If the war comes

"If the war comes" (Swedish: Om kriget kommer) is a pamphlet originally prepared by the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces' office. If the war comes has been delivered to every household in Sweden from 1943 to 1991 and again from 2018. The most important parts of the publication were also inserted at the end of all Swedish phone books. The publication contained information about how to act in a situation of national crisis and most notably, nuclear war. Between the 1950s and 1970s, Sweden went through a period with extraordinary high economic growth called the "record years" (Swedish: rekordåren). This made it possible to invest in civil defense and have a plan to save the entire population even in the event of a superpower invasion. If the war comes was a way to inform the public about these plans. With the end of the Cold War, the publication was deemed to be outdated and distribution ceased in 1991. The most basic information was kept in phone books until the early 21st century.

Two pages out of the 1961 edition of "If crisis or war comes"

Front page of the 2018 edition of "If crisis or war comes"

In 2018, the pamphlet was renewed and distributed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency under the name "If crisis or war comes" (Swedish: Om krisen eller kriget kommer). A new version of the pamphlet was distributed in 2024.

Content

If the war comes was a short publication and contained the basic information that the Government of Sweden considered necessary to know in the event of war. The chapter about civil defense contains the exhortation "Every statement that the resistance is to cease is FALSE!" (Swedish: Varje meddelande om att motståndet skall uppges är FALSKT!). The publication also contained information about civil defense sirens, how to act in an air raid shelter, and what belongings to bring in the case of a refugee situation.

Editions

Display of items listed in the 2018 edition of the pamphlet. ICA grocery store, Brastad, Sweden

• Om kriget kommer – vägledning för rikets medborgare i händelse av krig (If the war comes – guidance to the citizens of the nation in case of war), Statens Informationsstyrelse, 1943 (16 pages)
• Om kriget kommer – vägledning för Sveriges medborgare (If the war comes – guidance for the citizens of Sweden), Kungliga Civilförsvarsstyrelsen, 1952 (33 pages)
• Om kriget kommer – vägledning för Sveriges medborgare (If the war comes – guidance for the citizens of Sweden), Kungliga Civilförsvarsstyrelsen, 1961 (48 pages)
• Om kriget kommer – vad du bör veta (If the war comes – what you should know), Beredskapsnämnden för psykologiskt försvar, 1983 (39 pages)
• Om kriget kommer (If the war comes), Styrelsen för psykologiskt försvar (SPF), 1987 (31 pages)
• Om kriget eller katastrofen kommer – vad gör vi med barnen? (If war or catastrophe comes – what do we do with the children), Socialstyrelsen, 1991 (49 pages) ISBN 9138112132
• Om krisen eller kriget kommer – viktig information till Sveriges invånare (If crisis or war comes – important information for the population of Sweden), Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB), 2018 (20 pages) ISBN 9789173838085
• Om krisen eller kriget kommer - viktig information till Sveriges invånare (If crisis or war comes – important information for the population of Sweden), Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB), 2024 (31 pages) ISBN 9789179275273

21st-century versions

Due to the unstable international political situation, the Swedish government decided to distribute a new version of the pamphlet to 4.7 million Swedish households between May and June 2018. The 2018 version was titled If crisis or war comes (Swedish: Om krisen eller kriget kommer) and included information on modern situations such as terrorism, fake news and cell phone usage during a crisis.

A new version of the pamphlet was published in 2024 and is scheduled to be distributed to 5 million households in late November 2024. The 2024 version include lessons learned by the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic such as information about different ways to be protect oneself from air raids and how to act during an evacuation. The version also contains information about terrorist attacks, psychological warfare, extreme weather, cyberattacks and the spread of infectious diseases.

See also

• Protect and Survive
• Free war

External links

• 2018 edition of If crisis or war comes in English Archived 2022-11-05 at the Wayback Machine (archived copy)