"Don't Mention The War" - Neutralitet under världskrig

Sammanfattning

This thesis aimed to examine the conditions under which neutrality is respected in war and, by applying alliance- and shelter theory, to analyze how the neutrality of Sweden and the Netherlands was respected during the First and Second World Wars. The study addressed two research questions which are; Under what conditions is neutrality respected in war? and How can alliance theory and shelter theory help explain the differences in how Sweden’s and the Netherlands’ neutrality policies were respected during the First and Second World Wars? The study employed a qualitative comparative case study design, with Sweden and the Netherlands constituting the two cases. Four units of analysis were examined, corresponding to Sweden and the Netherlands during the First and Second World Wars, respectively. The analysis demonstrates that the strategic interests of the belligerent powers and the small state’s geographical position were the primary factors shaping whether neutrality was respected, rather than neutrality per se. Based on the theoretical framework, the invasion of the Netherlands during the Second World War is explained by the country’s strategically significant geographical position for Germany and by the assessment that the expected gains of an invasion outweighed its potential costs. The conclusion therefore highlights that neutrality tends to be respected when an invasion does not offer substantial strategic advantages, a condition that was not met in the case of the Netherlands during the Second World War, unlike the other units of analysis examined.