''Claës'' Axel Klingenstierna ( 1875–1966) was a Swedish general staff officer. He was a member of the aristocratic family.

Biography

Axel Klingenstierna was born in the village of Kila in

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

. In the late 1890s, he studied in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

among other places. In 1902, he completed a course at the

Royal Swedish Army Staff College The Royal Swedish Army Staff College (, KHS) was a Swedish Army training establishment between 1866 and 1961, providing courses for army officers. It was the home of the Swedish Army's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers ...

. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, Klingenstierna and Nils D. Edlund led Swedish efforts to secretly support

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

with

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

and met with Col. Akashi Motojirō, spymaster for the '' Daihon'ei'' in Europe. Among other things, Klingenstierna and were able to arrange for one Lt. Bergen to infiltrate Russia in order to collect intelligence for the Japanese. In 1906, he became a lieutenant in the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. Between 1928 and 1931, Klingenstierna served on an

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

research committee. In 1935, he was promoted to major general and transferred to the reserve. Klingenstierna died in 1966.

References

1875 births 1966 deaths Swedish untitled nobility 19th-century Swedish nobility 20th-century Swedish nobility 19th-century Swedish military personnel 20th-century Swedish military personnel Swedish Army major generals Swedish Army officers People from Nyköping Municipality {{Sweden-mil-bio-stub