Why did Sweden remainneutralduring world war 2?

Answer 1

Firstly, although Sweden had a strict policy of "NEUTRALITY" she wasn't. She Cooperated with Germany in several different ways.

1. Sweden refused England and France to transport troops through Sweden to help Finland, but allowed Hitler to transport troops through Sweden to attack Norway.

2. Germany was dependent on Sweden for her iron ore, which was being used to make guns etc.

3. Despite their agreement with the Allies, Sweden export ball bearing steal and ball bearing machines to the Germans.

4. From http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/dailynews/neutrals1031.html

"Sweden -- One of Nazi Germany's largest trading partners. Swedish bankers apparently took billions of dollars in gold from the Nazis w/o inquiring about its origins. Supplied critically needed iron ore and ball bearings. Swedish jewelry dealers bought diamonds looted by Nazis in Belgium."

From these four pints I think you could figure out the advantages Sweden's "Neutrality" policy was for Hitler. I guess the question probably should read what advantages did Sweden have with their neutrality policy

The reason Hitler wanted Sweden to remain free is because he needed a safe,but neutrel place to stash all of the money and artifacts that he stole

The question is more complex than it would appear at first glance. I would, however, like to start off by correcting a couple of mistakes in the previous answer:

Sweden did not refuse England and France to transport troops through her territory to help Finland. Sweden most likely would have refused such a permission, had the question been asked. But the plan, initiated by Winston Churchill, was to land in northern Norway, advance into Sweden and destroy the mines producing iron ore (which was of vital interest to Germany) and continue into Finland and engage the Soviets. Luckily, this never came to be since the Germans beat the allies to it in May 9th 1940. And the expedition force turned into a rescue party which instead engaged the Germans in Norway. Had the original plan succeeded, there's no telling what implications it would have had on the outcome of the war.

Neither did Sweden allow free passage to German troops attacking Norway, although this is a common misconception. Germany did request such passage, which was denied. In a later stage of the war (late 1941), passage of German troops through Sweden was allowed. These were troops destined for the Finnish/Soviet front-line (and the decision was probably, at least in part, the result of the misguided ambition to help Finland in this manner). However questionable in regard to neutral standards, quite a different thing.

To put it simply. At the time (1940) Germany was on the brink of being military overstretched. The attack on Scandinavia was a gamble, which very well could have ended in disaster for Germany (and almost did). Attacking Sweden as well, would have posed Germany with very high risk and very few, or no advantages. As noted earlier, trade (ball bearings, iron ore and so forth) worked satisfactory from Germanys standpoint, and an invasion would have accomplished nothing but an interruption of the flow of those items. Furthermore, Norway and Denmark were relatively easy targets compared to Sweden, which would have required an even greater strain on Germany's militart resources at this critical point. To this should be added that the geographical position of Sweden was of little consequence to Germany.

Once again, I'd like to stress that the question would require a far more detailed answer than the above.

Answer 2

They didn't want to get involved and Germany couldn't overtake them.

AnswerSweden wasn't in any position to take sides at the time. They had a small, antinquated army and fleet. They depended on foreign trade to survive. As long as they supplied Germany with iron ore they could make money...during the first 3 quarters of the war Germany largely dictated the price for the iron and forced Sweden to let them ship German troops through their land. Once Germany's fortunes started to fall the Allies were able to press Sweden to reduce shipments and be less generous to the Germans. AnswerThe answer of Mr Fazzi really illustrates the realities of the time exhaustively. A final note of interest here is that Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium were all also Neutral - but invaded. Thus, Sweden remained neutral only because she was never invaded. While all parties involved (UK, Third Reich and the Soviet Union) all at one time or another made plans for invasion of Sweden, none reached a point where it was considered very beneficial, nor very necessary.

SincerelyTommy

AnswerThere wasn't any reason to invade Sweden. None of the Allies were in any position to seriously challenge Germany's "control" of Sweden until the spring of 1945. By then the outcome of the war was clear.

Also there was nothing to gain by Germany if they had chosen to invade. An invasion of Sweden by Germany would have caused significant political and security issues for Germany. Remember there was, and still is a significant Swedish population living in Finland, it's doubtful a hostile occupation of Sweden would have sat well with this population, drawing needed troops from the Russian Front and jeopardizing supply lines. Further, it isn't a given that even with a "small and antiquated" military, that Sweden would not have given Germany, or any allied country foolish enough to invade, a real pounding, much like the Finns gave the Russians in the Winter War.

Answer 3

Sweden had declared themselves neutral in wars because they had had centuries of war and they wanted to discontinue all warring by or within their nation. They did help their neighboring countries. They also took in 700 Jews who escaped from the Nazis in Denmark.

They chose to be neutral because they didn't want the Nazis or the war on their land. They were just concerned with keeping their nation's people safe and that meant staying out of the war.

The King of Sweden, Carl Gustav, and the Swedish peoples did not want the Nazis in their nation. They did not want war touching their land or people. They had chosen to be neutral along with Switzerland for the same reasons. They had had hundreds of years of warring. They chose to be neutral and the world accepted their neutrality.