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@@billt6116its kind of like the "pocket battleship" the Germans used. Its not sized and armoured like a battleship, but they had the guns...well a little scaled down at least. He mentions it briefly in the video... If my memory serves me right, the heaviest ships were around 8-10,000 tons, and heavily armed with artillery...biggest guns were two twin turrets with 280mm pieces....i think that is the one in the thumbnail picture. This is only from my memory, so if someone knows more, please feel free to correct me.
Fun fact: At the outbreak of World War One, in early August 1914, the Russians assumed that Sweden would fight alongside Germany. The Russian Baltic Fleet went looking for the Swedish Fleet off Gotland. But happily it was elsewhere.
My grandfather was born in Stockholm and joined the French Foreign Legion to fight the Germans in World War One, as many Swedes did. He told me that Sweden had become neutral after the Napoleonic Wars (around 1815), not WW1. Interestingly, this happened because the women of Sweden got together and threatened to stop having children unless their demand was met. A highly effective strategy!
A lion can eat a porcupine but it chooses not to. Besides the Swedes knew not to do anything to force the Germans to attack. It had vital trade relations with the Germans. And as you pointed out she played both sides, that is what neutrals do.
They also had a more neutral point of View to the root causes of that war, especially how it was escalated otu of an local border conflict about danzig and traffic routes. Birger Dahlerus was a swedish citizen who tried to bring poland to negotiation-table. But the british deniers denied.
@@NoumenonAndPhenomenon Turkey is not going to be blamed for being neutral because no one thinks Turkey is part of the cultural construct know as The West.
Churchill never met a war he didn't like? That's quite a pronouncement. The UK was already at war with Germany before Churchill became Prime Minister and gained control of the government. He may not have been on the appeasement train with Chamberlain, but Churchill didn't start the war with Germany either.
Churchill planned to ATTACK neutral Sweden to take the iron mines, and hit it behind helping Finland against the Russian invasion. So yeah, Sweden should definitely trust that person after that....
It must be remembered that Sweden had been at war from 1611 to 1718, for 107 years we had been at war constantly. Then a large majority of the Swedes were pro-German because of Russia. From the great Nordic war where the Russians declared a joint war against Sweden with Denmark and Poland, to the civil war in Finland when the red side tried to take control of Finland. Over a thousand voluntary Swedes went to Finland to participate in the civil war on the white side. Some went directly on their own, while others joined during the course of the war. Many left after being in contact with the association Friends of Finland, and they were placed in what came to be known as the Swedish Brigade and it was basically an elite unit that Finland benefited from. The vast majority of Swedes were quite tired of the Russians. I myself had taken the side of the Germans, as almost everyone did because of Communism and the Bolsheviks. Even our royal house was pro-German
Interesting. The Swedes did well in walking the tightrope not to fall off, but I suspect it was German reticence rather than any threat posed by the Swedish navy and army that allowed the country to avoid the fate of the three neighboring nations.
Germany lost the Blucher to a Norwegian fort firing mk1 Whitehead torpedoes and most of their destroyers to the RAF in that campaign. I think their risk to reward ratio in trying to occupy Sweden would have been unacceptable.
@@gregsmall5939exactly so. The loss of destroyers in particular during the Norway campaign had a profound effect on the Kriegsmarine for the rest of the war. They simply could not lose any more of them. To be honest, it was simple math to come to the conclusion that invading Sweden was not really in their interest. The iron ore was the prize, and that was secured when taking control of Norway with Narvik...
Sweden provided both the Britts and the Germs with ballbearings throughout the war. British Airways had an allmost dayly connection with Sweden, witch brougth back both ballbearings and downed pilots. And the Danish atomic scientist Niels Bohr was flown to Britain in the bombbay of a civil Moskito, painted in British Airways livery. He then went on to become a part of the Manhatan Project. It flew unarmed, and with civil pilots, depending on speed to avoid the Luftwaffe.
Great video! But as a Swede, I have to confess that the Danish navy was much better than the Swedish one, and was number one i Scandinavia. At least, until early 19 century, when the British navy ”stole” the Danish one after the battle of Copenhagen in 1807.
Chopped liver is just one of many tasty foods Denmark is famous for. Jokes aside, I love the stories of the Danish resistance. There wasn't a lot they could do but that didn't stop them trying! Also, what's WITH the British obsession with preemptively sinking your navy every time there's a war about to start? What did you DO to them!?
@@MattDamonIsAnOkActorAmirite I can but that sentence can be interpreted more than one way, obviously... I have no problem with "main hub"... But I wouldn't expect a finnjävel to understand the finer nuances...
@@MrOddball63 jodå, jag förstår svenska, inte minst med tanke på att jag är född och uppvuxen här. Men visst, jag förstår din förvirring, vad jag däremot inte förstår är varför (om jag nu hade varit finsk, det hade ju troligen påverkat min förståelse för underförstådda meningngsuppbyggnader i det svenska språket) min förståelse för engelska -som jag för övrigt talar lika väl som svenska- skulle påverkas av att jag har ett finskt namn? Jag vet inte hur det är med dig, men jag har kunnat engelska i över 30 år vid det här laget och kan utläsa alla "finer nuances" i både engelska och svenska.
What is overlooked here is the fact that Germany and soviet union was allies in the beginning of the war. The joint navy of soviet union and Germany could have done anything in baltic sea. Sweden is mostly turned to the baltic sea and it was suddenly a wide open road into Sweden.
@@conveyor2 do you really think that a non aggression pact between two aggressors who aggressivly devided and invaded the smaller countries between them and attacked Finland would ever been looked at sangvinely by the Swedish government and the general staff? And that is before the other aggressor attacked and invaded Denmark and Norway....
