Why Didn't Sweden Join World War 2? (Short Animated Documentary)

[@jonatanwestholm]

My hometown Lund was actually bombed accidentally (by the British). The bombs hit a greenhouse, which led to the demise of six chickens.

[@karjalatakaisin]

Pro Patria six chickens 19??-1943

[@sebastianvangen]

Propaganda jävul ge dig. xD

[@ace5065]

never forget...

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Unfortunately, the Swedish iron ore mines and factories that supplied the Germans with very important iron ore and products for the armaments industry were not bombed. Such a bombing would have been entirely justified, because in fact Sweden was the secret ally of the Germans! Sweden supported the Germans in the war with very important raw material deliveries but also with deliveries of important industrial products. The most important aspect of Sweden's exports to Germany during the Second World War was the extensive export of iron ore for use in the German armaments industry, reaching ten million tons per year. That was 50% of the iron ore that was available to the Germans! The Swedes also supplied the Germans with important industrial products such as Ball bearings. Sounds harmless? Ball bearings are necessary for the production of many weapon systems. Sweden even allowed German troops and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda That was a disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation!

[@kedarunzi9139]

i could forget many of the warcrimes that the allies commited but this is way too much

[@matthewlee8667]

Sweden and Switzerland sitting in a tree, avoiding hostility and genocide spree

[@MootjeNL]

😂😂😂

[@herrfz]

Nice rhyming words by Matthew Lee

[@TKUA11]

Do u rly think that they wouldn’t have been conquered once Germany was done with the allies? They were more like an ostrich digging it’s head into the sand and refusing to fight

[@trinitikorneli2750]

Like USSR joined WW2.

[@Fractal821]

triniti korneli No Kidding Sherlock, we all knew that.

[@someguy9293]

Germany: *Invadeds Europe* Switzerland, and Sweden: I have master the ability of standing so still, that I have become invisible to the naked eye.

[@raymondhamill6702]

To be honest at one point I thought they were both the same country

[@starmano34]

Honestly they both stayed neutral for entirely different reasons Sweden was able to stay neutral by accommodating Germany's need for iron and allowing German troop movement through their territory whilst also taking political, racial, and religious refugees in that were trying to escape the holocaust while also providing the allies with important military intelligence. Switzerland stayed neutral by having mandatory military service for all able bodied males, being an incredibly mountainous country which would make troop movements exceptionally difficult, and rigging their borders with explosives so they could create artificial landslides in the case of invasion by Germany as well as having camouflaged bunkers all throughout the mountains. That being said Switzerland still gave economic concessions to Germany, but not nearly to the same extent as Sweden. That all being said Germany still planned on invading Switzerland but never got around to it for a large number of reasons Essentially, Sweden made military and economic concessions to the axis and the allies in exchange for neutrality while Switzerland tried to make themselves not worth invading in the first place. That being said Germany funded their war effort in part with the money made from selling gold, much of which had been taken from Jewish families during the holocaust, to Swiss banks making Switzerland's neutrality a bit more fuzzy.

[@detachsoup6061]

@@raymondhamill6702 well you couldnt be more wrong. Switersland was neutral because it exist to be that way and they take it very serious. Switzerland is such a giant fortresst that trying to invade it is harder than doing a naval invasion of the UK during its height of power.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

200th like

[@torbjornvarsaga8411]

4 Months, and NO ONE has given you credit for this brilliant reference to Drax The Destroyer? Allow me to be the first! 😄

[@salahabdinoor5656]

History Matters: ”Sweden did just enough” Sweden: ”We did ’lagom’”

[@belsebubswe]

Hahahahahaja

[@Chocolatnave123]

is that supposed to be a joke?

[@Soliman_real]

@@Chocolatnave123 he said a Swedish word “Lagom” means like in the middle like did just ok. Not to good nor to bad.

[@herrmajestat]

Lagom like always

[@sebbeebbe2798]

Lagomt säger väll man?

[@rusoviettovarich9221]

The Swedes also bluntly told the Germans that if they were invaded, as Norway and Denmark had been they (Sweden) were totally prepared to blow up every mine and conveyance or iron ore necessary for German armaments....this has been publicized for decades as the primary reason for German hesitation, I am amazed it wasn't mentioned.

[@israeladesanya4596]

Yes they would blow up every mine then did it back up again once conquered 😂

[@Gnossiene369]

@@israeladesanya4596 Yeah but why conquer a land you can already cross without profit? No mines during the war means nothing.

[@hannesjakobsson765]

You can't just blow up mines like that. Sure, you could blow up surrounding infrastructure, but it's not like you can destroy all the iron ore itself.

[@olivituss5140]

@@hannesjakobsson765 True, but to re-establish functioning infrastructure in and around new mines on top of the collapsed ones would've been a massive use of resources that the Germans probably weren't keen on spending. They gained more by simply leaving Sweden alone, and could focus their resources elsewhere. Like on war stuff.

[@tiddybearkush]

@@Gnossiene369 You do know that iron were running short at the end and they had to use scrap to build more warmachines

[@LowBudgetHistory]

Sweden's like that one kid in high school who somehow manages to be friends with literally everybody.

[@xxobad-_-boyoxx933]

Yeah, but. Remember when Sweden went through that raiding faze? I'm glad that's changed! XD

[@matheuscerqueira7952]

The nerd who does works and double tests with everybody and they see it's more profitable to leave him alone. I can relate to that

[@zixten2303]

@@GiraffeFeatures Great work with the buzzword of the hour

[@leafgreensniper13]

honestly thats me

[@theholyhay1555]

Low Budget History I’m sweden i think

[@nevermore7310]

They stayed neutral by doing “just enough” sounds like my parent’s marriage

[@yohan020]

Hope all is well 💜

[@redstripedsocks5245]

@@yohan020 No fucking shit.

[@thenibnetwork4638]

Best comment I have ever read.

[@twoscarabsintheswarm9055]

Oof

[@lsbc9666]

Bruh same

[@esverker7018]

My swedish great-grandparents, along with some other relatives, took in a lot of Finnish children to keep them safe during the war. My grandma was young but she remembers living and playing with them.

[@hermanmiller5549]

My grandad as well and also my friends grandma

[@rustlehustlerhoff1856]

My grandmother is one of these children. The family that took her in loved her like one of their own, and even wanted to adopt her, should she have had no home to return to after the war. Luckily she could return to Finland, but she later moved back to Sweden, the same area actually, and she still lives there.

[@AreHan1991]

My mother and grandmother were refugees in Sweden from 1943-45, as her father was active in the resistance movement in Norway. They were housed, fed and clothed, and got a little pocket money. My mom went to school, with Swedes and other Norwegian regugees

[@Snaake42]

While most of those children and their families were happy they were safe from bombing and better fed etc. than they would have been in Finland with rationing, it's sadly worth noting that not everyone had a good experience, there are a lot of stories of abuse of all kinds. I have the impression that some people were maybe in it for the money (assuming the Swedish government covered some costs), but even some well-off families took in kids and then seemingly just treated them badly for no reason. Boggles the mind why people are like that.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

That's just whitewashing what you're doing.

[@ctastrophe]

The big question is: If Sweden had given one side a large ration of surströmming (fermented Baltic herring - a Swedish "delicacy"), would that have been considered biological warfare?

[@jokuvaan5175]

That's the real reason Nazis didn't invade Sweden. The feared a surströmming retaliation from Swedes.

[@LinkSpets]

Mmmmm surströmming. Det luktar förjävligt ska du veta

[@ctastrophe]

@@LinkSpets Do you actually like it? My Swedish grandparents tried to get me to eat some when I was 10 or so, and the smell was so pungent I couldn't do it. Maybe I should give it another go lol

[@LinkSpets]

@@ctastrophe I have never tried it. I have only smelled it.

[@eventyraren]

@@ctastrophe i like fish and I have never tried it, I cant get past the smell

[@fzzy5739]

“they’re doing war stuff”

[@Jacob-lv6zy]

Churchill: ”you dont say” -_-

[@nnaauujjddaa]

Churchill was so not impress with that XD

[@karlheisenberg2857]

"Try not to die"

[@franklinclinton4539]

Speech 100

[@annamaria1972]

@@helmerbillstrom4989 what? Where? I have never heard about that.

[@creatoruser736]

Germany didn't invade Sweden because they assumed they'd sabotage the iron ore mines before being taken. They were getting the iron through trade so invading wasn't really needed.

[@rusoviettovarich9221]

correct

[@54032Zepol]

Who the hell was trading?

[@creatoruser736]

@@54032Zepol Sweden was sending iron ore to Germany.

[@TKUA11]

Wouldnt it be easier to just seize the mines? Norway was seized and that was fine for them

[@gufosufo337]

@@TKUA11 norway was seized for the coastline. You can not destroy a coastline

[@gabrielfraser2109]

Switzerland and Sweden both spend enormous amounts on their militaries. There's a frequent misconception that being peaceful means being unarmed - in reality, being unarmed makes a nation harmless, not peaceful. Being neutral means that every nation is a potential enemy - during WWII, Switzerland shot down both German and Allied planes that violated it's airspace. Being neutral also means you have no allies, and if attacked, you stand alone.

