Socialist Worker's Party

Socialist Worker's Party
File:SWPBreheim.png
Native Name	Sosialistisk Arbeiderparti
Leader	Frederik Owusu
Founded	1st of May, 1892
Headquarters	Storvik, Breheim
Youth wing	Working Youth
Student wing	Social-Democratic Student Federation
Newspaper	Labour Times
Membership	342,000
Ideology	Socialism Big Tent
Internal Factions	Democratic Socialism Social-Democracy Eurocommunism Syndicalism Marxism
Political position	Left
Official colours	Red
National Assembly	66 / 320
People's Assembly	16 / 200
Storfylke Assembly	21 / 60
Website	http://www.sa.brh

The Socialist Worker's Party is one of Breheim's major political parties, and the most significant political party in Breheim's 20th century history. The Socialist Worker's Party was in government, either in coalition or alone, between 1922 until 2013, both entering and exiting government in an extraordinary legislative election (termed 'Emergency Election' in Breheim, of which only three has been held in its two hundred year democratic history). During parts of its reign during the 20th century, it was described as an authoritarian party operating in a de facto one-party state.

History

The Socialist Worker's Party was formed by the Breheimian trade unions in the late 19th century, to act as a political and parliamentary wing of the Labour Movement. The SWP gained its first MPs shortly thereafter, although remained a minor party as universal suffrage was only instituted in 1915 (previously, only landed or wealthy males could vote). Immediately after universal suffrage was instituted, the SWP climbed to become one of Breheim's major parties, leading to the break of the former Liberal/Conservative two-party system that until then had been dominant in the country. In 1922, in an Emergency Election after a series of nationwide strikes, riots and a crippling recession, the SWP became the single-largest party and formed the first of many Breheimian Socialist Governments.

Shortly afterwards, however, the SWP experienced its most devastating split when the party decided to reject the Moscow Theses. Until 1923, the SWP had been a part of the Third Internationale (also known as the Communist Internationale), and when the party opted to refuse the Moscow Theses and leave the Comintern, the pro-Moscow minority left to form the Communist Party of Breheim. However, the Communist Party was unable to contest the 1924 election, and by the 1928 election the SWP managed to retain their majority, along with the Agrarian Party, without the support of the Communist Party. Meanwhile, the SWP had grown more pro-Soviet than the Communist Party, as the Communist Party of Breheim aligned with the 'Right Opposition' of Nikolai Bukharin, while the SWP came to support the policies of Joseph Stalin. While the SWP didn't formally rejoin the Comintern, the SWP was still considered an 'affiliate' after the Communist Party of Breheim decided to leave the comintern in 1931.

The SWP government decided to align itself more with the policies of the USSR in 1931, leading to the creation of a series of Five Year Plans (1932-1937, 1937-1942, 1942-1947, 1947-1952 and the final five year plan of 1952-1957). However, while the SWP aligned Breheimian policies more in line with the USSR, it never managed to make Breheim a fully 'socialist state' on par with the USSR and the former eastern bloc nations, due to heavy societal and parliamentary resistance towards several measures. It did, however, lead to a mostly centrally planned economy and the creation of the People's Security Bureau, an organization modeled on the NKVD. Other notable reforms were the nationalization of industry and most sectors of the economy (although, private ownership were tolerated in some sectors, the fishing and whaling sectors being the most prominent), the strengthening of repressive policies against the Runit minority and the implementation of Russian as an official language along with Breheimian.

A paradigm shift within the SWP occurred after Khruschev's Secret Speech, which forced the SWP to review their past policies and ideology. An internal power-struggle between what has later been dubbed the 'sovietophile' and 'reformist' branches of the SWP ensued, with the latter eventually coming ahead in 1964 when the reformist Frans Margen became Chairman of the SWP and Premier of Breheim, taking over from the stalinist Arne Linsrud. The economy was partially liberalized, with the abolition of five-year plans, although the state maintained ownership within most of the economy, small-businesses were legalized in all non-manufacturing and non-financial sectors. Breheim also adopted an isolationist foreign policy. Repressive social policies were also loosened, particularly with regards to the Runit minority, while Russian was removed as an official language in 1971 (although, Russian remained a mandatory second language in Breheimian schools until 1992, when it became a voluntary course along with German and English, joined by Quenya in 1994). The support of the SWP was at its highest during this period, even getting more than two thirds of the popular vote in some elections, and has been dubbed the Golden Years of Socialism.

The 1970s proved a troubling time for the SWP, as the student-led Countercultural Movement led to their gradual loss of monopoly power in Breheimian politics. By the end of the 1970s, while the SWP remained dominant nationally, opposition parties had gained power in several local governments (including the large cities of Bjørnborg and Alfby, former SWP bastions). The repression of the students were also widely condemned, and led to restrictions being put on the People's Security Bureau and a ban on allowing military intervention in domestic matters following wide-spread protests after the Klausgate Massacre (which led to the death of thirty-two protesters).

In 1996, the SWP experienced its first major policy shift since the end of Linsrud's governance, when the social-democrat Klaus Metter was elected. Metter's government further liberalized the economy, while largely retaining conservative social policies. Metter was hostile to the power that the trade unions of Breheim had, and reformed the striking laws to put further restrictions, as well as trying to implement state-control of the unions. The result was several large-scale strikes in state-owned enterprises, and Metter's government decided to use conscripts as strikebreakers, which sparked significant controversy. This led to the election of the radical syndicalist Ragnar Hansen for the Breheimian Worker's Confederation in 2001, the dominant trade union confederation in Breheim which until then had been the SWP's primary supporter. Hansen, also a SWP member, organized an opposition group within the SWP dubbed the Syndicalist Faction.

In 2006, Grim Trane (one of Ragnar Hansen's close associated) was elected the Foreman of the SWP, and by extension Premier of Breheim as the SWP retained a clear majority despite electoral setbacks since the 80s. Trane abolished all laws limiting trade union activity, leading to a series of strikes for higher wages, better working conditions and occasionally for the sacking of unpopular managers of state-run enterprise. Trane also instituted punitive taxation on medium-enterprise, to the extent of 40% of the gross income, leading to numerous bankruptcies and ensuing nationalizations. The Breheimian Recession of 2007, which lasted well into 2012, was blamed by many to be a result of Trane's economics policies, and support of the SWP collapsed.

While Trane was voted out at an extraordinary SWP congress, and the social-democrat Nils Magnussen were elected, the SWP still lost the 2013 Emergency Election by a landslide. Shortly afterwards, Nils Magnussen was booted by a grassroots movement, and the socialist Frederick Owusu became the first non-ethnic Breheimian leader of a major political party in the country's history. The economic collapse of 2013, following liberalization measures by the new UPP/EADL government, have caused support of the SWP to climb once more, although they remain far from the levels of support they once had. Following the declaration of the Fourth Republic of Breheim and the ensuing tetracameral system of government, the SWP allied with the Alliance of Radical Socialists and Farmers (an electoral organization primarily backed by the Communist Party) have gained control of two parliaments, and by extension, half the cabinet.