Two contrasting Swedish naval issues in WWII come to mind. The first was the Psilander affair of June 1940 when the Royal Navy "captured" for Swedish destroyers en route from Italy to Sweden. The British were concerned these ex Italian destroyers would be handed to or seized by the RN and detained in the Faroes and Scapa Flow. The matters were resolved by diplomacy and the destroyers were allowed to continue to Sweden the following month. In May 1941 in seeking to break out into the Atlantic, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were shadowed for two hours by the modern Swedish Cruiser Gotland in the Kattegat. The information was in the Admiralty by teatime- the information being supplied to the British by Sympathetic senior Swedish Naval officers
@@ecrins70 Yes, you just might be right about that. From what I have understood, the information about the German ships originally came from the ship spotters employed by the Swedish secret intelligens agency "C-kontoret" who saw the germans sailing through the strait between southern Sweden and the danish island "Zeeland", called "Öresund." From there the info moved ut the ranks and eventually reach the brits. So the German ships wasn't "found" by the Swedish carrier ship all the way up in "Kattegatt" - that happened long after the news had grown old. Not surprising, since that strait is so narrow that it is impossible for anything to move through without being noticed by countless of eyes on the shorelines - on both sides. I believe that you can read about it in the fact-based novel "Sekreterarklubben" - about "C-byrån" and some of its members and operations (particularly about the females that were linked to, and engaged by, the agency - for espionage and things in that nature. They called themselves, informally, "The Secretary Club."
The swedish coastal defence was formidable during ww2, the navy was just the first line of defence but on land we had countless fortifications with artillery the equivalent of a huge number of destroyers, cruisers and battleships. Remember that the swedish military was only focused on defence of the country. Amongst other we built the 500km long "Skåne line" around the most southern parts of the coast.
Sweden disarming before war and then having to desperately arm during war is very typical of our history. The present armament happening at the moment is very unusual in peacetime - but we did a more typical disarmament project 1990 to 2010.
Very interesting, but of course a 15 min video cannot give the whole picture. The main goal of the government was to keep Sweden out of the war. It did, though by bending, from time to time to pressure from both warring parties. Given its geography, hemmed in by German-held territory, it had no alternative to bend to German pressure, the transit traffic to Norway (and to Finland before Operation Barbarossa) being two examples. Due to the fact that Germany dominated the North Sea, trade with USA and Britain was cut off (though a few vessels carrying petroleum products were let through. So Sweden had but one country to trade with. Germany wanted iron ore that could not be sold to the Allies, since Narvik was in German hands. Sweden needed coal, of which Germany had a lot to spare. Thus we had a deal: coal for ore. To save on oil, all the ships used were coal-fired steamships. Hitler could, perchance, had invaded Sweden,if he had wanted to, and maybe he would have liked to, but to what avail? Sweden sold its ore, and he was the sole customer:Why bother? Had he occupied Sweden, he would have to allocate troops, which he did not have and surely met a resistance movement sabotageing the iron ore mines. Despite the fact that German culture had been influencing Sweden since medieval times (remember the Hansa), nazism was a very marginal movement in Sweden from the outset, its influence vaning steadily throughout the war, the German attack on our Nordic neighbours Denmark and Norway of course causing an outrage. Hans Strömberg, jouralist, Stockholm, Sweden
@HiddenHistoryYT Thanks for an interesting video. However a small correction. Swedish naval officers historically mosyly served in the French or Brittish navy as part of their training. The ties where really tight as the Swedish naval expansion in the 1770-1790's largely was financed by France than saw a strong Swedish navy as couterbalace to russia, then after 1809 the Royal Navy became the closest ally by Bernadottes U-turn on Napoleon and then for the upcoming Crimea war RN worked closely with Swedish navy in the baltic. The close ties and sympathy to RN in the Swedish navy played a political role in several occasions in WWI and WWII
I think that the Swedish government did more or less the right thing in order to maintain neutrality and avoid an invasion (although there were very questionable decisions made). I do not think however that their navy, coastal defense and armed forces in general were strong enough in order to avoid a German invasion. The number of coastal defenses might sound impressive but the Swedish coast was long and the effectiveness of coastal defense is questionable. Their navy was too small and outdated to really stop anything. And the Germans just could have bombed big cities, like in The Netherlands. The size of the country would have been excellent for serious resistance. The real reason for not invading was that neutral Sweden was very much in the German interest, they still pretty much got from the Swedes what they wanted. Still. All of it saved Sweden from the horrors of war.
Sweden has not been at war since 1814, when Norway was forced into a union, which lasted until 1907. So Norway was "the blue water navy" in that peroide. The union was dissolved at gun point, but ended peacefully. The Norwegian navy was strong at that time, but remained, more or less, the same in 1940, so little resistance was offered..
At5 6:30, the small craft identified as a "picket boat" is actually flying the flag of the United States Coast Guard--see also the initials "CG" on the hull number.
you do know that Sweden basically is the reason why the germans could produce so many tanks as 1/3 of all germanys steel came from sweden and we were just friends with them which was enough for them not to invade us
The front of a ship is called the bow and the rear is the stern. You referred to the neutrality bands as being painted at the stern and the aft of the hull. Essentially, you said the same thing twice.
The Scandanavian countries had to thread a needle, politically speaking, during WWII. They were sandwiched between expansionist Russia and Germany, and oh yeah, don't forget the Allies would have loved to have control over their resources as well. Hard to blame them for playing all sides against each other. It was smart.
Total surrounded by Germany, they had few choices. Most of the Government was pro allies. There was lots of discussions in the government how much they hade to give Germany. And GB would not come to help. They planned to occupy Sweden in 1940s.
Getting into the large lakes like Vänern, Mälaren or Hjälmaren would require to go through rivers and canals. Blowing up a lock here and there would render such a mission impossible.
Sweden had a VERY interesting naval history in the 16th c. - probably more interesting and historically significant than the later centuries. It fought what was still a major maritime power in the late Hanseatic League, the city of Lübeck in particular, in the 17th c. It fought another leading regional naval power in the Baltic - Denmark - in the 17th c. and usually the Danes won, being the better sailors. Only Peter I of Russia creating the Russian navy during the Great Nordic War did Russia become a significant naval player.
@@Soundbrigade Might as well add "HMS Mars" that blew up in battle against the Danes and the Lübeckers in 1564 - the 140-gun flagship possible the largest in the world at the time - the wreck of which was re-discovered a few years ago.
