‘The Catholic danger’: Anti-Catholicism and the formation of Scandinavian national identity

In this paper, I discuss the significance of anti-Catholicism in the construction of Scandinavian identity in the first part of the 20th century, which expressions it took and how it changed over time. Crucial here is the relationship between the existence of a common body of European ideas and developments specific to the Nordic countries. I will show that anti-Catholicism played an important role in the conceptions of Scandinavian national identity that developed during the nineteenth century, and that Catholicism came to serve as a counter-image to the notion of national values articulated in the same period. As an example, I will discuss the impact of anti-Catholicism on German-Swedish cultural relations in the inter-war period. A central aspect is how anti-Catholicism was part of a wider climate of insecurity, relating to fears of Soviet Russia and Communism, which contributed to growing sympathies for National Socialism and the new regime in Germany. In Sweden, concern about the Catholic threat was especially strong in liberal theological circles. These theologians were inspired by German theology, and had close contacts with colleagues in Central Europe.