SWEDEN: Split & Splinter

Sweden's Communist Party set up business by splitting away from the Social Democrats in 1919 and never got over its splintering ways. In split No. 2, in 1926, most of the original Communists went back to the socialists. In split No. 3, the Kilbom Communists (after their leader, Karl Kilbom) seceded; the majority eventually returned to the Social Democratic fold, others became pro-Nazis. In 1949 there was a new splintering: Party Boss Sven Linderot was ousted by the triumvirate of Set Persson, Hilding Hagberg and Fritiof Lager. In each case, the cause of the breakup was opposition to Soviet...