communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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 ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).Axel Danielsson and

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

. He also read

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

and

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

. He graduated from high school in 1902 with average grades. He soon got an internship with the liberal daily

Göteborgs-Posten (), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language, Swedish-language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1822. It re-appeared in 1850. Publication seven day ...

and was hired by that newspaper that fall. The same fall Höglund started studying ''History'', ''Political Science'' and ''Literature'' at the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

. Here he met Fredrik Ström, a four-year-older student, also a radical socialist. They developed a close friendship that would last their whole lives. At the May Day demonstration in 1903, Höglund and Fredrik Ström had an invitation to speak from the Social Democratic Party on a demand for 8-hour workdays. Höglund started and was followed by Ström, who suddenly started agitating for 6-hour workdays, and even promising 4-hour workdays in a socialist future.

In Paris

In the summer of 1903, Höglund and Fredrik Ström decided to move to Paris. They were curious of the homeland of the great French Revolution of 1789 and the city where their heroes

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (, , ; born Jean-Paul Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes ...

,

Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gove ...

and Louis de Saint-Just had lived and fought. In Paris they attended several socialist meetings, of which the grandest was when

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

spoke to over 4,000 people. They tried to write on their own and sent political articles home to Sweden where some of them were published in different newspapers. One day at the post office, Fredrik Ström discovered that they were under surveillance by the French police. The two Swedes were very short on money. They had to live modestly in Paris and could spend little money on food. When winter came they froze and went hungry. They had hoped to stay much longer, but decided to go back to Sweden. They had no funds for the trip home, but two of Höglund's sisters, Ada and Alice, sent them the money, and they returned home by Christmas 1903.

Swedish Social Democratic Party

Höglund joined the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

in 1904 and became the leader of party's youth movement. He wrote an article called "Let Us Make Swedish Social Democracy the Strongest in the World". In 1905, Höglund strongly supported

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

's right to self-determination and independence from Sweden. When the Swedish conservatives made clear that they were prepared to subdue Norway by force, Zeth Höglund wrote the manifesto ''Down With Weapons!'' (''Ned med vapnen!'') in which he indirectly declared that if the Swedish workers were forced to go to war with Norway, they would instead turn their weapons against the Swedish ruling class. The war was avoided, and Norway became independent, but, as a result of his anti-war agitation, Zeth Höglund was sentenced to six months in jail, which he served between the mid-summer and Christmas of 1906. In 1908 Höglund was instrumental in the establishment of a weekly communist journal entitled '' Stormklockan'' which he edited. While condemned and imprisoned by the Swedish ruling class as a dangerous rebel, Höglund was saluted by others. The German socialist

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; ; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German politician and revolutionary socialist. A leader of the far-left wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht was a co-founder of both ...

described him as a hero in his book ''Militarism and Anti-Militarism''

The Russian Communist leader

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

wrote: "The close alliance between the Norwegian and Swedish workers, their complete fraternal class solidarity, gained from the Swedish workers' recognition of the right of the Norwegians to secede.... The Swedish workers have proved that in spite of all the vicissitudes of bourgeois policy.... they will be able to preserve and defend the complete equality and class solidarity of the workers of both nations in the struggle against both the Swedish and the Norwegian bourgeoisie." (''The Right of Nations to Self-Determination''

In November 1912, Höglund, together with his Swedish friends

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

and Ture Nerman, attended the special emergency convention of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

, which had been summoned to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in Switzerland, due to the outbreak of the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

. At the convention, the leaders of all the European Socialist parties agreed to stand together internationally to prevent any future wars. Together with Fredrik Ström and Hannes Sköld, Höglund wrote the anti-militarist manifesto ''Det befästa fattighuset'' (The Fortress Poorhouse) in which they described and criticized Sweden as an armed fortress and at the same time a poorhouse, where the people were miserable and the rulers spent all resources on militarism. ''Not one krona, not one

öre Öre () is the centesimal subdivision of the Swedish krona. In the Swedish language, the plural of ''öre'' is either ''öre'' (indefinite) or ''ören'' (definitive). The name ''öre'' derives from the Latin word ''aereus/aurum'', meaning gold. T ...

