Sweden in the First World War: making gold out of bombs

For Sweden, both world wars followed the same pattern: first they supported Germany, then they turned tail and supported the other side when the tide of war turned. Contrary to the lie of a neutral and compassionate Sweden, the only thing that mattered to the war hawks was how much money they could make from the slaughter and destruction. But there were also those who fought back: the left and the Communists.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Sweden had the highest military expenditure in the world, relatively speaking, even though it had not been at war since the campaign against Norway a century earlier. By 1905, the labour movement had prevented a new war against Norway through demonstrations, mass meetings and campaigns led by the Social Democratic Youth League.

100 million kroner, equivalent to about 5.5 billion kroner today, was spent on the military every year. The ruling class constantly wanted to invest more in armaments, not only for strictly military reasons, but also because of its usefulness in suppressing striking workers.

The archenemy of the Swedish bourgeoisie and nobility was Russia, with whom they had fought for centuries for dominance over the Baltic Sea region. By the beginning of the 20th century, therefore, Russophobia was already old, and so was support for Germany. For example, in 1910, the Lindman government (led by what would become today's Moderate Party) initiated secret negotiations with the German government regarding a Swedish-German military treaty against Russia.

The explorer, writer and national icon Sven Hedin, with the help of many Swedish capitalists, published the pamphlet A Word of Warning free to almost every household in Sweden. It portrayed Sweden as “the outpost of culture against the barbarism of the East” and asked the reader to “imagine Stockholm after the battle”. 

He describes schools converted into barracks, foreign cavalrymen in grey tunics at Gustav Adolfs torg (a public square), an artillery park in Kungsträdgården, and Russian horses drinking at Molin's fountain. Later in life, Sven Hedin would become a proud Nazi and a close friend of Adolf Hitler.

German ‘activism’

With the world war just around the corner, a movement called ‘activism’ developed. They wanted an ‘active’ foreign policy, which meant military support for Germany.

The activists' idea and goal was to defeat Russia so that Sweden could take over the Åland Islands, and Finland would become independent from Russia and come under Swedish domination. It would be the same kind of false independence that we often see under imperialism, which would allow the whole of the Nordic region to be dominated by Sweden with the help of Germany. Finland would be a future buffer zone against the Russian enemy.

Most of the Swedish bourgeoisie was inclined to support Germany because of the many economic and trade links they shared. Added to this were the many cultural links that existed between the Swedish and German ruling classes.

Europe's monarchies were a prime example of royal inbreeding, and there were many links between the Swedish and German monarchs in particular. German was a second language in Sweden among the bourgeoisie, and correspondence and political decisions were often made through personal arrangements between friends or relatives.

On 6 February 1914, a few months before the outbreak of World War I, King Gustav V and the right mobilised for a patriotic demonstration in favour of militarism / Image: Revolutionära Kommunistiska Partiet

Gustav V (King of Sweden from 1907-1950, and the current king's great-grandfather) and his German-born wife, Queen Victoria, cousin of the German Kaiser Wilhelm, were some of the most rabid advocates of war on Germany's side.

Peasant and labour marches

On 6 February 1914, a few months before the outbreak of World War I, King Gustav V and the right mobilised for a patriotic demonstration in favour of militarism.

30,000 peasants went to Stockholm – some tempted by money, others mobilised by wealthy big farmers – to listen to a speech that came from the lips of the king, but which was written by the arch-activist Sven Hedin. In the speech, he argued, among other things, that conscription must be extended to prepare for war.

The liberal Staaff government had not supported the speech, and resigned in protest against the king's intervention. In its place, Sweden got an unelected right-wing government led by the nobleman Hjalmar Hammarskjöld. The whole thing threatened to lead to a monarchist coup d'état.

In reality, German activism did not have broad support among the common people, and not even the majority of the bourgeoisie took an open position in favour of a military alliance with Germany. 

In protest against the peasant march, the left of the labour movement organised protests around the country, including the largest demonstration in Swedish history thus far.

On 8 February, 50,000 workers marched through Stockholm in a show of strength that clearly stated: “We refuse to go to war, and if the bourgeoisie forces us, they have the entire working class against them”.

