Military and Nature an Environmental History of Swedish Military Landscapes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Henrik Strömsten Military and nature An environmental history of Swedish military landscapes Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History 1 2 Abstract Strömsten, H. 2016. Military and nature: An environmental history of Swedish military land- scapes. Uppsala, Dept of Archaeology and Ancient History. This thesis, an environmental history of a selected number of Swedish military training environments, is based on observation of military landscapes with a permanent presence of military-related objects and activities, all of which leave their traces in the environment, and how continued military activity is legiti- mised with environmental arguments. By also observing military policies and documents, I look into how the Swedish military frame their own training environments, and how ‘environmentalist’ discourses is adopted to justify past and present activities. The military landscapes must also be considered in a wider context of geopolitics and security; hence I also include an historical analysis of military land appropria- tion and defense policy in Sweden. An important contribution with this thesis, besides provide a Swedish context to studies of military landscapes, lies also in testing a historical ecological framework in analyses and methods when approaching research on military landscapes, as I consider this thesis as a pilot-project on Swedish military landscapes providing incentives for further studies. The Swedish military landscapes studied in this thesis have both a centennial and decadal presence of military activities. Some training sites such as Marma and Revinge, which are also Natura 2000 areas, have had a military presence since the 19th century, and the various military structures and buildings pro- mote a kind of military biography, an identity tied to landscapes, reinforcing military presence. The presentation of military sites as ecological refuges for rare species and habitats is evident in the manage- ment plans for the studied landscapes. The way military space is understood, legitimised and produced from the perspectives of the military policy level is, as I will argue, centred on two core motivations. First, it is that military presence in a landscape is the product of a militarisation processes, considering a geopolitical context and defense policies. The military presence has long-term effects in form of an altera- tion of physical nature and development of a high biodiversity. Second, the long-term positive effects, enhances an environmentalist discourse within the military when it comes to legitimise past and present military space, and to justify a continued military presence in a landscape. Keywords: Military landscapes, Military geography, Swedish military, Historical ecology, Event ecology, Discourse analysis, Environmentalism Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History (60 credits), supervisors: Anneli Ekblom & Karl-Johan Lindholm, Defended and approved spring term 2016-06-09 © Henrik Strömsten Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Uppsala, Sweden 3 4 Acknowledgements It has been a long journey; I have been exhausted, frustrated, sad and happy. But now I have now finally completed this thesis. I could not have done it without the support from my supervisors at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient history, Anneli Ekblom and Karl-Johan Lindholm. Their many insights and support helped me formulating this thesis. My fellow student colleagues at the Master’s programme in Global Environmental History have, during many joint supervisory sessions, contributed with feedback necessary for my progress. Similarly, the friendly staff environment at CEMUS, the Centre for Sustainable Development at Uppsala University, with colleagues has helped me raising questions and issues concerning this thesis. I also want to acknowledge Bo Larsson at the Fortifications Agency, and the environmental co- ordinators, Anna Bäckman and Patrick Ericsson, and Anders Sverin, with the Swedish Armed Forces, who helped me answer questions and allowed me inside the military sites. Finally I want to acknowledge all friends and family who has supported me in this endeavour. You all have my unbounded gratitude and love. 5 List of abbreviations ACE = Arctic Challenge Exercice AFV = Armoured Fighting Vehicle ATA = Antiquary-Topographical Archive (Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet) CBRN = Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear DMZ = Demilitarized Zone EU = European Union FMV = The Swedish Defense Material Administration (Försvarets Materielverk) FOI = The Swedish Defense Research Agency (Försvarets forskningsinstitut) FORTV = The Swedish Fortifications Agency (Fortifikationsverket) LedR = The Command and Control Regiment (Ledningsregementet) LG = The Royal Life Guards (Livgardet) MB = The Swedish Environmental legislation (Miljöbalken) MoD = Ministry of Defense Sweden (Försvarsdepartementet) MOUT = Military Operations in Urban Terrain NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization NEAT = North European Aerospace Test Range QRA = Quick Reaction Alert RAÄ = Swedish National Board of Heritage (Riksantikvarieämbetet) SOG = Swedish Special Operations Task Group (Särskilda operationsgruppen) UN = United Nations UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ÖMAS = Training- and environmental adjusted management plan (Övnings- och miljöanpassad skötselplan) 6 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9 1.1.1 Introducing military landscapes .................................................................................................. 9 1.1.2 Why researching military landscapes? ..................................................................................... 11 1.1.3 Research aims, limitations and disposition ............................................................................... 12 1.2 Research context .............................................................................................................................. 14 1.2.1 Environmental histories of war ................................................................................................. 14 1.2.2 Research on military landscapes ............................................................................................... 16 2. Theories and methods ............................................................................................................................. 20 2.1 Definitions of landscape ................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Cultural landscape .................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.2 Military landscape .................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Theoretical approach ........................................................................................................................ 22 2.2.1 Historical ecology: frameworks of landscape studies ............................................................... 22 2.2.2 Military geography ................................................................................................................... 24 2.2.3 Structuration ............................................................................................................................. 24 2.2.4 The making of military space ................................................................................................... 25 2.2.5 Power ........................................................................................................................................ 27 2.2.6 Military-environmentalism ....................................................................................................... 27 2.2.7 Cultural heritage ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.3 Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 29 2.3.1 Field studies .............................................................................................................................. 29 2.3.2 Phenomenology ........................................................................................................................ 30 2.3.3 Textual analysis ........................................................................................................................ 31 2.3.4 Sources...................................................................................................................................... 31 3. Contextual analysis of military land and space transformation .............................................................. 33 3.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.1 Defense capabilities .................................................................................................................. 33 3.1.2 Legal appropriation of military lands: national interest of training areas ................................