National Syndicalism
National Syndicalism is an anti-communist economically left, authoritarian and culturally right ideology, based upon the beliefs and thinking of Georges Sorel, so it overlaps with Sorelism. It opposes the bourgeoisie, liberal democracy and secularism. At times, it has advocated against democracy more generally, whereas at others it has supported Democratic Socialism within the workplace.
Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera has been its historical main representative, though the Strasser brothers also play a prominent role, as the ideology often overlaps with Sansepolcrism, Sorelism, Strasserism, National Bolshevism and, more recently, Eurasianism.
It's currently endorsed by many smaller organizations, the most prominent of which is likely the Socjalna Fala, a National Syndicalist/Strasserist faction of the wider ONR political grouping in Poland. There are also many organizations which claim to be the successors of the Spanish Falange.
Ideological Beliefs
We must take from the right nationalism without capitalism and from the left socialism without internationalism.
—Gregor Strasser, Wars, Revolutions, Dictatorships by Stanislav Andreski
National Syndacalist fundamentally believe in a strong, nationalist worker's state. They support either Socialism or some form of Corporatism.
Their beliefs are closely linked to Fascism.
Organizations
Modern Organizations
Defunct Organizations
Significant Figures
Mussolini is not an ordinary socialist. You will perhaps see him one day as a leader of a consecrated battalion, saluting the flags of Italy with his sword. He is an Italian of the fifteenth century, a condottiere. He is the only man with the strength to correct the weakness of the government.
—George Sorel, The Genesis of Georges Sorel by James H. Meisel, Ann Arbor and Wahr (p. 220, n.21)
Others
These figures are considered ideological cornerstones only by factions of the wider National Syndicalist movement. This section also includes those i fkue ced by Natii al Syndicalism, and those who have influenced the ideology in some way.
- Eduard Limonov
- Alexander Dugin
- Winston Churchill
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Adolf Hitler
- Benito Mussolini
- Joseph Stalin
- Kim Il Sung
- Mao Zedong
- Franco Freda
- Antonio Salazar
Controversies
Bolshevism is at heart a materialistic attitude towards the world. Bolshevism may be able to resign itself to failure in its attempts at collectivized farming, but it will never make concessions in that which of paramount importance: the uprooting of all religion from the people, the destruction of the familly cell, the materialization of existence. He who starts from a merely economic interpretation of history is on the way towards Bolshevism. Hence anti-Bolshevism is exactly the position of those who regard the world beneath the sign of spiritual things.
—Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, José Antonio Primo de Rivera: Anthology of Speeches and Quotes
National Syndacalists are often erroneously declared Communists, despite being largely Anti-Communists and closer to Fascism than to mainstream Syndicalism; this however is marked by notable exceptions, such as with National Bolsheviks.
More recently, many National Syndacalists have sided with Russia following the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, supporting Eurasianist and Duginist beliefs, often exhibiting Sinophile beliefs as well. This has led some to embrace Eastern Orthodoxy and Anti-Fascism.