Tradition and Modernity: A Modern “Laundry Ambulance" for Finland
It is obvious that during the mobilization of 1939—1940, the previously antimilitaristic Federation of Women Social Democrats adapted to the existing situation and the threat of war.
To do everything in their power for their country was a point of honor. They justified their change in position by pointing to their unflagging work for peace in the past and to the fact that fascist countries had forced them to become involved in air-raid precautions and civil defense. In the end, it was the war and its impact on Sweden's neighbors that sparked a major change in the Federation's position on women's involvement in defense organizations. While the Federation officially condoned individual women's choices in involving themselves in defense, the organization itself took a more problematic and ambivalent stance. In effect, while the Federation remained the most antimilitaristic affiliation of Sweden's Social Democratic Party, it lay “their essential pacifism” aside during the Second World War, as historian Karl Molin also argues. Their continued pursuit of two key issues helped to maintain the integrity of the pacifist ideals despite the compromises they were forced to make because of the exigencies of war. Looking to the future, the Federation continued to lobby for the prohibition of national service training in schools and argued for a time limit to be imposed on the civil defense law. In this way, the organization followed its own path and held true to the ideal of a world without war and militarism.49The adaptation of the principles of the Federation can also be interpreted as an attempt to reconcile the untenable situation of antimilitarism and pacifism in a time of total war and as an attempt to find a balance between tradition and modernity concerning gender. All over the branches, women willingly pulled out their knitting needles for the neutrality guard and, in the Federation’s circulars, the importance of traditional women's areas of work were emphasized, such as responsibility for food and home as well as care of children, the sick, and the elderly.
In much the same way that the long tradition of women involved in peace work was invoked through Lysistratai the specificity of women’s experience of family, home, society, and war throughout the ages was utilized to defend their antiwar position. However, even in this type of work, there were signs of modernity. The Swedish Federation of Women Social Democrats collected money for the world’s first “laundry ambulance,” which was donated to the women of Finland. This was a remodeled ambulance refitted with equipment so as to function as a mobile laundry, where soldiers could have their clothes washed by the women operating it.50 That women were expected to acquire technical experience and assume duties of leadership and responsibility within civil defense can also be interpreted as a trend toward modernity.51 This was a demand that the Women Social Democrats as well as the non—Social Democratic women’s associations in the Women’s Emergency Committee were committed to.52 Regardless of whether at peace or at war, the position of women in society needed to be evaluated, understood, improved, and valued.In conclusion, it is possible to interpret the actions of the Federation of Women Social Democrats’ during Sweden’s mobilization leading up to the Second World War as an adaptation to the politics of the Social Democratic Party concerning neutrality and the security of the country. These actions can also be seen as the formation of their own negotiation between the promotion of traditional gender tasks and lobbying for the recognition of the value of women in modern roles of leadership and cooperation in times of emergency. The importance of my study, however, is to shed light on how concepts of neutrality and gender worked together within the Federation of Women Social Democrats in Sweden in the 1930s. On the one hand, it shows the ways in which Social Democratic women were able to work to help the civilian population and to protect the country, and on the other, it highlights how fundamental the concept of neutrality was to this group of Social Democratic women who remained noncombatant and did not want to have anything to do with the defense system but were forced to be involved.
From a neutral gender position, they could criticize the war and the suffering it caused both within and outside Sweden. Despite their involvement in the active defense of Sweden's neutrality and the alleviation of the stresses of war outside the country, the Federation of Women Social Democrats remained a vital voice advocating peace. The organization did not abandon its pacifism per se; it merely adapted it to fit within the trying circumstances of “total war.” When the Federation organized an awareness-raising meeting “Against total war—for peace and reconciliation between peoples” in February 1940 as a protest against the war in Finland, 24 different women's groups assembled in the Concert Hall in Stockholm.53 The message of peace remained the driving force behind the meeting as it did behind all the Federation's activities during this war and in the Cold War years to come.54Notes
1. Karl Molin, Forsvaret, folkhemmet och socialdemokratin. Socialdemokratisk riksdagspolitik 1939—1945. Stockholm, 1974, pp. 56—59, 62, 81—83.
2. “Vad var och en bor veta,” Morgonbris. 4, April 1939.
3. Birgit Magnusdotter Hedstrom, “For ovrigt ville vi fred och folkforbrodring,” Morgonbris. 6, 1940, p. 18.
4. Hulda Flood, Den socialdemokratiska kvinnororelsen i Sverige. Stockholm, 1960, p. 322.
5. For more, see Irene Andersson, Kvinnor mot krig. Aktioner och nätverk for fred 1914—1940. Lund, Sweden, 2001.
6. Foredrag vid de svenska kvinnornas fredssondag. Flory Gate's collection, vol. 8, Kvinnohistoriska samlingarna, KS, Goteborgs Universitetsbibliotek (GUB).
7. Resolution, International Kvinnoforbundet for Fred och Frihets samling, L IIc:1, KS, GUB.
8. Agda Ostlund, “Fred,” Morgonbris. 8, August 1924, p. 2.
9. Letters to the local sections from SSKF's board of directors, 9 July 1924, outgoing circular with appendices, 1908—1930, B II:1, Arbetarrorelsens arkiv (ARAB).