It is also important to remeber tha Britain and France had plans to invade Norway, and then get access to Kiruna and the Iron ore in Sweden. The excuse was to assist Finland during The Winter war. That war ended before the plan could be executed....
Perhaps with all conscript mobilized to the coastal defenses. Sweden never came to full mobilization during the war, the military were only "on guard" with partial mobilization. But still, the total amount of people serving in the entire Swedish military during WW2 were about 1 million (not all at the same time).
“Green”? I thought what you described is referred to as a “Brown” water navy. I’m likely confused but I’ve never heard a nation’s local coastline and river patrol force as green water navy…?!?
Given Sweden's geographic position, the supply of petroleum fuels to operate any military operations would have been dependent on German sources. This would mean Sweden's independence would be highly limited.
Actually, lots of tankers reached Sweden across the Atlantic even during WW 2. Google "lejdtrafiken"! There was also some domestic production of synthetic fuels.
In the end of the war the Allied Force did not accept Sweden to be neutral, they asked them to invade Norway, my Uncle was prepared to do this, but the war ended
Swede here: If you are going to speak of something that belongs to Sweden, you would say "Swedish" - in English. The translated term, in Swedish, would be "Svensk" (with multiple variations). So, when you said that the Swedish Navy was called "Sverige Marinen" - that is not correct. In Swedish, it would be "Svenska Marinen". I think you could have easily found that out by looking at Wikipedia.
You know that the Swedish navy are even older then the Royal navy, and i believe you should explain why we let germans go throw sweden. tell them about the midsummer crisis
That's a very simple viewing of history ! They were just as accommodating to the alliance too! Look up the Stockholm express where mosquitoes flew agents back and forth!
It is a very simple read of the situation. Germany needed iron ore, and Sweden was willing to sell it to Germany, and let the rest of Europe's countries fight to protect Sweden's commerce. If Hitler had been successful, Germany would have invaded Sweden too. Churchill was right in his assessment of Sweden. @@peterwright997
You want to know effective the Swedish Navy would have been in WW2? Just look at the respective invasions of Denmark and Norway. Both countries had navies with surface ships that were very similar in age, size, function, armament and performance. Other than being better prepared for an invasion, the Swedish Navy would have suffered much the same fate, albeit in a more drawn-out fashion. The advantage for the Swedes probably would have been the fact that their land forces were fully capable of putting up a very stiff fight on the border and in the mountains. I'm guessing that would have helped keep their naval bases largely free of German occupation.
The Swedish destroyers were smaller than the German ones. But fast and maneuverable. German losses during the invasion of Denmark and Norway made the situation tricky för Die Kriegsmarine. Sure, the Swedish navy would have been whiped out if the Germans hade used all of their assets. But that were never going to happen. The big ships were needed elsewhere. Besides, Tirpitz and Bismarck were not worked up and ready for combat in 1940. And with the sisters fighting Renown and sinking Glorious in the North sea, Swedish losses might not have been as big as you might think.
In 1940 the Swedish Army was incapable of putting up a credible defence of Swedish territory. They were understaffed, underequipped (almost no tanks and too few AT guns and also the air force was woefully weak) and they lacked fortified defence lines. All this would be addressed in the following years and after 1942, the army had grown into a somewhat potent force. In 1940 the Swedish navy was stronger and better prepared than the Danish and Norwegian naives put together and in their evaluations the Germans themselves identified it as the major obstacle to an invasion, not the Swedish army.
The Swedish navy was ALOT stronger than that of Norway and Denmark together, it had a lot more ships with much better performance ! 6 of the Swedish destroyers and 6 of there submarines were very modern, (the navies of Denmark and Norway did not operate any modern warships at all) and the 3 Sverige class "armoured cruisers" was totaly superiour to any other in Scandinavia ! Another perhaps even bigger difference was that the Swedish navy was fully manned, trained and ready for combat after the Soviet attack on Finland late 39 !
@@niclasjohansson4333 I think the readiness was indeed the bigger difference. The Norwegian and Danish navies were at the time building new ships and some of those had already been commissioned (The Norwegians had a brand new minelayer and some light destroyers, the Danes were building new minesweepers and submarines), but it was nothing that would deter a German invasion.
@@PSPaaskynen The Swedish navy had several destroyers, the other Scandinavian navys did not have a single proper ship of the type, regarding submarines the Swedish navy was also superiour to its neigbouring countrys, and there was even 2 small cruisers, the Swedish navy was a lot stronger then than the other navys combined.
Why you didn't speak Finland. You can't speak Sweden WW2 without speaking Finland. Of course everybody knows that Sweden Säpö ( secret polis) and Finland ( Vapo) change a lot information in war time. Sweden own army specialist knows, that if Finland collapse, then Sovjets will also conquest Sweden. So Sweden gives support secretly for Finland, like money and Great Bofors guns. Navy; Sovjets one of the main target was cut Finland merkant ships road. It cut sametime Finland main defence. Even peace time Sovjets attack, like how they drop civil airplane Kaleva ( what was full USA and France diplomats). Finland has to use Sweden sea area and Sweden navy protect them more and less. Anyway Sovjets didn't attack Finland ships who was near Sweden. After war Sweden built or give money for houses what kriminal Sovjets has bombed. Finland and Sweden navy continue working together after war. Secret of course.
"Sweden has an impressive naval tradition, particularly by Scandinavian standards. From the 1700s to the early 1800s, the powerful Swedish Navy... had only one other naval power in the Baltic that was its rival: the Russian Navy." This is patently false. The Swedish Navy spent most of the 1600s and early 1700s getting defeated by the Danish Navy, and the primary rival of the Swedish Navy up until 1807 was always the Danish Navy. The Danish Navy was also consistently stronger than the Swedish Navy from c. 1715 and onwards. The Swedish Navy only really rivalled the Danish Navy during a brief period in the 1780s, where French subsidies had allowed Gustav III to expand his sea-going force. The Swedish Navy generally had problems ranging from poor crews and officers (Scanian War), incompetent admirals chosen due to royal titles rather than merit (Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790), or just poor up-keep due to a lack of resources and money (last years of the Great Northern War).