[@XiasIV]

You always have an ally in James Bissonnete

[@MominEnjoyer]

R/historymemes: NOOO, SWEDEN AND SWITZERLAND WERE EVIL REEEEEEEEEEE

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

The Swedish government thought Germany would win the war and Sweden wanted to benefit from this victory. Swedish King Gustav V was a friend of the Germans and fascinated by the Nazi nation. King Gustav V of Sweden sent a personal message to Adolf Hitler through the German diplomatic mission in Stockholm. In this message, Gustav V congratulated Hitler on the great victories already achieved and assured him that the majority of the Swedish people want to support the Germans. Many Swedes were also fascinated like the king by the Nazi nation, even Sweden's world-famous director Ingmar Bergman confessed that he was fascinated by Hitler and Germany. As an 18-year-old, Bergman was in Germany for a student exchange in 1936 and experienced the Führer in Weimar: "I screamed enthusiastically like everyone else," Bergman said in an interview. Bergman's father and the older brother were Nazis and so were many neighbors and teachers as Bergman reported. "The idealism of the Germans impressed me, the National Socialism that I had seen seemed interesting and youthful," the director admitted. He really spoke of the idealism of the Germans! What an fool like many of his nation! So many Swedes thought like him. For example, there was a swedish pro-German, Nazi academic association in Sweden the "Riksföreningen Sverige-Tyskland" (Realm-Union of Sweden and Germany). They made pro-German propaganda and also had media available to spread this propaganda in Sweden. In the propaganda there was talk of a "spiritual rebirth of Germany" as well as of Hitler as a "statesman by God's grace". The Swedish press also spread German propaganda. For example, there was the "Riksföreningen Sverige-Tyskland" (Realm-Union of Sweden and Germany) was a swedish pro-German, Nazi academic association in Sweden. They made pro-German propaganda and also had media available to spread this propaganda in Sweden. In the propaganda there was talk of a "spiritual rebirth of Germany" as well as of Hitler as a "statesman by God's grace". The German organizations enjoyed complete freedom in their propaganda and agent activities in Sweden. German Nazi organizations freely imported propaganda literature printed in Germany into Sweden, and even had their own newspaper and local branches of the National Socialist Party in Stockholm and other large cities in Sweden. On the territory of Sweden there were also many women's, sports and cultural organizations led by Germans. The Swedish press also published absurdly inflated numbers of Germans killed by the Allied bombings in order to create worldwide pity for the Nazi nation. Swedes even fought as volunteers in the German SS. These Swedish SS men felt like national heroes! They were even Involved in crimes like, for example, they were guards of death camps. They were also involved in massacres and killings during death marches. They were also involved in the suppression of the heroic Polish Warsaw uprising. By the way, surviving swedish SS men returned without problems to service in the Swedish army after the war. It is a mystery to me why the Allies did not bombed the Swedish iron ore mines and Swedish factories. For the extent of the deliveries to Germany was known to the enemies of the Germans. Sir Ralph Glyn, a British Member of Parliament, said that a cessation of Swedish iron ore exports would bring the war to an end within months. These greedy war profiteers and friends of the Nazi nation deserved every bomb. That was a disgraceful and shameful collaboration of greedy war profiteers with the Nazi nation. A completely pathetic Nazi friend nation that also made the crimes of the Nazi nation possible through their greedy behavior! I continue the comment below with Switzerland in World War II.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Yes the Swiss were the informal and not official allies of the Germans in World War II like the Swedes. The German National Bank was able to process about 75 percent of its gold transactions abroad (currency exchange) via the Swiss banking system, which was the most important trading center for gold from Germany. I have already described what kind of gold that was with the Swedish Nazi Gold! Between 1939 and 1945, the German National Bank sold 1.3 billion francs (approximately 18 billion Francs adjusted for inflation to 2019) worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency. Hundreds of millions of francs worth of this gold was monetary gold also plundered from the central banks of occupied countries. A total of 581,000 francs' worth of gold taken from Holocaust victims and victims of the other various genocides in eastern Europe was sold to Swiss banks. Already in the second half of 1940, the Swiss received the first indications that gold was not only withdrawn from central banks but also from private individuals in the occupied countries, and in August 1942 an article published in the NZZ left no questions about the origin of German National Bank gold open! Nevertheless, these greedy war profiteers continued with their dirty business until 1945. The German profits from this trade with the Swiss were used to buy strategically important raw materials. These financial resources gained through Switzerland were very important for the German arms industry. That was Also a disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation!

[@alexcrazy1492]

@@XiasIVdon’t forget about Kelly money maker

[@makynarrow1484]

WW2 starts: Sweden: Curent Objective: - Survive

[@LEFT4BASS]

I think that was the starting objective of everyone in Europe besides Germany, Italy, and maybe Spain.

[@zoinks9864]

Isn’t that every country’s objective during ww2?

[@makynarrow1484]

@@zoinks9864 true tho

[@netherbee6523]

that's Poland

[@northland7885]

What is really funny that the National unity government of the time (Regeringen Hansson III or the samlingsregeringen) their biggest goal to all cost was to keep Sweden out of the War and keep the unity government together. That why this day's people find it strange with some of the decision we made in the war. But it was the saftey of Sweden that came first during that time.

[@TheSpedy21]

I also read somewhere that Sweden threatend to destroy the iron mines if Germany were to invade.

[@rusoviettovarich9221]

correct

[@JulianEmdon]

Ok that's just genius

[@armorsmith43]

Mårtin they also paraded lots of blonde Swedish troops in front of the Germans.

[@cronk5268]

If you try to shoot me ill shoot myself

[@agustinl2302]

@@cronk5268 More like if you try to rob me I'll burn the money. Leave me alone and our deal can continue as it was.

[@Ummba13]

Whole Europe: "Which side are you on?" Sweden: "Yes"

[@ItsWhyUno]

haze Y e s

[@edvindenbeste2587]

More like: Sweden: No

[@someguy9293]

Sweden: I play on all sides, so I come out on top. Switzerland: *Sweats nervously*

[@kayagorzan]

Except Turkey, Turkey makes a brand new Turkey

[@TheSlyngel]

Sweden answers as always WERE ON SIDE SWEDEN!

[@Phoenix7786]

My God I can feel my hair turning gray just by *thinking* about the diplomatic tight-rope they had to tread.

[@alaric_]

Nah, after Sweden chose to sell their iron to Germany there was no need to fear Germany. And there was no fear from Russians as there was Finland inbetween them. And if Russia had came though, Germany would have gone through northern Sweden to prevent Russia coming to Sweden. At worst Sweden could just blow the mines and the country would have been worthless to anyone. So considering the whole war, Sweden had it easiest. Others had to fight no matter how neutral they claimed or just outright give up and pick a side. Also, that high quality iron that got sold to Germany? It made Sweden rich. Very rich... Only stopping selling it just before Germany collapsed. Western allies pleaded, bargained and threatened that Sweden has to stop selling it but Sweden refused. Experts estimation on how long Germany could have continued weapons manufacture without swedish iron was mere months. Germany was totally dependent on it as almost all german iron ore of low quality. At that time Germany was fighting in three fronts and already streched thin. Opening new front in north and fighting on four fronts would have collapsed Germany even faster. But then again... Lots of nazi gold trumps lofty world peace ideas any day.

[@georgekosko5124]

@@alaric_ Yeah, uh, no

[@sinad8906]

@@alaric_ Interesting insight. But I'm sure Germans had contingency plans in case Swedes stopped sending iron. They had like 300K soldiers in Norway until the end of the war.

[@hannesjakobsson765]

@@sinad8906 Sweden only supplied like 20% of Germanys iron. Most of the iron came from russia, and then occupied france.

[@hannesjakobsson765]

@@alaric_ If Sweden hadn't sold iron to Germany, then Germany would simply have invaded Sweden and taken it for itself. Sweden was under constant threat of a nazi imvasion, which would have been disasterous for the Swedish people and for the 10000+ jewish refugees who were hiding in Sweden. Also, you can't just blow up iron mines. You can collapse their entrances, but the germans would simply have dug them open again, probably using slave labor.

[@someguy3766]

Sweden: "They're doing war stuff." Churchill: "By god I knew it! With this crucial intelligence we can liberate Europe!"

[@ItsWhyUno]

Some Guy “Yes so smart..!” Says a listening Germany

[@Gray-Wolf]

😂

[@turin236]

One can definitely say that Churchill wasn't the biggest fan of Sweden ^^'

[@gawdsuniverse3282]

@@turin236 very true, tho the irony, Britain was dependent on Sweden for high techs, such as ball bearings for their radar. Britain modified a number of planes to have the range to fly in and out of Sweden buying ball bearings in exchange for gold bars. It was a Swedish cruiser who alert the British that the Bismarck had sailed. These observations were passed directly to Royal Navy intelligence by routine maritime diplomatic channels maintained by the British naval attaché in Stockholm. This confirmed reports by in-country coast-watchers located in Denmark who informed Britain of German naval movements. As well as Norway coast-watchers the reports helped sealed the fate of the Bismarck. There was a whole host of deeds by the Swedes to aid the allies, from damage bombers heading for interment in Sweden as they couldn't make it back to Britain, selling high-tech, smuggling spies, bankers, diplomats, businessmen, from around the world, in and out of Europe, reports on shipping in the Baltic sea, the list just goes on and on, Sweden played an important niche roll in the Allied victory against tyranny in Europe. Something Churchill never acknowledged.

