The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine the reactions of Swedish authors to the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. Material from after 1939 has, however, also been included; above all in the studies of Josef Kjellgren, Eyvind Johnson and Peder Sjogren. Finally, the development of the Spanish theme is traced up to the present day. The reaction provoked by the War in contemporary Swedish literature may seem weak. It is an essential ingredient in only two major literary works: Eyvind Johnson's Nattövning (Night Exercise) (1938) and Josef Kjellgren's drama Okänd svensk soldat (Unknown Swedish Soldier) (1938). A somewhat different view appears, however, if the material published in newspapers, magazines and the two volumes of collected works entitled Till Madrid (To Madrid) (1937) and I dag Spanien. . . . (Today Spain . . .) (1939) are taken into account. Different attitudes to the Civil War are discussed - from strong commitment to the Republican cause to total silence. The socialist aspect is prominent: Erik Blomberg and others stressed the view of the struggle as class-warfare. Hjalmar Söderberg manifests a humanist outlook. Artur Lundkvist and Gunnar Ekelöf oppose any simplification of the problems raised by the war. In Elin Wagner we see the agony of a pacifist. The majority of non-socialist authors were either neutral or kept silent. The Civil War was a particularly significant event for Josef Kjellgren, Eyvind Johnson and Peder Sjögren. For Kjellgren, solidarity with his Spanish comrades was central; for Johnson, resistance to Fascism. Sjögren was the only author to take part in the War as a volunteer. In his reports from the front there is none of the idealization of the Republican struggle or the heroic portrayal of volunteers that were so common in those who sided with the Government. The policy of non-intervention and the support given to it by the Swedish Government was criticized by several authors. Volunteers and total war were central issues in the debate and were also common literary motifs. The Spanish Civil War proved to have surprising staying-power as a literary theme. It recurs in the work of the Writers of the 'Forties group, particularly those with anarcho-syndicalist leanings, and regained its topicality in the ’sixties and 'seventies. The Civil War has acquired symbolic and mythical overtones.