Did the Swedish actually fight in world war II? Didn't they just roll over and let the Germanys roll through to Norway?
And if that's true, what was there to keep secret?
And if that's true, what was there to keep secret?
They didn't allow troop movements into Norway, but did allow troops to move through from Norway, into Finland. They allowed off-duty German soldiers to travel between Norway and Germany, and sold iron ore to Germany.
They also shared intelligence with the Allied forces, helped train Danish and Norwegian troops to liberate Denmark, allowed Allied forces use of its airbases, took in a lot of Jewish refugees from Norway and Denmark, The Swedish Red Cross sent buses to evacuate concentration camp inmates, and RAoul Wallenberg used his diplomatc status to save tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary as well.
Many Swedes did great things such as taking in Jewish refugees. The Swedish government however shifted sides as the war prospects changed.
The Red Cross busses also transported prisoners in exchange for the Scandinian ones. Iirc the Swedish government also send a letter stating to rescue the Jews last. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Buses)
Strategic, rather than neutral I would call it.
To whomever down-votes this: please learn your own country's history. https://www.thelocal.se/20120605/41252
That said, as a non Swede I still think we should make sure we don't blame Swedes today for what their ancestors did - and didn't.
The history of mankind is the history of war. It’s super complicated. We all should read about it, and try to learn its lessons. One of those lessons being to be skeptical of nationalism and xenophobia.
This is the worst take I have seen on this website.
To the original point, if they were "neutral", then what secrets did they have to hold?
What does "off duty" even mean in a world war? Not destroying Sweden but allowing them to bring ammunition through to pound Norway?
And if they were "neutral", why were they helping the Allies?
All in all, your comment does not add up.
a) let everyone know where your production happens, your military strength, your points of defense, where your most critical infrastructure is and how it works, your general opinion of the combatants, what trade is important to you etc. or
b) urge anyone with strategically useful information to keep quiet about it to keep any interested party ignorant and wary?
No one answered the question as you thought they would because they frankly assumed a more favorable interpretation. Neutrality is not a state of indefinite peace. It has to be maintained actively.
Whether or not Sweden could be considered neutral is a different matter, but there's certainly no "rolling over" if you're never part of the operation in the first place.
If you think bordering an invaded Norway, and Finland at war with the soviets is a stable situation where you neutrality will never be challenged, then I think you should consider some counterfactuals.
Any secret that would make them an interesting target, or aggravate a potential enemy, is a security threat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_German_troops_throu...
Only the notion that a country not in a hot war has no state secrets that can jeopardize security. Or just jeopardize the sitting government, this is a propaganda campaign after all.