As Europe plunged into war in 1939, Sweden was poorly equipped to defend itself. The country had adopted a policy of armed neutrality at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 - a stance it maintains to this day. In common with many other nations in the aftermath of World War One, Sweden greatly reduced its military budgets in the 1920s, placing its faith in the collective security of the League of Nations. Any threat was perceived as coming from the Soviet Union, not Europe.
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