The Midsummer crisis ( sv, Midsommarkrisen) was a political crisis in
Sweden after the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
on 22 June 1941.
Sweden's
neutrality was tested when
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
demanded that Sweden allow the transit of the
Wehrmacht's 163rd Infantry Division by railroad from
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
to Finland.
After the 1939
German-Soviet invasion of Poland, Swedish prime minister
Per Albin Hansson declared strict neutrality and called for the formation of a coalition government involving all major parties under his leadership; this was realized in December, with the exception of the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
. With Spain, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland and the Vatican, Sweden maintained neutrality throughout
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and cooperated with both sides. According to
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, during the war Sweden ignored the greater moral issues and played both sides for profit (particularly in the
German occupation of Denmark and Norway, supported by transportation through Sweden sanctioned by Hansson's
cabinet).
Evolution
Operation Barbarossa, the 22 June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, sparked an ultimatum by the government of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to Hansson's cabinet demanding military concessions (including
German troop transports on Swedish railways to support German ally Finland). The political deliberations surrounding this ultimatum have become known as the "midsummer crisis", which (allegedly after King Gustav V's threat to abdicate if the concessions were not made) was resolved in favor of the Axis. Although the 83-year-old king had not directly intervened in government policy since 1914, Gustav had the formal power to appoint his own cabinet; his open intervention in the issue was seen as a threat to the stability of the government and, given the ongoing war, to the nation's sovereignty. However, according to research published in 2002 by Carl-Gustaf Scott "the crisis was created in historical hindsight in order to protect the political legacy of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
and its leader Per Albin Hansson."
The Social Democratic Party and the
Riksdag were divided on the issue.
Hansson, implying that the king would abdicate if the German ultimatum was refused, succeeded in getting the Riksdag to make a decision acceptable to the other political parties.
One reason for the approval was Finland's expected reaction to a denial; its security relied on outside support provided only by Germany.
[{{cite web, url=http://www.annefrankguide.net/sv-se/bronnenbank.asp?aid=160857, title=Midsommarkrisen, publisher=AFW.se, accessdate=21 June 2014, language=Swedish, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714111247/http://www.annefrankguide.net/sv-se/bronnenbank.asp?aid=160857, archive-date=14 July 2014, url-status=live] German Foreign Ministry
, logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg
, logo_width = 260 px
, image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg
, picture_width = 300px
, image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building
, headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...
official Karl Schnurre told
Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Christian Günther that without an agreement, Finland would be drawn into the European conflict.
The "midsummer crisis", highly publicized in 1941, was interpreted as a sign of King Gustav V's personal responsibility for Swedish weakness towards Nazi Germany.
The king's actions were confirmed by German foreign-policy documents captured at the end of the war. On 25 June 1941, the German minister in Stockholm sent a "Most Urgent-Top Secret" message to Berlin stating that the king had just informed him that the transit of German troops would be allowed:
The King's words conveyed the joyful emotion he felt. He had lived through anxious days and had gone far in giving his personal support to the matter. He added confidentially that he had found it necessary to go so far as to mention his abdication.[Documents of German Foreign Policy 1918–1945 Series D Volume XIII The War Years 23 June 1941 – 11 December 1941, Published in UK by HMSO and in US By Government Printing Office.]
According to
Ernst Wigforss, Gustaf V and Prince Gustav Adolf attempted to persuade the Swedish government to allow the Allies to transport troops through Sweden; this was rejected due to concerns about German retribution. The German-led invasion of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, Operation Barbarossa, commenced on 22 June 1941. Due to Germany's involvement with Finland, Soviet forces attacked Finland on 25 June. In response, Finland saw itself as being at war with the Soviet Union. Sweden subsequently did, in fact, begin rail transport of the German 163rd Infantry Division.
As Scott has written, "Sweden's conduct was not impartial in the Nazi-Soviet conflict. The decision to allow belligerent troops transit across Sweden was a conspicuous breach of international law regarding the conduct of neutral states ...
ndremains a black spot in Swedish history, one which continues to prick Sweden's national conscience."
References
1941 in Sweden
Sweden in World War II
1941 in military history
June 1941 events