Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization

Svenska Lottakåren was created in 1924 with the Finnish women's auxiliary organization, Lotta Svärd (founded in 1920), as a direct role model. The name Lotta comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, about a fictional woman named Lotta Svärd, who took care of wounded soldiers during the Finnish War.

The organisation was founded by a Swedish woman named Tyra Wadner, whom also became the organization's first chairman, and was originally an auxiliary aid unit for the Swedish Landstorm militia, then named Sveriges Landstormskvinnor (Sweden's Landstorm Women).

The organisation's original mission was none militant and primarily aimed at collecting money for the Landstorm militia. However it quickly became apparent that the organisation was needed for militant missions during wartime, however of none combatant nature. In 1936 rules were laid down that regulated the organisation's activities in peacetime and wartime. In peacetime, the activities would be concentrated in four areas:

• Collection of funds for the Landstorm militia
• Provide service at Landstorm militia exercises
• Training of their own members
• Information work to "raise the motherland and homeland patriotism feeling and strengthen the nation's defence".

During the war, Svenska Lottakåren instead had to undertake various forms of assistance for defence in the homeland, especially during mobilization.[8] Members were divided into army, navy and airfields.

During World War II, the organization received many new duties. Due to limited manpower it was decided to let organisation members perform service duties of none combat nature in Sweden's army, navy and air force branches. It was during this period that members of the organisation started being called lottor, as their original name "Landstormskvinnor" did not fit their new roles. This soon became official as the Swedish Landstorm militia was scrapped and replaced with the Swedish home guard in 1942, turning the organisation independent. The new organisation name became Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer ("The national federation of Sweden's Lotta corps").[9]

The war also rapidly increased the number of organisation members and by the end of the war the organization had more than 110,000 members, which meant that about five percent of Sweden's women over 15 years were part of the organisation.[10]

In 1989 the Swedish military started allowing women into all positions within the Swedish armed forces. This meant that the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization was no longer the only true option for women to get an active role in the defence of Sweden. An equivalent change in Denmark the same year had lead to the dissolution of their "Lotta movement" Lottekorps.[7] However in Sweden the organisation would remain as they still held important roles in the Swedish defence, as well as their cultural value.

In 2008 the organisation updated their graphical profile and changed their communicative name into Svenska Lottakåren ("The Swedish Lotta Corps").[3] The old name "Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer" was however kept as the official juridical name.[3]

• Gullberg, Ingvar E. (1977). Svensk-engelsk fackordbok för näringsliv, förvaltning, undervisning och forskning [A Swedish-English dictionary of technical terms used in business, industry, administration, education and research] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-775052-0. SELIBR 8345587.
• Sundevall, Fia (2011). Det sista manliga yrkesmonopolet: genus och militärt arbete i Sverige 1865-1989 [The last male occupational monopoly: gender and military work in Sweden 1865-1989] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Makadam. ISBN 9789170610905. SELIBR 12071314.

• "BESTÄMMELSER FÖR SVENSKA LOTTAKÅRENS UTMÄRKELSETECKEN OCH ÅRSNÅLAR" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
• "Svenska Lottakåren: Grafisk identitet" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization. 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 29 January 2021.