Far right in Switzerland
Encyclopedia
The far right
in Switzerland
was established in the course of the rise of fascism
in Europe in the interwar period. It was a mostly marginal phenomenon in the Cold War period, excepting a surge of radical right-wing populism during the early 1970s, and has again attracted some media attention since 2000.
as its democracy
had deep roots, it lacked a frustrated nationalism, had a high standard of living, wide distribution of property ownership and a secure economy. Despite this, before World War II
a number of far right and fascist groups existed in Switzerland.
The earliest of these was Eugen Bircher
's Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband
, established in 1918. Gaining some influential members, it lasted until 1947. It was linked to the Heimatwehr, an anti-Semitic group established in 1925. Dr. Jakob Lorenz's Aufgebot Bewegung, formed in 1933, enjoyed some lower middle class support by advocating collaboration with Nazi Germany
. Franz Burri
advocated a similar closeness and led a variety of movements including Bund der Schweizer in Grossdeutschland (1941), Nationalsozialistische Schweizerbund and the Nationalsozialistische Bewegung in der Schweiz (both 1942).
By 1937 there were effectively three main language specific groups i.e. the National Front
(formed 1933) for German speakers, the Union Nationale
for French speakers and the Lega Nazionale Ticinese for Italian speakers, with the latter two active in Romansh areas. Of these only the National Front managed to gain any real support. Other minor, pro-Nazi, fascist or far right groups that were active included:
A number of pro-Nazi parties and organizations persisted well into World War II
. In the course of the war, however, these pro-Nazi became very unpopular and were effectively driven underground, the National Front and its successor group the Eidgenössische Sammlung
were banned in 1943.
in the early 1970s, notably orchestrated by James Schwarzenbach
. The first surge of right-wing populism subsided in the late 1970s, but it survived in the form of a few far-right fringe parties, the Nationale Aktion (1961–1990), a right wing group that attracted a few neo-fascists to its ranks and the Rebublicans (1971–1990), in 1990 merged into the Schweizer Demokraten and the Freedom Party
(founded 1984 as Autopartei "automobile party" in a backlash against the emerging Green
movement).
A Liberal Ecologist Party also existed for a time, espousing a far right take on environmentalism
that recalled ecofascism
.
The end of the war saw the emergence of neo-Nazism
in Switzerland, with the Volkspartei der Schweiz
of Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
the most important group. A Swiss Nazi Party, also existed at a minor level and during a 1970 trial evidence was heard that it maintained links to Al Fatah. François Genoud
was also a member and he helped to maintain links between the group and both Hjalmar Schacht
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
.
From a more neo-fascist
bent, Switzerland also played host to a revived Cercle Proudhon
, with the group working closely with France
's Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne
.
(SVP), which had initiated a revival of right-wing populism from the late 1980s. The party has variously been identified as "extreme right" and "radical right-wing populist", reflecting a spectrum of ideologies present among its members. In its far right wing, it includes extremist members such as Ulrich Schlüer
, Pascal Junod, who heads a 'New Right
' study group and has been linked to Holocaust denial
and neo-Nazism and Jean-Jacques Kottelat, who has been legally convicted under anti-racism legislation.
By the 2007 federal elections
, the expansion of the SVP had reduced the far-right fringe parties to below 3% of the popular vote, including 1.3% for the Christian right
Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland
(founded 1975), 0.5% for the regionalist
Ticino League
(founded 1991) and 0.5% for the Swiss Democrats
.
The neo-Nazi
and white power skinhead scene in Switzerland has seen significant growth in the 1990s and 2000s, growing from an estimated number of 200 active individuals in 1990 to 1,200 in 2005 (or from 0.003% to 0.016% of the total population).
This development occurred in parallel with the increasing presence of right-wing populism due to SVP campaigns, and is reflected in the foundation of the Partei National Orientierter Schweizer
in 2000, which resulted in an improved organisational structure of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist scene. The PNOS has succeeded in having a member elected to municipal governments in Langenthal
in 2004 and Günsberg
the following year.
