The Golden Fleet ( sv, Gyllene Flottan) was a minor left-wing group in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, existing during the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. It was ideologically aligned with the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

, an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

revolutionary movement. The Situationists, whose intellectual foundations were derived primarily from

libertarian Marxism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...

and the avant-garde art movements of the early 20th century (particularly

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

), initially put its emphasis on concepts like

unitary urbanism __NOTOC__ Unitary urbanism (UU) was the critique of ''status quo'' "urbanism", employed by the Letterist International and then further developed by the Situationist International between 1953 and 1960. The praxis originates from the Lettrist te ...

and

psychogeography Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutiona ...

. Gradually the focus moved more towards revolutionary and political theory. Much like the main organ of that particular ideological current, the Situationist International, the Golden Fleet had its heyday around the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, predominantly characterized by popular rebellions against state militaries and the bureaucracies. In the United States, these protests marked a turning point for the ci ...

, gradually disappearing by the first years of the 1970s. Extremely little is known about the Golden Fleet, yet still it became notorious, this to such an extent that it has been labelled "legendary". Nothing is known about its establishment, composition, and disestablishment. The name was most likely taken from an art exhibit in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

by the Situationist Jeppesen Victor Martin, which consisted of geopolitical paintings featuring coastlines, strategic arrows and toy battleships sprayed over with metallic paint. The group was centered in the capital

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, although some members appear to have been from

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. It is primarily notable through the fact that its members were those that introduced situationist writings to Sweden by its brief but hectic work with publishing political texts. Among them were ''Instruktion i vapendragning'' in 1970 (a translation of "Instructions for an Insurrection", originally published 1961), as well as longer translations of texts by

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationis ...

and

Raoul Vaneigem Raoul Vaneigem (; born 21 March 1934) is a Belgian writer known for his 1967 book ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. He was born in Lessines ( Hainaut, Belgium) and studied romance philology at the Free University of Brussels from 1952 to 195 ...

among others. The group also produced a number of works on its own, prominent among them the poster "Hang the

Stalinists Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

High" ( sv, Häng stalinisterna högt, on the subject of the contemporary left-wing) and the brochure "King Gustaf's Sardines" ( sv, Kung Gustafs sardiner) which discussed the "meaningful meaninglessness of the Swedish students". Another Situationist group existed in Sweden, the Second Situationist International of

Jørgen Nash Jørgen Nash (March 16, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was a Danish artist, writer and central proponent of Situationism. Life He was born in Vejrum, Jutland, Denmark, baptized Jørgen Axel Jørgensen, the brother of Asger Jorn. He later changed his ...

, but there appears to have been no connection between the Golden Fleet and the Nashists.

References

{{reflist Situationist International Socialism in Sweden Political organizations based in Sweden