The grates enemy of the swedes navy was danmark not russia and sweden was not only by frindship close to germany, for a very long time great parts of north germany have bean a part of sweden.
As far as I can tell, the danish navy itself wasnt necessarily stronger than the swedish, it was the fact that the danish had an alliance with the dutch which meant sweden had to face both denmark and the netherlands who had a rather large navy at the time.
The Germans put a high value on Swedish iron ore, because of the quality. However, it was not like they were short of ore. It tends to be forgotten that Nazi-Germany had a treaty with the Soviet Union, a country overflowing in iron ore. The Soviets could deliver any amount the Germans needed. The problem was just that Moscow required payment in gold and in technology, while the Swedes mainly needed coal in exchange for their ore. This is why the Germans preferred Swedish deliveries. Still, it is a mistake to think that the Swedish ore was the deciding factor that made WWII possible.
Except the Swedish iron ore wasn't useful for actually making weapons. Besides, pre 1941 imports form the USSR was massively more important for Nazi Germany, and from 1940 onwards most German iron ore needs were supplied from occupied France. However, Churchill in particular had a pet-idea about Swedish iron ore being Super Important (and a reason to invade Sweden and take it), and wrote it into his WWII history (the one JM Keynes referred to as "Winston's autobiography disguised as world history").
@@nomennescio4604 Your first point is incorrect. Swedish iron ore held very high quality (60% iron compared to 30% for German iron ore, so it was far more economical to exploit and process) and it was especially suitable for creating high-grade armour and gun barrels because of low phosphorus content. (Sweden also produced iron ore with higher phosphorus content, but that was not what Germany imported. The French minett iron ore did have high phosphorus content and was therefore not very suitable for arms production.)
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Is it just my imagination, Or does that thumbnail Swede ship carry EXCEPTIONALY LARGE Cannon?
@@billt6116its kind of like the "pocket battleship" the Germans used.
Its not sized and armoured like a battleship, but they had the guns...well a little scaled down at least.
He mentions it briefly in the video...
If my memory serves me right, the heaviest ships were around 8-10,000 tons, and heavily armed with artillery...biggest guns were two twin turrets with 280mm pieces....i think that is the one in the thumbnail picture.
This is only from my memory, so if someone knows more, please feel free to correct me.
Fun fact: At the outbreak of World War One, in early August 1914, the Russians assumed that Sweden would fight alongside Germany. The Russian Baltic Fleet went looking for the Swedish Fleet off Gotland. But happily it was elsewhere.
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*Fortunately
No@@misterpotato427
My great grandfather served in the Swedish Navy in ww2. And was out on the sea most of he's life 🇸🇪
Thank you to him for his service! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
My grandfather was born in Stockholm and joined the French Foreign Legion to fight the Germans in World War One, as many Swedes did. He told me that Sweden had become neutral after the Napoleonic Wars (around 1815), not WW1. Interestingly, this happened because the women of Sweden got together and threatened to stop having children unless their demand was met. A highly effective strategy!
Thats not a True story I think. Greetings from sweden
@@nissafors He was born in 1898, so apparently Swedes of that era believed it to be true. I know he did.
Sweden is the Saudi Arabia of feminism.
*Julian Assange*
@@markgarrett3647 Feminism is good in this aspect cause women doesnt start wars as often as men
@@hansericsson7058 That's because it kills societies at the most basic levels which is the individual.
I think Sweden was concerned by the Soviet invasion of Finland
And the provided Finland with munitions
Neutrality = cowards
@@mickc7388 Very few countries that don't have imperial ambitions enter wars if there's a way to avoid it.
@@mickc7388so you say the Americans are cowards?
Of course, and by the German invasions of Denmark and Norway.
A lion can eat a porcupine but it chooses not to. Besides the Swedes knew not to do anything to force the Germans to attack. It had vital trade relations with the Germans. And as you pointed out she played both sides, that is what neutrals do.
They also had a more neutral point of View to the root causes of that war, especially how it was escalated otu of an local border conflict about danzig and traffic routes. Birger Dahlerus was a swedish citizen who tried to bring poland to negotiation-table. But the british deniers denied.
@@ben-c5t Hitler was going east no matter what. The corridor was just an convenient excuse.
@@derjaeger3321 0/10
@@NoumenonAndPhenomenon Turkey is not going to be blamed for being neutral because no one thinks Turkey is part of the cultural construct know as The West.
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Churchill never met a war he didn't like? That's quite a pronouncement. The UK was already at war with Germany before Churchill became Prime Minister and gained control of the government. He may not have been on the appeasement train with Chamberlain, but Churchill didn't start the war with Germany either.
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@@HiddenHistoryYT bot answear
Churchill planned to ATTACK neutral Sweden to take the iron mines, and hit it behind helping Finland against the Russian invasion.
So yeah, Sweden should definitely trust that person after that....
It must be remembered that Sweden had been at war from 1611 to 1718, for 107 years we had been at war constantly. Then a large majority of the Swedes were pro-German because of Russia. From the great Nordic war where the Russians declared a joint war against Sweden with Denmark and Poland, to the civil war in Finland when the red side tried to take control of Finland. Over a thousand voluntary Swedes went to Finland to participate in the civil war on the white side. Some went directly on their own, while others joined during the course of the war. Many left after being in contact with the association Friends of Finland, and they were placed in what came to be known as the Swedish Brigade and it was basically an elite unit that Finland benefited from. The vast majority of Swedes were quite tired of the Russians. I myself had taken the side of the Germans, as almost everyone did because of Communism and the Bolsheviks. Even our royal house was pro-German
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Thank you…at 53 still learning something everyday…;)
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A lot of historical facts in only 16 minutes. Thank you for a well done video! from Sven in Sweden.
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@@HiddenHistoryYT Same to you!
Interesting. The Swedes did well in walking the tightrope not to fall off, but I suspect it was German reticence rather than any threat posed by the Swedish navy and army that allowed the country to avoid the fate of the three neighboring nations.
