2-WWII+Sweden+HF+(Neutral)


 * How may the Home Front’s awareness of the war’s objectives and nature be characterized? How did propaganda affect the mindset at home? **
 * Generally, the war was seen as negative in Sweden. Reasons for their neutrality included: **
 * - 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 didn't want to get involved and Germany couldn't overtake them. . Sweden wasn't in any position to take sides at the time. They had a small, antiquated army and fleet. They depended on foreign trade to survive. **
 * - Because Sweden was north of all the European combat zones, they weren't in anyone's way, and were not attacked. It's easy to remain neutral as long as no one is attacking. **
 * Most of Sweden’s propaganda was to warn the citizens to stay wary of of espionage from foreigners. Propaganda mainly just encouraged secrecy towards the war. Because the citizens were able to maintain this distance from involvement in the war, the nation decreased its trouble staying neutral. Also, silence was advocated so that information that could be damaging to the Swedish military defence wasn’t revealed. [[image:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/yugk1kHnGgYBqZq1zieyWl1Qp6Mi_WzQtcXLMyQCFbxCfAZkklWgq-a9StowEygVYniiiDYdd9qNNB0r6dHXFAS4IdSbBm3dSgyXMSccDbss5lApoEn2-_HxfQ]]**
 * En Svensk Tiger is an example of propaganda encouraging the citizens to stay aloof towards the war. The tiger itself has yellow and blue stripes, symbolizing the citizens of the country, since the colors of the Swedish flag are yellow and blue. The “death stare” of the tiger is warning the citizens to be careful of espionage. Furthermore, the word “tiga” means something along the lines of “keep quiet!” in Swedish. So the title itself is encouraging the citizens to stay out of the war, essentially by not voicing any problems they have with it. **


 * These locked lips also represent the “keep quiet” notion. **


 * The evil bird, representing WW2, is blocked by the Sweden flag, encouraging a nationalistic, neutral notion. **


 * What were the direct contributions of the Home Front to the war effort? This needs to go beyond a cursory statement of, “They supplied soldiers, grew food, made armaments, etc.” You should consider support not only in patriotic or industrial terms, but also political, social, economic, cultural/intellectual, moral/religious, emotional, etc., terms. **


 * Even though Sweden was neutral, they maintained a positive relationship with Germany. Sweden and Germany continued trading during the war. Sweden and Germany had a very connected economy before 1943. Sweden mostly traded coal and goods like food, wood, and ball bearings. Sweden also conformed to the Third Reich and gave Germany more credit than they deserved. In return, Sweden received gold that the Nazis stole from the Netherlands and Belgium. This relationship was necessary to keep neutrality rather than be occupied and controlled like Norway and Denmark. Sweden’s economic resources given to Germany were actually just an act to protect itself. In 1943 though, Allied powers somehow were able to convince Sweden to stop this support. Because of this, Sweden is not not blamed for any help they gave to Germany before 1943. **


 * Sweden was also a refuge for anti-fascist and Jewish refugees during the war. In 1943, all of Denmark’s Jewish population was deported to concentration camps and almost all of the 8,000 were safely brought to Sweden. Sweden was also a refuge for Norwegian Jews who fled from Norway, which was occupied by Nazis. **


 * What were the costs & benefits of the war to the Home Front, to include but not limited to goods/services/resources? Use a case study to illustrate. (note - as Sweden was a neutral country, the following case study does not focus on cost/benefit analysis but an important human rights issue that Sweden participated in) **


 * Going along with the neutral mindset, many citizens became concerned with human rights and the value of human beings: a topic not discussed very much during a war. **


 * An example was: in 1943, about 8,000 Jewish refugees were allowed to pass into Sweden’s borders. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Details: **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Raoul Wallenberg worked at the Swedish embassy located in Budapest, Hungary. He set up a temporary office and intentionally hired Jews to work in the office. Under his employment, the Jews had to remove their yellow stars and were guaranteed protection equivalent to a citizen’s protection under the embassy. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">His acts of kindness didn’t just stop here. To make sure that his Jewish employees were not deported or taken to concentration camps, he gave them false documents called “Schutzpasses” that looked very much like government documents. This saved the lives of more than 20,000 Hungarian Jews. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Furthermore, this man had architectural experience from the University of Michigan. He was able to internally manipulate a number of houses to fit 6 times as many people. In one instance, Wallenberg saved 50 Jews under Nazi attack by swimming into the Danube River. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, Wallenberg convinced Nazi Officials not to raid a Jewish Ghetto consisting of about 70,000 Jews, with the threat that after Hitler fell, he would ensure that the officials would have to pay for their crime against humanity. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How can life for women & youth on the Home Front be characterized? Use case studies to illustrate. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Even though Sweden stayed neutral for the most part, many times, the War was used to increase production in the home front. Both men and women were encouraged to work more and work harder on the Home Front. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“To the Swedish Women!, Agriculture needs your help during war times.” **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*no information on children, literally* **

[] [] http://digitalpostercollection.com/propaganda/1939-1945-world-war-ii/sweden/till-sveriges-kvinnor-jordbruket-kraver-eder-insast-i-handelse-av-ofred/#main http://digitalpostercollection.com/propaganda/1939-1945-world-war-ii/sweden/en-svensk-tiger/#main http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article3382579.ab http://worldwarera.com/en/all-posters/forsvaret-framst-swedish-propaganda-poster-wwi/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhCZafqmMsY https://sites.google.com/site/digitalpostercollection/propaganda/1939-1945-world-war-ii/finland
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bibliography **