Sweden's "Neutral approach"

On March 4, a poll by a foreign institute showed that a majority of Swedes supported Sweden's membership in NATO. According to relevant reports, such results are the first time.

Sweden is one of the "permanently neutral countries" universally recognized internationally and has always pursued a "neutral policy". After the end of the Cold War, voices about "Sweden will join NATO" appeared from time to time, but the dissenting public still made up the majority, until this poll showed that 51% of Swedes currently supported NATO.

Why did Sweden, once prominent in Europe, choose a policy of neutrality? What is so special about Sweden's "neutral approach"? It starts with the history of Sweden.

Former overlord

Located in Scandinavia, Sweden is bordered by Norway to the west, Finland to the northeast, the Skagrak Strait and the Cartgart Strait to the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia to the east, making it the largest country in Northern Europe.

The natural environment adjacent to the sea provided the conditions for the development of Sweden in the medieval period. With the early rampant piracy gradually stopping, in the early 11th century, Sweden began to form a kingdom, and around 1250 completed the initial unification.

In 1397, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway signed the Treaty of Kalmar, establishing the Kalmar Union, which shared the same monarch and was effectively under Danish control. After Denmark's repeated meddling in internal affairs, rebellion against Denmark and secession from the alliance became the best option in line with Sweden's own development.

In 1521, Gustav Vassa, born into a Swedish aristocratic family, was elected regent and supreme ruler of Sweden. For Gustav Vasa, rebelling against Denmark is not only a national vendetta, but also a family vendetta. Just a year ago, in the "Stockholm Massacre", his father was executed by the Danish king.

Under the leadership of Gustav Vasa, in 1523 the Swedish army finally defeated Denmark, recaptured Stockholm, and officially abolished the Kalmar Union. In 1528, Gustav Vasa was coronated as Gustav I, the Vasa dynasty was established, and became the starting point for the rise of Sweden.

During the reign of Gustav I, he carried out drastic reforms with far-reaching effects. By 1611, Gustav I's grandson Gustav Adolf ascended the throne, and Sweden was truly on the way to power.

Gustav Adolf was only 17 years old when he ascended the throne, and soon the young king suffered a blow – sweden was defeated in a battle against its old enemy, Denmark, from 1612 to 1613, and was forced to cut off the land for peace. But Gustav Adolf did not give up and won the ensuing war with Russia. After controlling Russia's access to the Baltic Sea, Gustav Adolf began to focus on domestic reforms, the most important of which was military reform.

Unlike the mercenary system commonly practiced in Europe at that time, Adolf switched to compulsory military service, and organized troops by province, conducted systematic training, and established a strong army. In addition, he also improved his tactical tactics, and the infantry, cavalry, and artillery worked closely together to form a wedge-shaped array, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Swedish army. Sweden was in a war with European countries in the future, and Adolf began to be called the "lion of the north", and the scenery was unique for a while.

In 1632 Adolf was killed in a battle. Although his legacy of political and military legacy still plays a huge role, by the 18th century, the defeat of the Northern War from 1700 to 1721 made Sweden's decline impossible to reverse, and the former Nordic hegemon was in ruins.

Unquestioned "neutrality"

After Sweden withdrew from the ranks of European powers, there was still smoke on the European continent. In order to avoid the continuous strife, Sweden, which has long been less powerful than before, mediated between countries in the form of a weak country in order to protect itself. It is generally believed that in 1814, on the eve of the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden's neutral foreign policy began to be established. In 1843, King Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte of Sweden issued a memorandum formally confirming the policy of "strict and independent neutrality".

In the process of establishing the modern system of international relations, Sweden's neutrality policy has undergone several major tests before it can be continued.

At the beginning of World War I, both sides tried to win Sweden over. For the Entente, Sweden's geographical location made it easy to open russia's access to Britain and France, and the Allies needed to prevent the establishment of this channel. All political parties and public opinion in Sweden are opposed to Sweden joining the two major political and military blocs and intervening in the war. Under pressure, Sweden withstood the test by meeting many of the material needs of both belligerents and preventing other countries from intervening militarily.

In World War II, Sweden was in a more difficult position, choosing a less "strict" policy while ostensibly maintaining a neutral attitude. Examples include indirectly providing weapons and loans to Finland in the Soviet-Finnish War; making concessions to Germany when the Germans were in the ascendancy and allowing the Germans to use their own railways.

