Hans Hedtofts internationale kontakter & inspiration 1923-32

Resumé

This article is part of the Master’s thesis “The Democrat. A political-ideological biography of the young Hans Hedtoft” that won the research prize “Arbejderhistorieprisen 2009”. The thesis aims at examining the development of Hedtoft’s political and ideological thinking and the early career in the International and Danish labour movement until app. 1933/1935. This article focuses on the career in Socialist Youth International. Unlike previous Hedtoft studies this analysis has included source material from the SYI Archive at IISG. Hedtoft was strongly engaged in the work of SYI from the founding in 1923 until he left the organisation in 1932. His work in SYI gave him a lifelong friendship with Erich Ollenhauer and several other international contacts, an opportunity to travel around Europe, and a solid understanding of European affairs, especially the challenges facing the Weimar Republic as well as the new ideological phenomena: Communism, Fascism and Nazism.