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Icke blott med blod… utan också med järn: En studie rörande Norrlands förändrade strategiska betydelse åren 1870–1914
Swedish Defence University.
2026 (Swedish)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This thesis examines how the strategic significance of Norrland was constructed in Swedish military and political thinking between 1870 and 1914. Applying Colin S. Gray's theoretical framework, particularly his principles on historically bound contexts and the dialogue-andnegotiation processes through which strategies are formed, the study argues that strategic value is not a fixed attribute of a place but is continuously constructed through the interaction of political, military, economic, technological, sociocultural, geographical and historical contexts. These insights are complemented by Daniel Yergin's and Marie Cronqvist's perspectives on the changeable character of geography and space. Through a qualitative analysis of Swedish parliamentary records, committee reports and government investigations across three periods, 1870–1880, 1880–1901, and 1911–1914, the study traces how Norrland's strategic significance shifted from a peripheral flank position to an established national interest, and finally to a consolidated, largely uncontested status by the eve of the First World War. While the region's material and geographical conditions remained essentially unchanged, the meaning ascribed to them shifted, driven above all by a process of dialogue-and-negotiation bound by contextual circumstances. The study thereby nuances the research field at the intersection of geopolitics, geography and strategy, showing that strategic significance, while contextually contingent, is far from arbitrary within a given set of circumstances; it is only when those underlying contextual circumstances change that its meaning is fundamentally reassessed. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. , p. 55
Keywords [sv]
militärhistoria, strategiskt tänkande, geopolitik, Norrland, försvarspolitik, Bodens fästning, järnväg, neutralitetspolitik, järnmalm
National Category
History
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-15114OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-15114DiVA, id: diva2:2100040
Subject / course
Militärhistoria
Educational program
Masterprogram i krig, kultur och samhälle
Uppsok
Social and Behavioural Science, Law
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2026-09-10 Created: 2026-09-09 Last updated: 2026-09-10Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf