Ut med ryssarna! Antikommunistiska upplopp i Danmark och Sverige under Ungernkrisen 1956

When the Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956, a wave of streetlevel anti-communist protests swept overWestern Europe. These often violent protest were directed against Soviet embassies, domestic communist parties and communist
newspapers. The wave also reached Scandinavia, where the 1950’s otherwise is considered a calm and peaceful period. In Denmark and Sweden, a number of antiSoviet and anti-communist riots took place in capital cities such as Copenhagen and Stockholm as well as in some smaller cities. In
this article, the riots are investigated and analysed forthe first time. Many of the participants in the riots were students, and some were members of conservative organisations, social and political groups that very rarely engaged in streetlevel confrontations. It is argued that their presence in the riots was
made possible by a combination of traditional animosity against Russia and a strong conservative anticommunism. It is also argued that the riots included a number of spectacular events and actions such as flag-burning and the use of effigies. These actions are usually seen as a part of a repertoire of contention that emerged in the radical left-wing and anti-war
demonstrations of the 1960’s. However, as is shown here, these contentious actions obviously had predecessors in the 1950’s, and flag-burning and effigies were not as unique forthe 1960’s as it is sometimes assumed.