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Per Albin Hansson

Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the socialists from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his main adversary, Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp. He has been described as one of the fathers of modern Sweden.

Biography[]

As prime minister Hansson advocated and worked for the introduction of a welfare state system, which he called Folkhemmet (People's House). Hansson died in Stockholm on October 6, 1946 of a heart attack he suffered while waiting for a streetcar at Ålstens Gård station. He is buried in the Norra Begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. During the beginning of the war, fearing a German invasion, Per Albin gave Hitler permission for the transport of German troops via Swedish railroads to Norway, which had already been invaded and occupied by the Nazis, as had neighboring Finland. It also traded steel with Nazi Germany. The main political priority was to avoid direct Swedish involvement during World War II, disregarding issues of higher morale and the performance of both sides for profit. During the later stages of World War II, Sweden was no longer seriously threatened by Allied invasion or the Third Reich. At that time many leftists considered Per Albin a traitor for siding with the Nazis.

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