ships be "sunk without trace" had been transmitted via the facilities of the Swedish foreign ministry. This became known as the "Luxburg Affair". Swedish exports to Germany increased massively after the war started, with exports for the two months December 1914 to January 1915 being eight times that of December 1913 to January 1914. This great increase in exports helped Germany mitigate the effect of the stringent Allied blockade on German trade. Swedish military preparedness during the war The army During the entirety of the war, the active strength of the Swedish army never exceeded 13,000 men, even after the doubling in strength requested in Hammarskjöld's Army Bill of 1914 of reserve formations from six to twelve infantry divisions and a cavalry division. As the war went on and the threat of invasion receded, the number of active, deployable men was by 1918 to fall as low as 2,000. Whilst relatively well equipped by the standards of 1914, as the war went on this force was less and less well prepared for fighting a conflict according to the prevailing standards of the day. For example, in 1914 the number of machine guns in a Swedish army division's establishment (24) was roughly the same as that of a division of the German or French army, however by 1918 French army divisions had 108 heavy and 405 light machine guns, whilst German army divisions had 108 heavy and 216 light machine guns, yet the number of machine guns in a Swedish army division in 1918 was still 24. The situation with field artillery was similar: in 1914 the average Swedish infantry battalion was supported by 3.6 field guns, a figure similar to that of the great powers, yet by 1918 the equivalent figure for a German battalion was 8.4 and for a French battalion was 12, and it was still 3.6 for a Swedish infantry battalion. In terms of doctrine and tactics, the Swedes were inexperienced in modern warfare. The only experienced officers in the Swedish army were those who observed the ongoing war on the Western, Italian and Eastern fronts of the world war, or who volunteered for service in one of the belligerent armies. The navy Sweden began the 20th century with one of the strongest navies outside of the great powers, comprising 13 major warships. By 1914 it had gained an additional small mine-laying cruiser (the HSwMS Clas Fleming),