ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Historica Upsaliensia 252 Utgivna Av Historiska Institutionen Vid Uppsala Universitet Geno
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ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Historica Upsaliensia 252 Utgivna av Historiska institutionen vid Uppsala universitet genom Margaret Hunt, Jan Lindegren och Maria Ågren Cover photograph: The bombing of Mortsel, Belgium, on 5th April 1943, photographer unknown. From the book Tranen over Mortsel (Tears over Mortsel) by Pieter Serrien, reprinted with permission of the author. Cover layout: Camilla Eriksson Susanna Erlandsson Window of opportunity Dutch and Swedish security ideas and strategies 1942–1948 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Universitetshuset, Sal X, Biskopsgatan 3, Uppsala, Friday, 8 May 2015 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: professor Thomas Jonter (Stockholms universitet, Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen). Abstract Erlandsson, S. 2015. Window of opportunity. Dutch and Swedish security ideas and strategies 1942–1948. Studia Historica Upsaliensia 252. 284 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9200-7. The period treated in this thesis is one which is often characterized as a transition between World War II and the Cold War. By approaching it instead as a window of opportunity – a period in which the governments of small states perceived both an unusual space and an urgent need to reevaluate security – the security policies of two small northwestern European countries, the Netherlands and Sweden, are subjected to a critical reappraisal. Through a systematic comparison of the security ideas and strategies in two countries that ended up with different positions on alignment/non-alignment during the Cold War, this dissertation sheds new light on the reasons for the development of those security policies as well as on their significance. Not only does it uncover a number of concrete security strategies that were remarkably similar regardless of diffe- rent circumstances, but it shows that the Swedish and Dutch governments formed similar ideas about the needs for future security in spite of different war experiences. Both concluded that small states could no longer survive in isolation and instead aimed for a better functioning system of collective security, built on the close cooperation of regional groups. This thesis argues that the different choices regarding security in 1948, when the Dutch signed the Treaty of Brussels and the Swedish reclaimed a policy of non-alignment, were in fact motivated by the same wish to maintain as wide a margin for manoeuvre as possible for the cooperation envisioned during the war, seeing this as the best guarantee of peace and independence. Keywords: small states, security, margin for manoeuvre, window of opportunity, neutrality, non-alignment, alliance, collective security, regional cooperation, 20th century history, international relations, World War II, Cold War, Sweden, the Netherlands Susanna Erlandsson, Department of History, Box 628, Uppsala University, SE-751 26 Uppsala, Sweden. © Susanna Erlandsson 2015 ISSN 0081-6531 ISBN 978-91-554-9200-7 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-247233 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-247233) Printed in Sweden by Danagård LiTHO AB, 2015 Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 26 Uppsala, SWEDEN www.uu.se, [email protected] Till min älskade Sander window of opportunity (ˈwɪndəʊ əv ˌɒpəˈtjuːnɪtɪ) noun an opportunity to do something that will only last for a short time and needs to be taken advantage of quickly ⇒ There is now a window of opportunity for peace. (Collins English Dictionary) Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... 11 1. Window of opportunity. Research framework .............................................. 15 Small state security. Perspectives and definitions ......................................... 16 The power of small states ................................................................................... 17 Neutrality versus alliance? .................................................................................. 20 Comparing Sweden and the Netherlands .................................................... 24 Operationalizing a comparative method ............................................................. 26 Why Sweden and the Netherlands? .................................................................... 28 Research design and delimitations ............................................................... 31 On the time period chosen ................................................................................. 33 Aim and questions ............................................................................................. 36 Source material .................................................................................................. 38 Disposition ........................................................................................................ 42 2. Fighting for survival. Wartime relations with an eye to the future ............... 45 Dependent independence ........................................................................... 47 Balancing critical threats and future interests ..................................................... 47 Defending the independent appearance .............................................................. 51 The politics of persuasion ........................................................................... 56 Keeping the story straight .................................................................................. 56 The legal argument ............................................................................................ 67 Enemies, allies, neutrals? Wartime relations ................................................ 71 Relating to the mighty ....................................................................................... 71 Strategic friendships and trusted companions ..................................................... 76 Concluding remarks on strategies for survival ............................................. 78 3. Planning for peace. Thoughts on future security 1942–1945 ......................... 81 Defining the problem – a matter of neutrality? ........................................... 82 On isolation and small and great states .............................................................. 82 The failure of the League and need for military security ..................................... 91 Defining the solution: armed cooperation ................................................... 94 A new organization for collective security ........................................................... 94 Plans for regional cooperation .......................................................................... 100 Different war experiences, different peace plans? ....................................... 108 4. Cooperation or doom. Discussions on the United Nations 1945–1946 ......... 111 Definitions ................................................................................................ 116 What’s in a name? ............................................................................................ 116 Characterizing the new organization ................................................................. 118 Assessment ................................................................................................. 122 Values and foundation of the organization ........................................................ 122 Advantages, flaws, opportunities ....................................................................... 124 Implications ............................................................................................... 128 Margin for manoeuvre: on choice ..................................................................... 129 Consequences and second choices ...................................................................... 131 A commitment to cooperation ................................................................... 136 5. Collective security in practice. Ideals and realities of postwar cooperation 1945–1947 ............................................................................... 139 Combining universalism and realism ......................................................... 141 On Swedish and Dutch bridge building ............................................................ 142 The United States and the Soviet Union: two of a kind? ................................... 149 Universal norms and great power tensions: policy opportunities and obstacles .................................................................................................... 158 Principles and interests: strategies in the new (dis)order .................................... 159 Perishing in a leaking ship full of principles? .................................................... 166 One world solidarity versus solidarity of the likeminded ........................... 170 Regional solidarity revisited .............................................................................. 171 The remnants of war: conditions for cooperation .............................................. 174 Collective security in practice: concluding remarks ................................... 180 6. Redefining the world. Security between East and West 1947–1948 ............. 185 Manoeuvring for a margin between East and West .................................... 186 The risk of war ................................................................................................