, to militarism!'' was the slogan of the manifesto. It was despised from the bourgeoisie politicians and media.

World War I and Zimmerwald

In 1914, Höglund got a seat in the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

. There, he agitated for socialism, against capitalism, war and the Swedish monarchy. Höglund's speeches were so revolutionary that they even provoked

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

, although many young socialists started seeing Höglund as their true leader. In 1914, when

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out, Zeth Höglund together with Ture Nerman represented the Swedish-Norwegian members of the Zimmerwald Conference, the international socialist anti-war movement which gathered in the small

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

village of Zimmerwald. There the young Swedish socialist met

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

,

Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a close associate of Vladimir Lenin prior to ...

, Vatslav Vorovsky,

Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a revolutionary and writer active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a Communist International leader in the Soviet Union after the Russian ...

and

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

: Zeth Höglund and Ture Nerman felt very close to the Russian

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. Back in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, after the conference in Zimmerwald, Zeth Höglund had a beer with Lenin in a local pub. Lenin asked Höglund if the ''Swedish Socialist Youth Organization'' possibly could donate some much needed money to the Bolsheviks. Höglund offered Lenin some money, and although it was a small amount, Lenin was extremely joyful and grateful. Höglund realized afterwards that maybe it was more about political trust than money. Even though Sweden did not participate in the war, Höglund's anti-war propaganda was enough to send Höglund to jail again for "betrayal of the Kingdom." While Höglund was at Långholmen prison, in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, his wife gave birth to their second daughter. In April 1917, Lenin and other communists passed through Stockholm from the exile in Switzerland on their return trip to Russia after the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

. Lenin, who was greeted in Sweden by Otto Grimlund, Ture Nerman, Fredrik Ström and

Carl Lindhagen Carl Albert Lindhagen (17 December 1860 – 11 March 1946) was a Swedish lawyer, politician, and pacifist. Carl Lindhagen was the chief magistrate (''borgmästare'') of Stockholm 1903–1930 (i.e. a legal position, not mayor). Life Lindhagen ...

, wanted to go and visit Höglund in jail. Arrangements were made, but, due other meetings running over time and the Bolsheviks hurry to get back to Russia, Lenin's visit to Långholmen had to be cancelled. However, the Bolshevik leader sent a telegram to Höglund wishing him strength and hoping to see him soon again, signed Lenin and Ström. Zeth Höglund, prisoner number 172, was released from Långholmen prison on 6 May 1917 after more than 13 months in prison. He was greeted by his friends, family and a couple of thousands workers who had gathered outside the prison. On the same day of his release, Höglund held a speech in a park in Stockholm, massing thousands of people to hear him talk about peace, socialism and revolution. From Russia came a telegram: "On the day of your release from prison, the C.C. of the R.S.D.L.P. greets in your person a staunch fighter against the imperialist war and a wholehearted supporter of the Third International." signed by Lenin and Zinoviev

Birth of the Swedish Communist Movement

Höglund was a radical, revolutionary socialist and was the main leader of the Left Opposition in the Social Democratic Party, against the

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

politics of the party leader

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

. In 1917, Zeth Höglund and the left-wing were expelled from the party but they regrouped as the ''Swedish Social Democratic Left Party'', which supported the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in Russia and worked for the aim of a communist revolution in Sweden. This new party would soon become the (original) Communist Party of Sweden (SKP) and still exists today as the Left Party. In 1916, the left socialists launched their own newspaper, ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'', in which they wrote and published many texts by Lenin, Zinoviev, Bukharin and

Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a revolutionary and writer active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a Communist International leader in the Soviet Union after the Russian ...

. Both Radek and Bukharin, who spent a lot of time in the neutral Sweden during the World War, had a great influence on the development of the Swedish Socialist Left. In December 1917, Höglund and Karl Kilbom traveled to

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

to visit the Bolsheviks and show their support of the revolution. On their day of arrival, Höglund was invited to see Lenin in the Smolny. Lenin was in an excellent mood. The Swedish communists were one of the first international groups to visit

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and, by New Year's Eve, the Swedish delegation was joined by Otto Grimlund and

Carl Lindhagen Carl Albert Lindhagen (17 December 1860 – 11 March 1946) was a Swedish lawyer, politician, and pacifist. Carl Lindhagen was the chief magistrate (''borgmästare'') of Stockholm 1903–1930 (i.e. a legal position, not mayor). Life Lindhagen ...

