Swedish National Socialist Party

The party was modeled after the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). As National Leader, Furugård had full authority of all party affairs (mimicking the role of the Führer in the German party). There was a nine-member Party Staff, which had an advisory function towards the National Leader. Each of the nine had a specific task in the party hierarchy; • National Organization Chief • National Secretary (G. Dahlberg) • National Propaganda Chief • National Economy Chief • National Custodian • National SA Leader (Sven Hedengren) • Research and Arbitration Leader • Intelligence Systems Leader ==Links to Germany==

The party maintained close contacts with their German counterparts. Furugård himself visited Germany on several occasions, and spoke at NSDAP election campaign meetings. He developed personal friendship links to key persons in the German party hierarchy, including Adolf Hitler. ==History==

Early period The party was founded on October 1, 1930, through the merger of the National Socialist People's Party of Sweden and the New Swedish People's League. The New Swedish National League (Nysvenska nationella förbundet) was the name of the unified party. The name SNSP was adopted in 1931. 1932 election The party gathered 15,188 votes in the 1932 parliamentary election, but won no seats in the parliament. The party had fielded candidates in eleven constituencies. Key constituencies for the party were Värmland, Göteborg and Göteborgs och Bohus län. In the backdrop of the elections, internal dissent over Furugård's lifestyle and management of party finances simmered. On January 13, 1933, Furugård expelled Lindholm and his followers from the party, after a chaotic meeting of the Great Council. Moreover, Lindholm sent out a declaration to the party branches accusing Furugård of corruption. Many younger party members would also join Lindholm's party. In the midst of the split, confusion arose amongst many local branches, which were unsure to which party they would remain affiliated. Some decided to remain independent from both of the two key contenders. The situation was particularly chaotic in Skåne where a number of party branches regrouped as a group of their own, the Swedish National Socialist Unity. Following the split, SNSP and NSAP competed with each other to gain the support and recognition from both the Swedish electorate as well as their German counterparts. Eventually NSAP would consolidate its position as the largest National Socialist movement in Sweden. In September 1933, Furugård visited Germany, in a move to ensure continued German support for his party. During this trip, he held his last meeting with Hitler. However, Furugård's request for a 20,000 Reichsmark donation to SNSP was rejected by the Germans. Second split In October 1933, SNSP suffered yet another split as Furugård and the Party Staff confronted each other. Both declared each other expelled from the party. The Party Staff regrouped as the Swedish National Socialist Unity Party. The Swedish National Socialist Unity Party would continue to publish Vår Kamp as their party organ. Disbanding SNSP held a national meeting in Stockholm in May 1936. SNSP was dissolved shortly afterwards. Furugård appealed to his followers to join forces with Lindholm. Furugård effectively retired from political life. He died in 1961. ==Membership==

By 1932, the party had an estimated 3,000 members organized in around fifty party branches across the country. The party had a predominately a male membership. Around a quarter of the party members were farmers or agricultural workers, and the agrarian profile of the party was particularly notable in southern Sweden. == Electoral results ==

=== Riksdag === ==Party press==

Vår Kamp was the main organ of the party, until the October 1933 split. Another important organ for the party after the split was Klingan ('The Edge'), published from Linköping by Rolf A. L. Nystedt, with a handful of issues per year 1934–1935. The editorial offices of Nationalsocialistisk Tidning were moved to Linköping. In 1933, a daily newspaper for the Southern District of SNSP was launched, Skånska nationalsocialisten ('Scanian National Socialist'). However, only a single issue of the newspaper was ever published. Likewise a single issue of a new organ for the Western District was published from Göteborg, Västsvenska nationalsocialisten ('West Swedish National Socialist'). William Andersson was the editor of Västsvenska nationalsocialisten. There was also a failed attempt to launch a weekly party organ from Strömstad, Norrvikens-Kuriren. ==Linked organizations==

The party had a youth wing, the National Socialist Youth League (Nationalsocialistiska ungdomsförbundet, abbreviated 'NSU'). In February 1935 a new youth wing was launched, Vikingarna ('The Vikings'). John Åstrand was the leader of Vikingarna. The membership of Vikingarna was primarily based amongst secondary school students. According to contemporary police estimates, the membership of Vikingarna would have been between 1,000 and 5,000 as of 1935. The women's organization of the party was called Kristina Gyllenstierna (named after a historical character with the same name). In 1934 SNSP launched an organization for sailors, Svenska Sjöfartssektionen, seeking to counter the influence of communist sailors' cells. ==References==