Ådalen shootings
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The Ådalen shootings (in Swedish: Skotten i Ådalen), also known as the Ådalen riots was a series of events in and around the Swedish sawmill district of Ådalen, in Kramfors Municipality, in May 1931. During a protest, five persons were killed by bullets fired by Swedish military troops.
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[edit] Background to the shootings
As a response to an outdrawn industrial conflict over pay reductions at the pulp factory at Långrör, workers at other plants went on a sympathy strike. The owner of the Graninge company, Gerhard Versteegh, hired around 60 strike-breakers, who arrived in the village Lunde in Ådalen on May 12. The workers held a peaceful protest rally in Kramfors and marched to the Sandviken plant north of the town, where they approached and attacked some of the strike-breakers. Since the police had not been able to intervene, the County Administrative Board asked for military troops from Sollefteå to be deployed to protect the strike-breakers. When the troops arrived, May 13, in the late evening, they were met by protesters, allegedly throwing stones.
[edit] The confrontation
On May 14 the trade unions held another rally, during which the attending workers decided to stop all work in the timber and pulp industries in Ådalen - a general strike. After the meeting, several thousand participants marched to the strike-breakers quarters in Lunde, where the military troops had been ordered to defend the strike-breakers. When they arrived in the village, mounted troops tried, and failed, to stop them. In the confusion that followed, the military commander, captain Nils Mesterton, claimed to have believed the demonstrators carried weapons. At a distance of less than 100 meters, he ordered his troops to fire. Five people were killed by the military's bullets: Oskar Berggren, Erik Bergström, Evert Nygren, Sture Larsson and Eira Söderberg, a 20-year old female bystander. Five people were injured. An inquiry later concluded that there was no evidence that the workers were in fact armed.
The same day, the County Administrative Board had decided to prohibit the strike-breakers from working. Their decision did not reach the demonstrators until after the shooting. It is widely believed that the confrontation could have been avoided if the news had reached the marchers earlier. The Swedish Employers' Association later asked the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen to review the decision.
[edit] Aftermath
The events spawned a raging national debate, deeply divided along political lines. The political left called the shootings "murder", while the right claimed that the military had been forced to open fire to defend themselves and the "willing workers" from the rage of the demonstrators. The publishers of several left-wing newspapers were convicted for violations against the limitations in the Freedom of the Press Act. Major demonstrations took place in Stockholm. The government, under the liberal Prime Minister Carl Gustaf Ekman, replaced the County Governor and launched an investigation into the event. The investigation, with representatives from both employers and trade unions, later concluded that the military was highly unfit to uphold public order in similar situations. The following year, legislation was introduced which prevented the military from using weapons against civilians. The legislation was kept for 75 years, until May 10, 2006, when a new law was appointed to allow the use of military against civilians, in support of the police for fight against terrorist crimes. [1][2] [3]
The County Governor was tried in court but acquitted. A few soldiers, including Mesterton, the military commander, had to spend a few days in custody. On the other hand, several demonstrators had to face severe sentences: Axel Nordström, considered to be the leader, was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment with hard labour. No damages were awarded to the wounded persons and the families of the five dead.
[edit] Contemporary significance
In 1969, well-known Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg told the story of the events in his film Ådalen 31 (released as Adalen Riots in the U.S.). Partly thanks to the film, partly through the persistent use of the events in political debate, the Ådalen shootings are still well-known in Sweden, and are sometimes referred to in connection with violent clashes between demonstrators and police, such as the protests during the EU summit in Gothenburg 2001.
