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Svensk tryckfrihet under andra världskriget

Cartne, Elin LU (2013) LAGF03 20131
Department of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Andra världskriget påverkade världen och Sverige på flera olika sätt, varav ett var tryckfriheten. Redan när Hitler tillträdde som rikskansler 1933 började han intressera sig för den svenska pressen. Den svenska pressen åtnjöt en relativt stor frihet att trycka och utge skrifter och tidigt publicerades kritiska åsikter mot Hitler och Tyskland. Åsikterna resulterade i en rad påtryckningar från den tyska regimen, genom såväl offentliga uttalande som diplomatiska framställningar försökte man förmå den svenska regeringen att vidta åtgärder. Till en början intog man en avvisande inställning men strax efter krigets utbrott började man tillmötesgå de tyska kraven.

För att den svenska regeringen skulle kunna tillmötesgå kraven krävdes såväl en... (More)
Andra världskriget påverkade världen och Sverige på flera olika sätt, varav ett var tryckfriheten. Redan när Hitler tillträdde som rikskansler 1933 började han intressera sig för den svenska pressen. Den svenska pressen åtnjöt en relativt stor frihet att trycka och utge skrifter och tidigt publicerades kritiska åsikter mot Hitler och Tyskland. Åsikterna resulterade i en rad påtryckningar från den tyska regimen, genom såväl offentliga uttalande som diplomatiska framställningar försökte man förmå den svenska regeringen att vidta åtgärder. Till en början intog man en avvisande inställning men strax efter krigets utbrott började man tillmötesgå de tyska kraven.

För att den svenska regeringen skulle kunna tillmötesgå kraven krävdes såväl en förändrad praxis som en ny och förändrad lagstiftning. Regeringen väckte liv i ett obsolet stadgande som möjliggjorde konfiskation utan rättegång och förfarandet användes över 300 gånger under kriget. Vidare vidtog man grundlagsändringar i såväl regeringsformen som tryckfrihetsförordningen, vilka öppnade upp för möjligheterna till en censurlag. Lagändringarna kompletterades med en lag som möjliggjorde censur och införselförbud vid krig eller krigsfara och som även gav möjlighet att vid krig förbjuda en tryckt skrift. Lagen togs dock aldrig ikraft. Vidare antog man en förordning som innebar att periodiska skrifter som blivit dömda för tryckfrihetsbrott eller blivit indragna kunde förbjudas från att använda statliga kommunikationer så som posten, järnvägar och bussar. Den förändrade tillämpningen, lagändringarna och de nya lagarna innebar en stark begränsning av den svenska tryckfriheten.

Åtgärderna som vidtogs av riksdagen och regeringen begränsade tryckfriheten kraftigt och man skapade därmed en auktoritär politik. Sverige gick från att ha en relativt fri press till att ha en tryckfrihet som kontrollerades och övervakades av staten. Orsakerna till förändringarna var kravet från Tyskland om fullständig neutralitet från såväl den svenska regimen som den svenska pressen. (Less)
Abstract
World War II affected the world and Sweden in several ways, one of them were freedom of the press. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933 he began to take an interest in the Swedish press. The Swedish press enjoyed a relatively high degree of freedom of the press and short after Hitler had been appointed chancellor the Swedish press started to publish critical opinions against Hitler and Germany. The published opinions resulted in a range of pressure from the German government, through both public statements and diplomatic requests they tried to persuade the Swedish government to take action against the press. At first the Swedish government were dismissive but after the outbreak of the war they started to comply with the German demands.
... (More)
World War II affected the world and Sweden in several ways, one of them were freedom of the press. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933 he began to take an interest in the Swedish press. The Swedish press enjoyed a relatively high degree of freedom of the press and short after Hitler had been appointed chancellor the Swedish press started to publish critical opinions against Hitler and Germany. The published opinions resulted in a range of pressure from the German government, through both public statements and diplomatic requests they tried to persuade the Swedish government to take action against the press. At first the Swedish government were dismissive but after the outbreak of the war they started to comply with the German demands.

For the Swedish government and the Swedish parliament to be able to comply with the German demands they had to change established practice and make constitutional amendments. The government started to apply an obsolete article that allowed confiscation of property without trial and the procedure was used over 300 times during the war. The parliament also made constitutional amendments in the Instrument of the Government and in the Freedom of the Press Act, which made it possible to pass a law that allowed censorship. The constitutional amendments were supplemented by a law that, during war or danger of war, enabled censorship and gave the government a possibility to ban certain written texts from being imported. That same law also gave the government authority to forbid a written text during war. That law never became effective. Furthermore, an regulation was approved that made it possible to forbid periodicals, that had been convicted of breach of the press or suspended, from being transported with public transport, such as the mail, railways and buses. The change of established praxis, the new laws and the constitutional amendments limited the freedom of the press.

The actions taken by the parliament and the government strongly limited the freedom of the press and thereby they created an authoritarian policy. Sweden went from having a relatively free press to a press that was controlled and supervised by the state. The changes were due to the German demands for complete neutrality from both the Swedish regime and the Swedish press. (Less)
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author
Cartne, Elin LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20131
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Rättshistoria, legal history
language
Swedish
id
3800643
date added to LUP
2013-10-18 12:59:01
date last changed
2013-10-18 12:59:01
@misc{3800643,
  abstract     = {{World War II affected the world and Sweden in several ways, one of them were freedom of the press. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933 he began to take an interest in the Swedish press. The Swedish press enjoyed a relatively high degree of freedom of the press and short after Hitler had been appointed chancellor the Swedish press started to publish critical opinions against Hitler and Germany. The published opinions resulted in a range of pressure from the German government, through both public statements and diplomatic requests they tried to persuade the Swedish government to take action against the press. At first the Swedish government were dismissive but after the outbreak of the war they started to comply with the German demands. 

For the Swedish government and the Swedish parliament to be able to comply with the German demands they had to change established practice and make constitutional amendments. The government started to apply an obsolete article that allowed confiscation of property without trial and the procedure was used over 300 times during the war. The parliament also made constitutional amendments in the Instrument of the Government and in the Freedom of the Press Act, which made it possible to pass a law that allowed censorship. The constitutional amendments were supplemented by a law that, during war or danger of war, enabled censorship and gave the government a possibility to ban certain written texts from being imported. That same law also gave the government authority to forbid a written text during war. That law never became effective. Furthermore, an regulation was approved that made it possible to forbid periodicals, that had been convicted of breach of the press or suspended, from being transported with public transport, such as the mail, railways and buses. The change of established praxis, the new laws and the constitutional amendments limited the freedom of the press.

The actions taken by the parliament and the government strongly limited the freedom of the press and thereby they created an authoritarian policy. Sweden went from having a relatively free press to a press that was controlled and supervised by the state. The changes were due to the German demands for complete neutrality from both the Swedish regime and the Swedish press.}},
  author       = {{Cartne, Elin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Svensk tryckfrihet under andra världskriget}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}