Political Soldier
Encyclopedia
Political Soldier is a political concept associated with the Third Position
. It played a leading role in Britain's National Front
from the late 1970s onwards under young radicals Nick Griffin
, Patrick Harrington
and Derek Holland of the Official National Front
. The term was used to indicate an almost fanatical devotion to the cause of nationalism
, which its supporters felt was needed to bring about a revolutionary change in society.
A faction within the National Front called for the building of a fresh ethos
within society
and for the emergence of a new man
, to be known as the Political Soldier, who would reject materialism
and devote himself to the nationalist struggle with religious zeal. Basing their ideas on those of Julius Evola
, an Italian philosopher who sought the creation of a new elite
to combat the decadence
of modern bourgeois society, Political Soldiers rejected the traditional British nationalism
in favour of a European outlook and a racialist equality of separate races
.
in Europe
. Jean-François Thiriart
was amongst those to argue for this need for complete devotion from activists and had set up camps to train Political Soldiers in the 1960s.
One issue of National Front News featured a front cover depicting the 'new alliance' of the NF with Libya
’s Muammar al-Gaddafi
, Iran
’s Ayatollah Khomeini and Louis Farrakhan
, the leader of the Black Nationalist Nation of Islam
, effectively endorsing an ethnopluralist
form of racial separatism (although critics were quick to point out the anti-Semitism
linking the chosen allies). A magazine by the name of Rising was published sporadically in the early 1980s to support the ideal, attracting a Europe
-wide audience in far right
circles.
Holland published The Political Soldier - A Statement in 1984. The pamphlet called on supporters to become consumed by their nationalism
and to make it the driving force behind everything in their lives. The book offered four historical examples of a Political Soldier i.e. the Sparta
ns, the Roman Centurion
, the Crusaders and the Iron Guard
of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
, a Romanian movement of fascism and religion. The book also made the Celtic Cross
the emblem of the Political Soldiers.
The concept of the Political Soldier caused divisions within the British far right as many of its ideas were new and alien concepts. The Official National Front was eventually removed from the NF and the calls for a 'new man' were continued by the International Third Position
. Within the UK, the magazine Final Conflict is still devoted to this idea. Holland's book has been translated into a number of European languages (notably into Polish
for the Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski
) whilst the term is still used by the National Democratic Party of Germany
to describe its followers.
Third Position
Third Position is a revolutionary nationalist political ideology that emphasizes its opposition to both communism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics typically present themselves as "beyond left and right", instead claiming to syncretize radical ideas from both ends of the...
. It played a leading role in Britain's National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
from the late 1970s onwards under young radicals Nick Griffin
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....
, Patrick Harrington
Patrick Harrington
Patrick "Pat" Harrington is a British Politician, currently General Secretary of Solidarity – The Union for British Workers an organisation affiliated to the British National Party, and a Director of the Third Way think-tank...
and Derek Holland of the Official National Front
Official National Front
The Official National Front was one of two far-right groups to emerge in the United Kingdom in 1986 following a split within the National Front...
. The term was used to indicate an almost fanatical devotion to the cause of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, which its supporters felt was needed to bring about a revolutionary change in society.
A faction within the National Front called for the building of a fresh ethos
Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
within society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and for the emergence of a new man
New man
New man could refer to* Novus homo, Latin term for a man who was first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate* New Man ** New Soviet man, imagined archetype of Communist ideologists....
, to be known as the Political Soldier, who would reject materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
and devote himself to the nationalist struggle with religious zeal. Basing their ideas on those of Julius Evola
Julius Evola
Barone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
, an Italian philosopher who sought the creation of a new elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
to combat the decadence
Decadence
Decadence can refer to a personal trait, or to the state of a society . Used to describe a person's lifestyle. Concise Oxford Dictionary: "a luxurious self-indulgence"...
of modern bourgeois society, Political Soldiers rejected the traditional British nationalism
British nationalism
Far right politics in the United Kingdom have existed since at least the 1930s, with the formation of fascist and anti-semitic movements. It went on to acquire more explicitly racial connotations, being dominated in the 1960s and 1970s by self-proclaimed white nationalist organisations that oppose...
in favour of a European outlook and a racialist equality of separate races
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
.
History
The idea of the Political Soldier, that is to say one who devotes all his time and energy to the nationalist struggle, was one that had long existed on the far rightFar 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 Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Jean-François Thiriart
Jean-François Thiriart
Jean-François Thiriart was a Belgian far right politician.-Youth:Initially a Socialist, Thiriart eventually adopted a form of non-Marxist, Nationalist Socialism....
was amongst those to argue for this need for complete devotion from activists and had set up camps to train Political Soldiers in the 1960s.
One issue of National Front News featured a front cover depicting the 'new alliance' of the NF with Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
’s Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
’s Ayatollah Khomeini and Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
, the leader of the Black Nationalist Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
, effectively endorsing an ethnopluralist
Ethnopluralism
Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism is a European New Right theory of multiculturalism which contrasts with liberal multiculturalism."Cultural differentialism" is the view that cultures are clearly bound entities with a specific geographical location...
form of racial separatism (although critics were quick to point out the anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
linking the chosen allies). A magazine by the name of Rising was published sporadically in the early 1980s to support the ideal, attracting a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
-wide audience in far right
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...
circles.
Holland published The Political Soldier - A Statement in 1984. The pamphlet called on supporters to become consumed by their nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and to make it the driving force behind everything in their lives. The book offered four historical examples of a Political Soldier i.e. the Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
ns, the Roman Centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
, the Crusaders and the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or The Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist and violently antisemitic organization active throughout most of the interwar period...
, a Romanian movement of fascism and religion. The book also made the Celtic Cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
the emblem of the Political Soldiers.
The concept of the Political Soldier caused divisions within the British far right as many of its ideas were new and alien concepts. The Official National Front was eventually removed from the NF and the calls for a 'new man' were continued by the International Third Position
International Third Position
International Third Position ' was a neo-fascist organization formed by the breakaway faction of the neofascist British National Front and Italian neofascists led by Roberto Fiore....
. Within the UK, the magazine Final Conflict is still devoted to this idea. Holland's book has been translated into a number of European languages (notably into Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
for the Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski
Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski
National Rebirth of Poland , abbreviated to NOP, is a nationalist and national-revolutionary political party in Poland registered by the District Court in Warsaw and National Electoral Commission. The party has no seats in the Polish parliament...
) whilst the term is still used by 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"...
to describe its followers.