[@BosonCollider]

They cracked the landline German cyphers that were tougher to crack than Enigma, and long before the allies cracked Enigma. So they actually had a shitton of intelligence. They warned the Soviets of operation Barbarossa for example, though the soviets didn't believe them at first.

[@michaelzheng5250]

So Sweden in the war was just Switzerland but more iron and less gold

[@insertnamehere1792]

Michael Zheng as a swede.... yes

[@Elldallan]

Yes, also less mountains and more diplomacy. Switzerland is a fucking fortress in and of itself.

[@Christian_Johansson]

Less gold? How many gold mines have Switzerland had and how much gold have they produced? :)

[@michaelzheng5250]

Christian Johansson they didn’t produce any, but damn did they got a lot during the war, I meant more iron less gold as in the Germans and Swedes had their diplomatic relations on the iron trade, while the Swiss and German relation is a lot more involved with gold that the Nazis took

[@alilabeebalkoka]

Just more Swedish than Swiss

[@JuanMatteoReal]

Because they don't have a focus tree... Unless you're using Kaiserreich or other mods PS (May 3 2020): Thank you all comrades for ze likes!

[@pavels.6670]

You can always do facist/communist Sweden.

[@Glavenuss]

you've not seen my many tries on the norther lights achievement (DAMM YOU FINLAND)

[@micha0585]

Ah, I see youre a man of culture as well

[@sergeantscumbag2116]

Their finally giving Spain a tree......about fucking time

[@A_annoying_rodent]

@@sergeantscumbag2116 oh really? How nice.

[@ericjohansson2198]

As a swede myself I learned that the strategy for an invasion would be to blow up the iron mines and then use the rough terrain of the heartland to hinder enemy tanks, fighting a guerilla warfare. This would lead that when germany finally anexed sweden they would'ent have their precious iron mines and re-opening them would take months. It was honestly easier for Hitler and more curial to ensure the continued supply of Iron than have more land to protect. Swedens biggest worry was the Soviet. Reason why swedes helped them in the winter war was a fear for being neighbours with such a collosal power.

[@noobgun12]

Why didn't your country give more help to Finland? I mean we are the"meat shield" between you and soviets

[@informitas0117]

@@noobgun12 because Sweden wanted desperately to stay neutral.

[@matso3856]

@@noobgun12 Are you aware that Sweden did at least give Finland more weapons then the total BNP of Finland ?

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

The Germans had absolutely no reason to attack the Swedes because Sweden in fact was the secret ally of the Germans! Sweden supported the Germans in the war with very important raw material deliveries but also with deliveries of important industrial products. The most important aspect of Sweden's exports to Germany during the Second World War was the extensive export of iron ore for use in the German armaments industry, reaching ten million tons per year. That was 50% of the iron ore that was available to the Germans! The Swedes also supplied the Germans with important industrial products such as Ball bearings. Sounds harmless? Ball bearings are necessary for the production of many weapon systems. Sweden even allowed German troop and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! Sweden even allowed German troops and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! That was a disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation!

[@matso3856]

@@GreatPolishWingedHussars So many falsehoods I dont even know where to begin. Before the war Sweden shipped 10 million tons to germany and to remain neutral it continued to ship an equal amount to Germany as it did during peace time. This was approved by the allies at the time , in reality only UK remained, this was no secret at the time. More over it was only 50% until 1940 , after the fall of France Germany now had access to the french reserves. If anything ball bearings were smuggled from Bromma Sweden to UK during the battle of Britain since they didnt have enough to produce spitfires.

[@Sliphantom]

That, and Sweden had a formidable military with (arguably) up-to-date equipment. They wouldn't be able to stand against the combined might of Germany in a fair fight, but when leveraging certain geographic advantages like the mountainous border with occupied Norway they could put up a stiff resistance. This is in stark contrast to their Scandinavian neighbors, who were (if we're going to be brutally honest) utterly steamrolled. Even in unfavorable conditions, Germanly was more than capable of decisively beating Sweden at the time, but the cost of opening up another front in order to subdue a country that was already giving them what they wanted was far too great.

[@user-hv6gi9ux6z]

It depends on when your talking about. If Germany had occupied norway and decided to invade i doubt theres much Sweden could do due to in litteraly every scenario would not be the ones to start it meaning germany could blitz sweden before it could really prepare

[@Spoon80085]

Well, Norway probably would have held if the brits didn’t boof it and if the Swedes didn’t allow the German troops to go through Sweden.

[@thebravegallade731]

sweeden was more powerful then most of the minors, i'd say their military would be on par with italy in a 1 on 1 fight, and thats only becasue italy has way more men and a slightly better/bigger navy. sweeden's ground and air forces were top notch and they had enough surplus to give away to finland during the winter war.

[@markanderson3870]

Still, given the Third Reichès habit of getting into invasions it should have avoided, Sweden was still lucky.

[@jarleskogly8388]

Imagine if all of Scandinavia had combined their troops and stationed them at the Danish/German border. Wonder what outcome that would have yielded. Tbf I think Norway would have never stood a chance, I think it was one of the poorest countries in Europe at the time.

[@yukijin3]

Germany "We will invade your country" Sweden: "No!" *rolls nat 20* Germany: "Oh Okay we won't invade your country."

[@LANSl0t]

good ol dnd diplomacy

[@Bregott07]

Sweden threatened to bomb Germany with Surströmming.

[@someguy9293]

Germany: I have a powerful Military, that will crush you like a bug. So submit to me! Sweden: No. Germany: Understandable, have a nice day.

[@thegamedevil5632]

@Derp Inshmurtz dude ... yes its food ... but it is also rotten fish ...

[@reallivebluescat]

@@thegamedevil5632 fermented, not rotten

[@raileyti]

The best "Neutral" act of sweden was that we gave Finland half our airforce. Or officially ot was stolen by Finosh nationalist, and when Stalin asked Per Albin Hansson apperently pointed at that the Three crowns insignia on the wings was skracthed away, so its not an official swedish Airforce.

[@akestenfors7677]

"half of the airforce" means something like 10 aircrafts, which were given in secrecy because there were no balls to do so otherwise. Thats it for "Per Albin Hansson" and his 'bravery'. In contrast, USA supplied USSR with 18 million tons of steel, including 7000 tanks and 12 000 aircraft. Sweden was depending on Finland to ward off the Soviet attack on its own, and so it did, for the pure luck of Sweden. If Finland was not able to do so, you would say today: "but they didnt even have the chance in the first place" .. Respect for all the volunteers and their families though

[@Unknownmonkey13]

Åke Stenfors More like 70, but sure

[@mrObamars]

Why are u comparing Sweden to the USA u absolute moron. Sweden was a minor nation with limited resources and USA a superpower. Sweden sent enormous amount of aid to the finns during the winter war and definitely made an impact. Also Sweden and Finland were not allies, Sweden had no obligations to join the war.

[@TheEisel]

@@akestenfors7677 it was more than our total sum we had in the beginning of WW2 (130 planes). Sweden constructed and shipped 142 planes in total. It also transported donated planes from other countries as well. Donating ~ 110% of it's air force planes if you calculate using the amount sweden began the war with. Du verkar inte vara så vass strategiskt. Varför skulle man någonsin meddela fienden om vilka militära operationer man genomför? USA hade inte en presskonferens där dom meddela att "nu stödjer vi USSR med materiel så ni vet".

[@felixlafleurie7856]

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty or Safety. Benjamin Franklin He who gives up his freedom for safety gets none of them. Thomas Jefferson

[@MrHogzor]

World: WAR! Sweden: Nå i dont tink sååå!!!

[@Soliman_real]

“Nej jag tycker inte sååå”

[@What-was-he-cooking]

Nee pallar fan inte

[@Soliman_real]

@@What-was-he-cooking XD

[@herrmajestat]

Tycker å tycker :P

[@mamamilker9039]

@@What-was-he-cooking 😂😂😂

[@caeserslegion602]

Long answer short, they weren't feeling all that suicidal.

[@viktor.jansen4998]

But apparently Germany were, considering they thought they could win a world war

[@biggie10101]

@@viktor.jansen4998 they almost did tho lol

[@caeserslegion602]

@@biggie10101 Nah it was only a matter of time if you ask me. Germany was not going to win, that's just the plain facts the world was literally poised against it.

[@biggie10101]

@@caeserslegion602 lol you actually know nothing then.. why are you talking bout something u clearly have zero clue about? No offense tho but u need to read about it more

[@caeserslegion602]

@@biggie10101 You are a fucking idiot, how about you examine the realities of the situation at the time and the people in power. Same or if not similar outcomes.