The Swiss Federal Police in 2005 counted 111 right extremist incidents in 2005, estimating that the number of individuals involved in the "right extremist scene" grew by 20% to from ca. 1,000 to 1,200. At the same time, the number of loosely involved sympathisers fell from 700 to 600, so that the overall number of people involved with right extremist activism grew by some 6% from 1,700 to 1,800 people (or 0.024% of the total population).
Far-right activists briefly won the attention of mainstream media for disrupting the 2005 celebration of the Swiss national holiday on the Rütli Meadow
.
The 2006 report reports 109 right extremist incidents, of which 60 involved physical violence (65%). The size of the right extremist scene remains stable at 1,200 active individuals. As opposed to the preceding year, the police reports a significant increase in left extremist incidents, their number rising by 87 to 227, incidents involving physical violence likewise accounting for 65%.
Bund Oberland, a group associated with the white power skinhead Blood and Honour
network has also been active in the country, especially in the distribution of CDs.
A minor Swiss National Party was briefly active under the leadership of David Mulas, dissolved in 2003. This group was closely linked to the National Democratic Party of Germany
.
The far-right groups further declined in the 2011 federal elections
,
the Swiss Democrats
remaining the largest with 4,838 votes or 0.20% of the total vote, less than half than in 2007.
Smaller groups participating in the elections were the Swiss Nationalist Party in Berne
and Vaud
(1,198 votes, 0.05%) and Eric Weber
's Volksaktion in Basel-Stadt (810 votes, 0.03%).
has meant that it has sometimes been important in international links for fascists and neo-Nazis.
Before the Second World War Switzerland was pivotal in the concept of Fascism as an international phenomenon
as it hosted the International Centre for Fascist Studies (CINEF) and the 1934 congress of the Action Committee for the Universality of Rome (CAUR). Amaudruz's New European Order
represented a similar post-war phenomenon from a Swiss base, albeit on a neo-Nazism rather than Italian fascism
basis.
far right websites Swiss Democrats website Freedom Party website PNOS website
populist websites SVP website
antifa websites Swiss Antifa
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
was established in the course of the rise of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
in Europe in the interwar period. It was a mostly marginal phenomenon in the Cold War period, excepting a surge of radical right-wing populism during the early 1970s, and has again attracted some media attention since 2000.
World Wars (1914-1945)
Switzerland was one of the least likely countries in Europe to succumb to fascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
as its democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
had deep roots, it lacked a frustrated nationalism, had a high standard of living, wide distribution of property ownership and a secure economy. Despite this, before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
a number of far right and fascist groups existed in Switzerland.
The earliest of these was Eugen Bircher
Eugen Bircher
Eugen Bircher was a Swiss politician and military leader who became associated with a pro-German position in the inter-war years.- Military and political career :...
's Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband
Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband
Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband was a right wing organisation influential in Swiss politics before World War II.The SVV was set up in 1918 by Dr...
, established in 1918. Gaining some influential members, it lasted until 1947. It was linked to the Heimatwehr, an anti-Semitic group established in 1925. Dr. Jakob Lorenz's Aufgebot Bewegung, formed in 1933, enjoyed some lower middle class support by advocating collaboration with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Franz Burri
Franz Burri
Franz Burri was a Swiss political figure who, from his base in Germany, became the leading disseminater of Nazi propaganda in the country....
advocated a similar closeness and led a variety of movements including Bund der Schweizer in Grossdeutschland (1941), Nationalsozialistische Schweizerbund and the Nationalsozialistische Bewegung in der Schweiz (both 1942).
By 1937 there were effectively three main language specific groups i.e. the National Front
National Front (Switzerland)
The National Front was a far right political party in Switzerland that flourished during the 1930s.The party began life amongst a number of debating clubs at the University of Zurich, where anti-Semitism, Swiss nationalism and support for ideas similar to those later adopted in the racial policy of...
(formed 1933) for German speakers, the Union Nationale
National Union (Switzerland)
The National Union was the main fascist political party in French-speaking Switzerland before World War II.The Union was formed in Geneva in 1932 by Georges Oltramare, a lawyer and writer. Noted for his anti-Semitic writing, Oltramare founded the Order Politique Nationale in 1931 but merged it...
for French speakers and the Lega Nazionale Ticinese for Italian speakers, with the latter two active in Romansh areas. Of these only the National Front managed to gain any real support. Other minor, pro-Nazi, fascist or far right groups that were active included:
- The Swiss branch of the NSDAP under Wilhelm GustloffWilhelm GustloffWilhelm Gustloff was the German leader of the NSDAP party in Switzerland; he founded the Swiss branch of the party at Davos in 1932., which grouped Nazi party members who lived outside the German Reich....
