Great Power and Small State: Perceptions of Germany in Five Swedish Newspapers 1870–1890. During the last decades of the 19th century, a marked shift in Sweden’s foreign and security policy took place. France had for centuries been considered an ally and continued to be regarded as such in spite of Swedish neutrality. Both king Charles XV and his brother and successor, Oscar II, played a central role in creating the foreign policy of Sweden-Norway (united between 1814–1905). Oscar, however, unlike his brother saw Sweden’s future in closer cooperation with Germany. The aim of this study is to examine the Swedish perception of Prussia and Germany in newspapers from the period between 1870 and 1890. A central aspect is the assumption that the views found in these newspapers also reflect the relationship between small states and great powers in general. War between France and Prussia broke out in July 1870. This led to extensive coverage in the press. For the purpose of the study digitized Swedish newspapers from this month available through the homepage of the National Library of Sweden were examined. Five newspapers which most frequently commented on foreign affairs were identified. Based on literature on the subject and random samples among the newspapers a further seven different events of particular importance and of interest to the press were selected. These are as follows: The founding of the German Empire and the peace treaty between Germany and France in 1871, the visit of the Swedish royal couple to Berlin in 1875, events during the year of the three emperors 1888, including a visit by Wilhelm II to Stockholm, and Otto von Bismarck’s resignation as chancellor in 1890. It turns out that during 1870–71 Swedish newspapers generally, with only a few notable exceptions, were very critical against Prussia and Germany. Apart from Sweden’s traditional connection to France this can also be explained by taking into account events during and after the Dano-Prussian war in 1864. The war had created resentment towards Prussia. Scandinavianism, a political movement with the goal of uniting the three Scandinavian countries (sometimes also including Finland), played an important role in several Swedish newspapers around the mid 19th century. Prussia/Germany was now and again even considered as a potential threat to Sweden. According to German press reports during his visit to Berlin in 1875 Oscar II had expressed that he wanted the Swedish and German armies to become brothers in arms. This led to a heated debate but was eventually characterized as a misunderstanding of what the king had actually said.By the end of the 1880s the views in the newspapers regarding Germany had changed considerably. Both Wilhelm I and Bismarck were now even seen as guarantors of peace in Europe. Wilhelm II:s visit to Sweden shortly after his accession to the throne confirmed that relations between the two countries had entered into a new era. The five newspapers came to support the king’s foreign policy – although they remained critical of some aspects of German domestic policy. An emphasis on Sweden’s weak international position and the need for peace feature very prominently in editorials regarding the eight events. This also relates to the small state – great power dichotomy. A distinctive feature can be found in the occasionally expressed conviction that the Scandinavian peninsula, largely surrounded by the sea and on the periphery of Europe, after all was protected by its geographic location
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-214491 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Ljunggren, Lars |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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