Nils Flyg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nils Svante Flyg (9 June 1891 – 9 January 1943) was a Swedish
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
politician who turned pro-
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Nils Flyg was born and raised in
Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...
, a
working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
area of
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
at the time. Early on he joined the
Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...
's youth organization, the
Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since August 2021. Organization The members form loc ...
. In 1917, Flyg took part in the founding of a new
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
party, a group headed by
Zeth Höglund Carl Zeth "Zäta" Konstantin Höglund (29 April 1884 – 13 August 1956) was a leading Swedish communist politician, anti-militarist, author, journalist and mayor (''finansborgarråd'') of Stockholm (1940–1950). Höglund can be credited as t ...
and Karl Kilbom, which would soon become the Communist Party of Sweden. Flyg became an important leader of the Communist Party, wrote books and went on political trips to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. In the general election of 1928, with the Flyg-dominated Communists cooperating with the dominant Social Democratic Party, he failed to achieve an influential position as voters failed to show substantial support for a Communist-Social Democratic coalition. In 1929 Flyg, along with the majority of the party's membership, was accused of insufficient loyalty to the Soviet-dominated
Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
and expelled from the party. The same year Flyg and Kilbom founded a new, parallel Communist Party, which claimed to be the real Communist Party of Sweden. Initially Flyg and Kilbom attempted to reconcile with the Comintern, something that soon proved fruitless. Flyg and Kilbom who supported
Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (; rus, Николай Иванович Бухарин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ bʊˈxarʲɪn; – 15 March 1938) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and Marxist theorist. A prominent Bolshevik ...
and his
Right Opposition The Right Opposition () or Right Tendency () in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was a label formulated by Joseph Stalin in Autumn of 1928 for the opposition against certain measures included within the first five-year plan, an oppos ...
, gradually developed an animosity towards
Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
. By 1934 the party had changed name to the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(''Socialistiska partiet''). At first, the Socialist Party still supported the Soviet Union but condemned the Stalinist leadership. But by the end of the 1930s, the party had changed its view and criticized the whole of the Soviet Union, a stance that gradually developed to a foreign policy embracing
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. In 1937 Kilbom was expelled from the party after a few years of disputes and personal struggle between the two leaders. After the expulsion of Kilbom a majority of the members of the party left. The Socialist Party shrank dramatically and Flyg became more and more politically isolated. At the beginning of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Flyg came out in opposition to
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, and the Nazi-Soviet pact in his eyes proved that Stalinism was just as bad as fascism. But when Hitler broke the pact with Stalin, and Germany launched the invasion against the Soviet Union, Flyg decided that he had to support the Nazis against Stalin, hoping it would lead to the end of Stalinism. Financial constraints led him to approach the German High Commission in Stockholm. Initially, the Germans turned down his request for funding, but in the final stages of the war (when the Germans felt a more urgent need for allies in the Swedish politics) funding was granted. Gradually, Flyg and his party developed a pro-Nazi position. Still, Nils Flyg never fully gave in to Hitlerism. He was neither an adherent of core fascist or racist policies, and considered himself a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
until his death. He was against
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
and
imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...
and openly supported the basic ideas of
Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
and
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
. In one speech to a group of Swedish Nazis, he caused confusion when he declared: "Death to communism! Long live communism!" Flyg killed himself in 1943 due to increasing heart problems. Knut Senander, Röd gryning, sid. 77


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flyg, Nils 1891 births 1943 deaths 1943 suicides Politicians from Stockholm Members of the Riksdag from the Left Party (Sweden) Socialist Party (Sweden, 1929) politicians Swedish anti-capitalists Swedish communists Swedish Nazis Leaders of political parties in Sweden Members of the Andra kammaren Nazis who died by suicide Politicians who died by suicide