16 votes

In the years after World War II, neutral, peace-loving Sweden embarked on an ambitious plan – build its own atomic bomb

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: sweden, history.military, war, world war ii, 20th century, weapons.nuclear, politics, policy.defence, technology, infrastructure, materials, uranium, forsvarets forskningsanstalt, secrecy, author.mark piesing, source.bbc future
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240412-the-secret-scandinavian-a-bomb-project

Link information

This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.

Title
Sweden has long opposed nuclear weapons - but it once tried to build them

5 comments

  1. [5]
    sparksbet
    Link
    "peace-loving" is a funny description of a country that was so "neutral" that they let the Nazis build up their train network and travel across the country more or less as they pleased 🤔

    "peace-loving" is a funny description of a country that was so "neutral" that they let the Nazis build up their train network and travel across the country more or less as they pleased 🤔

    10 votes
    1. [4]
      lou
      Link Parent
      Many counties had to do that kind of thing to avoid animosity from the German back then. They weren't aligned but they would comply with specific demands to avoid an invasion.

      Many counties had to do that kind of thing to avoid animosity from the German back then. They weren't aligned but they would comply with specific demands to avoid an invasion.

      7 votes
      1. [3]
        sparksbet
        Link Parent
        Caveat that my wife is Norwegian, so most of my animosity against Sweden is performative. But generally speaking I have more respect for countries who were invaded and had resistance movements...

        Caveat that my wife is Norwegian, so most of my animosity against Sweden is performative. But generally speaking I have more respect for countries who were invaded and had resistance movements than countries that Quisling-ed along with the Nazis like Sweden and Switzerland. I'm just a bit more vocal about it than I would be if my wife were born a few miles further east 😆

        8 votes
        1. [2]
          updawg
          Link Parent
          What did Switzerland do to support the Nazis other than banking? My understanding was that they mostly supported the Allies while maintaining plausible deniability.

          What did Switzerland do to support the Nazis other than banking? My understanding was that they mostly supported the Allies while maintaining plausible deniability.

          3 votes
          1. sparksbet
            Link Parent
            I mean I'm mostly thinking about the banking. Iirc they also sold weapons to the Nazis and closed the country to Jewish refugees.

            I mean I'm mostly thinking about the banking. Iirc they also sold weapons to the Nazis and closed the country to Jewish refugees.

            1 vote