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Norway is a buffer against the UK (and besides, the UK would have to cross a mountain range to get to Sweden - the UK may be a lot of things, but "good at land war in harsh topology, against enemies that shoot back" isn't one of them). Denmark is a buffer against Germany. Germany is a buffer against everything else. And besides, with Russia the main competitor for naval dominance over the Baltic, Swedish-German relations have usually been reasonably good. So Russia is the only major power they don't have a buffer state or two against.

Well, that and the fact that Russia usurped their status as the big fish in the Baltic pond in the 18th and 19th century.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Thu Feb 26th, 2009 at 05:47:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I would add that in the 1871-1914 period it also clearly was not in Germanys interest to attack Sweden as that would benefit Russia. Also Sweden leaned pro-german (german being the dominating second language, lots of intermarriage in the upper classes of Sweden and Germany) and was in 1914 fairly close to joining the war on the German side (against Russia).

Pre 1871 Prussia was one of the competing powers in the region but was weak enough not to be a threath considering its position at the middle of the board. And pre Prussia hegemony (now we are before the Napoleonic wars) Germany was simply to fractured to pose a threath.

Last time (pre wwI) there was a serious german threath was when there was some attempts to re-structure the Holy German Empire and get it under a centralised power. That coupled with plans for a naval base at the baltic prompted some actions from the swedish state that played some quite some part in the subsequent fracturing.

But lets move to the case of the french great power and its relation to the swedish state during history. France is to far away to pose a serious military threath. Yeah, that's it.

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by A swedish kind of death on Thu Feb 26th, 2009 at 06:29:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Puts our flame wars into perspective...

notes from no w here
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Feb 26th, 2009 at 07:13:44 PM EST
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