Serova, E. V. THE LIMITS OF RIGHTS OF THE NEUTRAL STATES IN 1914–1918 IN THE CONTEXT OF WESTERN HISTORIOGRAPHY (the case of the Scandinavian countries). Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2025;47(2):25–32. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2025.1142


World history

THE LIMITS OF RIGHTS OF THE NEUTRAL STATES IN 1914–1918 IN THE CONTEXT OF WESTERN HISTORIOGRAPHY (the case of the Scandinavian countries)

Serova
E. V. 		Petrozavodsk State University
Keywords:
neutrality
economic containment
Hague Conventions
World War I
Scandinavian countries
Northern Europe		 Summary: This article focuses on the assessments of political and legal restrictions on economic warfare in Western historiography. The article employs the example of the development of trade and economic relations between Scandinavian countries, primarily with Great Britain and Germany, before 1914 and during the First World War, to examine the specifics of “neutral trade” and the attempts by the Entente countries to limit it to economically strangle the enemy. Particular attention is paid to the legal aspects of “neutral trade”, the fight against smuggling with the Central Powers through neutral countries, and the activities of the Ministry of Blockade. The author concludes that the prerequisites for “neutral trade” in wartime were established by the efforts of the Entente powers at the Hague and London conferences between 1907 and 1909. However, during the period of the blockade, the agreements were repeatedly violated by the opposing parties. The imperative to exercise control over trade and engage the economies of neutral countries in the military and economic endeavors of the Entente, in general, underscores the pivotal role of the Northern Europe in the strategy of drawing the Scandinavian countries onto the side of the Entente.



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