The People's Unity Party – Socialist Party (), generally referred to as the Socialist Party (), was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic political party that functioned from 1938 to 1968, when the

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

party was created.

History

It was formed through the merger of the Communist Party of Iceland (KFI) and another splinter group from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

on the grounds that a united front was needed against

fascism 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 social hie ...

, according to the guidelines put forth by the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

. The formation of the Socialist Party was a result of the Popular Front line embraced by

ComIntern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

, and promoted in Iceland by Einar Olgeirsson of the KFI. Philosopher Jon Olafsson has argued that as it resulted in a split within the larger Social Democratic Party, Comintern did not approve of the merger in its eventual form. This has been contested by historians Thor Whitehead and Hannes H. Gissurarson in books about the communist movement.Thor Whitehead, ''Sovét-Ísland. Óskalandið,'' Reykjavík: Ugla 2010; Hannes H. Gissurarson, ''Íslenskir kommúnistar 1918–1998,'' Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið 2011. The Socialist Party maintained cordial relations with the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. In 1939, the chairmanship was taken over by Einar Olgeirsson, after the previous non-communist chairman had left the party in protest against the refusal of his new allies to condemn the attack by the USSR on Finland in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

. During the Second World War, the influence of the party grew. In the 1942 elections it won over its mother organization, the Social Democrats. The Socialist Party clearly supported the formation of the Icelandic Republic in 1944. During the two first years of independence, the Socialist Party took part in a broad coalition government. The coalition broke down on the issue of the claims of the United States to have a military base in

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

, which the socialists opposed. In 1956, the Socialist Party took part in the

along with the Egalitarian Society and Hannibal Valdimarsson. When the People's Alliance was made into a formal political party in 1968, the Socialist Party was merged into it and thus became defunct as an independent entity.

Election results

References

Sources

*Arnór Hannibalsson: ''Moskvulínan.'' Reykjavík 1999: Nýja bókafélagið. *Einar Olgeirsson: ''Kraftaverk einnar kynslóðar.'' Jón Guðnason skráði. Reykjavík 1983: Mál og menning. *Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson: ''Íslenskir kommúnistar 1918–1998.'' Reykjavík 2011: Almenna bókafélagið. *Jón Ólafsson: ''Kæru félagar.'' Reykjavík 1999: Mál og menning. *Þór Whitehead: ''Sovét-Ísland. Óskalandið.'' Reykjavík 2010: Ugla. *Hannes H. Gissurarson
''Communism in Iceland, 1918–1998''
Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik 2021.

External links

English Extract of H. H. Gissurarson’s book
{{DEFAULTSORT:People's Unity Party - Socialist Party Defunct political parties in Iceland Socialist parties in Iceland 1938 establishments in Iceland Political parties established in 1938 1968 disestablishments in Iceland Political parties disestablished in 1968