This thesis examines how the Finnish Civil War of 1918 was represented in the Swedish daily press and how political and ideological positions shaped journalistic interpretations of the conflict. Using a qualitative discourse analysis inspired by Peter Svensson, the study analyses newspaper articles published between January and May 1918 in four nationally distributed Swedish newspapers: Norrskensflamman, Arbetet, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. These newspapers were selected to represent different political orientations within the Swedish public sphere, enabling a comparative analysis of how the same events were framed through divergent discursive lenses.

The study demonstrates that Swedish newspapers did not function as neutral conveyors of information, but as active participants in the construction of meaning surrounding the war. While the socialist press tended to interpret the conflict through structural explanations such as class struggle, social inequality and political exclusion, the bourgeois press largely framed the war as a problem of order, security and ideological extremism. Violence was a central theme across all newspapers, but responsibility and legitimacy were assigned differently depending on ideological standpoint.

By highlighting how language, moral evaluations and narrative framing shaped contemporary understandings of the Finnish Civil War, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the press as a political actor in times of international conflict. The thesis also discusses the didactic potential of the material for teaching critical source analysis and media literacy in history education.