Elastic Defence in Principle and Practice. Technological Upgrading of the Swedish Army in the Interwar Period

Having to adapt to new conditions is a rationale for the Swedish armed forces of today.There is a parallel to this in the Interwar years (1919-1939).During that period the defence forces first had to contract from its World War I level and then to expand again with the rise of an aggressive Germany in the 1930´s. Both contraction and expansion put strain on the military structure. Some of the changes and developments initiated by that strain are analyzed with a principle of defence adaptability - here called the elasticprinciple - as a framework and reference. As the pressure for change was hardest on the army, the thesis focuses on developments there. A sequence of problems are studied: How was new technology abroad discovered and reported home? How was new technology tested after it had been acquired? What was the response to the upcoming threat of the 1930´s?