Germany had more to lose by attacking Sweden
Germany lost the Blucher to a Norwegian fort firing mk1 Whitehead torpedoes and most of their destroyers to the RAF in that campaign. I think their risk to reward ratio in trying to occupy Sweden would have been unacceptable.
@@gregsmall5939exactly so. The loss of destroyers in particular during the Norway campaign had a profound effect on the Kriegsmarine for the rest of the war.
They simply could not lose any more of them.
To be honest, it was simple math to come to the conclusion that invading Sweden was not really in their interest.
The iron ore was the prize, and that was secured when taking control of Norway with Narvik...
So did Ireland 🇮🇪
The royal navy was responsible for German destroyer losses in the Norwegian campaign not the raf. 8:27 8:40
Thank you for this historical analysis.
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Sweden provided both the Britts and the Germs with ballbearings throughout the war. British Airways had an allmost dayly connection with Sweden, witch brougth back both ballbearings and downed pilots. And the Danish atomic scientist Niels Bohr was flown to Britain in the bombbay of a civil Moskito, painted in British Airways livery. He then went on to become a part of the Manhatan Project. It flew unarmed, and with civil pilots, depending on speed to avoid the Luftwaffe.
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Denmark: what are we chopped liver?
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Great video! But as a Swede, I have to confess that the Danish navy was much better than the Swedish one, and was number one i Scandinavia. At least, until early 19 century, when the British navy ”stole” the Danish one after the battle of Copenhagen in 1807.
Chopped *pig liver
Chopped liver is just one of many tasty foods Denmark is famous for. Jokes aside, I love the stories of the Danish resistance. There wasn't a lot they could do but that didn't stop them trying! Also, what's WITH the British obsession with preemptively sinking your navy every time there's a war about to start? What did you DO to them!?
@@Loki_Musikso true
Great summary of the swedish navy’s modern history 👍
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If you visit Sweden, try and go to Karlskrona, the old capital and main hub of the Swedish Navy.
Beautiful city 👌🏻🇸🇪
Will do! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
Really? Capital??
Yes it's the capital of Blekinge county but have never been the capital of anything else...
@@MrOddball63as he said, the capital of the navy. You cant read?
@@MattDamonIsAnOkActorAmirite I can but that sentence can be interpreted more than one way, obviously...
I have no problem with "main hub"...
But I wouldn't expect a finnjävel to understand the finer nuances...
@@MrOddball63 jodå, jag förstår svenska, inte minst med tanke på att jag är född och uppvuxen här.
Men visst, jag förstår din förvirring, vad jag däremot inte förstår är varför (om jag nu hade varit finsk, det hade ju troligen påverkat min förståelse för underförstådda meningngsuppbyggnader i det svenska språket) min förståelse för engelska -som jag för övrigt talar lika väl som svenska- skulle påverkas av att jag har ett finskt namn?
Jag vet inte hur det är med dig, men jag har kunnat engelska i över 30 år vid det här laget och kan utläsa alla "finer nuances" i både engelska och svenska.
What is overlooked here is the fact that Germany and soviet union was allies in the beginning of the war. The joint navy of soviet union and Germany could have done anything in baltic sea. Sweden is mostly turned to the baltic sea and it was suddenly a wide open road into Sweden.
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Wrong. A non aggression pact does not = alliance.
@@conveyor2 do you really think that a non aggression pact between two aggressors who aggressivly devided and invaded the smaller countries between them and attacked Finland would ever been looked at sangvinely by the Swedish government and the general staff? And that is before the other aggressor attacked and invaded Denmark and Norway....
Two contrasting Swedish naval issues in WWII come to mind. The first was the Psilander affair of June 1940 when the Royal Navy "captured" for Swedish destroyers en route from Italy to Sweden. The British were concerned these ex Italian destroyers would be handed to or seized by the RN and detained in the Faroes and Scapa Flow. The matters were resolved by diplomacy and the destroyers were allowed to continue to Sweden the following month.
In May 1941 in seeking to break out into the Atlantic, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were shadowed for two hours by the modern Swedish Cruiser Gotland in the Kattegat. The information was in the Admiralty by teatime- the information being supplied to the British by Sympathetic senior Swedish Naval officers
Interesting
Britain interdicting Swedish military ship is a continuing story over the centuries - as it is with most other European navies. :o Just ask the Turks.
That information was not passed by Swedish "Naval Officers"
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@@ecrins70 Yes, you just might be right about that. From what I have understood, the information about the German ships originally came from the ship spotters employed by the Swedish secret intelligens agency "C-kontoret" who saw the germans sailing through the strait between southern Sweden and the danish island "Zeeland", called "Öresund."
From there the info moved ut the ranks and eventually reach the brits.
So the German ships wasn't "found" by the Swedish carrier ship all the way up in "Kattegatt" - that happened long after the news had grown old.
Not surprising, since that strait is so narrow that it is impossible for anything to move through without being noticed by countless of eyes on the shorelines - on both sides.
I believe that you can read about it in the fact-based novel "Sekreterarklubben" - about "C-byrån" and some of its members and operations (particularly about the females that were linked to, and engaged by, the agency - for espionage and things in that nature. They called themselves, informally, "The Secretary Club."
The swedish coastal defence was formidable during ww2, the navy was just the first line of defence but on land we had countless fortifications with artillery the equivalent of a huge number of destroyers, cruisers and battleships. Remember that the swedish military was only focused on defence of the country. Amongst other we built the 500km long "Skåne line" around the most southern parts of the coast.
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What defenses were there on the Norwegian border? After all, Norway had been occupied by Germany in 1940.
Sweden disarming before war and then having to desperately arm during war is very typical of our history. The present armament happening at the moment is very unusual in peacetime - but we did a more typical disarmament project 1990 to 2010.
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Its a ever repeting cycle
Well, Putin happened. And Trump.
We are not presently rearming. They present it as such, but it is barely a token effort.
Very interesting, but of course a 15 min video cannot give the whole picture. The main goal of the government was to keep Sweden out of the war. It did, though by bending, from time to time to pressure from both warring parties.
