1945
Left bloc · SWar ends: White Buses rescue thousands; Wallenberg vanishes.
1945 infographic: White Buses, Wallenberg detained, and the Swedish Institute
AI-generated infographic using the page's 1945 anchors.
Highlights
- White Buses operation: From March to May 1945, Count Folke Bernadotte led a Swedish Red Cross mission that evacuated approximately 15,000 concentration camp prisoners — primarily Scandinavians but also other nationalities — using 36 buses painted white with red crosses to avoid Allied air attack.
- Raoul Wallenberg arrested: On 17 January 1945 Soviet security forces detained Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest. Transferred to Moscow, he was never released; his fate became a defining symbol of Soviet arbitrariness and one of the most protracted diplomatic failures of the Cold War.
- Swedish Institute founded: On 29 January the Swedish Institute (Svenska institutet) was established as a state agency to promote knowledge about Sweden abroad, marking Stockholm's deliberate turn toward cultural diplomacy in the emerging post-war order.
Events in this year
1939-12-13 1939 Formation of the National Unity Government After the German invasion of Poland and the Soviet attack on Finland in autumn 1939, Per Albin Hansson dissolved his red-green coalition and formed a National Unity Government — the samlingsregering — that took office on 13 December 1939 and governed Sweden until the end of World War II. The cabinet included all four major Riksdag parties but excluded the Communists; its mission was strict neutrality, wartime supply management, and rapid military rearmament. Crisis 1941 En svensk tiger becomes a wartime vigilance icon Bertil Almqvist's 1941 yellow-and-blue tiger became an iconic image of Sweden's wartime vigilance campaign, linking culture, silence, security, and public duty. Culture 1941 Gunder Hägg fever and wartime running records Gunder Hägg's 1941-1945 world-record streak, especially the ten records of summer 1942, became a wartime sports and radio phenomenon in Sweden. Sports 1944-07-09 Raoul Wallenberg's Budapest Mission 1944 In July 1944 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was dispatched to Nazi-occupied Hungary on a humanitarian rescue mission coordinated with the US War Refugee Board. Operating from the Swedish legation in Budapest, he issued protective passes and set up "Swedish houses" that sheltered tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews. He disappeared into Soviet custody on 17 January 1945 — Sweden's defining act of active wartime humanitarianism and one of its longest-running diplomatic disputes with Moscow. Foreign policy 1939-1945 Beredskapstiden and Everyday Wartime Life 1939-1945 Sweden avoided combat in the Second World War, but beredskapstiden reshaped daily life through rationing, shortages, preparedness routines, and a public culture of crisis discipline. Culture 1945-03 White Buses operation 1945 White Buses operation: From March to May 1945, Count Folke Bernadotte led a Swedish Red Cross mission that evacuated approximately 15,000 concentration camp prisoners — primarily Scandinavians but also other nationalities — using 36 buses painted white with red crosses to avoid Allied air attack. Foreign policy 1945-07-31 The wartime national-unity government ends in 1945 On 31 July 1945, Per Albin Hansson's wartime four-party national-unity government ended and was followed by a Social Democratic government. Crisis