10. Report from IKFF's Peace Week, Morgonbris.
2, February 1925.11. “Meddelande for Internationella Soc. Dem. Kvinnodagens hallande,” circular no. 1, 1930, SSKF, outgoing circular with appendix, 1908—1930, B II:1, ARAB. It is unclear whether or not these moves were undertaken. The White Ribbon organization formed a Peace Department, and it is possible that they also had local groups. However, it is unclear whether or not local chapters of the Women Social Democrats undertook what their committee was urging. This issue is clouded through a lack of investigation into Swedish women’s history before the 1930s.
12. “Fredsfragan sasom studieamne i cirklarna,” circular no. 6, 1930, outgoing circular with appendix, 1908—1933, B II:1, ARAB.
13. Svenska Ro da Korset, Civilbefolkningens skydd mot gas an fall fran luften. Stockholm, 1929 (1935).
14. “Infor svensk upprustning,” Tidevarvet. 20, 1934, pp. 4, 10; Naima Sahlbom, Hur skall det ga med civilbefolkningen? Gasmasker och bombflyg. 1934.
15. Accompanying appendix to a circular, SSKF, styrelse- och vuprotokoll 1934—35, A2:4, ARAB. All translations in this article are my own.
16. “Morgonbris jubileum firas med 400 fester,” Morgonbris. 11, November 1934. Hjamar Gullberg and Ivar Harrie, Aristophanes Lysistrata: A Womens Drama for the Swedish Theatre. Stockholm, 1932.
17. Hulda Flood, ”Var ar var Lysistrate? Kan man tanka sig en modern upprepning av Lysistrate?” Morgonbris. 12, Christmas 1934, pp. 7—9; Hulda Flood, Den socialdemokratiska kvinnororelsen i Sverige. Stockholm, 1939, pp. 53—54.
18. Flood, “Var ar” pp. 7, 10—11.
19. See: Andersson, Kvinnor mor krig. Aktioner och natverk for fed 1914—1940.
20. Ibid., p. 237.
21. Ibid., pp. 245-247.
22. Ibid., pp. 267-274.
23. Protokoll 24/5 1915, SSKF, styrelse-och vuprotokoll 1906-1935, A2:1A, ARAB.
24. Roger Johansson, Kampen om historien. Adalen 1931. Sociala konflikter, histo- riemedvetande och historiebruk 1931—2000. Stockholm, 2001.
25. Morgonbris. 10, October 1931, pp. 16-17.
26.
Ibid.27. Circular no. 7, April 1938. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1934-1939, B I:2, ARAB.
28. Ibid.
29. Circular no. 8, 22/3 1939. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1934-1939, B I:2, ARAB.
30. Circular no. 10, 22/8 1939. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1934-1939, B I:2, ARAB.
31. Circular no. 1, 15/1 1940. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1940-1947, B II:3, ARAB.
32. Morgonbris. 2, February 1940, p. 13.
33. Morgonbris. 2, February 1940.
34. Circular no. 8, March 1940. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1940-1947, B II:3, ARAB.
35. Idun. 52, 1939, p. 4. Positive statements about the Red Cross and the Women’s Voluntary Defense Service are also found in: Morgonbris. 10, 1939.
36. Idun. 52, 1939, p. 4.
37. Circular no. 11. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1940—1947, B II:3, ARAB.
38. Ibid.
39. Birgit Magnusdotter Hedstrom, Morgonbris. 6, 1940, p. 18.
40. Communication 15/10 1940. SSKF, outgoing circular with appendices 1940-1947, B II:3, ARAB.
41. Morgonbris. 1, 1940, pp. 4-5.
42. Alva Myrdal, “Fredstjänst i krigstid,” Morgonbris. 1, 1940, pp. 4-5.
43. “Var kunna kvinnorna ersätta männen?,” Morgonbris. 4, 1939.
44. “Vad kvinnor borde fa gora,” Morgonbris. 4, 1939, p. 16.
45. “Bora kvinnor fa syssla med sadant?,” Morgonbris. 5, 1939.
46. Gulli Pauli, “Finns det yrken, som äro olämpliga for kvinnor?,” Morgonbris. 6, 1939.
47. Morgonbris. 1, 1940, p 17.
48. Maj Jarke, “Kvinnlig beredskap, kvinnlig sakkunskap,”’ Morgonbris. 4, 1940.
49. Karl Molin, Forsvaret, folkhemmet och socialdemokratin. Socialdemokratisk riks- dagspolitik 1939—1945. Stockholm, 1974, pp. 56-59, 62, 81-83.
50. “Världens forsta tvättambulans overlämnad till de finska kvinnorna,” Morgonbris. 4, 1940.
51. The discussion can also be said to be a continuation of the discussions of the Women’s Labour Committee at the end of the 1930s: Renee Frangeur, Yrkeskvinna eller tjänarinna? Striden om yrkesrätten for gifta kvinnor i mellankrig- stidens Sverige. Lund, Sweden, 1998.
52. For example, Ruth Stjernstedt, Kvinnor och forsvar. Medborgarkunskap om riks- forsvaret 22, Riksforbundet for Sveriges Forsvar. Stockholm, 1945, pp. 54-55.
53. Mot det totala kriget for fred och folkforsoning. Anforanden hällna vid kvinnoor- ganisationernas stora opinionsmote i Stockholms konserthus den 12 februari 1940. Stockholm, 1940.
54. For example, in the 1950s, Women Social Democrats challenged the Social Democratic Party by refusing to support the development of Swedish nuclear weapons: Gunnel Karlsson, Frän Broderskap tillsysterskap. Det socialdemokratiska kvinnoforbundets kamp for inflytande och makt i SAP. Lund, Sweden, 1996.