. Höglund and Lindhagen were invited to speak to an audience of 10,000 people in Petrograd. The Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontay, who had spent a lot of time in Scandinavia and had become a close friend of the Swedish left socialists, translated the speeches of Lindhagen and Höglund from Swedish to Russian. Höglund stayed until spring of 1918 in Soviet Russia. He traveled around the country and worked closely with the Bolshevik leaders. He was even offered to be made an honorable corporal in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, but he declined. (The position was then offered to the Norwegian Communist Olav Scheflo.) Höglund wrote long texts for ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'' and managed to keep a great influence over the communist movement in Sweden from abroad. On his way back to Sweden, Höglund also visited the Reds in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, which at the time was in the throes of the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

, which soon ended in White victory.

Comintern

In March 1919, the founding congress of the

Communist International 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 Internationa ...

(Comintern) took place in Russia, with Otto Grimlund representing the Swedish Socialist Left. Zeth Höglund worked hard to convince his friends that the Swedish Party should join the Comintern. During the

2nd World Congress of the Comintern The 2nd World Congress of the Communist International was a gathering of approximately 220 voting and non-voting representatives of Communism, communist and Revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist political parties from around the world, h ...

, which took place in Russia the summer of 1920, Zinoviev said, "Unfortunately Comrade Höglund and others who took part along with us in the founding of the Communist International are not here." Instead,

Kata Dalström Anna Maria Katarina "Kata" Dalström, née Carlberg (18 December 1858 – 11 December 1923), was a Swedish socialist and writer. She belonged to the leading socialist agitators and leftist writers in contemporary Sweden, and has been referred to a ...

represented the Swedish communists. But in the summer of 1921, Zeth Höglund, together with Fredrik Ström and Hinke Bergegren, represented Sweden in the third congress of the Comintern held in Moscow, and Höglund worked hard to make the Swedish party accept the

Twenty-one Conditions The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, are the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern) cr ...

for membership in the Communist International, including changing the name from ''Sweden's Social Democratic Left Party'' to the ''Swedish Communist Party''. Some of the party's members who did not agree to the 21 theses left the party while others, including

Carl Lindhagen Carl Albert Lindhagen (17 December 1860 – 11 March 1946) was a Swedish lawyer, politician, and pacifist. Carl Lindhagen was the chief magistrate (''borgmästare'') of Stockholm 1903–1930 (i.e. a legal position, not mayor). Life Lindhagen ...

, were expelled. Höglund was elected to 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 ...

Executive Committee in 1922. However, in 1924, over disagreement concerning the development of Comintern policies, thinking there was too much direct control from Moscow, Höglund split from Swedish Communist Party and founded his own Communist Party. In 1926 he rejoined the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

, where he was part of the radical left. He still considered himself a Communist until the day he died in 1956, always defending the original ideas of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

. Zeth Höglund was the Mayor of Stockholm from 1940 to 1950. Zeth Höglund had a street named after him in Leningrad, now

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

.

Works

*Zeth Höglund is the author of a two-volume biography about

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

. *His own autobiography is called ''Minnen i fackelsken'' (Memories in Torch Light) and is in three volumes: Part I: ''Glory Days, 1900–1911'', Part II: ''From Branting to Lenin, 1912 – 1916'', and Part III, ''The Revolutionary Years, 1917–1921''. *Zeth's daughter, Gunhild Höglund completed a fourth volume in the ''Memories in Torch Light'' series, called ''Moscow, There and Back Again'', published in 1960.

Biography

Early years

Political awakening

In Paris

Swedish Social Democratic Party

World War I and Zimmerwald

Birth of the Swedish Communist Movement

Comintern

Works

References

Further reading