Defence Act of 1936 (Sweden)


The Defence Act of 1936 was a defence act passed by the Swedish Riksdag on 11 June 1936 which remained in effect until 17 June 1942.

Background

The Act increased the yearly budget of the Swedish Armed Forces from 118 million SEK to 148 million, roughly 1,5% of the Swedish GDP. The budget of the Swedish Air Force received the largest increase in funding, bumping its previous allowance of 11 million crowns to 28 million. A domestic aircraft industry was taking shape during this time, composed of Svenska Aeroplan AB and AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstädernas Aeroplanavdelning. The Navy and Coastal Artillery branches were slightly expanded and modernised.
It was decided that certain Army infantry regiments were to be composed of one infantry and one armoured battalion each. At first, the Life Regimental Grenadiers as well as the Skaraborg Regiment were considered. In November, however, it was agreed that the Södermanland Regiment would be reorganised instead of the Life Regimental Grenadiers. When Göta Life Guards was disbanded in 1939, its armoured battalion was split into two battalions which were assigned to the Skaraborg Regiment and the Södermanland Regiment.
The Air Force was significantly expanded with six air wings.

Reorganisation

Reorganisation within the Armed Forces until the Defence Act of 1942: