World War II had little impact on Sweden. The country’s non-alignment stance was formally maintained, with the government rejecting NATO membership in favor of joining the UN and later EFTA. Tage Erlander served as Prime Minister from 1946 to 1969, a period of unprecedented economic and social stability and low unemployment. Still, the housing situation became an issue as more people migrated to the cities. In response to the housing crisis, the government launched the Million Programme, a nationwide wave of suburban construction to build a million homes between 1965 and 1974. This period saw the start of large-scale immigration into a country that used to be one of the world’s most ethnically homogeneous countries.
These fascinating photos showed Sweden in 1954.
