic peoples: Finns, Karelians,...
get known abroad with the publication of Mannerheim's Order of the Day of July 10, the so called Sword Scabbard DeclarationSword Scabbard DeclarationThe Order of the Day of the Sword Scabbard, or the Sword Scabbard Declaration, actually refers to two related declarations by the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim during World War I and World War II against Soviet control of East Karelia.-World War I:During the Civil War in...
. - New demands on transit of an armed division from Trelleborg to Tornio.
- Finland's official ambitions on a Greater Finland
- following weeks of July 1941
- The general attitudes in Sweden to Finland's and Germany's demands grew less and less favorable.
- The troop transit is proposed to be realized on Swedish water along the Swedish coast with Swedish escort.
- autumn of 1941
- Several requests for neutrality-violating exports and transits are rejected during the following autumn.
In 1943, as Germany's prospects began to wane, Swedish public opinion turned against the agreement, and pressure from England and USA mounted, the Swedish Cabinet declared on June 29, 1943 that the transits had to stop before October 1943. On August 5, it was officially announced that the transits were to cease.
In popular culture
Attentatet i Pålsjö skogAttentatet i Pålsjö skog
Attentatet i Pålsjö skog is a 1996 alternate history novel by Hans Alfredson. In the book a group of Swedish anti-fascists blow up a German train passing through Sweden, killing several hundred German soldiers and Eva Braun who was on board...
is a 1996 alternate history novel by Hans Alfredson
Hans Alfredson
Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson is a Swedish actor, film director, writer and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson...
. In the book a group of Swedish communists blow up a German train passing through Sweden, killing Eva Braun
Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
who was on board. Hitler is infuriated and invades Sweden, which surrenders on May 12, 1941.
"Konjak & nazister" ("Cognac and Nazis"), a song by Euskefeurat
Euskefeurat
Euskefeurat is a music group from Piteå, Sweden.Euskefeurat is a local patriotic leftleaning band from Piteå and was founded in 1977. It stopped in 1994 and restarted in 2005. Among the members are Ronny Eriksson, Bengt Ruthström, Dan Engman and Stefan Isaksson...
, tells the story of a sabotage on a German train in Abisko
Abisko
Abisko is a village in northern Sweden, near the Abisko National Park located 4 km west of the village. It had 85 inhabitants as of 2005.-Transportation:...
where they drill a hole in the bottom of a freight car to get to the large barrel of cognac there.
Karl Gerhard
Karl Gerhard
Karl Gerhard was a Swedish revue-writer and performer. Many of Karl Gerhard’s plays and songs are politically to the left, and during the 1930s and World War II, they contained clear anti-fascist statements....
performed the song "Den ökända hästen från Troja" (The Infamous Horse of Troy) in 1940 and it was later banned. The song used the tune by Isaak Dunajevskij with new words in Swedish by Lille Bror Söderlundh
Lille Bror Söderlundh
Bror Axel Söderlundh was a Swedish composer and singer. He composed music for many Swedish films. He also wrote classical music, including the Concertino for Oboe and Strings which has been performed by the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.He was born in 1912 in Kristinehamn...
. When the song was performed, a large Dalecarlian horse
Dalecarlian horse
A Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse is a traditional carved and painted wooden statuette of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna. In the old days the Dala horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna as well as Sweden in general...
was brought onto the stage, but instead of legs it had column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s. It also had a fifth column
Fifth column
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...
that opened and Karl Gerhard stepped out.
See also
- Per Albin Hansson#The 1941 "Midsummer Crisis"
- Swedish overseas trade during World War IISwedish overseas trade during World War IIFrom the German capture of Denmark and Norway, the Swedish overseas trade during World War II was mainly blocked by the battle of the Atlantic, but Swedish diplomats convinced Germany and the United Kingdom to let through a few vessels, mainly to the USA until their entrance into the war, and...