. - Bund für Volk und Heimat - a ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
ultra-right group under Rudolf Grob, Samuel Haas and Professor Walter Wili. - Bund Treuer Eidgenossen Nationalsozialistischer Weltanschauung - a more avowedly pro-Nazi breakaway from the National Front under former leader Rolf HenneRolf HenneRolf Henne was a Swiss politician who supported a form of Nazism.Born in Schaffhausen, Henne was a distant relative of Carl Jung on his father's side. Educated at Zurich and Heidelberg, Henne worked as a lawyer. He joined the New Front in 1932, serving as Gaufuehrer for his hometown...
. This group was superseded by the Nationale Bewegung der Schweiz in 1940. - Eidgenössische Front - an anti-Semitic group ran by Heinrich Eugen Wechlin between 1933 and 1938.
- Eidgenössische Soziale Arbeiter-Partei - a ZurichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
-based group active from 1936 to 1940 under Ernst Hofmann. - Faschistischer Bewegung der Schweiz - the movement of Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
follower Arthur FonjallazArthur FonjallazArthur Fonjallaz was a Swiss military figure, publisher and fascist.The son of a vineyard owner from Lausanne he attended the Military Academy in Modena and pursued a successful career in the Swiss Army, achieving the highest peace time rank of brigadier general whilst commanding the 4th Infantry...
. It grew from his previous groups Helvetic Action Against Secret Societies and the Federation Fasciste Suisse. - Katholische Front and Front der Militanten Katholiken - two pro-Nazi Roman Catholic movements led by brothers Karl and Fridolin Weder.
- Nationalsozialistische Schweizerische Arbeitspartei - a mimetic Nazi group, also known as the Volksbund, led by Major Ernst LeonhardtErnst LeonhardtErnst Leonhardt was an American-born Swiss military figure and pro-Nazi Germany politician.- Biography :...
.
A number of pro-Nazi parties and organizations persisted well into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In the course of the war, however, these pro-Nazi became very unpopular and were effectively driven underground, the National Front and its successor group the Eidgenössische Sammlung
Eidgenössische Sammlung
Eidgenössiche Sammlung was a Swiss political party, founded in 1940 by Robert Tobler as a successor to the recently outlawed National Front.The party demanded an adjustment in Swiss policy to favour the Axis powers. This was particularly important as, after June 1940 the country was surrounded by...
were banned in 1943.
Cold War period (1946-1989)
After World War II, far-right politics re-emerged in the guise of radical right-wing populism against ÜberfremdungÜberfremdung
Überfremdung , literally "over-foreignization", is a German-language term used in politics to suggest an excess of immigration. The word is compounded from über meaning "over" or "overly" and fremd meaning "foreign".-Political uses:...
in the early 1970s, notably orchestrated by James Schwarzenbach
James Schwarzenbach
James Schwarzenbach was a far-right Swiss politician, in the 1970s head of the short-lived Republican Party of Switzerland and publicist of fascist, völkisch and antisemitic literature, his Thomas-Verlag....
. The first surge of right-wing populism subsided in the late 1970s, but it survived in the form of a few far-right fringe parties, the Nationale Aktion (1961–1990), a right wing group that attracted a few neo-fascists to its ranks and the Rebublicans (1971–1990), in 1990 merged into the Schweizer Demokraten and the Freedom Party
Freedom Party of Switzerland
The Freedom Party of Switzerland is a minor populist right-wing political party in Switzerland. Its president and leading representative is Jürg Scherrer, formerly the head of the security department in the city government of Biel/Bienne until 2008.- History :The FPS was founded 1984 in Zürich by...
(founded 1984 as Autopartei "automobile party" in a backlash against the emerging Green
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
movement).