On 8 February, 50,000 workers marched through Stockholm in a show of strength that clearly stated: “We refuse to go to war, and if the bourgeoisie forces us, they have the entire working class against them” / Image: Revolutionära Kommunistiska Partiet

The right-wing social democrats – led by Hjalmar Branting – had opposed the demonstration, in line with their general support for Swedish militarism. They also had strong ties to the German Social Democratic Party leadership. But they naturally opposed the king's attempted coup d'état, and when it became clear how large the workers’ demonstration would be, they were forced to lead it anyway.

The Arbetartåget (Workers' March) became one of the most important reasons why Sweden did not enter the First World War.

The war begins

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo. World war was imminent. On 25 July, the German envoy to Stockholm, Franz von Reichenau, reported to the German government that King Gustav V had said that Sweden would side with Germany in a major war. The following day, the King expressed himself more uncertainly but still in Germany's favour when he said:

“We will not side with Germany's enemies.”

On 29 July, Foreign Minister Wallenberg expressed a similar half-friendly attitude towards Germany, stating that Sweden's neutrality would only last as long as Britain stayed out of the war. 

On 31 July, the Hammarskjöld government officially declared neutrality in the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The following day, Germany declared war on Russia, activating the Russian alliance with Britain and France. The world war had begun.

The Social Democratic (or Second) International had been formed a couple of decades earlier, as the organ of the international working class's common struggle for socialist revolution. Many resolutions had been taken to turn the guns on the generals rather than send workers to shoot at each other.

But under the pressure of the long capitalist boom at the turn of the century, the leadership had increasingly moved closer to the bourgeoisie of their respective countries. The outbreak of the First World War brutally exposed this reformist and nationalist degeneration of the International.

Of all the social democratic parties in Europe that had organised themselves within the Second International, only the Serbian and Russian parties opposed the war and their own ruling class. All the others betrayed internationalism. The leader of the Swedish Social Democrats, Hjalmar Branting, showed his opportunism the very day the world war broke out. 

“Faced with the pressure of war, the internal struggle of each people, however sharp they may become, must be put to the side”, he argued.

With their assistance, the bourgeoisie could “count on the full confidence of a united people”. This was a class peace – a promise of the Social Democrats, or at least the right wing of the party, to bury the hatchet with the bourgeoisie during the war, and co-operatively implement a right-wing policy.

“Benevolent neutrality”

Sweden's official stance is usually characterised as “benevolent neutrality towards Germany”.

Knut Gillis Bildt, a general in the Swedish military, is said to have explained to soldiers that Sweden could also help Germany by being neutral in the First World War.

“We must stay out of it. Germany has more use for us if we are neutral. If we join now, we will soon be exhausted. In the meantime we shall build up our army so that when the end approaches we shall be strong and able to assert ourselves in Sweden's own interests.” (Threats to Sweden during the First World War, Militärhistorisk tidskrift, p. 59)

This is precisely the attitude that Sweden adopted in practice. At the beginning of the war, large parts of the ruling class believed that Germany would win, and their neutrality was practically non-existent. While it was “building up its army”, through high levels of military spending each year, it was an active military and diplomatic ally of Germany, even if it was a non-combatant in the World War itself. There are many examples of this.

In September 1917, it emerged that both the Swedish legation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Swedish Foreign Ministry had helped the German envoy in Argentina to send telegrams to Berlin urging them to sink Argentine ships “without a trace”. They also handed over Russian telegrams that passed through Nordic wires to Germany. Furthermore, the King and the government tried to prevent Italy from joining the war on the side of Germany's enemies.

During the summer of 1916, Sweden laid mines along the entire length of the Kogrundsrännan (a body of water between Denmark and Sweden), stopping all merchant ships except Swedish ones. The mines were laid following a deal with Germany, and complemented their own mining of the sea. Germany was therefore able to block the last route for Entente (Britain, France, Russia) trade into the Baltic Sea.

