History Matters

This podcast is the second part of a look at Swedish neutrality in the Great War, covering the Swedish armed forces, war economy, humanitarian issues, the Aaland island dispute, and more besides!

Reading acknowledgements are the same as in the previous episode.

I can be contacted at: [email protected]

Image is of Swedish rationing cards distributed in 1917.

This is the first of two episodes on Swedish neutrality and the First World War, the second to follow on shortly.

Special thanks among others go out to Neutrality and State-Building in Sweden by Mikael Malmborg, and the relevant chapters in Scandinavia in the First World War: Studies in the War Experience of the Northern Neutrals as well as the chapters in Studies in the War: Experience of the Northern Neutrals. Patrick Salmon’s superlative Scandinavia and the Great Powers, 1890-1940 is still top billed.

I can be contacted at: [email protected]

Podcast image is of the impressive Boden fortress complex guarding the northern approaches to Sweden.

This episode covers the period picks up directly from the end of the last episode at the end of the First World War, through the interwar period and up to the German invasion of April 1940.

Special thanks to some of this podcast's reading material: Olav Riste’s 2001: Norway's Foreign Relations : A History, Patrick Salmon’s comparative work Scandinavia and the Great Powers, 1890-1940 as well as his chapter in the edited collection European Neutrals and non-belligerents during the Second World War. ‘Norwegian Neutrality and the Question of Credibility’ in the Scandinavian Journal of History is well worth reading as is the relevant chapter in the ever excellent Small Powers in the Age of Total War. Apologies to those I have neglected to mention!

I can be contacted at: [email protected]

Image is of Norwegian machine gun team in Finnmark, part of the neutrality guard.

This episode discusses Norway from its transfer to Sweden from Denmark during the Napoleonic War right the way up to the end of the First World War.

Special thanks among others to: Olav Riste and his classic The Neutral Ally: Norway’s Relations with Belligerent Powers in the First World War as well as his more recent Norway's Foreign Relations : A History. Patrick Salmon's previously mentioned works on comparative Scandinavian history are, as ever, highly recommended.

Image is from the 'yes' campaign during the landslide 1905 independence referendum.

I can be contacted at: [email protected]

This episode picks up right after the end of the first podcast on neutral Denmark and bring the topic up the point of the German invasion of April 1940.

Special thanks go out to Patrick Salmon’s work Scandinavia and the Great Powers, 1890-1940, 'Limits of Leverage: The Anglo-Danish Trade Agreement of 1933’ in The Economic History Review and Olga Shishkina's, ‘Denmark between the Wars: The Reasons for Defenceless Neutrality’ as well as several others who have slipped from my mind (sorry!)

To get in touch: [email protected]

This podcast discusses Danish neutrality in the modern period from the Napoleonic War up to and including the First World War. The following episode will continue on up to the end of 1945.

Special thanks to Michael Jonas' Scandinavia and the Great Powers during the First World War as well as Patrick Salmon’s fantastic work Scandinavia and the Great Powers, 1890-1940.

Podcast image is of the Danish flakfortet, an artificial island built to shield Copenhagen from naval assault.

I can be reached at: [email protected].

This podcast covers neutral Spain and its empire during a period of long decline throughout the nineteenth century and its eventual experience during the First World War.

Special thanks in particular to Professor Sebastian Balfour and his Spain and the Great Powers in the Twentieth Century as well as Romero Salvadbo’s Spain 1914-1918: Between War and Revolution.

I can be contacted at: [email protected]. Thank you for listening!

This episode will deal with Swiss neutrality during the interwar period and the Second World War.

Special thanks go to Neville Wyley and his excellent 'European Neutrals and non-belligerents during the Second World War' as well his also useful 'Britain, Switzerland and the Second World War'. As ever, the relevant chapter in 'Small Powers in the Age of Total War' proved to be highly informative.

You may contact me at: [email protected] for any other reading suggestions or comments.

This episode will deal with Swiss neutrality from the end of the Napoleonic conflict up to and including the First World War. Special thanks for this episode go to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland by Leo Schelbert as well as the chapter 'Neutral Tones' by Moeyes in Small Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940. You can contact me at: [email protected]

This podcast continues from the previous and goes on to cover Dutch neutrality up to the beginning of the Second World War. As referenced in the podcast, here is link to a map of Dutch defence systems that you may find of some use: https://imgur.com/a/wGygYdV Special thanks also to C.M. Schulten and P.M.J. de Koster 'Between Hope And Fear: The Netherlands Armed Forces In The Interwar Period'. I can be contacted at: [email protected]

This podcast is about the neutral Netherlands from roughly the end of the Napoleonic period up to the end of the First World War. The next podcast will complete the narrative up to the tragic events of May 1940. Image: Dutch machine gun team manning a Schwarzlose MG (colourised). Credit to Hubert van Tuyll's excellent The Netherlands and World War I : Espionage, Diplomacy and Survival and Abbenhaus’ The Art of Staying Neutral : The Netherlands in the First World War. Feel free to contact me at: [email protected] if you have any questions or comments.

This podcast is a broad overview of the history of European neutrality in the early part of the twentieth century. It is kickstarting a series about all of the European neutral powers in the First and Second World Wars. You can reach me at: [email protected] With special thanks to: Amersfoort and W Klinkert's 'Small Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940' and Karsh’s ‘Neutrality and Small States’.

In the very first podcast I discuss some of the current historical issues surrounding the famous Schlieffen Plan.