Preparation for the war which never came; the examination of a shelter inside an apartment building from the 1960’s

Abstract

The Cold War did not only affect the USSR and the USA, since it also influenced the rest of the world, directly as well as indirectly. This conflict between West and East formed the second half of the 20 century, and its effects in the form of material remains and mindsets are integrated parts of our contemporary society. In Sweden, which was a neutral country located between the two military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, this conflict was a part of daily life due to the country’s policy of neutrality. Sweden, which had remained neutral ever since the end of the Napoleonic Wars was, therefore forced to turn inward and rely on its own capabilities and selfreliance. It could be argued that Sweden was never truly neutral and if a conflict had broken out, there are signs which indicate that Sweden was prepared to side with NATO (Zetterberg 2007; Karlsson 1995, 38–40). This fact is something which echoes also in Sweden’s contemporary foreign policy, where the country is taking part in military exercises with NATO, and where Sweden is also involved in joint military operations. An example of this partnership was Sweden’s involvement in Libya in 2014, an operation where Sweden worked together with NATO to safe-guard the no-fly zone over the nation’s airspace (Doeser 2014, 196–213). However, one consequence of the Swedish policy of neutrality was the military and civil mobilization of every aspect of the Swedish society during the Cold War period. It is estimated that Sweden was one of the nations which spent most per capita of its GNP on its military complex (Zetterberg 2007; Försvarsmakten 2021). The military preparation took many shapes and forms, but Sweden’s spending on its military is perhaps the primary example of this rearmament. The goal was that Sweden would be able to either withhold, or at least, delay a ground invasion. It was due to the goal of rearmament and the policy of neutrality that Sweden made full use of the mandatory military service, developed a strong air force, and took steps towards its own nuclear programme (Jonter 2008, 61–65; Axelsson et al. 2018).