A Liberal Ecologist Party also existed for a time, espousing a far right take on environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
that recalled ecofascism
Ecofascism
Ecofascism, can be used in two different ways:# The term is used as a pejorative by political conservatives, centrists, and leftists to discredit deep ecology, mainstream environmentalism, radical environmentalism and other ecological positions....
.
The end of the war saw the emergence of neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
in Switzerland, with the Volkspartei der Schweiz
Volkspartei der Schweiz
Volkspartei der Schweiz was a Swiss neo-Nazi political party founded in 1951 by Gaston-Armand Amaudruz and Erwin Vollenweider.The party was one of the driving forces behind the foundation of the New European Order and boasted Hans Oehler amongst its leading members. It published its own paper...
of Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
Gaston-Armand "Guy" Amaudruz is a Swiss neo-fascist political philosopher and Holocaust denier.Initially a supporter of the Swiss fascist movement of Arthur Fonjallaz, he came to wider attention in 1949 when he published Ubu Justicier au Premier Procès de Nuremberg, one of the first works to...
the most important group. A Swiss Nazi Party, also existed at a minor level and during a 1970 trial evidence was heard that it maintained links to Al Fatah. François Genoud
François Genoud
François Genoud was a noted Swiss financier and a principal benefactor of the Nazi diaspora through the ODESSA network and supporter of Middle Eastern liberation groups during the post-World War II 20th century. He was considered the Swiss financier of the Third Reich.- Early life:Genoud was from...
was also a member and he helped to maintain links between the group and both Hjalmar Schacht
Hjalmar Schacht
Dr. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht was a German economist, banker, liberal politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic...
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
.
From a more neo-fascist
Neo-Fascism
Neo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
bent, Switzerland also played host to a revived Cercle Proudhon
Cercle Proudhon
The Cercle Proudhon was a political group founded in France on December 16, 1911 by George Valois and Édouard Berth. It was to include such people as French writer Pierre Drieu La Rochelle.-History:...
, with the group working closely with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne
Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne
The Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne , also known by its French acronym GRECE is an ethnonationalist think-tank, founded in 1968 by the journalist and writer Alain de Benoist.GRECE distinguishes itself from other traditionalist conservative organizations in...
.
New Right (1990 to present)
From the mid 1990s, these remaining fringe parties were mostly absorbed by the expanding Swiss People's PartySwiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(SVP), which had initiated a revival of right-wing populism from the late 1980s. The party has variously been identified as "extreme right" and "radical right-wing populist", reflecting a spectrum of ideologies present among its members. In its far right wing, it includes extremist members such as Ulrich Schlüer
Ulrich Schlüer
Ulrich Schlüer is a right wing Swiss politician, member of the Swiss People's Party of the canton of Zürich. Schlüer studied History and German language at the University of Zürich, receiving a PhD in 1978...
, Pascal Junod, who heads a 'New Right
Neue Rechte
The Neue Rechte is a German political movement, founded in opposition to the "New Left" generation of the 1960s. Ideologically, they are linked to the ideologues of the Weimar Conservative Revolution, which included such people as Carl Schmitt, Ernst Jünger, Oswald Spengler and Ernst von Salomon...
' study group and has been linked to Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
and neo-Nazism and Jean-Jacques Kottelat, who has been legally convicted under anti-racism legislation.
By the 2007 federal elections
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
, the expansion of the SVP had reduced the far-right fringe parties to below 3% of the popular vote, including 1.3% for the Christian right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland
Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland
The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland....
(founded 1975), 0.5% for the regionalist
Regionalism (politics)
Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...
Ticino League
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...
(founded 1991) and 0.5% for the Swiss Democrats
Swiss Democrats
The Swiss Democrats are a right-wing political party in Switzerland.The party is not represented in the Federal Assembly, but has two members of the Grand Council of Aargau....
.
The neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
and white power skinhead scene in Switzerland has seen significant growth in the 1990s and 2000s, growing from an estimated number of 200 active individuals in 1990 to 1,200 in 2005 (or from 0.003% to 0.016% of the total population).
