Being ready for war and being ready to build toward war were different conditions. Sweden was still short of wartime readiness in the early 1930s, but better placed than Norway because it had a larger population, a stronger industrial base, and weapons firms such as Bofors able to expand production. Anxiety about Russia also encouraged Sweden to preserve more of its existing defence structure. The resulting coastal system layered minefields, batteries, torpedo boats, and coastal defence ships so that an attacker confronting one obstacle would be exposed to another. Air power stood out as the weak part of an otherwise coherent defensive framework.
Chapter · 2:17-5:18
Sweden prepared to prepare
The opening frames Sweden as more ready than Norway because it retained industry, coastal forces, and a layered defence base, while air power remained weak.