Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by berntb 3537 days ago
Thousands? Around 70,000 children?

The Swedish organized force (not individual volunteers) for the Winter War was trained, organized and at the front just as the peace started, so they missed most of the blood letting.

We talk about sending a 1/3 of the Swedish military equipment, including of the air force. (Sadly not enough, the politicians had been doing downsizing defense -- just as they have now, when Putin is starting to act like Hitler in the 1930s.)

Wikipedia claimed this aid was the politicians' way of silencing a popular opinion that Sweden should do more. I don't really know. I do know that Swedes in general have no clue about the subject, after the education.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_support_of_Finland_in_...

Also, a disclaimer -- I am half Swedish and half Danish, with half the Swedish relatives from the Finn forests of Värmland. So I really don't have a horse in this race. (When Finns have problems with Swedes, I tell them about my relative in Norway 300 years ago, which became a general major by killing lots of "you damned Swedes and Finns". :-) )

1 comments

Yes, it was a really significant thing, tightroping between how much Sweden can support Finland without becoming an outright adversary of USSR and its allies (first Nazi Germany, then Britain and USA).
Frankly, as a Swede that have a bit of insight into Finland -- I am still ashamed.

Sure, a third of the total military equipment must be something of a world record. But still.