1st Edition
Postwar Mnemonic Anti-Fascism From the Spanish Question to the Nordic Committees against the Greek Junta, 1946–1974
Preface
1. Introduction
1.1 The Historiography of Anti-Fascism
1.2 Theorizing Memory, History, and Social Movements
1.3 The Structure and Sources of This Book
2. Postwar Anti-Fascist Sentiments in the Nordic Countries
2.1 Engaging with the Spanish Question through Memory
2.2 Opposing Franco and the “Swastika Epidemic”
2.3 Opposing Fascism in Southern Europe and Africa
3. Anti-Fascism as a Praxis: The Nordic Committees for Democracy in Greece
3.1 The Political Context: A Visit by a Danish Social Democrat in Athens
3.2 Nordic Reactions to the Greek Coup
3.3 Confronting the Junta: A Nordic Parliamentary Fact-Finding Mission to Greece
3.4 Scandinavian Party Politics and the Nordic Committees
3.5 Conflicting Interpretations of Fascism
3.6 Anti-Imperialism or Anti-Fascism? The Norwegian Split and Greek Refugees
3.7 Committees on the Margins: Iceland and Finland
3.8 Debating Nordic Participation in the European Athletic Championship in Athens
3.9 Nordic Actions against Greece in NATO and the Council of Europe
3.10 Collective Memory and Political Practice: Norwegian Attempts to Unify the Greek Opposition
3.11 The Decline of the Nordic Committees
4. Conclusion
4.1 Epilogue
4.2 Addendum: The Lives of the Nordic Protagonists after the Fall of the Greek Junta
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Pontus Järvstad is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Humanities, University of Iceland.
“Järvstad explores Nordic solidarity with Greece after the 1967 coup, linking it to antifascist memories from earlier conflicts. He reveals how historical remembrance shaped political activism. This original work offers valuable insights into Cold War debates. It made him an obvious choice for the 2024 Prize for Labor Movement History.”
Director for Center for Cold War Studies Thomas Wegener Friis, University of Southern Denmark
“This is a truly new contribution to our knowledge of a crucial period in European history when the Scandinavian countries took the lead fighting the Greek military regime. It analyses how this unfolded from street to the intergovernmental level tracing its roots back to the anti-fascist struggle of the 1930s.”
Associate Professor Mogens Pelt, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
“An important contribution to the history of transnational solidarity, public diplomacy and memory studies in 20th century Europe. Järvstad succeeds in untangling a relevant and complicated story that reads like a political thriller.”
Associate Professor Hugo García, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
