Revolution eller krig? : Hur Arbetaren, Folkets Dagblad, Ny Dag och Socialdemokraten ramade in slutet av spanska inbördeskriget

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to understand how different fractions of Sweden’s left wing (the Social democrats, the Communists, the Syndicalists and the Socialist party) framed the end of the Spanish Civil War and the defeat of the republicans.

To answer the purpose four newspapers Arbetaren (syndicalist), Folkets Dagblad (Socialist party), Ny Dag (communist) and Socialdemokraten (social democratic) have been analyzed qualitatively. The thesis has focused on how the different ideologies have framed the war, how they framed the other labour organizations and themselves plus how they relate to information about the war during the period of February 1st1939 till April 5th1939.

The analysis shows that the Social democrats and the Communists framed the war as a conflict between fascism and socialism, whereas the Syndicalists and the Socialist party framed the war as a socialistic revolution. Because each side had their own view, their opinions on what threatened a republican victory differed. The Social democrats were most concerned that a non-democratic movement would win the war and the Communists feared that fragmentation within the republicans would threaten their chances to win. In contrast, the Syndicalists argued that the nonintervention policy would make the revolution impossible and the Socialist party framed the threat as the Communists, because of their non-revolutionary agenda.