''Munckska kåren'' (literally "the Munck corps", formally ''Stockholms luftförsvars frivilliga beredskapsförening'') was a Swedish secret

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

group founded by the retired

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Bror Munck in 1927. While nominally apolitical, it was founded to protect the Swedish state against "domestic enemies", implying not

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

s or

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, but solely left-wing radicals. At its height it had about 2,000 members. In the late 1920s, leaders of the police were affected by the

Red Scare A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise of left-wing ideologies in a society, especially communism and socialism. Historically, red scares have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of thos ...

and thought they were inadequately prepared for a Bolshevik

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

similar to the 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Anti-communist rhetoric was harsh, especially during the so-called "Cossack Election" of 1928. The plan was for its 2,000 members to have 50 rounds of ammunition each. Stockholm police chief Gustaf Hårleman managed to attain proper licenses for about 1,300 guns, while about 500 to 600 guns were smuggled in illegally from Germany. The corps was unveiled in 1931, sparking a lively debate in Swedish press.

Horst von Pflugk-Harttung Horst Gustav Friedrich von Pflugk-Harttung (17 June 1889 – 9 March 1967) (alternate spelling Pflug-Hartnung) was a German intelligence officer and spy. Weimar Germany After serving in the army during the World War I, Pflugk-Harttung had become ...

, who had facilitated the illegal smuggling of arms, was expelled in December 1931. Many of its members were from the army and the police and also the Fascist People's Party of Sweden.Nazismen i Sverige" av Lööw, Heléne. 2015. Ordfront förlag It is believed that Konrad Hallgren, leader of the fascist group, also told authorities about the illegal guns. The corps disbanded the following year. In 1934 Swedish law was altered to ban similar groups.The Swedish Criminal Code
chapter 18, section 4: ''unlawful military activities''

References

Anti-communist organizations in Sweden Military units and formations established in 1927 Military units and formations disestablished in 1932 1927 establishments in Sweden 1931 in Sweden Counter-revolutionaries Far-right politics in Sweden Paramilitary organizations based in Sweden Fascism in Sweden {{Paramilitary-org-stub Fascist organizations