[@MongoIndyleo]

Sweden's actions here are the embodiment of "The best Compromise is one where no one is happy with what they're doing, but they're still doing it."

[@ralfhaggstrom9862]

Dear Mr S King, Sweden was pretty hard pressed ...............@shaun king

[@ralfhaggstrom9862]

Yes, I am well aware of that, Sweden did a very hard "balancing act" .....................@shaun king

[@tombstone3echo]

@shaun king if you say so. imo the swedish government did the best they could. send thousands into death for no chance of winning? They followed a good strategy. There is nothing brave or noble about picking a fight u cannot win, its simply dumb.

[@blurgle9185]

@shaun king You are an idiot who would be crushed under the responsibility of leading a nation.

[@phreddy87]

still doing it today

[@HoundofOdin]

"Doing just enough to avoid the ire of both sides." This is me as an employee.

[@tygrkhat4087]

This was just about the policy of all the European neutral nations that survived WWII; Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Ireland. Although there was much ire in England over Ireland's refusal to join the rest of the Commonweath in the war. But that's another story altogether.

[@diegofagundezgarcia4028]

I wouldnt call turkey "europe". But you are right about the rest of them. The only one i never understood why they didnt join the allies was ireland, if uk would have fallen, ireland would have been the next for sure, once the nazis were in the isles they would have not wasted the chance of an extra free conquest. Spain and Portugal were the best countries in europe by far, even having authoritarian goverments, they said no to Hitler, they risked the future of their nations being authoritarian themselves but allowing Hitler to lose because "we are right handed but not mad monsters like you hitler". Spain and portugal were also devastated then, and if they would have joint the war, even allowing the axis to win, those countries would have ended ruined due to the war effort. About switzerland i wont say they were "neutral", Since they make lots of money thanks of nazis loot and plunder, they supported the nazis a lot, just didnt send troops.

[@quim-ninja-6919]

I’ve always only ever done enough work to avoid being sacked.

[@tomeng9520]

PPL at the time our Army-Navy-Air Force was a joke. Although we wanted to, we could not fight because we had no weapons or equipment.

[@diarmuidenglish1554]

@@diegofagundezgarcia4028 Well the English brutally oppressed the Irish to that point. Taking away their home parliament in 1800 then 1845 The Great Famine in which a million starved and a million emigrated. Many more never recovered and more emigrated in the years following the famine. During the famine the English continued to export crops and produce out of the country because if they didn't it would hurt the pocket of English merchants. This utter lack of help is seen to some a genocide. In the years 1860-1914 the land in which tenant farmers used was rented from landlords and these tenant farmers and other agriculture related jobs in which people were employed made up nearly all the population. Landlords would raise rent to evict people out of there homes for any reason they wanted. This made the Irish bitter. Except for the settlers from the plantations in which irish peoples land was taken off them and given to English/Scottish settlers. There were many plantations the Laois-Offaly, Munster and one of the most successful the Ulster plantation which has lead to the partition of the country Northern Ireland. Although the most successful and devastating out of all the plantations is the Cromwellian plantation in which all the land was taken of the Irish many were killed there are still cannon balls from his attack in my local town. Penal laws made it illegal for the irish to do anything deemed Irish striping them of there Culture language and identity which they had to claim back later. And there is sooooooo many more reasons. The British oppressed the Irish for 800 years and the Irish rebelled every century many times. The saying of the IRA who fought in the 1916 rising was England's difficulty is Irelands opportunity. So they were waiting for a war. They even attempted to buy guns from the Germans. The Irish at the time saw England as the enemy not Germany. Although when Germany attacked Belgium another small country hundreds of thousands of Irish joined the English army to fight.

[@Alex_FRD]

Not wanting to become a smoldering heap of concrete sounds like a good enough reason.

[@ilkkarautio2449]

Thats why they are seen soft. The first thing anyone here gets into their heads when they hear sweden, is gay. They forced a foreign religion and a foreign language into my people and act like they are our brother. Brother doesnt let another brother fight a total war for existence against a super-power without going all in. We were among their most feared troops during their reign, so its no surprise that when we left, most of the true warriors left.

[@Alex_FRD]

@@ilkkarautio2449 You from Finland? As a student of history, Finland has nothing but my respect.

[@ilkkarautio2449]

@@Alex_FRD I am, thats how i know this. If americans wouldnt play world police (which they will stop soon, like my deleted reply told!), we would be able to conquer them today. I cant write what i wrote previously because some moderator isnt being sensible, but in the nutshell: the swedes are soft in general.

[@StalkTheHype]

@@ilkkarautio2449 LMAO. Not even close. The army that carved out the Swedish empire out from skill at arms was the Carolean army, which contained very few Finns as they could not be effectively communicated with. It wasn't Finns who annihilated the ruskies at Narva. Who gives a shit what others think about us? Are you so insecure that you care if someone calls you or your country gay? We still slap around Finns in military exercises every year. The advantage of having professional soldiers over barely motivated conscripts, eh?

[@ilkkarautio2449]

@@StalkTheHype Sounds like you have a horse in this race too. 😉 I dont care per se, i just want to inform that id love to fight you and give back your gift to us. I despise sweden in every way, but thats just how i feel. Have a swedish day. 😉

[@kylemohs8728]

"They're doing war stuff." No kidding.

[@jaxpersson9610]

One of the things Sweden helped with was the sinking of the ship Bismark. They gave valuable information on it's whereabouts, without it the ship would have never been sunk (Maybe)

[@elmanzanados]

Sweden: I'm playing both sides, so that I always come out on top.

[@edvindenbeste2587]

More like "I'm playing no side, get money send food you good to go. Don't do war here, that isn't okay by us"

[@wittiza2102]

It was really good for Sweden to stay out of the war, after the war our non bombed factorys build a lot of stuff to build up a bombed europe. The price of timber was really high in the beginning of the 50s like three times of todays price if you count with inflation.

[@seanorth]

@@wittiza2102 No not really. Since this country also acted cowardly and played shady.

[@wittiza2102]

@@seanorth Så du menar att det skulle ha varit bra om Sverige blivit sönderbombat och tiotusentals soldater samt en massa civila mist sina liv?

[@Chillerll]

I was looking for this comment

[@thomashogan9196]

I met a US air corps crewman who flew diplomatic missions from Britain to Sweden in an unarmed B-24 with "diplomatic plates." He said German fighters would fly up to "play" with them all the way along the route. He said it was very unnerving to just sit there with a bf 109 right on your wing.

[@Pecktackular-9000]

What are diplomatic plates?

[@jdotoz]

​@@Pecktackular-9000In the US, at least, the government issues special license plates for the vehicles operated by the members of foreign diplomatic missions. We call these, at least informally, "diplomatic plates." I've never heard of an international conveyance being specially marked as having a diplomatic purpose, but the laws of war do protect people who expose themselves to the enemy while displaying a desire to communicate (such as bearing a white flag). It makes sense that there would be a way to extend this to diplomats, since it's always in the interest of the common good to keep diplomatic communication possible. Neutral countries also have the right to receive diplomatic missions from belligerents.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Oh, again fairy tales that contradict historical truth from you for whitewashing! By the way, whether to deliver or supply, these are all appropriate terms, because the Swedes delivered the very important war goods to Germany. The Swedes were actually the unofficial allies of the Germans not only because of the immense importance of the goods supplied, especially iron ore, for the German armaments industry, but also because the Swedes also supported the Germans in various other ways. Such as during the German raid against the Soviet Union (June-July 1941), Sweden allowed the German army to use Swedish railways to transport the German troops along with heavy weapons from Norway to Finland. Even after the initial phase of the attack on the Soviet Union, German soldiers, weapons, communications and supply equipment were allowed to transport across Swedish territory in the so-called permittenttrafik. Yes, there is really a term with permittenttrafik for the approved transit of German troops and war material through Sweden. These weren't just a few soldiers, but in all, close to 100,000 railroad cars had transported 1,004,158 German military personnel. As a good ally, Sweden allowed the Germans to use the Swedish telephone and telegraph lines for the communication of the German troops in Norway and Finland via Sweden.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

As a good ally, they also made good gold deals with the Germans. Mind you, that was rob gold! Robbed from the national banks of the occupied countries. Robbed of the population of the occupied countries. Robbed of the captives in the death camps. There was evidence at the time that the gold was plundered but both the management of the Swedish National Bank Riksbank and the government turned a blind eye

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

As for the nonsense that there was allegedly a pressure to do that because of alleged German threats! One could say that there was in certain circumstances or possibly a danger until 1942 that the Germans could attack Sweden if Sweden had stopped cooperating. But from 1943 onwards the Germans were too weak to open another front against the pretty good armed Swedes. But the Swedes continued to cooperate with the Germans until 1945, even though there was no theoretical threat of attack. So there was no threat. Threats weren't necessary because Swedes did business with the Germans completely voluntarily without any threat and delivered the important goods! The reason for this was simple! Greed! It's just worth doing business with Nazis. And that is very despicable!

