Sweden’s Neutrality During World War II: A Retrospective Analysis and Modern Tendencies

The entry into force of the Protocol on Sweden’s Accession to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 7 March 2024 draws a historic line under the Scandinavian country’s more than 200-year policy of neutrality. First proclaimed by King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden in August 1814 and put into practice in 1834, the principle of permanent neutrality has been an integral pillar of Sweden’s foreign policy. Adherence to the policy of neutrality allowed Sweden to avoid the devastating consequences of the two world wars and to remain an economic beneficiary of the confrontation between the USA and the USSR during the Cold War. On the other hand, what is commonly referred to as ‘permanent neutrality’ - with reference to the Swiss benchmark - in the case of Sweden deserves at least a more detailed analytical approach and at most a critical rethinking. The authors of this study use the methodology of historical and political science: the historical and analytical method, the method of comparison, the method of socio-historical and socio-political analogies and the method of political analysis. The authors also apply a behavioral approach and rational choice theory to identify the factors that influenced the decision of Sweden’s political elites to end the era of neutrality and join the NATO politico-military bloc. The subject of the proposed article is Sweden’s policy of formal neutrality during the World War II. It is no coincidence that the authors use the term ‘formal’ to refer to the nature of Swedish neutrality in the period 1939-1945, since it was during the World War II, in the authors’ opinion, that the practical content of the Swedish understanding of ‘neutrality’ was most clearly demonstrated. This, in turn, makes it much easier to understand the motives behind the country’s rapid accession to NATO in 2024. Assessing the current trends in the development of Sweden’s foreign policy course, the authors in the final part of the study cite the key factors behind the decision to join NATO: historical continuity and traditional political Western-centrism.