Sweden’s Government-Issued Pamphlet for Surviving War Has a Long History

Sweden released a new pamphlet for citizens this week with survival tips in case the country ever goes to war. The government-issued publication covers topics like how to stop bleeding, the difference between various emergency sirens, and what food should be stockpiled. Given the fact that Sweden just joined NATO this year, the advice is more relevant than ever as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues and Vladimir Putin continues to threaten nuclear strikes against Western countries.

But this isn’t the first time Sweden has put out this kind of literature. The country actually has a long history of trying to prepare its population for war with Russia, from pamphlets and educational films to community nuclear shelters much fancier than anything the Americans produced at the height of the Cold War. At one point, it even printed the guides in its phone book.

The new pamphlet is available online and titled “In Case of War or Crisis.” It’s distributed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and opens with an explanation of its necessity.

We live in uncertain times. Armed conflicts are currently being waged in our corner of the world. Terrorism, cyber attacks, and disinformation campaigns are being used to undermine and influence us. To resist these threats, we must stand united. If Sweden is attacked, everyone must do their part to defend Sweden’s independence—and our democracy. We build resilience every day, together with our loved ones, colleagues, friends, and neighbours. In this brochure, you learn how to prepare for, and act, in case of crisis or war. You are part of Sweden’s overall emergency preparedness.

That all seems pretty straightforward and reasonable here in 2024. But it’s easy to forget there was a period before our current geopolitical hostilities when that kind of language may have seemed unnecessarily alarmist. Because Sweden has a similar pamphlet that was distributed from the middle of World War II until the fall of the Soviet Union. And then it didn’t start producing this kind of pamphlet again until 2018.

Screenshot from a newly revised pamphlet distributed by the Swedish government about civil defense.

Launched in 1943, Sweden’s original pamphlet was called “If the War Comes,” published at a time when the country was officially neutral. But the booklet received revisions during the Cold War, when the concern involved both the potential of a Soviet Union invasion of Sweden and the possibility of nuclear war. One of the big messages throughout was the idea that if a foreign army attacked and occupied, the average citizen wasn’t just supposed to give up. There was supposed to be a resistance and that resistance would take the form of whatever small way you could contribute.

Sweden approached the idea of civil defense somewhat differently from the U.S. during the height of the Cold War. America had a fierce debate in the early 1960s about whether it was the responsibility of the government to build community fallout shelters and help their citizens prepare. Ultimately, the debate was won by those who believed Americans should be independent and not look to the government. Sweden went the other direction, building extremely nice nuclear bunkers for entire communities.

One bunker in Stockholm featured classrooms for students, a theater, and an enormous gymnasium. The bunker was featured in a 1958 film titled “Vi går under jorden,” translated in English as We Go Underground.

The Cold War pamphlet wasn’t distributed anymore after the official collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and there really did appear to be a receding threat to Western-aligned countries after the Communist government fell. The political fight between communist and capitalist superpowers was largely over but the first two decades of the 21st century would see the old divisions reemerge.

Australia’s SBS TV news channel produced a documentary in 2019 about the ways that Sweden was preparing its citizens for the possibility of war as what might be called the Second Cold War or New Cold War was knocking on the door.

Sweden isn’t the only country trying to prepare its citizens for the possibility of a Russian invasion. Finland shares a border with Russia and has always been more alert to the possibility than their Swedish neighbors. And Finland has its own government pamphlets with information about resisting an occupation and reminding people to stock enough food for 20 days.

The 2022 invasion of Ukraine changed the perspective of a lot of people, according to a new report from the BBC. Because the idea of Russia invading a foreign country seemed largely theoretical to so many younger people until very recently.

“From the Finnish perspective, this is a bit strange,” Ilmari Kaihko, associate professor of war studies at the Swedish Defense University who’s originally from Finland told the BBC. “[Finland] never forgot that war is a possibility, whereas in Sweden, people had to be shaken up a bit to understand that this can actually happen.”

The New Cold War is here and people are trying to stay prepared for the worst as best they can. But nobody knows what the future holds, especially as traditional geopolitical allies seem ripe for disruption in the second presidency of Donald Trump. The president-elect has shown himself to be devoid of any real ideology beyond whatever helps him personally. The U.S. could just as easily be exiting NATO or building up new support for NATO allies, depending on who offers Trump the best deal in the coming months and years. And that kind of instability is not great for Americans, to say the least.