[@rasyidashidiq2317]

allies: we know you sold iron to the german sweden: i'm a business man... doing a business

[@edelweiss2971]

The swedish policy of being Neutral, ment that they would continue doing what they did before and don't give a shit if it end up in millions of lost life. They continued doing business with the Nazigerman War Industry. That s to be allied to the Nazigerman.

[@tiddybearkush]

@@edelweiss2971 well if Germany would have taken Sweden the world would be a Nazi regime to day. Do you know nothing about warfare?? You should look to France and start thinking how they just got occupied like nothing and what happened to the Jews in France...

[@alexanderbarkman7832]

@@edelweiss2971 So if anyone is trading with Russia, like Germany is, they are allied with Russia in for example Georgia and Ukraine?

[@edelweiss2971]

@@tiddybearkush Go back to sleep. Sweden's policy of neutrality meant during WWII that it continued to sell ore, iron and other products to the Nazi German war industry. The Swedish government asked Nazi Germany to stamp a red J in Jews' passports. Swedish police were thus able to prevent fleeing Jews to Sweden and they were handed over to the Gestapo for further travel to the gas chambers. Have you talked to any Holocaust survivor that they were not allowed to enter Sweden, the GB or any other Western European country to seek protection from persecution? Ask them, you will hear. These things are a historical facts, which can be checked at the nearest University. By the way, I've been in the military as an officer. Have you?

[@ericforsyth]

@@edelweiss2971: Except they housed and helped transport hundreds of thousands of refugees, saving countless lives.

[@elemperadordemexico]

Last time I was this early The Kalmar Union was still a thing

[@alphamikeomega5728]

We all know history began in 1444...

[@youwilldie8835]

@@alphamikeomega5728 769>1444

[@alphamikeomega5728]

@@youwilldie8835 That is literally false maths.

[@youwilldie8835]

@@alphamikeomega5728 obviously you haven't been a horse possessed by the devil

[@phill1422]

Hehe

[@radspencer8187]

James Bizenette supported both sides during the war while simultaneously mining swedish iron.

[@northland7885]

Also one reason why the Germans did not invade is because Sweden is a huge country, (173,860 sq mi. in comparison the state of California is 163,696 sq mi) few roads (many of them not in a good standard and not suited for the warfare the Germans did in lots of the places like Norrland at that time), lots and lots of forest, marshes, hills and mountains to carry defensive and guerilla warfare effective. And there was plans to just blow up everything of value in case of a attack like the iron mines of northern Sweden. It would not be worth it.

[@arawn1061]

@@Kk-dy6bq thats basically only true in the north though. Götaland and Svealand are both pretty heavily urbanised. Its mostly Norrland that would be difficult. Stockholm would also be a pain to take just because of how easy it is to defend it (thank you geografy)

[@rusoviettovarich9221]

correct

[@northland7885]

@@arawn1061 I would say that Götaland and Svealand was not that Urbanised around that time. (in case of most people in a few places, around 50/50 lived in city's or the countryside during WW2. Not like today.) The population was kinda spread around all of the towns and the city's back then. Still was a strength in Sweden's case in case the Germans would have invaded. Know i have read it somewhere and did try to find some sources but it's was surprisingly sparse to find info on it.

[@armorsmith43]

Aron Johansson, but the Iron mines are in the north, so the argument still holds.

[@awildfilingcabinet6239]

The challenge wouldn't be size, it would be the terrain. In the north it's not like there's anyone to resist the invasion, because most of the population is in the south, and they already had invaded Norway with little trouble, which would of been about just as hard if not harder to occupy with the sparser infrastructure and mountains and fjords.

[@oskcasse3034]

Sweden threatened Germany with ”If you attack us we will destroy our iron mines”. I am a swede and learned that in history class in 9th grade. ;)

[@tiddybearkush]

Today they don't teach that. Instead they teach "Communism good, Nazism bad" and they forget to tell about the 100 (not the tv-show).

[@impostoryup4377]

@@tiddybearkush they dont teach that communism is good, they just explain every politic thing.

[@helene5618]

@@tiddybearkush Hm yes they do teach that. I would know.

[@AlexKall]

@@helene5618 saying "I would know" adds nothing of value. Referencing the curriculum to prove a point would however add a lot.

[@helene5618]

@@AlexKall Så att claima att svenska skolor anser att kommunism är bra adderar jättemycket? Väx upp.

[@stimorolish]

Im from Sweden and my grandmother told me that she saw a lot of trains with german soldiers on the way to Norway and they waved to the Swedes they pass by but no one waved back..

[@scratchy996]

It's like they were ...neutral :)

[@sulaymankindi]

but of course. since the Germans lost, Im sure not one single Swede ever waved at a German in the history of either nation

[@Superslemmet]

My grandmother helped with cooking food for the troops as they traveled north. She said the Germans were very polite. My other grandmother was born south of Viborg, in what is now Russia. She said the Germans were well-behaved and respectful to the women and girls. But these were all Germans going to the Finnish fronts, so were seen as genuine allies against Russia. But it would be hard to view the Germans going to Norway as anything other than an occupation force.

[@johanstrom8473]

This is Sweden, we don't wave to strangers, doesn't matter who they are 😆.

[@enpatte]

A lot of people wawed back, Swedes were a lot more pro germany than what we are willing to remeber today.

[@reichsfolger]

Sweden's first responsibility was to the safety & happiness of the Swedish people despite the tremendous political & military pressure exerted on it by the belligerents.

[@Atskitda]

to bad they dont think in those terms any longer

[@dcooperpromanager]

Tell that to Norway

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Yes, that's what one can also call the disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation. By the way, Sweden in fact was the secret ally of the Germans! Sweden supported the Germans in the war with very important raw material deliveries but also with deliveries of important industrial products. The most important aspect of Sweden's exports to Germany during the Second World War was the extensive export of iron ore for use in the German armaments industry, reaching ten million tons per year. That was 50% of the iron ore that was available to the Germans! The Swedes also supplied the Germans with important industrial products such as Ball bearings. Sounds harmless? Ball bearings are necessary for the production of many weapon systems. Sweden even allowed German troop and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! Sweden even allowed German troops and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! That was a disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation!

[@loldiamond1017]

@@Atskitda Idk about you but I feel great!

[@rensvopstal]

I feel like these videos are getting better and better. Thanks for explaining history in such a clear way

[@SensiofRabbitude]

I found this interesting because most WWII history pieces I've seen accuse Sweden of being fully into one side or the other and faux neutral. Or they pretty much just ignore WWII era Sweden altogether.

[@ankaplanka]

It's easier to accuse someone than thinking more about why someone did something after all.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

But faux neutral is exactly the right description! Because Sweden in fact was the secret ally of the Germans! Sweden supported the Germans in the war with very important raw material deliveries but also with deliveries of important industrial products. The most important aspect of Sweden's exports to Germany during the Second World War was the extensive export of iron ore for use in the German armaments industry, reaching ten million tons per year. That was 50% of the iron ore that was available to the Germans! The Swedes also supplied the Germans with important industrial products such as Ball bearings. Sounds harmless? Ball bearings are necessary for the production of many weapon systems. Sweden even allowed German troop and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! Sweden even allowed German troops and war materials transports out of Norway via its territory to the front in the East! The Swedish press also spread German propaganda! That was a disgraceful and shameful collaboration with the Nazi nation!

[@GrahamChapman]

We were faux neutral: We made way more concessions to the nazis than we did to the allies. We let the nazis travel through our nation in order to get to Norway, which instantly discredits us as having been "neutral". Even today many right-wing Swedes try to argue that "We just didn't know anything about the atrocities of WW2; we were innocent, unknowing lambs." We knew. We chose to turn a blind eye to it. Probably because we were secretly nazi sympathizers. And, to a frightening degree, still are.

[@The_real_fbi]

@@GrahamChapman but in order to be a country keeping germany happy was essential

[@selfworm]

@@GrahamChapman "We were faux neutral: We made way more concessions to the nazis than we did to the allies." That's what I was thinking watching this video. People unironically putting "gave allies info and didn't murder some people" on the SAME LEVEL as "gave 3/4th of Germany's iron ore and let them move MILLIONS of troops and supplies"

[@DaInvisibleNinja]

God this channel makes me laugh and it's educational. They need to show this in schools.

[@Lancor84]

Nah, just talk weeks about a topic like this and have nothign stick.

[@mattislindehag3065]

The Swedish Volunteer Corps did participate in some combat during the winter war.

[@autumnicleaf]

Who is arguing about 'some"?

[@mattislindehag3065]

1:18 "roughly 12000 Swedes crossed the border to help in non combat roles". This is simply not the case. Volunteers did preform non combat roles but they allso manned anti aircraft guns and were deployed to the frontline in northen Salla.

[@aronlange1977]

The Swedish volunteers did see combat. Both on the ground and in the air. Finlands sak är vår!

[@Deucedeuce7]

@@aronlange1977 🇫🇮🇸🇪❤️💪🏻

[@swedishstyle9778]

@Typed Scroll around 300,Not that many.