When Germany's defeat was decided, Sweden immediately said that it would never abandon its strict sense of neutrality and severed diplomatic relations with Germany, ultimately avoiding the same fate as Denmark and Norway, and did not suffer a military attack, although Denmark and Norway also expressed neutrality at that time.

During the Cold War, Swedish politicians generally believed that the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union was typical of great power politics, and weak countries like Sweden would only become victims if they were involved. At this time, if someone proposes to strengthen military cooperation with Western countries, it will even be considered heretical. Although both the United States and the Soviet Union criticized Sweden's neutrality, such as U.S. Secretary of State Dulles's statement that neutralism was an "obsolete concept" and "immoral and short-sighted," the Soviet Union considered neutral countries to be capitulators without a position. But Sweden is still stubbornly resisting the pressure and maintaining the flexibility to meet the source.

It is undeniable, however, that Sweden's neutrality has been effective, not only because of its historical accumulation and relatively strong economic power, but also because it is not in the heart of the struggle, without any important sea areas or important sea lanes under direct control. More critically, it also depends on the attitude of the powerful. In World War II, for example, unlike other countries that claimed neutrality but suffered from war, Sweden was able to sit on the sidelines, mainly because both the Soviet Union and Germany recognized its neutral status.

"Post-neutralism"

Although many countries have a tradition of neutrality or claim to be neutral, there are differences in the definition and definition of a permanently neutral state in the world today. In addition to claiming neutrality that is widely recognized internationally, there are also those established through international conventions, treaties and other relevant neutrality rules in international law. For example, Switzerland was recognized as neutral by the Final General Resolution of the Vienna Conference, Austria was declared neutral by the Federal Treaty, the United States, the Soviet Union, And France issued statements and notes recognizing it, and Turkmenistan became a permanent neutral country through a United Nations resolution after the Cold War.

Looking back at the international situation of the past two centuries, the policy of neutrality has successfully allowed Sweden to avoid several devastating wars, gain a certain international reputation and a good external environment, and develop its economy safely, and also won praise for often mediating in disputes between countries. This makes neutrality a policy that few people in Sweden question. The concept of "neutrality" has been deeply rooted in all aspects of Swedish social life, and some scholars have said that "Sweden's neutrality policy is not only a policy, a philosophy, it is simply a natural instinct."

But Sweden's neutral approach is actually tactically adjusted to the needs of time and circumstances, and it is also selective and biased, which is more obvious in the post-Cold War situation. Some people joke that Sweden's selective "neutrality" policy during World War II and the Cold War was actually a two-sided betting practice.

No matter how neutral it is, Sweden's ideology ultimately belongs to the West. After the Cold War, Sweden gradually approached NATO, reached a de facto tacit agreement with NATO, and the government almost no longer publicly declared neutrality, but replaced it with "military non-alignment".

It needs to be clarified that a policy of neutrality does not equal a policy of military non-alignment. Specifically, if a country wants to implement a policy of neutrality, it must implement a policy of military non-alignment, but if a country pursues a policy of military non-alignment, it does not mean that a policy of neutrality must be implemented.

In 1994, Sweden became a member of NATO's "Partnership for Peace" and joined the European Union in January 1995, and its closer and closer to NATO and NATO member states has become more and more obvious, and its military interaction has continued. In 2018, Sweden participated in nato-led exercises on the largest scale since the end of the Cold War and opened its airspace to NATO, seemingly confirming the conclusion of some scholars that Sweden will slide or be dragged into NATO.

At the same time, under the leadership of some political parties, the traditional policy of neutrality is increasingly challenged in Sweden, and compared with the previous no one questioned, there are not a few people who believe that the neutrality policy is outdated. While moving as close together as possible and making no commitments, some scholars believe that Sweden has in fact gradually moved away from the tradition of neutrality and is leaning towards a selective "semi-alliance" policy and entering a period of "post-neutralism".

In the final analysis, Sweden's neutrality is the product of the adaptation of small countries to the relations between large countries based on their geopolitical value, and is destined to change with the situation. Seeking to survive and develop in the great power game is the meaning of neutrality.