This development occurred in parallel with the increasing presence of right-wing populism due to SVP campaigns, and is reflected in the foundation of the Partei National Orientierter Schweizer
Partei National Orientierter Schweizer
The Swiss Nationalist Party is a far-right völkischpolitical party in Switzerland founded in 2000. It was classified as "extremist" by the Swiss federal police in 2001....
in 2000, which resulted in an improved organisational structure of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist scene. The PNOS has succeeded in having a member elected to municipal governments in Langenthal
Langenthal, Switzerland
Langenthal is a municipality in the district of Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Untersteckholz merged into the Langenthal....
in 2004 and Günsberg
Günsberg
Günsberg is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-Geography:Günsberg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 46.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 42.5% is forested...
the following year.
The Swiss Federal Police in 2005 counted 111 right extremist incidents in 2005, estimating that the number of individuals involved in the "right extremist scene" grew by 20% to from ca. 1,000 to 1,200. At the same time, the number of loosely involved sympathisers fell from 700 to 600, so that the overall number of people involved with right extremist activism grew by some 6% from 1,700 to 1,800 people (or 0.024% of the total population).
Far-right activists briefly won the attention of mainstream media for disrupting the 2005 celebration of the Swiss national holiday on the Rütli Meadow
Rütli Meadow
Rütli is a mountain meadow on Lake Lucerne, in the Seelisberg municipality of the Swiss canton of Uri. Here the legendary oath of the Rütlischwur first occurred and is remembered as the turning-point in the pursuit of independence...
.
The 2006 report reports 109 right extremist incidents, of which 60 involved physical violence (65%). The size of the right extremist scene remains stable at 1,200 active individuals. As opposed to the preceding year, the police reports a significant increase in left extremist incidents, their number rising by 87 to 227, incidents involving physical violence likewise accounting for 65%.
Bund Oberland, a group associated with the white power skinhead Blood and Honour
Blood and Honour
Blood & Honour is a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group founded in 1987 with links to Combat 18 and composed of white power skinheads and other white nationalists....
network has also been active in the country, especially in the distribution of CDs.
A minor Swiss National Party was briefly active under the leadership of David Mulas, dissolved in 2003. This group was closely linked to the National Democratic Party of Germany
National Democratic Party of Germany
The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...
.
The far-right groups further declined in the 2011 federal elections
Swiss federal election, 2011
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011.All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected: all 200 seats in the National Council and all 46 seats in the Council of States....
,
the Swiss Democrats
Swiss Democrats
The Swiss Democrats are a right-wing political party in Switzerland.The party is not represented in the Federal Assembly, but has two members of the Grand Council of Aargau....
remaining the largest with 4,838 votes or 0.20% of the total vote, less than half than in 2007.
Smaller groups participating in the elections were the Swiss Nationalist Party in Berne
Canton of Berne
The Canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the Canton of Jura and the Canton of Solothurn to the north. To the west lie the Canton of Neuchâtel, the Canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south...
and Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
(1,198 votes, 0.05%) and Eric Weber
Eric Weber
Eric Weber is a populist publisher and far-right politician of Basel, Switzerland.He was a member of the far-right Nationale Aktion and member of the Basel city council from 1984 to 1992....
's Volksaktion in Basel-Stadt (810 votes, 0.03%).
International activism
Switzerland's status as the world centre of neutralityNeutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
has meant that it has sometimes been important in international links for fascists and neo-Nazis.
Before the Second World War Switzerland was pivotal in the concept of Fascism as an international phenomenon
Fascism as an international phenomenon
This article discusses regimes and movements that are alleged to have been either fascist or sympathetic to fascism. It is often a matter of dispute whether a certain government is to be characterized as fascist, authoritarian, totalitarian, or a police state. The term "fascism" itself is...
as it hosted the International Centre for Fascist Studies (CINEF) and the 1934 congress of the Action Committee for the Universality of Rome (CAUR). Amaudruz's New European Order
New European Order
The New European Order was a neo-fascist Europe-wide alliance set up in 1951 to promote Pan-European nationalism. It was a more radical splinter-group of the European Social Movement....
represented a similar post-war phenomenon from a Swiss base, albeit on a neo-Nazism rather than Italian fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
basis.
See also
- Political extremism in Switzerland
- Stiftung gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus
External links
reports GRAfar right websites Swiss Democrats website Freedom Party website PNOS website
populist websites SVP website
antifa websites Swiss Antifa