Given its geography, hemmed in by German-held territory, it had no alternative to bend to German pressure, the transit traffic to Norway (and to Finland before Operation Barbarossa) being two examples.
Due to the fact that Germany dominated the North Sea, trade with USA and Britain was cut off (though a few vessels carrying petroleum products were let through. So Sweden had but one country to trade with. Germany wanted iron ore that could not be sold to the Allies, since Narvik was in German hands.
Sweden needed coal, of which Germany had a lot to spare. Thus we had a deal: coal for ore. To save on oil, all the ships used were coal-fired steamships.
Hitler could, perchance, had invaded Sweden,if he had wanted to, and maybe he would have liked to, but to what avail? Sweden sold its ore, and he was the sole customer:Why bother? Had he occupied Sweden, he would have to allocate troops, which he did not have and surely met a resistance movement sabotageing the iron ore mines.
Despite the fact that German culture had been influencing Sweden since medieval times (remember the Hansa), nazism was a very marginal movement in Sweden from the outset, its influence vaning steadily throughout the war, the German attack on our Nordic neighbours Denmark and Norway of course causing an outrage.
Hans Strömberg, jouralist, Stockholm, Sweden
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‘No alternative’ doesn’t mean you have to be 100% compliant to Nazis
My thought is that trade is critical minerals remained open (smuggling of such minerals to Britain) so there was no need to invade.
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Swedish naval buildup during this period appears to be more as defence against Russia.
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Lol well we Swedes are brought up for centuries to fear Russia so ofc it was like that.
@@Tybold63 I mean, it's not without good cause. Just ask Ukraine.
Most people thoose days forget that Nazi germany and russia was allies from 1939 to 1941.... it was no middle ground to maneuver in until 1941
@HiddenHistoryYT Thanks for an interesting video. However a small correction. Swedish naval officers historically mosyly served in the French or Brittish navy as part of their training. The ties where really tight as the Swedish naval expansion in the 1770-1790's largely was financed by France than saw a strong Swedish navy as couterbalace to russia, then after 1809 the Royal Navy became the closest ally by Bernadottes U-turn on Napoleon and then for the upcoming Crimea war RN worked closely with Swedish navy in the baltic. The close ties and sympathy to RN in the Swedish navy played a political role in several occasions in WWI and WWII
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I would say Denmarks navy also rivaled the Swedish navy at one point in history.
The danish navy was the strongest in northen Europe until 1807. so it didt just riveal it
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I think that the Swedish government did more or less the right thing in order to maintain neutrality and avoid an invasion (although there were very questionable decisions made). I do not think however that their navy, coastal defense and armed forces in general were strong enough in order to avoid a German invasion. The number of coastal defenses might sound impressive but the Swedish coast was long and the effectiveness of coastal defense is questionable. Their navy was too small and outdated to really stop anything. And the Germans just could have bombed big cities, like in The Netherlands.
The size of the country would have been excellent for serious resistance.
The real reason for not invading was that neutral Sweden was very much in the German interest, they still pretty much got from the Swedes what they wanted.
Still. All of it saved Sweden from the horrors of war.
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Sweden has not been at war since 1814, when Norway was forced into a union, which lasted until 1907. So Norway was "the blue water navy" in that peroide. The union was dissolved at gun point, but ended peacefully. The Norwegian navy was strong at that time, but remained, more or less, the same in 1940, so little resistance was offered..
At5 6:30, the small craft identified as a "picket boat" is actually flying the flag of the United States Coast Guard--see also the initials "CG" on the hull number.
Fun side fact not until WW1 did the threat of all out war between Britain and France go away.
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you do know that Sweden basically is the reason why the germans could produce so many tanks as 1/3 of all germanys steel came from sweden and we were just friends with them which was enough for them not to invade us
The front of a ship is called the bow and the rear is the stern. You referred to the neutrality bands as being painted at the stern and the aft of the hull. Essentially, you said the same thing twice.
The Scandanavian countries had to thread a needle, politically speaking, during WWII. They were sandwiched between expansionist Russia and Germany, and oh yeah, don't forget the Allies would have loved to have control over their resources as well. Hard to blame them for playing all sides against each other. It was smart.
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Cara!
Se tivesse legenda PT seria um canal extraordinário.
Parabéns pelo trabalho.
when the Germans were doing well, Sweden drifted towards them. When the winds shifted, so did Sweden
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Total surrounded by Germany, they had few choices. Most of the Government was pro allies. There was lots of discussions in the government how much they hade to give Germany. And GB would not come to help. They planned to occupy Sweden in 1940s.
Sweden has hundreds of lakes? Try 100,000 lakes.
Getting into the large lakes like Vänern, Mälaren or Hjälmaren would require to go through rivers and canals. Blowing up a lock here and there would render such a mission impossible.
Neutrality bands that were painted at the stern and aft of the hull ( 7.35 ) !?
Sweden had a VERY interesting naval history in the 16th c. - probably more interesting and historically significant than the later centuries. It fought what was still a major maritime power in the late Hanseatic League, the city of Lübeck in particular, in the 17th c. It fought another leading regional naval power in the Baltic - Denmark - in the 17th c. and usually the Danes won, being the better sailors.
Only Peter I of Russia creating the Russian navy during the Great Nordic War did Russia become a significant naval player.
And the Swedish navy still beat the Russians in 1790.
11:12 They were also made in Hungary.
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4:15...check the age os USS Texas, and her sister ships serving in WWII
What ship was that at the end
Bra och upplysande VUDEO 👍🏆
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Thanks - that was very interesting 🏅🎉
So... we'll just not mention the Vasa. Other than that.... it's a great Navy.
You forgot the regal ship Kronan (the Crown) that lies in pieces outside the Öland island.
@@Soundbrigade Might as well add "HMS Mars" that blew up in battle against the Danes and the Lübeckers in 1564 - the 140-gun flagship possible the largest in the world at the time - the wreck of which was re-discovered a few years ago.
Brave country
LOL no
It is also important to remeber tha Britain and France had plans to invade Norway, and then get access to Kiruna and the Iron ore in Sweden. The excuse was to assist Finland during The Winter war. That war ended before the plan could be executed....