Making a fortune from the war

Swedish exports rose by as much as 32 percent from 1915 to 1916, most of which went to Germany. Export prices in 1916 were 50 percent higher than before the war. Profits for industry quadrupled during the first two years of the war and increased tenfold for shipping companies. Luxury consumption increased and the bourgeoisie rewarded itself with fancier furs and more expensive furniture. 

Food queues in Stockholm in 1917. For workers and farmers, the war and the peace treaty meant increased exploitation and poverty / Image: Revolutionära Kommunistiska Partiet

But for workers and peasants, the war and the class truce meant increased exploitation and poverty. They had to stop eating meat early in the war and survived mainly on potatoes. Food was exported abroad, mainly to Germany, and ran out in Sweden. The situation became desperate and Prime Minister Hammarskjöld was nicknamed Hungerskjöld. Knut Bäckström writes in Arbetarrörelsen i Sverige:

“For Swedish big business these were golden times, while the workers allowed themselves to be discouraged from fighting for their own interests and fell into dire poverty”

Before the war, Sweden had had virtually full employment. One month after the outbreak of war, between 35,000 and 40,000 people were unemployed. In 1916, the cost of living rose by between 20 and 25 percent.

The left takes up the fight against the war

Sweden had some of Europe's toughest laws against anti-militarism, the so-called Staaff laws. An article, a leaflet, a speech at an anti-war meeting or even at a funeral was enough to land you in prison for months or even years. Of course, this did not affect the right-wing of the labour movement, which collaborated with the bourgeoisie. The revolutionary left, on the other hand, was hit even more severely.

The Social Democratic Youth League and a left-wing opposition within the Social Democratic Party organised resistance to war and rearmament. 

The Swedish left participated in the Zimmerwald Conference, the meeting that convened the parts of European social democracy that did not support their own imperialists in the war. In line with Zimmerwald, they organised the Workers’ Peace Conference in Sweden against the will of the party leadership. For them, this was a crime not only against the war policy and rearmament, but against the class peace as a whole. “Peace at any price” was their slogan.

For the Workers’ Peace Conference, left-wing leader Zeth Höglund was sentenced to three years' hard labour for conspiracy to commit treason. This was later reduced to one year's imprisonment, but it meant that during the first year of the war he was unable to take up his elected seat in the Riksdag.

Branting and the right, for their part, distanced themselves from the left's support for Zimmerwald and condemned the Russian Bolsheviks. He labelled the left's attempts to break the truce and resume the class struggle against the war as “revolutionary romanticism”.

At the congress in February 1917, they issued an impossible ultimatum to the Youth League, thus organising its expulsion. Modern social democracy, purged of revolutionaries and in alliance with the bourgeoisie, was born.

The October Revolution, Finland and Germany

The October Revolution put an end to Russian involvement in the war. The Bolsheviks also granted independence to Finland and inspired the Finnish Revolution of 1918. 

Class struggle in Finland developed into a full-scale civil war between the Whites – the armies of the upper classes – and the Reds – the Communists. Within Sweden, the ‘activists’ incited war on the side of the Whites, whereas the Reds were supported by the working class with massive demonstrations demanding that Sweden remain neutral.

This stopped the ruling class and the government from officially intervening, just as the 1914 labour march had done. But unofficially, they gave direct support to the Whites.

Red Guard in Tampere in 1918. The class struggles in Finland developed into a full-scale civil war between the Whites – the armies of the upper class – and the Reds – the Communists / Photo: public domain

Thanks to the left in Parliament, arms exports to the Whites were stopped, but officers who wanted to fight in Finland were allowed leave. Germany actively supported the Whites with troops, which were allowed to sail through Swedish waters with Swedish escorts. The Social Democratic Minister of Naval Defence, Erik Palmstierna, made naval vessels available for military transport. He was also the driving force behind Sweden's own little adventure in Finland – the attempt to occupy Åland.

The invasion of Åland

In February 1918, the Swedish military was sent to Åland, which was still Russian territory. Officially, they were sent as ‘peacekeeping forces’, but in reality parts of the upper classes and the government were working to incorporate the island into Sweden.

