Fascism by Popular Initiative: The Rise and Fall of the Vaps Movement in Estonia

Abstract

The Estonian vaps movement was one of the most popular fascist-type movements in inter-war Europe, yet has received relatively little attention from researchers. This article traces the emergence of the vaps movement and examines its dramatic impact on Estonian politics, particularly the collapse of democracy and the emergence of authoritarian rule in the 1930s. It analyzes the factors that contributed to the success of the movement and the causes of its ultimate failure. This article also discusses whether the vaps movement could be placed in the category of ‘generic fascism’ as defined by Roger Griffin.