Warriors of the North said:
Chapter 1.3: June-December 1936
We left off with the reorganization of Sweden's Army into a professional force, the envy of the world. The first units to be recruited into this Standing Army, not just retrained, were the two Cavalry Divisions that had been under construction during the preceding months. These two divisions were made up of two brigades of traditional horse-mounted cavalry, and one brigade of Volvo armored cars. There was some debate over the practicality of putting fuel-hungry armored cars with the traditional horses, but the added firepower won out in the end.
Even though the terrain was somewhat unfavorable for these units, they were quickly railed up to, and assigned to, the Northern Army Corps. General Douglas, despite being aware of these problems, had convinced the Swedish High Command that he needed to reinforce his Corps first. The cavalry were the only units available, at least until more infantry could be raised, and thus they were assigned to the Finnish border. It was viewed as a temporary measure at best, only until more suitable units could be trained and equipped. At that point, the cavalry would be reassigned to the Central Corps, where their speed would be more use in covering the long Swedish coastline.
However, with the completion of the cavalry, a gap was formed in the Swedish arms industry where the rifles, machine guns, and armored cars had been. Several different suggestions were raised in the High Command of the time, from the sensible (more infantry) to the somewhat absurd (a battleship). In the end, it was neither the Army or the Navy that made the suggestion that the High Command used. It was in fact the young Air Force that brought up a valid point. While the Swedish industry was too tied up in constructing new factories to produce any sufficient number of fighters or bombers, what it
could produce were anti-aircraft guns to outfit specialist brigades. It was a stop-gap measure at best, as Sweden needed fighters if it truly wanted to be secure from air-attack. But orders were placed at Bofors nonetheless, the Swedish arms giant setting to work on producing enough of their soon to be famous anti-aircraft guns to outfit three brigades...one for each of the Corps.
While Sweden was busy with its steady improvements to its military, life went on in the world at large. Despite some protests to boycott the event, the 1936 Olympics were well-underway in Germany. Sweden was doing well in the Games, having won several medals by this point. The athletes at the Olympics said that their German hosts were a bit stiff, but they were still good hosts. Their were still some problems with the Nazi's policies, but nothing major enough to derail the grand games.
Sweden would end the games in 7th overall, behind Finland and France by one gold medal...despite also having one more medal overall
It was notable that only one nation actually boycotted the Games in the end (the Soviets were too isolated to compete regardless), and that nation was Civil War-torn Spain. The Spanish Civil War had been ongoing for several months by this point, the momentum swinging back and forth between the Nationalists and the Republicans several times. Sweden was, understandably, divided on which side to support in this war. The Nationalists were rebelling against the legitimate government...but that government had very noticeable ties with the Soviets, who did little to hide their want for Finland's 'Russian' possessions. This was part of the reason why the Swedes only sent observers, who were extremely careful to avoid tying themselves to either side in the war.
For what it was worth, the Spaniards seemed to respect Swedish neutrality in this war. Neither side attacked Swedish officers attached to the other side, and any prisoners that were taken were quickly sent back to Sweden. It was believed, rightly, that this was because the Swedes made no effort to truly support a side. The Condor Legion and the Soviet volunteers were treated much worse, as they were 'interfering in a Spanish dispute'. Hypocritical when both sides continued to use foreign support, but something that made the Swedish officers very happy they weren't directly involved.
War-torn Spain. Madrid had fallen to the Nationalists, but Seville had fallen to the Republicans. Either side could win at this point.
While the Spanish tore themselves apart over governmental disputes, Sweden had calm elections. The Election of 1936 was average in just about every way, aside from lingering distrust from the opposition.
Unsurprisingly, the Social Democratic Party retained control of the Government, even if a good half of the ministers were from another party. This allowed the work that they had already started to continue, pushing through the reforms of the military and government. It also showed a level of trust that the Swedish people were willing to place on their shoulders...something that the SD did not waste. This government had begun too much for it to slow down, especially now that it had become apparent that the Swedish people approved of the moves they had made.
Gustav V would soon relieve his Prime Minister of his temporary duties during the Election Period
To the south, Germany was also making changes to its government. Nothing so drastic as elections, but something that had even more potential to upset the Status Quo of the world. For Germany, never hiding its distrust and dislike for Communism, had proposed a so-called 'Anti-Comintern Pact'. Hitler was asking all like-minded nations to sign this Pact, which while far from a formal alliance, had the effect of proclaiming to the world that they would forever be hostile to the Soviet Union, and any nations that followed their polices.
This Pact would take some time to gain signatories in more neutral parts of the world, but Italy (similar-minded that it was) and Hungary (near enough to the Soviet Bear to consider it a very real threat) signed nearly immediately after the Pact was announced. Japan would join in the following month.
What was more important from a Swedish perspective, however, was the fact that the German government began a concerted effort to woo the Swedes to their side. While Sweden had always been friendly with Germany, it was a rather large leap for the Nazi government to make real efforts to draw Sweden away from Great Britain and her allies, and to Germany and
her allies. Despite reservations from Gustav, the Swedish government was fairly receptive to the efforts, especially considering how financially reliant it had become on German money for its own steel. Or, rather, how reliant it had become on German
coal to run its expanding factories.
At first, it appeared this would be the last major event for Sweden in the year 1936. However, news came from Iberia...the Civil War had ended in under a year. The Republicans advances had disguised major flaws with their 'military'. Made up of conscripts, Socialist/Communist volunteers, and the odd Regular units, it was a mismatched force that barely maintained any discipline. While it had fought hard and made some gains, the Nationalist forces
were the Spanish Army. And with support from the Condor Legion, it blunted the desperate Republican offenses and pushed them back into two pockets. One around Gibraltar and one around the new capital at Barcelona.
By that point, however, the Republicans knew they could never win this war, barring direct support from Portugal or France. Neither power had any desire to help the beleaguered Barcelona government however. Seeing this, the President told the Army to lay down their arms, and officially surrendered to the Nationalist forces lead by José Sanjurjo Sacanell. Sanjurjo, unlike what his subordinate Fransisco Franco suggested, merely took the position of Prime Minister however, once the Spanish Government was reestablished in Madrid. The new head of the Spanish Government would be King Javier, king of a restored Kingdom of Spain.