As we mentioned earlier, this had also been the goal of the pro-German activists, but the driving force was now the anti-German Minister of Shipping, Erik Palmstierna. Because of his noble birth combined with his (right-wing) social democratic leanings, he was known as the ‘Red Baron’. He said that:

“...Sweden's interests dictate that neither Germany nor Russia should build fortifications on Åland, and that the German danger in the Baltic Sea is now at least as great as the Russian one. If Germany were allowed to establish itself in Åland, it would be at least as great a danger to us as if someone else did so.” (Erik Palmstierna, Orostid 1914-1916, 1916-05-03)

They were helped by a movement of Ålanders who wanted to belong to Sweden, as well as by false rumours that Russian troops were carrying out atrocities on the island. The situation became complicated, involving troops from Sweden, Russia, both Whites and Reds from Finland, and eventually German troops.

At its peak, there were 2000 Swedish soldiers on Åland. They helped the Finnish Whites to defeat the Reds and neutralised the remaining Russian soldiers. But at the request of the Finnish counter-revolutionary leader Mannerheim, German troops invaded the island shortly afterwards and the Swedes had to withdraw. Palmstierna did not want the Swedish troops to retreat:

“It would be our eternal shame. Let us calmly continue our action and show that we are succeeding. Only if there is a real threat of overwhelming force should we retreat. This will reveal Germany's attitude to the whole Swedish nation. If we creep away in secret after our proclamation to the people of Åland [...] our position is forever undermined, and the Swedish people can rightly say that we have not looked after their interests and their honour.” (Erik Palmstierna, Orostid 1917-1919, 1918-02-21)

The dream of taking over Åland was dead for the time being, even though Palmstierna desperately continued to argue the case in the newly established League of Nations (which would become the UN).

The Finnish Civil War ended after a few months of fighting. The White counter-revolutionaries were victorious. It was a massive defeat for the revolutionary movement, and the revenge against the Reds was terrible.

20,000 men and women who fought for the Reds were executed in the White Terror, and 15,000 died of torture and starvation in prisons. Tens of thousands went into exile. According to some estimates, as many as a hundred thousand workers were imprisoned or exiled – a quarter of the entire working class at the time.

The Swedish Revolution

When the world war had been going on for several years, the bourgeoisie began to doubt that Germany would win. The Swedish bourgeoisie thus switched sides. Many of Sweden's agreements with Germany remained in place, but now deals were also made with England and much trade was turned towards the British Isles and their allies.

The Hungerskjöld government continued to export large quantities of food. At its peak, it exported nine times more beef and three times more pork than before the war. At this time, Sweden suffered from crop failure and in 1917 the grain harvest was the lowest in 28 years. Stocks were depleted of basic goods and the price of potatoes tripled. Soon, famine was on its way to Sweden.

During demonstrations at the Riksdag, they were stopped by military and mounted police who slashed at the masses with sabres / Photo: Victor Malmström, Pressens bild

In normal times, this would have quickly led to a wave of strikes, but the civil peace held the workers back. However, history shows us that not even the most powerful bureaucracy or state can hold back the working class forever. In 1917, the working class had had enough. The Hungerskjöld government fell on 30 March when it failed to resolve the issue of a new trade agreement with Britain that would increase food trade.

On 11 April 1917, what has sometimes been called the hunger riots or the potato revolution began. We communists call it the Swedish Revolution. The Swedish working class could have taken power just as they had in Russia that year, but were prevented by the right-wing leaders of the Social Democrats.

First, 200 working-class women walked out of the sawmills in the Söderhamn archipelago. As they marched towards the centre of Söderhamn, their ranks were filled with more and more people demanding to be allowed to buy food without harsh rations. The state's crown officials were forced to give in to the demands, and the demonstration became the first in a massive revolutionary movement that spread across Sweden.

In Västervik, the movement went furthest – the workers took power over the entire town under the leadership of a workers' council that resembled the Soviets in Russia. They forced price reductions and chased away price speculators. 

In Västerås the military was deployed against strikers, but contrary to the wishes of the bourgeoisie, the soldiers united with the workers.

In Stockholm, 20,000 workers marched to the Riksdag and made demands: an end to the hunger policy, an end to food exports, more bread, cheaper milk, but also universal and equal voting rights.

