Fascist Regionalism: Nordic Cooperation among Scandinavian Fascist Parties in the 1930s

Abstract

The article examines the genesis and evolution of cross-border connections and cooperation among three fascist parties in Scandinavia in the 1930s, the National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark (Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti), the Norwegian National Unity (Nasjonal Samling) and the Swedish National Socialist Workers’ Party (Nationalsocialistiska Arbetarepartiet). Their cooperation is discussed as an example of fascist regionalism, building on and contributing to recent research on regionalism in transnational history, fascist internationalism and the historiography of Nordic fascism. The article examines factors that thwarted cooperation between fascist parties in Scandinavia, namely the fragmented fascist scene, domestic rivalries, historical-imperialist revisionism and divergent ideas about the Northern region. It presents the exclusion of the National League of Sweden (Sveriges Nationella Förbund) from the Nordic fascist front as an example of the intricate relationship between fascism and conservatism. Despite these challenges, the article demonstrates an intensification of Scandinavian fascist regionalism over the course of the 1930s. This cooperation was based on ideas of Nordic racial unity and common enemies, namely labour parties, communism, liberal democracy and ‘international Jewry’.