[@victorconway444]

I lmao'd at the part where Stalin just coldly stares down at the Swedish prime minister with a sign saying "CONSEQUENCES"

[@gluffoful]

Very good summary overall. Just a couple of minor points: 1) The Swedish Volunteer Corps served in combat roles and did see _some_ action (including the flight regiment). But they were deliberately placed in less active sectors. 2) the transit of the German 163rd Division in 1941 was from Norway, not from Denmark (fat arrow at 2:50).

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

As a good ally, they also made good gold deals with the Germans. Mind you, that was rob gold! Robbed from the national banks of the occupied countries. Robbed of the population of the occupied countries. Robbed of the captives... no joke, if I write what kind of captives my comment will be deleted! But what kind of captives could they have been! There was evidence at the time that the gold was plundered! But all turned a blind eye

[@franklinclinton4539]

"They're doing war stuff" Speech 100

[@tyskbulle]

Little known fact: The Allies planned and pushed for an occupation of northern Scandinavia, with the pretext of aiding Finland in The Winter War. Both Norway & Sweden said *NO* to troop transports. Some Finns are still upset about this till this day.

[@torindechoza7266]

why do you suggest that they didnt want to aid finland?

[@tyskbulle]

@@torindechoza7266 Look up "Plan R 4" if you doubt me.

[@ralfhaggstrom9862]

50000 men, many months TOO LATE ! ...................@@torindechoza7266

[@torindechoza7266]

@@tyskbulle Plan R 4: invade norway once germany invades it. Not related to finland. Even worst case scenario that engand hates norway (wich is not the case because norway fought along england at least according to wikipedia) that doesnt mean england does not want to aid finland, a different country.

[@tyskbulle]

@@torindechoza7266 "Plan R 4 was the World War II British plan for an invasion of the neutral states of Norway and Sweden in April 1940, in the event of Germany violating the territorial integrity of Norway.[1] Earlier, the British had planned a similar intervention with France during the Winter War."

[@axios4702]

"They are doing war stuff okay? We are fine now?" "Okay Sweden, we are fine" "Told you they sucked at this" "Not now Stalin!"

[@baverfjant]

We still sold iron ore to the Allies. Our ball bearings were essential for the British army. We were not exclusively trading with Nazi Germany.

[@cliff9708]

Correction. Swedish volunteers fought and suffered losses at the front lines of the northern Salla. They also had front line forces at the battle of Tali-Ihantala. Which is, to this date, the largest battle in the history of the Nordic countries.

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

2:34 Hahahaha!! That spy in the potted plant, hillarious xD

[@nielskramer214]

Yeah, definitely one of the funniest History Matters animations :D

[@cv4809]

Truly the pinnacle of comedy

[@MootjeNL]

FROM SWEDEN

[@sviatoslavs.1305]

That potted plant is a spy! (I tried...)

[@11thstalley96]

You could have mentioned the heroic Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during WW2 by issuing Swedish passports to them. As this was accomplished with the full knowledge of the rest of the Swedish legation, Sweden was risking the wrath of the Nazis just when they were capable of horrific and futile acts of revenge when it became obvious that they had lost the war. Sweden deserves respect.

[@ankaplanka]

@@franctokyo5981 How many nations have tried to eliminate people with developmental disabilities? I know my country (Sweden) had a share of problems like that, but I know that happened in other places too! In Japan, autistic people along the ones with intellectual disabilities (no matter if they were autistic or not) were forcefully sterilized up until 1996 I think. If you have more examples, then feel free to share!

[@GrahamChapman]

Nah, Raoul Wallenberg deserves respect. The rest of Sweden, however, were practically the lap dogs of the nazis.

[@samikhalloufi1530]

The key to staying neutral during WW2: become equally useful to both sides.

[@eventyraren]

1:15. I like that you used the swedish Word there. 👍😀🇸🇪

[@Ruosteinenknight]

01:38 France and Britain did make some plans of bringing troops to cut germany off from iron ore but this never took place because both Norway and Sweden said "no", meaning to make it happen they would need to actually invade them. They originally tried to excuse their entering trough Norway and Sweden that their expedition was going to head to Finland to aid them during winter war, fact that they never intended to do(they very specifically wanted to avoid a situation where they end up at war with Nazi-germany and Soviet Union at the same time): they would've occupied northern sweden presumably same way the eventually did with Faraoe islands and Iceland, despite that both professed they were neutral and then stay there. This kinda came back to haunt them when Barbarossa started to become a thing. When soviet spies uncovered western intelligence that Germany was preparing an attack against the soviet union, Stalin believed that his spies had been planted with false information, to make him to attack Germany, citing Allies plans earlier as an example of them being capable of such diversions. The fact that Richard Sorge managed to also uncover even a date of the invasion via his japanese sources did little to persuade Stalin otherwise. When Churchill and Roosevelt then tried to warn Stalin directly, he somehow became even more convinced that they were trying to make fool out of him: he believed that Allies tried to get him to declare war and then use it as an excuse to ally with Nazis against him. He was just that paranoid.

[@thorskjelver8564]

That was a fun watch. Swedish history is surprisingly interesting.

[@monarchist2486]

Too bad it won't be taught in schools any more....

[@Lukekho]

@@monarchist2486 says the non swede

[@monarchist2486]

@@Lukekho So I can't have an opinion on subversion? What is wrong with pointing out that swedes should love their rich history and stop the insanity of "progressivism".

[@DenOndeMister]

@@monarchist2486 If you don't live here stfu.

[@MrReedling]

Sweden havent always been like this *flasbacks to 1600 - 1700*

[@oliversherman2414]

As someone who's half Swedish, I really enjoyed this episode. Thanks for covering a lesser discussed nation from WW2

[@willek1335]

Love your videos. They're always the first videos in my feed that gets a run time. There's one point here I'd like to add. Sweden's army. I've also heard Sweden's ability to hold Germany at arms length wasn't just diplomatic. Sweden's army was capable. Their strength was dominant in the north, being stronger than Denmark and Norway combined. In the end, from what I've read it was a combination both diplomacy and armed forced, coupled with the fact that strategically there was little reason to hold Sweden for either side. Keep making these videos.

[@DaDunge]

The army wans't well prepared, but he airforce was fairly strong and the navy has a type of coastal defence ships that were very hard to counter.

[@shadowno2298]

Europe: Kills itself in a bloody war Sweeden: *STJONKS* Edit: Holy Moly! My first comment with over 2 likes! Thank you all for liking my badly grammerd sense of humor!

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

*STÖNKS*

[@namingisdifficult408]

STÅNKS

[@slimeguy3437]

ŠŤÖŇKŠ

[@lidulkadut]

my mom It’s a joke

[@Joshua_23]

@my mom you must be very fun at parties

[@cormacmacsuibhne2867]

Talk about Ireland during the world wars.

[@user-qi5jw2hg1c]

That would be interesting comparing major ww1 involvement with very little ww2 involvement

[@tomon5598]

all the princesses men If you were really Irish, you’d know this 🇮🇪 is our flag

[@breaddboy]

@all the princesses men that's the Ivory coast flag, and Ireland was famously neautral during ww2 given its detest for Britain and how ruined the country was after the Irish war of independence, the Irish civil war and the mass poverty from those wars Eamon deVelara had no interest in joining. Look up the 'A nation once again' speech by Churchill it gives you a good idea.

[@Alan_Mac]

@@breaddboy "the Irish civil war" was nothing to do with Britain. It was merely a pathetic internal spat between South Irishmen killing each other to see who was more Irish.

[@Alan_Mac]

Do you mean South Ireland or the island as a whole?

[@sub-zero_]

as we say in Norway: what is the worlds thinnest book? *the book of swedish war veterans*

[@The_real_fbi]

I see this as a win

[@Flight_of_Icarus]

It's important to note that iron ore, though it was important to the functioning German war industry, was not qualified as a wartime material under the rules of the Geneva convention, and therefore, the Swedes were able to sell it to whomever they liked and would still be considered neutral. Still, they were, by the rules of the hague and geneva conventions, supposed to intern hostile troops crossing their territory, which they didn't do with Germany. All this considered, these things were extremely difficult and honestly just paper when it came to such an all encompassing, truly world war like World War II. It was extremely difficult for any country at all to maintain any semblance of neutrality, given pressure from belligerent powers, political leanings, and just, sometimes, being straight up invaded by a belligerent. Iron ore, for example, though it wasn't agreed beforehand to be a war material in all the treaties and conventions and all the paper that was now rather meaningless for countries fighting for their continued existence, was powering the German industry and the Allies had to do something about it.

[@selfworm]

After the soviets reversed the tide of war, did Sweden allow millions of Soviet troops to transit their territory as they did with the Germans?

[@ianmetcalfe7389]

I love it they became valuable to both sides and neither side would risk loosing them. It's a shame they were put in the situation but considering what was happening around them they got lucky.

[@rodriguistamemer4406]

At first when i looked at the thumbnail i was like "what? Gorbachev was the leader of sweden in ww2?" Then i realized it wasn't him.