The new government, led by one of the predecessors of today’s Moderate Party, looked with panic at the organisation of the workers and tried to secretly form a ‘black guard’ – storm troopers of middle-class people who would crush the workers. This information leaked to the press and Red Labour Guards began to form in response, prompting the government to halt their plans. On 1 May, 400,000 people demonstrated.

The Social Democrats were intimidated by the movement, which clearly challenged capitalism, private ownership and the state. It was moving in the direction of socialist revolution – an aspiration that these so-called labour leaders had long since abandoned. They tried to hold back the movement and condemned its most radical elements – especially the women. 

In a Social Democratic report, an attempt was made to divide male and female workers by describing the men at a demonstration in Norrköping as having “generally shown calm and composure”, while the women's behaviour was described as “completely hysterical and disregarding all considerations”.

The culmination of the movement in 1917 was a strike on 5-6 June in Stockholm, which also resulted in demonstrations at the Riksdag. There, they were stopped by the military and mounted police who attacked the masses with sabres. Many were injured. After the street battles, the revolutionary workers were once again held back by their social democratic leaders, especially Hjalmar Branting.

When the workers retreated to the People's House, left-wing socialists and syndicalists called for a general strike. Branting, to whom the masses listened respectfully at first, instead urged them to go home calmly. This was met by booing and he was prevented from speaking again. The meeting decided to demand that a general strike be called by LO (The Swedish Trade Union Confederation).

The Workers‘ National Council was formed the following day by left-wing socialists, and had the potential to lead a national struggle for workers’ demands. But the wave of strikes and protests had already begun to fade. The National Council was formed too late. Instead, attention turned to the September 1917 elections to the lower house of parliament, but the  left-wing socialists had no clear program and their agitation about the election was confused. They failed to get a single person elected in Stockholm, losing their previous four seats. Things went better in other parts of the country, but the revolution had fizzled out for the time being. 

Partial victories in the class war and the end of the world war

It was the German Revolution of November 1918 that gave new fire to the Swedish Revolution. German workers and soldiers formed workers‘ and soldiers’ councils across the country and overthrew Kaiser Wilhelm. The working class did not succeed in seizing power, but they did manage to end the world war. 

The Swedish working class could have taken power just as they did in Russia that same year, but were prevented by the right-wing leaders within the Social Democrats / Photo: Norra Bantorget in Stockholm on May 1, 1917

The Swedish bourgeoisie feared a repeat of the revolutionary spring in Sweden in 1917, and were frightened by the way that what was previously their important weapon – the military – began to turn against them. This is what the Social Democrat Värner Rydén wrote in his notes on the situation in Stockholm’s military: 

“The military could not be trusted anywhere. Not even at the Horse Guards could a reliable squadron be raised... At the same time, the ministers of war and navy reported on the situation in the army and navy. Both acknowledged that the mood was very revolutionary.”

The working class was becoming more and more revolutionary. Gustav V was convinced he would be overthrown and was reportedly deeply grateful when Branting managed to postpone the question of a republic by suggesting a future referendum. By correctly explaining that the alternative was revolution, the Social Democrats succeeded in frightening the right into agreeing to, among other things, universal and equal suffrage and an 8-hour working day with no change in pay.

This saved capitalism in Sweden for the time being. In the newly formed Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden Socialist Party (later the Communist Party of Sweden), there was still a faction on the right that prevented the party from capitalising on the new upswing. 

The world war was over. For that, history can thank the mighty power of revolutions. The newly formed Russian workers' state had ended the war with Germany through the Peace of Brest-Litovsk, and the German revolutionaries had ended the predatory war of their own ruling class shortly afterwards. The Swedish Revolution won great victories, but because world capitalism survived, it meant that many more would have to die in its name.

Once the bomb dust had settled and the trenches of Europe had emptied, none of the imperialist tensions that had led to the world war were resolved. The stage was set for an even bigger war just twenty years later.

The Swedish ruling class's fervour for Germany would continue long after the Nazis took power. The revolutionary left, now under the banner of communism, would continue to fight back.