Sweden distributes 'be prepared for war' leaflet to all 4.8m homes

a reply to: aliensquirrelmonkey

Nah, what use is a bunker if all the serfs are dead before rebuilding?
I'm a builder, I'd get some scraps thrown at me to survive for sure.

Sweden is a mess. They pay the most taxes in all of Europe (last check) and surrender all of their rights to the state. Zero tolerance is not a place I would want to live.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

But this in a bold red banner on their safety leaflet though...

If Sweden is attacked by another country we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.

Man, if anything says "Go Swedish people!" that does.

a reply to: Spacespider

Puhhhleeeeze, Volvos, meatballs and massages is all ya need to know. I did like Geneva though....pretty.

a reply to: lakenheath24

IKEA. Don't lose that tool... (According to the local paper, their meatballs are mass-produced in Turkey. Not that there is anything wrong with Turkey but Sweden it ain't)

a reply to: howtonhawky

A spirit stove is basically a single burner gravity fed, non-pressurized fuel burner.

I didnt forget IKEA. They serve the meatballs i was talkin bout. Lol

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

originally posted by: Stevenjames15
a reply to: dollukka

Read the pamphlet! It's an emergency preparedness piece that also includes wartime info. SMH. Nothing to see here.

Yeah, we get those through our doors every day in Europe...

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

At least since WW2 Sweden has prepared itself for what they call "total defense". That includes any kind of military operations and intelligence or counterintelligence, but also civil defense, and ultimately the whole nation will be involved if things get dire enough. Even private citizen and small businesses can have a predetermined role in this, especially back during the (first?) cold war.

So, every school or apartment building or workplace is required to have a designated bomb-shelter and evacuation plans, though the quality of shelter may vary I guess. And then cities or other special locations have bigger shelters, probably with more protection against radiation or chemicals. And local leaders are trained in advance, so they can be activated by the state to set up headquarters for civil defense and they'll be in charge of logistics and protection and information, wherever the army is not directly involved.

Grocery stores can be required to start rationing their products, the boss of a small trucking company will be told what his drivers are to transport and where. If you are a land-owner, maybe a farmer, then the military may have already paid you let them hide something on your land, if they have basic trust in you. If you are any kind of specialist, like an electrical engineer or something, you may be obligated to work for the government as soon as they decide it becomes necessary. But of course that requires declaring mobilization or a state of emergency, I can't remember exactly what it's called.

And then there's "psychological defense" which for example means taking control of newspapers, media equipment and professionals. Those things have changed a lot since the Cold War though, with the internet and less social cohesion, and so on. But if it comes to a direct attack then civilian internet and cell connections will be lost and conventional media becomes more important again. And they try to root out enemy agents who may be spreading propaganda from within Sweden; like someone telling people to cease resistance. This might be really important in a weird, confused situation, like in Eastern Ukraine. I don't know, I'm not expert so don't take my word, but I've looked into it a bit.

In other words, Sweden could be called a society of socialist preppers. It's done on a national scale instead of every man for himself. I don't know how popular normal prepping is in Sweden, like American-style. Probably less so than in America. And when the Cold War ended they cut down a lot on this stuff, but in the last few years the trend is to bring some of it back again, they are training more reservists now as well. Up to the 1980's or so almost all male Swedes would spend a year in the military, so it's easy to imagine organizing them for civil defense when they get a bit older and wiser but maybe not fit for the front lines anymore.

a reply to: spingersbane

I know you've been banned but we do actually have nuclear shelters here. I have one about 8 miles from where I live.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

I'm not a picky eater at all, I eat cheap fast food and whatever, but IKEA's meatballs are pretty bad, especially the chicken meatballs. And they had something called "pulled salmon" sandwiches which I think is basically left-over, discarded scraps of salmon from the production line. But it's marketed as some sort of specialty, as if they slow-cook a salmon fillet and pull it apart.

