Sweden and The Winter War - Swedish Military's Position

Swedish Military's Position

One of the main considerations that led the Swedish government to declare Sweden a non-belligerent state was concern that they might otherwise lose control of the internal situation in Sweden. The Soviet demands on Finland in the months prior to the outbreak of war had roused public opinion. While there had been large demonstrations in support of Finland, Russia was a traditional enemy, and fear of the Russians had been a part of the Swedish mindset since 1719, when Russian galleys burned Swedish coastal communities during the Great Northern War. Therefore, there was a strong feeling that it was better to defend Sweden on Finnish soil.

Swedish military strength was at one of its low points in 1939, a rearmament program had been decided in 1936 but it hadn't yet had any substantial effect on the armed forces. The army only had 16 tanks apart from a small number of tankettes armed with machine guns. Air defence guns were few and the air force only had 36 Gloster Gladiator fighters. Modern artillery was very limited, short range guns of the great war era or older where the norm. Worst of all, training had been very reduced in a 1925 decision to cut back on the armed forces, most units didn't have winter training and left army units needing to conduct rehearsal training after a mobilization.

Within the Swedish military, officers who had been volunteers in the Finnish civil war were now senior officers. Most notable among them were Axel Rappe, a member of the General Staff, and Archibald Douglas, commander of the Northern Army Corps.

The belief that Sweden was best served by a defense in Finland was enacted primarily by Douglas, whose Northern Army Corps comprised around 26,600 men who had been mobilised to guard the Swedish border with Finland in case the Russians invaded. He reasoned that the best way he could defend Sweden was to move into Finland and meet the Russians there. When the Russians had reached a certain point inside Finland, the whole Northern Army Corps would move across the border and take up positions along the Kemi river, all without approval of the Swedish government.

The fact that the Swedish government did not get news of Douglas' plan right away makes it entirely possible that the plan could have been implemented. However, when they did find out, and the plan was scrapped, Douglas was allowed to retain command and later rose to become Chief of the Army.

The Northern Army Corps, barred from entering Finland, did not end attempts at aid, however. Swedish first line units would at times lose equipment and material that was needed on the other side of the border. The willingness to help out can be traced to officers in charge of Swedish supply units likening the Swedish Army Stores at Boden as a Finnish supply base.

It is thought that up to 10,000 Swedish volunteers traveled to Finland and fought alongside Finnish soldiers during the conflict with Russia to aid in her defense. Several books written about the Winter War include reference to the Swedish volunteers and many older Finns today still acknowledge the contributions of these few individuals.