Marius Huber is a research assistant in the Department of Contemporary History at Free University Berlin. His research interests include the history of decolonization in the context of the Cold War, the history of social movements, and the extreme as well as the New Right. He is currently pursuing his PhD on German National Revolutionaries and their conception of “right-wing anti-imperialism” from the 1960s to the 1980s.
- Marius Huber, Rechter „Antiimperialismus“. Weltweiter Befreiungskampf der „Nationalrevolutionären“ in Westdeutschland in den 1970er und 1980er Jahren, in: Zeithistorische Forschung/ Studies in Contemporary History, (Forthcoming 2026).
Regionalism in Western Europe and the National Struggle: Autonomy and Self-Determination in the National Revolutionary Movement in the 1970s and 80s
German reunification was a shared objective across the German extreme right. However, a closer examination of specific subgroups reveals divergent perspectives on achieving this goal, leading to lasting transformations within the extreme right in the second half of the 20th century. This paper examines how the West German National Revolutionary Movement conceptualized reunification. Specifically, their activism against the USSR and the US as “imperialist powers” during the Cold War which they framed within a broader network of European national liberation movements. In the 1970s and 80s they emphasized the struggles for cultural autonomy and political self-determination of various “European peoples”, such as the Irish, Welsh, Basques, Catalans, and South Tyroleans. Regionalism and liberation nationalism in Western Europe were seen as complementary forces opposing the two “imperialistic” dynamics imposed by the Cold War’s ideological framework.
National-revolutionary magazines actively promoted publications from various groups, such as the journal of the Volksuniejongeren, the youth organization of the Flemish nationalist party, and translated articles by activists from across Europe. The emerging publishing network not only highlighted the intricate entanglements of activist circles across national borders but also extended beyond the political sphere into social and cultural domains. Emphasizing the shared goals among these groups the activists deliberately downplayed differences in political context, ideological orientation, and strategic approaches—particularly regarding the use of violence.
The region became a key arena where the anti-nuclear movement, the environmental movement, and segments of the alternative scene converged. The National Revolutionary Movement strategically appropriated these movements e.g. by promoting European minority languages and German dialects. Among other things Basque poems, Irish folk songs and German singer-songwriters were celebrated for their dialect-based performances as symbolic acts of resistance against foreign cultural influences especially from the United States.
This paper demonstrates how the extreme right expanded the scope of their ideological confrontation to the pan-European level, integrating political, social, and cultural dimensions. Furthermore, it highlights the interconnectedness of nationalist and regionalist movements in late 20th-century Europe, which played a pivotal role in fostering transnational exchange among right-wing groups.