Meeting of the Scandinavian kings in Malmö

On 18 December 1914 the three Scandinavian kings met in the Swedish city of Malmö: Gustaf V of Sweden, Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway. They were accompanied by their foreign ministers: the Swede Knut Wallenberg, the Dane Erik Scavenius and the Norwegian Nils Claus Ihlen. The talks, held in the residence of the provincial governor, lasted two days and were meant to show the whole of Europe that the three states of the North stood together and intended to remain neutral.

Neutrals under pressure

After half a year of war the position of the Scandinavian countries was growing ever more difficult. Sweden bordered Russian-ruled Finland, and Denmark bordered Germany. All three lived by seaborne trade, and all felt the effects of the British blockade and of the mines in the North Sea. When at the beginning of November the British declared the North Sea a military area, there was talk in Scandinavia of a joint protest. At the same time Britain suspected that Germany was importing through the ports of its neutral neighbours goods it could not buy directly. In Sweden itself there was also an influential party of so-called activists, who wanted war on Germany’s side against Russia.

The initiative for the meeting is attributed to Gustaf V, who invited the other monarchs in handwritten letters. According to some scholars, however, the idea came from his foreign minister, Wallenberg. The venue was not agreed at once. Gustaf V wanted to host the others in Stockholm, Haakon VII proposed Gothenburg, and Christian X Malmö. In the end Malmö was chosen, lying across the Øresund from Copenhagen. Christian X, who had at first viewed the whole idea with reluctance, was only won over by his own government.

Reconciliation after 1905

The meeting was of particular importance for Swedish-Norwegian relations. In 1905 Norway had dissolved its union with Sweden and chosen a Danish prince for the throne, who took the name Haakon VII. The separation left considerable bitterness in both countries. The meeting in Malmö was the first meeting of Gustaf V and Haakon VII as rulers. The way to rapprochement had been opened by a joint declaration of 8 August 1914, in which Sweden and Norway announced that they would remain neutral and would not turn against each other.

The celebrations drew crowds. Thousands of townspeople and several hundred students from nearby Lund gathered outside the residence, and the kings appeared before them together on the balcony. The ministers meanwhile signed a protocol whose main points went into a communiqué for the press. The three states agreed on further cooperation and a common stance towards the demands of the belligerents, especially in matters of trade and shipping. They also resolved to examine common solutions to such questions as the entry of warships into neutral ports and the internment of soldiers.

A symbol without an alliance

The practical results of the meeting were modest. No alliance was concluded and no binding commitments were made. The American minister in Norway, citing conversations with the authorities there, reported to Washington that no offensive or defensive alliance existed between the three states. Even so, Berlin suspected that the Scandinavians had concluded a secret defensive alliance, and some British diplomats feared a bloc directed against the Entente. The Swedish Social Democratic leader Hjalmar Branting wrote enthusiastically that the “United States of the North” were becoming a reality.

The symbolic significance of the meeting, however, was enormous. In a Europe engulfed by war, Scandinavia presented itself as a harmonious and neutral region, and the Swedish supporters of war on Germany’s side lost ground. All three countries remained neutral until the end of the war. In 1917 the kings met again, this time in the Norwegian capital.