ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the Norwegian-Swedish relationship in the beginnings of the 20th century by employing two concepts, peace and stable peace. The first of these two concepts is fairly straightforward: peace means the absence of war. The concept of stable peace is characterized by the expectations that neither military violence nor threats thereof will be employed in the mutual relations between specific states. The Swedish military planning in the 1930s also exhibits a definite relation between presence of totalitarian ideology and perceived threat. The Swedish historian Bert Marald calls the idea that 'the system of democratic governance would pave the way for a more peaceful world' part of a common ideological heritage shared by the political left in Sweden. The gradual acceptance of democracy is also indicated by the fact that conservative papers expressed anti-democratic sentiments in immediate connection to the reforms, but that such expressions had lessened already by 1922.
