Nils Flyg

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nils Flyg
Member of the Riksdag's Second Chamber
for Stockholm County
In office
1929–1940
ConstituencyStockholm County
Personal details
Born(1891-06-09)9 June 1891
Maria Magdalena parish,
Social Democratic Party[1]
(before 1919)
ProfessionBook editor, politician

Nils Svante Flyg (9 June 1891 – 9 January 1943) was a Swedish Communist politician who turned pro-Nazi during World War II.

Nils Flyg was born and raised in

working-class area of Stockholm at the time. Early on he joined the Swedish Social Democratic Party's youth organization, the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League. In 1917, Flyg took part in the founding of a new leftist party, a group headed by Zeth Höglund 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

Comintern
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 and his Right Opposition, gradually developed an animosity towards Stalinism. By 1934 the party had changed name to the Socialist Party (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.

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

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.[2] Financial constraints led him to approach the German High Commission in Stockholm.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed
] Gradually, Flyg and his party developed a pro-Nazi position.

Still, Nils Flyg never fully gave in to

socialist until his death.[citation needed] He was against capitalism and imperialism and openly supported the basic ideas of Marx and Lenin. In one speech to a group of Swedish Nazis, he caused confusion when he declared: "Death to communism! Long live communism!".[citation needed
]

Flyg killed himself in 1943.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Nils S Flyg - Journalist, Partiledare, Tidningsredaktör". riksarkivet.se. National Archives of Sweden. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Stenfeldt, Johan. "Johan Stenfeldt – En kommunist som blir nazist, en nazist som blir kommunist" (in Swedish). Lund: Lund University. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  3. ISBN 9789188909282
    .
  4. ^ Knut Senander, Röd gryning, sid. 77
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Communist Party of Sweden
1924 – 1929 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Communist Youth League
1921 – 1924 		Succeeded by
Unknown
Preceded by
Party created 1929
 Leader of the Socialist Party
1929–1943 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nils_Flyg&oldid=1210182641"