Samfundet Nordens Frihet (, " Nordic Freedom Society") was a Swedish association founded in 1939 to promote independence for the Nordic countries during the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The association was dissolved in 1946.

History

Initially Samfundet Nordens Frihet was closely linked to the “Finlandskommittén” (Finland Committee), which worked to assist Finland with volunteer military forces. After the German occupation of Norway and Denmark in 1940, the society considered that Sweden should join the war. Politically, the society was against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

. At most it had 250 members, among them many prominent cultural figures. Almost 50% of the members were academics in the field of History. “The core group consisted of members of the senior seminar on history at

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, s ...

.” Society membership was applied by election, Sigurd Curman was the first president and

Harald Wigforss Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to: Medieval Kings of Denmark * Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986) Kings of Norway * Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933) * Harald Greycloak (died 970) * Harald Hardrad ...

was editor of the society’s journal, '' Nordens Frihet''. Other leading members of the society included the Stockholm municipal commissioner

Yngve Larsson Gustaf Richard ''Yngve'' Larsson (; December 13, 1881 – December 16, 1977) was a Swedish political scientist, Municipal commissioner (''Borgarråd''), and Member of Parliament. He was an important force in the urban development of Stockholm du ...

Nils Ahnlund Nils Ahnlund (23 August 1889 – 11 January 1957) was a Swedish historian. He was professor of history at the then- Stockholm University College 1928–1955, and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1941. He was the father of physician Hans ...

Harald Hjärne Harald Gabriel Hjärne (2 May 1848, in Klastorp, Skövde – 6 January 1922, in Uppsala) was a Swedish historian. Hjärne held one of the chairs of history at Uppsala University from 1889 until 1913, and was a member of the Swedish Academy ...

Eli Heckscher Eli Filip Heckscher (24 November 1879 – 23 December 1952) was a Swedish political economist and economic historian. Biography Heckscher was born in Stockholm, son of the Jewish Danish-born businessman Isidor Heckscher and his spouse Rosa Meyer, ...

, Karl-Gustaf Hildebrand,

Nils Herlitz Nils Herlitz (1888–1978) was a Swedish historian, legal scholar and politician of the Moderate Party. He served as the third President of the Nordic Council in 1955. He served as a member of the upper house of the Swedish parliament from 1939 t ...

Stig Jägerskiöld Stig Axel Fridolf Jägerskiöld (20 April 1911 – 14 September 1997) was a Swedish professor in public law, international law and constitutional law. He was also a historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and ...

K.G. Westman Karl Gustaf Westman (18 August 1876 – 24 January 1944) was a Swedish historian and political leader. Biography Westman attended Uppsala University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1897, Licentiate of Philosophy in 1904 and a Ph.D. 1905. ...

, Adolf Schück, Birger Steckzén and Andreas Lindblom. Larsson, Ahnlund and Lindbom were members of the board throughout the society’s existence.Byström 2005, p. 147 The board members

Gustaf Aulén Gustaf Emanuel Hildebrand Aulén (15 May 1879 – 16 December 1977) was the Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden, a Lutheran theologian, and the author of '' Christus Victor'', a work which still exerts considerable influence on conte ...

Knut Petersson Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

, and

Henning Throne-Holst Henning Throne-Holst (25 July 1895 – 23 March 1980) was a Norwegian born, Swedish industrialist. Biography Throne-Holst was born at Strinda in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. He was the son of Johan Throne Holst (1868-1946) and Hanna Richter Je ...

received

The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

References

Citations

Sources

* * Sweden in World War II 1946 disestablishments in Sweden 1939 establishments in Sweden {{Sweden-org-stub

History

See also

References

Citations

Sources