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This thesis studies the perception of deficient German army tactics and officers’ education 1871–1914 among Swedish officers through the lens of military attaché and study mission reports. The historiography paints a picture of increasing German influence on the Swedish military during the studied period, while also describing certain aspects of the German army tactics and officers’ education as deficient. The reports are studied qualitatively and thematically to map the Swedes’ attitudes toward concepts outlined in the historiography, such as mass cavalry charges against machine gun fire. The study mission reports are also subjected to a short quantitative study to illuminate patterns based on social class, arm affiliation and rank, as a complement to the qualitative analysis. The results are furthermore discussed through a theoretical framework concerning diffusion of military ideas. The analysis shows that the Swedish officers were in many respects rational, criticising the German practices, with no discernible increase in German influence over time, contrary to what can be extrapolated from the claims of the historiography. The application of the theoretical framework explains this discrepancy, by showing that the officers, serving as military-to-military contacts in the process of diffusion, having a different experience than their German colleagues, saw the German practices in a different light, and generally reported this soberly, while still having an overall positive view of Germany and its army.