Anti-Versaillesfreden

Overview & Synopsis

Anti-Versaillesfreden [Anti-Versailles Treaty] analyses a specific kind of German influence on the Swedish press during the interwar period. The book tackles covert practices of news reporting that aimed to create sympathy for Germany, in general, and to augment Swedish opposition toward the treaty of Versailles, in particular. These propaganda activities began during the Weimar Republic and continued during the Nazi Third Reich. A principal actor in these activities was Aufklärungsausschuß Hamburg-Bremen (AAHB), an organization founded in 1923 with the purpose of affecting public opinion abroad through the publication of articles in the mainstream press. By the time the organisation had established itself in Sweden in 1932, it had already built up a global network that disseminated far and wide propaganda material. From 1933, both the AAHB and the German legation in Stockholm started cooperating closely, encouraged and supported by the new national socialist government in Berlin.