A Book on the History of Sweden in the Context of Soviet-Swedish Relations at the Turn of the 1940s — 1950s

Abstract

The paper refers to the authorship of the foreword to the Russian edition of “The History of Sweden” by Ingvar Andersson, published in 1951. The foreword was written by the Latvian Soviet historian Janis Zutis. According to the content and tone of the text the foreword is clearly divided into two parts. The bulk of the foreword, together with the commentary on Andersson's text, looks like Zutis’ review of the book, written from the Marxist standpoint, but in a benevolent manner. But the first few pages of the preface speak about Sweden's aggressive policy toward Russia and the Soviet Union from the Middle Ages until the mid-20th century. So, this part of the foreword is perceived as a kind of political statement in an anti-Swedish spirit. The author of the article points out that the manuscript of the book arrived at the publishing house at the end of 1950, but the foreword mentions the “Riksdag of Peace”, which took place in Stockholm on March, 3—5, 1951. As the manuscript was signed for print on March 15, 1951, the part of the preface which mentions this event must have been written between these dates. It seems that such a politicized addition to the foreword was made at the request of the censor or the publishing house management in order to comply with the official point of view on the foreign policy of the Swedish authorities in those years. But Zutis himself was actively engaged in scientific and social activities in Riga in those days and had no opportunity to divert to the addition of the foreword in the Moscow publishing house. Obviously, this work was done by someone else, not caring about the consistency of style between this part and the scientific one of the foreword.