Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

The main objective with this thesis is to shed light on the German Legation in Stockholm's work regarding their documentation and analysis of the Swedish press during 1943 on the basis of the Legation’s press archive. In order to accomplish this, the thesis analyzes in what purpose the German Legation established and used their press archive and what the selections and categorizations in the archive were based on. It becomes apparent that the two main objectives with the German surveillance of the Swedish press, in large part carried out by the Legation in Stockholm, were to monitor the development of anti-German opinions as well as to monitor the effect of German propaganda on the Swedish population.

The establishment of the press archive does however need to be understood as a result of the needs that were created by the increasing bureaucratization of the German administration. As a result of the Legation’s expansion and its involvement in an increasing number of activities, it was necessary to have a basis for optimizing the activities carried out, and the press archive was a clear example of this. The press archive also played a key role in the Legation’s reports to their superiors in Berlin regarding the results of the implemented activities. However, the selections and categorizations made were rather a result of security policy developments than of the bureaucratic organization. The purpose and structure of the press archive were thus shaped by both the structure of the German administration and the changed relation between Sweden and Germany.