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Did Swedish ball bearings keep the Second World War going? Re-evaluating neutral Sweden’s role

Author

Listed:
  • Eric Golson

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

"This paper examines the Swedish ball bearings industry during the Second World War, including subsidiary operations in Germany and the United Kingdom.1 It determines that these ball bearings were very important to the war effort in both countries, comprising in total about 58% of German supplies and 31% of British. Despite favouring Germany with more exports, the Swedish government allowed the British access to Swedish territory to ensure the delivery of the bearings through the German blockade. In relation to price increases for other exports, prices for ball bearings were time‐dependent on the position of the acquiring country. From an overall perspective, the United Kingdom received a discount which Germany did not share. However, with the exception of direct exports, representing respectively about 10% and 15% of total German and British supplies, it would have been difficult for the Swedish industry to withhold all supplies of ball bearings to either belligerent."

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Golson, 2011. "Did Swedish ball bearings keep the Second World War going? Re-evaluating neutral Sweden’s role," Working Papers 11031, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:11031
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    File URL: http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/f36bc8c5-e166-46ae-9efe-6f87c3df8b04.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Second World War; Ball Bearings; Trade; Sweden.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N84 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Europe: 1913-

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