Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

Generalstaben inrättades 1873 och utgjordes av en elit av särskilt utbildade officerare som skulle leda arméns utveckling av krigsplanläggning, mobiliseringsplaner och större övningar. Dessa officerare har fortsatt att prägla stabernas arbete under 150 år, fram till dagens Högkvarter, och i denna bok lyfts deras roll i försvaret fram, liksom stabens internationella och svenska historia.

Få militära verksamheter omges av en så tät mytbildning som specialförbanden. I den här boken får vi dock en grundlig inblick i verklighetens svenska specialoperationer och specialförbandens aktiviteter alltifrån medeltiden till 1990-talet. Boken är den första historiska analysen av fenomenet specialoperationer och okonventionella militära aktiviteter i Sverige.

Bland föregångarna till dagens specialförband hittar vi bland annat 1700-talets jägare, svenska kosacker, underrättelseagenter och kalla krigets olika jägarförband. Historien om dessa kan göras lång, men tyngdpunkten i denna volym ligger på tiden för det andra världskriget och kalla kriget.

Författarna berättar om kända och okända aktörer som finska officerare i den gemensamma krigsmakten före 1809, eller militärreformatorn Hugo Raab och andra frivilliga i Danmark 1864. Viktiga roller hade även de anonyma underrättelseoperatörerna under första världskriget och kalla kriget, men även i vidare kretsar välkända personer som språkvetaren Gunnar Jarring samt överbefälhavare som Helge Jung och Bengt Gustafsson.

For almost a century Sweden has participated with military units in international peace operations. Most of these operations have taken place since 1956, under the command of the United Nations (UN), but the prehistory during the League of Nations is of importance for a deeper understanding of Sweden’s participation in international peace operations. For a long time, peace operations took place under a mandate of the UN and were also organised by the UN. But step by step both EU and NATO have come to command many of these operations.

From 1934 until today, more than 100 000 Swedes have taken part in different kinds of international operations. By means of a chronological and comparative approach, this article studies the development of these operations. The focus is the concrete development of the military operations, not the political decision-making processes behind them.

Six different definitions of peace operations are used: Preventive operations, where the international forces are deployed before a conflict has broken out. Traditional peacekeeping operations, where the international troops are deployed between the two hostile parties, with their approval. Enlarged peacekeeping, where there are several breaches of a formal armistice. Peace-enforcing operation, where the international forces use armed force against one or several of the parties. Support of a transition, where the military, the police and civilians are used to implement a peace agreement. Administration of a transition, where the international society assumes responsibility to achieve a deeper political change.

Very few Swedish peace operations were of a traditional peace keeping sort, while more peace enforcing efforts took place or were prepared for already in the 1960s. However, the big shift towards participations in peaceenforcing operations under the command of EU and NATO came in the 1990s. For many years this development was not in step with the official Swedish self-image as a neutral and peace-loving country.