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"Access" = proper invasion and occupation of northern Sweden.
Which would have forced Sweden in on the Axis side, like Finland.
@@Merecir Yep. Norway still wants Jemtland and Herjedal back from Sweden....
2:15 400 (officers) and 9,000 men respectively? Or is it 409,000 men total?
Yeah, I think he means the first... but it's quite confusing.
Perhaps with all conscript mobilized to the coastal defenses.
Sweden never came to full mobilization during the war, the military were only "on guard" with partial mobilization.
But still, the total amount of people serving in the entire Swedish military during WW2 were about 1 million (not all at the same time).
Blue, green or brown water
The U.S. Navy can do it all!
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“Green”? I thought what you described is referred to as a “Brown” water navy. I’m likely confused but I’ve never heard a nation’s local coastline and river patrol force as green water navy…?!?
It's not common, but it's used....brown water, green water and blue water. I've heard USN people refer to USCG as green water... .
@@mitchellsmith4690 The riverine patrol boats in Vietnam were a brown water navy...
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In Sweden we also say: Flottan = The fleet.👍🏼
Given Sweden's geographic position, the supply of petroleum fuels to operate any military operations would have
been dependent on German sources. This would mean Sweden's independence would be highly limited.
Actually, lots of tankers reached Sweden across the Atlantic even during WW 2. Google "lejdtrafiken"! There was also some domestic production of synthetic fuels.
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In the end of the war the Allied Force did not accept Sweden to be neutral, they asked them to invade Norway, my Uncle was prepared to do this, but the war ended
We should have 2 carriers 8 battleships 40 heavy cruisers. Oh its only me playing HoI4
The vasa was truly one of the warships that ever sailed. Well i say it sailed...
"Sweden has an impressive naval standard, especially by Scandinavian standards" - Laughs in flagship Vasa
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Like saying that the US does not have an impressive air force today because some prototype F-22's crashed a few times.
Beasts
I think you should read up on the danish navy 😉
The Danish Navy in WW2
th-cam.com/video/D8Uq9cAIRl4/w-d-xo.html
You start talking about 1700-1900 😉
@@HiddenHistoryYT
Swede here:
If you are going to speak of something that belongs to Sweden, you would say "Swedish" - in English.
The translated term, in Swedish, would be "Svensk" (with multiple variations).
So, when you said that the Swedish Navy was called "Sverige Marinen" - that is not correct. In Swedish, it would be "Svenska Marinen".
I think you could have easily found that out by looking at Wikipedia.
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did you know that for a brief time sweden allowed german troops to cross over their country into finland
My father was guarding the Germans traveling to and fro Norway. They were nice guys, he said, often polite and sharing a fag or two.
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To help Finland...
ORP Orzeł :)💪
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Karlskrona mentioned. RAAAAAAHHHH
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Where did that unnecessary and ignorant swipe at CHURCHILL come from ?
You know that the Swedish navy are even older then the Royal navy, and i believe you should explain why we let germans go throw sweden. tell them about the midsummer crisis
Sweden had 1 050 000 soldiers during ww2, 850 000 men and 200 000 women
In partial mobilization, on guard duty.
Ibrah!
ubåd = undervands båd = Under water boat :D
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The swedes were very accommodating to German wishes. Thus, the Germans didn't have much reason invade Sweden.
That's a very simple viewing of history ! They were just as accommodating to the alliance too! Look up the Stockholm express where mosquitoes flew agents back and forth!
It is a very simple read of the situation. Germany needed iron ore, and Sweden was willing to sell it to Germany, and let the rest of Europe's countries fight to protect Sweden's commerce. If Hitler had been successful, Germany would have invaded Sweden too. Churchill was right in his assessment of Sweden. @@peterwright997
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War Thunder PLEASE! I'm begging on my knees.
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Swedens neutrally came from the traumatising event of losing half its landmass to russia.
where gaijin where?
”Sweden has 100’s of lakes”. We have more than 100 000 lakes, so a bit off the mark. 😊
When will it be added to war thunder
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swedens coatsel defence line is nothing against that of the atlantic wall
2:30 Just me or does this guy look like John Cena
What about denmark
The Danish Navy in WW2
th-cam.com/video/D8Uq9cAIRl4/w-d-xo.html
Swedish navy, where was it 1939-1945? Newer heard about it..
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Defending Sweden. As it should.
@@Merecir just asking... 😉
You want to know effective the Swedish Navy would have been in WW2? Just look at the respective invasions of Denmark and Norway. Both countries had navies with surface ships that were very similar in age, size, function, armament and performance. Other than being better prepared for an invasion, the Swedish Navy would have suffered much the same fate, albeit in a more drawn-out fashion. The advantage for the Swedes probably would have been the fact that their land forces were fully capable of putting up a very stiff fight on the border and in the mountains. I'm guessing that would have helped keep their naval bases largely free of German occupation.
The Swedish destroyers were smaller than the German ones. But fast and maneuverable. German losses during the invasion of Denmark and Norway made the situation tricky för Die Kriegsmarine. Sure, the Swedish navy would have been whiped out if the Germans hade used all of their assets. But that were never going to happen. The big ships were needed elsewhere. Besides, Tirpitz and Bismarck were not worked up and ready for combat in 1940. And with the sisters fighting Renown and sinking Glorious in the North sea, Swedish losses might not have been as big as you might think.
In 1940 the Swedish Army was incapable of putting up a credible defence of Swedish territory. They were understaffed, underequipped (almost no tanks and too few AT guns and also the air force was woefully weak) and they lacked fortified defence lines. All this would be addressed in the following years and after 1942, the army had grown into a somewhat potent force. In 1940 the Swedish navy was stronger and better prepared than the Danish and Norwegian naives put together and in their evaluations the Germans themselves identified it as the major obstacle to an invasion, not the Swedish army.
