ABSTRACT
Sweden is an interesting case in the international history of nuclear weapons. Starting off as a nuclear aspirant in the 1950s, Sweden eventually changed its course, abandoned the nuclear option and rose to become one of the most recognized players in the international 'game of disarmament'. Sweden started to look into the possibility of manufacturing nuclear weapons in 1945, shortly after the United States dropped the two atomic bombs over Japan. The early plans for the production of Swedish nuclear weapons were only discussed within a restricted circle of politicians, military officers and scientists during the period 1945-1953. Nuclear opposition was also found outside of the political party sphere: various labour unions, churches, temperance movements and peace groups publicly opposed the nuclear option. While Sweden got increasingly engaged in international disarmament talks, the Swedish military command was preparing the formulation of a new defence plan.
