Preparing children for war: Swedish preparedness education in transition 1945–2000

The purpose of this project is to deepen the understanding of Swedish education during the Cold War by examining preparedness education for children and youth.

From previous research it is known that during the Second World War, Swedish schools were used to foster young people for military duty or civilian efforts on the ‘home front’.

Likewise, research has shown that education for peace and international understanding became important elements of the postwar curricula.

However, that education relating to military and civil defense remained important during the Cold War era has been largely neglected.This noticeable gap in educational history research will be addressed by examining the roles identified for children and youth in Swedish preparedness efforts from 1945 to 2000, what techniques were employed to train young people in preparedness, as well as how schools and civil society organizations cooperated in this field.

This project will run for four years and will be carried out by three researchers. Using a multi-archival approach, the project is organized into two work packages.

The first will examine reports, curricula and textbooks produced within the Swedish primary and secondary school system.

It will trace the interrelationship between government policy and teaching materials in terms of how preparedness education was organized and conducted.

The second work package will examine links between school and civil society organizations regarding preparedness pedagogy.