Modern Fighter

        Coming in 2010

The Swedish Volunteers in the Russo-Finnish Winter War, 1939-40: A History of Combat and Neutrality Politics at the Start of World War II


 

Although the bravery and resourcefulness of the Finnish troops in the Russo-Finnish Winter War have been acknowledged many times, the story of the more than 8,000 Swedish volunteers who fought for Finland’s cause is largely unexplored outside the borders of Sweden. The difficulty of the political situation of neutral Sweden, sandwiched between Nazi Germany and the “Russian Bear,” resulted in that the country had to walk a diplomatic tightrope when determining if and how it would support Finland’s cause.

The Swedes and Finns share a bond and a common history that is difficult to ignore. After the Thirty Years’ War, all of Finland belonged to Sweden. The Great Nordic War and the 1708-09 Battle of Poltava, considered Sweden’s greatest military catastrophe where half of Sweden’s forces were annihilated in a single battle, were instrumental in ending Sweden’s role as a great power and consequently led to that Sweden had to surrender several of its possessions east of the Baltic. In 1809, Sweden lost Finland to Russia. During the political power struggle during Finland’s declaration of independence from Russia in 1917, Sweden sent an organized volunteer force, the Swedish Brigade, to Finland to mediate in the civil war that had ensued. In 1939, Swedish volunteers again stood at the threshold of war, this time for the purpose of assisting Finland against the Soviet invasion of the Karelian Isthmus.

Russian and Finnish history are often overshadowed by the attention afforded the German soldier in written sources detailing the World War II experience. The Swedish efforts in the "little" 105-day conflict termed the Winter War may seem even less significant when viewed against the backdrop of twentieth century war history. This book will fill an often overlooked space in World War II history.

Coming in 2011

Sun Tzu and Clausewitz: A Comparative Analysis of Asian and Western Martial Arts

The martial arts have a long tradition emphasizing the wisdom of Asian philosophers such as Sun Tzu and Miyamoto Musashi. These philosophers owe much of their longevity to their use of universal principles for fighting. Sun Tzu, for example, in his Art of War which might be the most widely studied of the Asian military treatises, did not speak of a mutually agreed upon code of conduct in battle. Rather, he assessed the terrain, weather, and leadership for the purpose of determining if the conditions favored victory. Although his battle philosophy emphasized quick victory, tactics of trickery and deception were elevated and described as virtues of great generals. The Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, in A Book of Five Rings, likewise viewed warfare as a pragmatic undertaking which purpose it was to defeat the enemy by killing him. He followed a set of “natural” (scientific) principles, and attributed his victories to his understanding of these principles; one of which was the importance of mental balance and the ability to stop an attack at the outset in order to stifle an opponent’s speed and power.