The question is pretty simple. With the rest of Scandinavia falling to the Nazis, with Finland fighting through the war, how did Sweden maintain its neutrality during the conflict? The only other neutral nations were Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal. And the latter two were neutral in name only. I've always wondered how the Swedes did it, while maintaining a decent sized Navy and Air Force. Thanks for the help guys.
Forgive me if my answer isn't the most detailed or comprehensive, this will just be an overview and hopefully if someone sees it, they can add to it.
Sweden has always maintained, during the 20th Century, and for the most part still does maintain a neutrality policy in all things military. Even during the Finnish-Soviet War, they only sent supplies, not soldiers to help their Finnish neighbors, even though most Swedes wished to help the Finns. I think that all of Scandinavia were try to be neutral in the war, however Hitlers strategic needs did not match their wishes.
Sweden was an immensely important supplier of iron ore and steel for Nazi Germany, and they generally sent these supplies through the coast of Norway into Germany. Nazi Germany feared that Norway would be blockaded by the Allies, a fear that was logical as they were considering it, so he began planning Operation Weserübung which was a German invasion of Denmark and Norway to secure their trade supplies from Sweden. So while they were all Neutral, Hitler was in fear that the water surrounding Norway would be blockaded and full of Allied Ships, something that was much more difficult in the Baltic Sea.
Sweden continued trading with Hitler out of fear of being conquered by the Germans, a very reasonable fear, and Hitler understood that invading Sweden would reduce Iron Ore supplies by an immense number that the German Military could not deal with. So invading Norway and Denmark was a way to secure the trade route with Swedes. And Swedish Neutrality was both out of fear of Germany on the Swedish side, and the fear of losing Iron Ore on the German Side.
I hope I was helpful.
Hi! fyi, you'll find more info in the FAQ