[@schnibbelhenry1232]

der sozialdemokrat that was our legendary prime minister Per Albin Hansson for Socialdemokraterna, or the social democrats

[@HansLandaNaranja]

The way they managed to walk that tightrope is really impressive.

[@GrahamChapman]

The way we managed to convince the allies that we weren't a nazi vassal nation (which is what we actually were) is stupefying.

[@TheCaesar88]

Awesome video as always! Could you please make one about conquering Norway? How did it look like, what were the German numbers and what was it like during the occupation?

[@Lancor84]

That's why in HoI4 you always go for Sweden's sweet tungsten and steel.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Oh, again fairy tales that contradict historical truth! By the way, whether to deliver or supply, these are all appropriate terms, because the Swedes delivered the very important war goods to Germany. The Swedes were actually the unofficial allies of the Germans not only because of the immense importance of the goods supplied, especially iron ore, for the German armaments industry, but also because the Swedes also supported the Germans in various other ways. Such as during the German raid against the Soviet Union (June-July 1941), Sweden allowed the German army to use Swedish railways to transport the German troops along with heavy weapons from Norway to Finland.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Oh, again fairy tales that contradict historical truth!

[@j.m.f5451]

After having a front-row seat to what happened to Norway and Denmark it'd make a fair bit of sense the Swedish wouldn't be exactly thrilled about joining the Allies.

[@mamdouh-Tawadros]

I would think not.

[@MrSilvestris]

Nations that have mastered the art of being "invisible" during conflict and war, but still can act in decisive roles, fascinate me.

[@gavholt2190]

"I play both sides so I'll always be on top."

[@Saurophaganax1931]

Whole of Europe: "Which side are you on?" Sweden: "Ja"

[@viffi1]

Ja såklart

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Oh, again fairy tales that contradict historical truth from you for whitewashing!

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

Oh, again fairy tales that contradict historical truth! By the way, whether to deliver or supply, these are all appropriate terms, because the Swedes delivered the very important war goods to Germany. The Swedes were actually the unofficial allies of the Germans not only because of the immense importance of the goods supplied, especially iron ore, for the German armaments industry, but also because the Swedes also supported the Germans in various other ways. Such as during the German raid against the Soviet Union (June-July 1941), Sweden allowed the German army to use Swedish railways to transport the German troops along with heavy weapons from Norway to Finland. Even after the initial phase of the attack on the Soviet Union, German soldiers, weapons, communications and supply equipment were allowed to transport across Swedish territory in the so-called permittenttrafik. Yes, there is really a term with permittenttrafik for the approved transit of German troops and war material through Sweden. These weren't just a few soldiers, but in all, close to 100,000 railroad cars had transported 1,004,158 German military personnel. As a good ally, Sweden allowed the Germans to use the Swedish telephone and telegraph lines for the communication of the German troops in Norway and Finland via Sweden.

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

@@viffi1 As a good ally, they also made good gold deals with the Germans. Mind you, that was rob gold! Robbed from the national banks of the occupied countries. Robbed of the population of the occupied countries. Robbed of the captives in the death camps. There was evidence at the time that the gold was plundered! But all turned a blind eye

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

@@viffi1 As for the cliam that there was allegedly a pressure to do that because of alleged German threats! One could say that there was in certain circumstances or possibly a danger until 1942 that the Germans could attack Sweden if Sweden had stopped cooperating. But from 1943 onwards the Germans were too weak to open another front against the pretty good armed Swedes. But the Swedes continued to cooperate with the Germans until 1945, even though there was no theoretical threat of attack. So there was no threat. Threats weren't necessary because Swedes did business with the Germans completely voluntarily without any threat and delivered the important goods! The reason for this was simple! Greed! It's just worth doing business with Nazis. And that is very despicable!

[@ChrisisisB]

1:22 "non-combat roles" this is not true. The swedish volounteers were placed in a calm area of the front and only took about 100 casualties. But they fought and the "volonteer" air corps shoot down or destroyed 12 russian aircraft. Easy wikipedia search.

[@troyjt2252]

Oh wow, one whole Swedish corp shot down 12 whole Russian planes? Amazing! Meanwhile Germany had aces like Erich Hartmann having shot down 352 planes. Swedish forces are a complete joke.

[@DwarfenBlizzard]

@@troyjt2252 It was only 29 planes of various roles. They destroyed 12 enemy planes whilst only losing 1 friendly plane in air combat and 4 others due to other incidents. I'd say that's a pretty good number.

[@tessjuel]

1:15 It's not that the Swedish volunteers only had non combat roles in Finland. Svenska Frivilligkåren was a combat group consisting of 8402 Swedish, 1010 Danish and 895 Norwegian volunteers, organized into three infantry battalions plus artilerry, anti tank units, a 25 fighter planes and other support units. They fought with distinction at the Salla front and at Åby and later some of them made it over to Norway to join the resistance against the German invasion.

[@Fishmanglitz]

TBH why should they have gotten involved? People (Usually Americans) love to paint World War II as the moral duty of the world to fight in. However I am totally sympathetic to the position the Swedes were in. Unlike America which I live in BTW Sweden was on both Germany's and the Soviet Union's doorstep which both countries had a tendency to invade Scandinavian countries. Sucking up to both sides was their only option for survival. Lots of people like to bash countries who didn't take the opportunity to fight the Nazis as cowards, but at least in terms of my fellow Americans it's pretty easy and arrogant to say that when we had two oceans protecting us and we didn't have any significant nor were ever in any real danger of having our infrastructure destroyed and our civilians butchered by the war.

[@xxobad-_-boyoxx933]

Lol That's bit arrogant of you, don't you think?

[@FindecanorNotGmail]

Americans also prefer to forget that during the beginning of WWII: - there was a US Nazi party - the German-US friendship league: The Bund. - a strong anti-war movement

[@ManUtdBoy13]

@@FindecanorNotGmail And they didn't join until THEY were attacked, so ya, the US really weren't much better.

[@SuperLusername]

Swedish foreign policy - perfectly balanced as all things should be

[@trinitikorneli2750]

bullshit

[@ImBarryScottCSS]

ROFL. 50% Help most evil regime in history. 50% Help people fighting said evil. SUCH BALANCE.

[@powershiftffs]

@@ImBarryScottCSS idk, equally evil regime was on the other side as well

[@tombstone3echo]

@@ImBarryScottCSS 100% not being invaded

[@toddharig8142]

@@ImBarryScottCSS Best thing to do when two bullies are fighting each other is to just let them carry on.

[@Puckosar]

1:48 Those troop movements happened after the invasion when hostilities with norway had ended and held unarmed troops. They were not reinforcements for the norway campaign.

[@floro7687]

Check the battle for Narvik and the German troops at Bjørnefjell.

[@siffran123]

@@floro7687 Only supplies were transported during the battle of narvik, not reinforcements

[@floro7687]

@@siffran123 so no personnel was evacuated from Bjørnefjell?

[@floro7687]

It became known, especially in the spy case against a man employed who worked for the Swedish railways that the weapons and the troops were never in the same compartment, the authorities always insisted on that, and said they were "unarmed" That caused him to report to the USSR.

[@floro7687]

@@siffran123 Så ingen tyske tropper blei evakuert frå Bjørnefjell?

[@parasite-2757]

Stalin holding a sign saying consequences is reassuring and horrifying.

[@verycoolyes158]

Two of my family members from my mothers side fought as swedish volunteers for the Finnish against the Soviet Union.

[@verycoolyes158]

aboyhasnoname thats pretty epic

[@SlavicUnionGaming]

aboyhasnoname Your grandfather is in hell!!! 😁

[@alpha3488]

@@NotThatJojjo If you fought for the SS you were a facist.

[@alpha3488]

@@NotThatJojjo It is true. I'm from Germany and and we consider every SS member a facist. They were executing the Shoa behind the lines and they fought till the end even after the Wehrmacht surrendered.

[@wasd7819]

alpha3488 that doesnt mean every person who fought in the SS is inherently evil.

[@jgripen969]

1:15 12 000 non-combat roles?! I think my relatives want a word with you, History Matters...

[@Numelu]

@@dkfdhdsj6261 8000 Swedes, the rest were norweigan and danish.

[@gideonmele1556]

They were “non-combat” roles so as to not officially be fighting against invasion. But those “non-combatants” were surprisingly active in combat activities *wink wink nudge nudge Ahhhh politics

[@KarmasAB123]

Germany in WWI: "You're supplying our enemies! You're not Neutral!" Germany in WWII: *Gets supplies from "Neutral" countries*

[@DaDunge]

Allies in ww1: You invaded a neutral country! You're the evil side! Allies in ww2: Plans an invasion of neutral Sweden. Also of course the allies invaded neutral Greece in ww1.

[@KarmasAB123]

@@DaDunge Everyone's a hypocrite XD

[@comrade3909]

Germany in WWI: Noo you are committing war crimes! America in WWI: haha shotgun go boom

[@watching99134]

British in WWI: Submariners are criminals not soldiers (while placing orders for submarines from the neutral U.S., to be assembled in Montreal).

