The Great Terror in the Soviet Union 1937–38 was to a high degree accomplished on ethnic grounds. Citizens of German, Finnish and Polish and other descent became victims for the ‘national operations’ of the NKVD. In 1926 approximately 2,500 Swedes were residing in the Soviet Union. In April 1937 an NKVD-directive declared ‘to detect and remove from the USSR all foreign nationals, who in one way or another were suspected of espionage.’ Paradoxically the authorities tried to purge the country from ‘dangerous elements,’ but in the totalitarian communist system, returning home was still nearly impossible. The Embassy of Sweden in Moscow initiated a rescue operation, never before professionally studied. Hundreds of Swedish citizens in various regions of the country contacted the embassy in order to escape the threats from the NKVD. Many of them were from Karelia. Many were rescued, but in many cases the efforts failed. This unknown event gives a new perspective of Swedish diplomatic operations before World War II. But it also contributes to the wider issue of Western rescue operations in the USSR. Our paper is focused on the rescue operations of Sweden. How were they carried out? How did the Soviet concept of nationality affect the identification and misidentification of Swedes and Finns by the NKVD? Did the Embassy of Sweden in Moscow try to define ‘Swedish connection’ as broadly as possible? How important were the emotional reaction for the diplomats? The empirical results of this study open up for theoretical discussion on the relevance of moral and humanistic contents, as well as the principle of legal state in international conflicts and zones of insecurity. The source material is based on the collection of the Foreign Office discovered by the authors in the National Archives of Sweden, which contains various materials regarding the Swedish rescue operation.

In January 1867, the new Swedish Parliament, the bicameral Riksdag, was opened. Its upper chamber, based on graduated voting rights, played a decisive role in the process of modernisation for several decades. Liberals and conservatives used the state as an instrument, contrary to the principles of laissez-faire. The upper chamber, with its positive attitude towards allotments and government intervention, acted in a more progressive way than the lower chamber, while also strongly defending its privileged political position. Its more dynamic role in the field of economics was lost in the 1880s when a modern party system was introduced, and increased parliamentarism and universal suffrage were demanded. In the decisive year of 1918, conservatives in the upper chamber were subjected to strong pressure to yield to democratic reform. The attitudes of business leaders, the archbishop and members of the royal family were specially important in this respect. The fear of a more radical development, like in Russia and Germany, and the need for stability forced them to support reform. After the democratic breakthrough, the Swedish Senate, lacking a real function, increasingly lost its legitimacy, before it was disbanded after its last session on 16 December 1970.

Skolinspektionen har i drygt 150 år genom skolbesök och andra metoder ansvarat för övervakning, uppsikt, tillsyn, granskning och kontroll av kunskapsnivån, lärarnas arbete, skolbyggnadernas standard och mycket annat. Dess plats i statsförvaltningen har skiftat, likaså verksamhetens tyngdpunkt. Men hur viktiga är själva skolbesöken? Ska inspektörerna utöver att kontrollera skolarbetet också ge råd till såväl lärare som skolans politiker och administratörer? Spänningen mellan kontroll och rollen som rådgivare följer Skolinspektionen över hela dess tid.

Professor Torbjörn Nilsson är historiker och verksam vid Samtidshistoriska institutet vid Södertörns högskola.

I vilken utsträckning leder regeringsskiften till politisk förändring? Vilket handlingsutrymme har en nytillträdd regering? Hur har regeringsskiftena i Sverige gått till, och vilka problem har kommit upp i samband med dessa? Frågorna låg till grund för det vittnesseminarium som hölls vid Södertörns högskola i maj 2010 om maktskiftet 1991, då en borgerlig fyrpartiregering kom till makten. Representanter för de partier som bildade regering deltog i den panel som frågades ut under seminariet. Teman som diskuterades var bland annat: Hur gick det till när man skapade den gemensamma plattformen – Ny start för Sverige? Hur såg samarbetet ut med Ny demokrati? Vilka förändringar genomfördes under mandatpe­rioden? På vilket sätt förbereddes själva regeringsskiftet?