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28 SWEDISH NEUTRALITY [chap, xviii.
the services rendered by the heads of the
neutrality-party, I am of opinion that it was not at all the assurance
of the ultimate victory of the Entente which had
inspired them. On the contrary, every one in Sweden,
without exception, sincerely believed that Germany on
the whole was invincible. At the end of the first eight
months of the struggle, towards March, 1915, when in
the Entente countries they began to calculate the
exhaustion of Germany and her allies in soldiers,
munitions, and especially in provisions, the Swedes who
were the most friendly to the Entente (I should say
rather to France and England, for the prejudice against
Russia still continued) contested our optimism and
never ceased saying that Germany was in no way at the
end of her tether, that she would manage the
re-victualling in some way or other, that enormous new contingents
would be called up, and that the German war industry
had not yet given its all and was reserving many
surprises for its foes. All this was perfectly true, and
the ill-omened year 1915, when, in spite of Italy’s
entry into the war, disaster nearly overtook the
arms of the Entente, proved that people in Sweden
were better informed than we were about German
resources.
Hence, then, it was not utilitarian calculation which
guided the policy of the guardians of Swedish neutrality,
but rather the sincere love of peace and the feeling of
responsibility towards the people and the country. The
Swedes have been quite enough disparaged during the
war not to do justice to those among their rulers who
were so well able to hold their own against the intentions
and the allurements of the agitating section of the
country.
While during the very first days of the war Sweden’s
attitude was becoming clearer, the European conflict
was assuming a definite character by Great Britain’s
entry into the war. I remember with what anxiety we
awaited the English decision during these same early
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