[@militarychica07]

I swear I never realized how much I enjoy world history, until I saw your videos, breaking it down to me Barney style.

[@AK-px9pn]

Do a video on Finland's winter war against the USSR.... I'm so curious about that

[@ElectrologyNow]

Having lived in Norway ... I have a Norwegian slant on this story.

[@asj8048]

Swedish volunteers did actually partake in battles in the Winter War. We should've helped more, though.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

Between Britain and the USSR Sweden wouldn't have made much of a difference other than making their own peoples lives worse. Better for people to be left to choose themselves, like the Irish that went to Britain to help the war effort

[@levmyshkin8366]

COYS

[@ГригорийГ-ч4н]

@@NotThatJojjo with a proper planning and preparations from USSR instead of attempt to, well, de facto rush Finland during first period of war it'd not hold even for as long as it had. Right before Winter War USSR had a small war with Japan on Far East and Japan lost it so bad that they decided to not intervene in war against USSR on Axis side even during first monthes of war when Germany was doing Blitzkrieg like with France and Benilux.

[@martinfalkjohansson5204]

Look how much money the Swedish population gave, and convert that to modern currency. A lot of money was sent, as well as aid in the form of food and clothes. We also, albet not successful in hindsight, temporarily adopted Finnish children so that they be safe from the war. The military turned a blind eye to Swedish military who joined voluntarily, and act that would otherwise be akin to treason. The government did as much as it could, whilst still being able to claim neutrality.

[@DaDunge]

Also the Swedish navy has coastal defence ships that neither the allies nor the axis really had a good counter too, far to well armoured to be taken on by most smaller enemy boats but also able to enter the Swedish archipelagos where the bigger enemy ships could not follow.

[@Thunderbolt22A10]

Swedish foreign policy is as Pewdiepie says "I'm Swedish don't hit me"

[@gametmane1093]

You’re right

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

Or just run away to Brighten because your own country is going to the dogs

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

@Derp Inshmurtz Sweden has the highest GDP, are you an idiot? It's not even top ten

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

@Derp Inshmurtz No they don't. America spends more on its military than Sweden's entire gross domestic product.

[@edvinandersson4529]

@@mrcaboosevg6089 oh yeah, because America is such a good country.

[@olofbjorklid6154]

I am Swedish and we have a Word for this ”Lagom”. It mean not too much nor too less, just perfect. This is Lagom in practice

[@MrDoffelund]

@Ararune Yup, it's a common fallacy here in Sweden that the word lagom is unique to us, which it is obviously not. But I was of the same idea before as well since that is something echoed a lot.

[@tiddybearkush]

@Ararune There's no other country or people in the civilized world that practice "lagom" and that's why it uniq, lagom is not just a word. If what you say is true then the world would not suffer because it would be lagom...

[@tiddybearkush]

@Ararune Nope, the further south you get the more spoiled, stupid, lazy and dumb people get. It's their own fault they live in shit and if they just was lagom they would not need to parasite on the developed countries and the world would not suffer. People and their mentality is a result of their culture not their environment.

[@noahdiez9400]

Lagom is not just a word, it's a way of living. Very serious stuff

[@ericleejohnson1402]

Most people would call that "war profiteering".

[@kolen0421]

Sweden sold Pomerania to Prussia and gave the money to Denmark as compensation for Norway wich Sweden won in the Napoleonic wars.

[@vflower]

What actually happened: Denmark-Norway was fighting on Napoleon's side. When the coalition beat the Napoleonic forces in Northern Germany, Denmark signed peace treaties with the UK and Sweden where they were forced to join the anti-Napoleon coalition. Furthermore, in those treaties, they had to give up Heligoland to the UK and the Kingdom of Norway (except for Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe) to Sweden, while being handed control over previously Napoleon-occupied Swedish Pomerania. At the Congress of Vienna, now Danish Pomerania was exchanged with Prussia for Saxe-Lauenburg which Prussia had only recently acquired from Hanover in exchange for East Frisia, which they took from the Napoleonic Netherlands. So to recap: Norway was owned by Denmark, became part of Sweden West Pomerania was owned by Sweden, became part of Denmark for a short time and then part of Prussia Saxe-Lauenburg was owend by Hanover, became part of Prussia for a short time and then part of Denmark East Frisia was Dutch, became part of Prussia for a short time and then part of Hanover.

[@kolen0421]

@@vflower Nä nu är du ute o cyklar.

[@frbo9002]

@@kolen0421 Actually, you are the one who are out bicycling, vflower is correct.

[@kolen0421]

@@frbo9002 No, Sweden did win Norway when the crown Prince of Sweden Carl Johan took the northern army and defeated Denmark.

[@vflower]

@@kolen0421 I did say that Sweden got Norway in the peace treaty with Denmark? In that treaty they also agreed to give Swedish Pomerania to Denmark, which was then traded as described above. Sweden clearly did not sell their part of Pomerania to Prussia directly, since Prussia gave up Saxe-Lauenburg to Denmark in the trade.

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!

[@g41producer85]

We get so proud if someone mentions Sweden that we click on every video with our country i it.

[@kahwu7640]

Literally this, I always get excited when someone outside of Sweden talks about us.

[@kiwiwizard215]

Honestly, I've noticed a stereotype among swedes that we always feel the need to tell everyone the fact that we are swedish, especially in the comment sections of videos like this.

[@DonerJBump]

@@kiwiwizard215 very true

[@Bregott07]

Yeah, it is in our blood for some reason.

[@_loss_]

That's you

[@Allagi22]

Regardless of how you feel about the Swedish government's actions during WWII, you have to admire their skill in diplomacy.

[@severian9475]

Sweden: "I'm playing both sides, so I always come out on top"

[@DiabloManiacz]

"Eftervard stå här på egen botn och lita icke på främmande hielp." -Stone tablet's in King's gate in Finland.

[@Meatspinner]

There was also the circumstance that the particular iron mine in Sweden where the iron that Germany needed was mined had been rigged with explosives so that it could be collapsed at a moment's notice in the event of invasion. Something similar was also done to major roads in the country, which would have considerably slowed any invasive force down given how much of the nation is forested. Basically the Samson option.

[@OtherDAS]

Why invade when the Swedes sell to the Nazis? Better to have fought and not sold -- to resist instead of collude. See the video where Thatcher gives it to a swede how dumb they were.

[@kube129]

Why does Petsamo look so weird on your map?

[@normnorumi3780]

The actions Sweden took are understandable. However, I do think that the role of "world conscience" it took on itself later on is a bit rich. Not fighting the Nazis and facilitating their movements may be something that many or even most people would have done under the circumstances, but it is not commendable.

[@zuperdoggie]

Fun fact: Sweden hasn’t been in war for 207 years

[@romanhama5377]

Sad fact: They have had an arm in almost every conflict since, by arming all sides with weapons. Iraq, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Bahrain, Saudi, Egypt, Brunei and 19 other countries where peoples rights equals the same to dog shit.

[@pawjensen5214]

There is a war here everyday. Cause Swedish politicians are pussies even to this day!

[@leijonpungen5865]

Except the immigration wars were fighting right now!

[@rs0wner301]

definitionsfråga mannen

[@emilhult3394]

but their jetplanes and assault rifles sure have!

[@theAverageJoe25]

So basically they played both sides of the conflict until one side won

[@ALFABETAS999]

2:36 best spy report ever xD

[@GreatPolishWingedHussars]

As a good ally, they also made good gold deals with the Germans. Mind you, that was rob gold! Robbed from the national banks of the occupied countries. Robbed of the population of the occupied countries. Robbed of the captives... no joke, if I write what kind of captives my comment will be deleted! But what kind of captives could they have been! There was evidence at the time that the gold was plundered! But all turned a blind eye

[@cursedex3755]

Could you do more further back history than 20th century ones?

[@bagibadoo439]

Name one country that attacked Germany before being attacked themselves. Exactly 0 countries did that. Not any of the large countries France, UK, USA etc did it. France had one of the best military in the world at the time and got defeated in roughly a month. Everyone was trying their best to stay away from direct war. To expect that Sweden (which had less then a 1/10th of Germany's population) would be the only country to *not do that* is just idiotic.

[@AlexKall]

And with a military defence in bad state.

[@simonwilcox4437]

Britain sent their Expeditionary Force to mainland Europe in response to Germany invading Poland, so there you have one country that went to war with zee Germans without being directly attacked.

[@bagibadoo439]

@@simonwilcox4437 Hehe but that was just to strengthen the defenses in France out of self interest. If France would be defeated, the war would in time come to British soil. And the BEF and the French army didn't do anything against the Germans, they pretty much sat in France for 8 months while the Germans attacked and took over their alleys country (Poland), they did have a good opportunity to attack Germany but didn't.

[@Ducesweden]

@@simonwilcox4437 But then we must remember that Britain had the largest fleet and empire in the world, plus the commonwealth.

[@simonwilcox4437]

@@Ducesweden Absolutely,. I am not suggesting that Sweden should have engaged in open conflict with Germany, just pointing out that there were countries who had YET to be directly attacked by Germany who rallied to fight off the threat.