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

Nothing in my parts, but to be honest I probably wouldn't want to survive a full blown nuclear attack on Britain.
I'd prefer a quick blast death than anything like the BBC film "Threads" I saw as a kid.

a reply to: Cutepants

Cheers for the fascinating and interesting reply. I'll definitely visit Sweden one day.

a reply to: dollukka

I think this is important:

Duty to contribute to Sweden's
total defence
In Sweden there is a duty to contribute to total defence. This
means that everyone who lives here and is between the ages
of 16 and 70 can be called up to assist in various ways in the
event of the threat of war and war. Everyone is obliged to
contribute and everyone is needed.
The duty to contribute to total defence has three forms: • Conscription into the Armed Forces. • Civil conscription into organisations controlled by the
Government.
• General national service involves serving in
organisations that must function even in the event of the
threat of war and war. This means that you continue to
do your normal job, work in a voluntary organisation or
are tasked by Arbetsförmedlingen with performing work
that is of particular importance to Sweden's total defence.
Those compelled to contributed to Sweden's total defence can
be given wartime postings. If you are given a wartime posting,
you will have received wartime posting orders or another
form of con
fi rmation from your employer about this.
Total defence
Total defence
8
9
For many years, the preparations made in Sweden for the
threat of war and war have been very limited. Instead,
public authorities and municipalities have focused on
building up the level of preparedness for peacetime
emergencies such as fl ooding and IT attacks. However, as
the world around us has changed, the Government has
decided to strengthen Sweden's total defence. That is why
planning for Sweden's civil defence has been resumed. It
will take time to develop all parts of it again. At the same
time, the level of preparedness for peacetime emergencies
is an important basis of our resilience in the event of war.

Sweden were always scared of World War III actually happening. So Sweden made sure there were nuclear shelters everywhere, along with stockpiles of food, water, clothes and other supplies. Apartment blocks had basements and filtered air conditioning. This was particularly important because of their small population relative to large land area.

a reply to: Spacespider

Really?

Sweden is in Africa, everyone knows that...

I read it here.
Sweden

I find the pamphlets odd... but you know wgats more odd? A country known for its peacefullness in society and globally, a country witg few major issues and a gappy population would suddenly start boosting their military.... look at Sweden from now on.

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

I believe Sweden cannot sail between two anymore as it did in WW2, World is too transparent now.

As opposed to its official government policy, when called to fight in Finland, as many as 8,000 Swedes volunteered, and in response to German pleas for volunteers against the Soviet Union, around 180 Swedes joined the German Waffen-SS. It was always the individuals’ choice to enlist; however, the government also helped in ways such as sending food, ammunition, weapons and medicine to Finland during conflict. While the number of Swedish volunteers was comparatively small compared to some other nations, the country’s willingness to help in the war effort surely points to its obvious lack of neutrality. Even if official government policy stated the country was in a non-belligerent position, the actions of people in a nation are what ultimately reveal the true nature of the attitudes, and these undeniably show Swedish refusal to sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

Another concern for Sweden during the war was trade. At the beginning of WW2, an agreement had been signed by Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany, in order to sustain vital trade, but Swedish shipping began to be attacked. As a result, trade with Britain reduced by about 70%, and it increased with Germany, culminating in 37% of Swedish exports being to Germany alone. The battle of the Atlantic was what caused Swedish trade to be blocked, but a few vessels, known as ‘lejdtrafiken’ or ‘the safe conduct traffic,’ were allowed through to the United States (until their entrance into the war), and some neutral nations in Latin America.

History Now

There are more Sweden involment during WW2 to both sides Axis and Allies, Sweden is not that pure and neutral as people think they are.
Sweden has to take sides now, so they choose NATO ( most likely ) as military defence plans for Nothern Countries working together against threaths is quite complicated. When there is atm two neutral countries in baltic area, Sweden and Finland and rest are members of NATO. The problem is Finland having long border with russia and defending that border will take a lot resources which other NATO countries and Sweden are not so much willing to invest to. To Sweden defence of finnish border is important as Finland is buffer country between Sweden and Russia, but rest of the Baltic countries importance of the border in Finland does not play similar importance. So defence of Baltic area is a bit broken and plans do not go much further.

Well .. something to chew

Well they have been threatened by Russia so preparing for possible nuclear conflict makes sense. People saw Crimea as a Russian land grab and if you border Russia your very nervous. This is why it's likely sweeden will join NATO. But if it wasn't a clue Russia did a military excersize planning to attack sweeden.

originally posted by: SituationNAFU
a reply to: howtonhawky

A spirit stove is basically a single burner gravity fed, non-pressurized fuel burner.

sterno I believe
the stuff that keeps the pans warm at a buffet
I used one camping. makes a nice bowl of ramen

we should do a poll
routine survival advice? or last-minute war prep stuff?