Counter-Revolutionary Strikebreaking in Interwar Europe, 1918–1929: The Role of Norway, Christopher Fougner, and Samfundshjelpen

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the Counter-Revolution beyond the violent paramilitary reaction in Central- and Eastern Europe in 1918–1921. To this end it looks at the case study of Norway, and the organization Samfundshjelpen (Society Aid). Norway is situated in the context of the broader upheaval the continent faced in the wake of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, highlighting that Scandinavia in no way comprised an isolated island immune from political developments in the rest of Europe. In 1920 Society Aid was founded with help from the state, an officer-led strikebreaking organization with a counter-revolutionary agenda. The model for this organization was the German Technische Nothilfe, a daughter organization of the Berlin Freikorps. These organizations quickly developed into a transnational strikebreaking network that comprised virtually every major country in Europe, with regular conferences, correspondence, and other exchanges. The Samfundshjelpen archive shows that its leading figure, Captain Christopher Fougner, played a dynamic role in this network, and helped transfer counter-revolutionary ideas, knowledge, techniques, and organizational forms to Norway and beyond. This reveals Norway played an unexpectedly prominent role in this hitherto unexplored part of the interwar Right, highlighting the importance of integrating regions like Scandinavia in European interwar political history.