Third Position

The Third Position refers to neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a third position between the capitalism of the Western Bloc and the communism of the Eastern Bloc.

History and ideology

The term "Third Position" was coined in Europe during the Cold War as an umbrella term for neo-fascist and nationalist syncretic ideologies, mostly those decedent from Italian fascism and other, primarily but not exclusively non-Hitlerite, fascist movements. These ideologies were generally united in their rejection of both Western Bloc capitalism and liberal democracy as well as Eastern Bloc Marxist communism, instead wishing to establish a third ideological force on the world stage, hence its name. Third Positionist ideologies also generally had in common the wish to overthrow existing governments to replace them with homogeneous states, either as independent nation states or within the context of a larger pan-European nationalism as espoused by Oswald Mosley's Europe a Nation idea. Economically, most Third Positionist ideologies, like their predecessors, advocated for a form of corporatism or national syndicalism. Third Positionist groups and ideologues cooperated with the Libyan regime under Muammar Gaddafi and were generally sympathetic towards national liberation movements in the Third World. Some Third Positionists, like Francis Parker Yockey, Otto Ernst Remer, and H. Keith Thompson; advocated for an alliance between communists and fascists called the red-brown alliance.

During its height in the Cold War, Third Positionists established various pan-European political groupings including but not limited to: the National Party of Europe and the European Social Movement of Oswald Mosley, the European Liberation Front of Francis Parker Yockey, the New European Order of René Binet and Gaston-Armand Amaudruz, and the International Third Position of Roberto Fiore. Fiore has also since its foundation served as the leader of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom, a modern Third Positionist alliance.