The Swedish navy was ALOT stronger than that of Norway and Denmark together, it had a lot more ships with much better performance ! 6 of the Swedish destroyers and 6 of there submarines were very modern, (the navies of Denmark and Norway did not operate any modern warships at all) and the 3 Sverige class "armoured cruisers" was totaly superiour to any other in Scandinavia ! Another perhaps even bigger difference was that the Swedish navy was fully manned, trained and ready for combat after the Soviet attack on Finland late 39 !
@@niclasjohansson4333 I think the readiness was indeed the bigger difference. The Norwegian and Danish navies were at the time building new ships and some of those had already been commissioned (The Norwegians had a brand new minelayer and some light destroyers, the Danes were building new minesweepers and submarines), but it was nothing that would deter a German invasion.
@@PSPaaskynen The Swedish navy had several destroyers, the other Scandinavian navys did not have a single proper ship of the type, regarding submarines the Swedish navy was also superiour to its neigbouring countrys, and there was even 2 small cruisers, the Swedish navy was a lot stronger then than the other navys combined.
2:17 is that adolf hitler on the second right
Try more than houndred thousand lakes
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🇸🇪✌️💙🧡
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Why you didn't speak Finland. You can't speak Sweden WW2 without speaking Finland.
Of course everybody knows that Sweden Säpö ( secret polis) and Finland ( Vapo) change a lot information in war time. Sweden own army specialist knows, that if Finland collapse, then Sovjets will also conquest Sweden. So Sweden gives support secretly for Finland, like money and Great Bofors guns.
Navy; Sovjets one of the main target was cut Finland merkant ships road. It cut sametime Finland main defence. Even peace time Sovjets attack, like how they drop civil airplane Kaleva ( what was full USA and France diplomats). Finland has to use Sweden sea area and Sweden navy protect them more and less. Anyway Sovjets didn't attack Finland ships who was near Sweden.
After war Sweden built or give money for houses what kriminal Sovjets has bombed.
Finland and Sweden navy continue working together after war. Secret of course.
Minesweeper
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Godoy and informative video, but it feels like you use a lot of AI generated images when you don’t have to
Honestly don’t know what you’re talking about
Thar is not star trek that is jj abrams version of star trek
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warthunder pls add sweedish navy brah
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"Sweden has an impressive naval tradition, particularly by Scandinavian standards. From the 1700s to the early 1800s, the powerful Swedish Navy... had only one other naval power in the Baltic that was its rival: the Russian Navy."
This is patently false. The Swedish Navy spent most of the 1600s and early 1700s getting defeated by the Danish Navy, and the primary rival of the Swedish Navy up until 1807 was always the Danish Navy. The Danish Navy was also consistently stronger than the Swedish Navy from c. 1715 and onwards. The Swedish Navy only really rivalled the Danish Navy during a brief period in the 1780s, where French subsidies had allowed Gustav III to expand his sea-going force. The Swedish Navy generally had problems ranging from poor crews and officers (Scanian War), incompetent admirals chosen due to royal titles rather than merit (Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790), or just poor up-keep due to a lack of resources and money (last years of the Great Northern War).
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Excellent relations with Germany? Not in the 1600s ...
This is inaccurate as Denmark had a larger fleet and was the leading naval power in the baltics before the napelonic wars
Because Sweden was busy fighting land wars against Russia and Poland.
What happened to the gold the nat'socs payed sweden?
Why did they refuse to return it to lesser nations when they found out about its origin?
The grates enemy of the swedes navy was danmark not russia and sweden was not only by frindship close to germany, for a very long time great parts of north germany have bean a part of sweden.
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Sweden in Azur Lane when?
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What is a U-bat, it's called U-båt
English speaking people don't know the letters "Æ","Ø" and "Å".....
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Son You're so wrong - Denmark had the STRONGEST Navy in Scandinavia until 1807
Nope^^
As far as I can tell, the danish navy itself wasnt necessarily stronger than the swedish, it was the fact that the danish had an alliance with the dutch which meant sweden had to face both denmark and the netherlands who had a rather large navy at the time.
Wrong flag dude
Where?
Also shows Japanese sailors when talking about the Swedish Navy; very poor editing, as always with these AI-produced videos.
using AI art instead of taking 20 seconds to google a picture L
Honestly don’t know what you’re talking about
Without swedens iron ore and other minerals ww2 couldn’t have happened
The Germans put a high value on Swedish iron ore, because of the quality. However, it was not like they were short of ore. It tends to be forgotten that Nazi-Germany had a treaty with the Soviet Union, a country overflowing in iron ore. The Soviets could deliver any amount the Germans needed. The problem was just that Moscow required payment in gold and in technology, while the Swedes mainly needed coal in exchange for their ore. This is why the Germans preferred Swedish deliveries. Still, it is a mistake to think that the Swedish ore was the deciding factor that made WWII possible.
When are you going to talk about your military alliance with nazi Germany that started world war 2 Ivan?
Except the Swedish iron ore wasn't useful for actually making weapons. Besides, pre 1941 imports form the USSR was massively more important for Nazi Germany, and from 1940 onwards most German iron ore needs were supplied from occupied France.
However, Churchill in particular had a pet-idea about Swedish iron ore being Super Important (and a reason to invade Sweden and take it), and wrote it into his WWII history (the one JM Keynes referred to as "Winston's autobiography disguised as world history").
@@nomennescio4604 Your first point is incorrect. Swedish iron ore held very high quality (60% iron compared to 30% for German iron ore, so it was far more economical to exploit and process) and it was especially suitable for creating high-grade armour and gun barrels because of low phosphorus content. (Sweden also produced iron ore with higher phosphorus content, but that was not what Germany imported. The French minett iron ore did have high phosphorus content and was therefore not very suitable for arms production.)
@@PSPaaskynen no it is not. The German use for Swedish iron ore was not for weapons.
Kii Luu Na
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Swedish Navy? So, I am guessing there is a reason that the ship in the thumbnail is flying the Dannebrog?
Very poor information here.
Welcome To NATO.
lol yep
2:13 this cant be from a Swedish ship, some asian country?
AI-bild. Titta på ”händerna”.
Geez, ok låter rimligt trots allt
LOL .. go back and read a few more books... you need it