Young Conservatives (Denmark)

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Young Conservatives Konservativ Ungdom




Chairperson	Kasper Hülsen

Founded	1904
Headquarters	Nyhavn 4 1051 København K

Mother party	Conservative People's Party
European affiliation	Democrat Youth Community of Europe (DEMYC), Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP)
Nordic affiliation	Nordic Young Conservative Union (NUU)

Website	www.konservativungdom.dk

The Young Conservatives (Danish: Konservativ Ungdom) is the youth wing of the Conservative People's Party in Denmark.

1 History
2 Honorary and prominent members
3 Trivia
4 Literature
5 External links

[edit] History

Founded officially on December 8, 1904, more than a decade before its mother party, KU is the oldest youth political organisation in Denmark, and possibly one of the oldest remaining youth political organisations in the world.

KU was founded by Carl F. Herman Von Rosen, to unite different local initiatives that had sprung up in 1903 and 1904, the first being Århus KU. Following its formation KU grew as an organisation and many local branches covering Denmark were developed. Later prominent party members were chairmen of KU in this period, most notably John Christmas Møller, a historic figure in Danish politics, exiled in England during the Second World War, and celebrated as one of the reasons Denmark was counted among the allied forces after WWII, despite of its collaboration with Germany.

[edit] The 30's

In the 1930s KU experienced a huge increase in membership and peaked at more than 30,000 members under the leadership of chairman Jack G. Westergaard. A shift in style towards being more offensive meant KU became somewhat of an institution. Open air meetings with thousands of participants, demonstrations, and casting conservative leaflets over Copenhagen with the use of aeroplanes, as well as plastering Copenhagen with thousands of campaign posters in a single night - to this day memo rated in the official KU song - made KU legendary in the years to come.

Like other youth organisations of the era, KU also took a critical stance towards democracy in the early 30's, and the ability of democracy to handle the economical and societal crisis. Parts of KU wanted a strong leader and found symbolic inspiration in fascist Italy and Germany. This reflected itself in the brown uniforms and leather straps members of KU wore and the formation of 'Stormtropperne', a security patrol designed to protect from violent assaults from socialists during open air meetings, inspired by the German Sturmabteilung. This more unfortunate period of KU history has since been pinned under more or less fair circumstances to the organisation.

The uniformation, and the formation of a security patrol was also used by the young social democrats and the young communists, but has since been ascribed solely to KU. The uniformation only lasted for 3 days before it was banned by the Danish parliament following a violent incident in which a young social democrat from 'DSU' killed a young communist in a bar brawl.

It has also been insinuated by layman history, most notably in the popular Danish TV-series 'Matador', that KU was directly inspired by Nazism and anti-semitism, which however, was never the case, and has since been rebutted by history.

Following the growth of fascism in Europe, Jack Westergaard and his supporters in KU simultaneously lost momentum in the organisation, and the tides - with later party leader Paul Sørensen - began to change.

[edit] KU during WWII

On April 9, 1940 German troops rolled over the Danish border as part of Operation Weserübung, which immediately became the beginning of the infamous and much debated collaboration between Nazi Germany and the Danish Government. Whilst most of the Danish population did not approve of this, many saw little reason to fight, and another major group of contributors in the Danish fight for freedom, the young communists, did not begin fighting the Germans until after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was breached in 1941. KU's young conservatives were therefore among the first to pick up any real resistance, viewing the collaboration policy led by the government as national treason committed by the Social Democrats and the Danish Liberal Party, the two parties in government which had repeatedly disarmed Denmark in the preceding years, and willingly cooperated with the Germans without any fight, as soon as they crossed the border.

A young conservative writing 'Danskerens regler' (The Rules of the Dane) on the very day of the invasion instigated civil disobedience and sabotage of Nazi rule. As the war went on, thousands of members of KU began committing illegal sabotage, writing illegal papers and employing guerilla tactics. Typically the recruitment of freedom fighters took place in 'terrænsportsforeninger' (terrain sport clubs) which were legal gymnastics clubs that arranged orienteering, but also functioned as a cover for recruitment and training camps, employing military-like training exercises. To this day KUs legendary 'Konsulent Kursus' (KK) (Consultant Course) exists, which albeit in a moderated form works in a similar way, and each year attracts young conservatives who go through a selection procedure.

Due to the chaotic period, it is unfortunately impossible to state the exact number of casualties, but more than 50 KU members are believed to have given their life in a fight for a free Denmark - more than any other youth organisation during the resistance. Bjarne Reuter, a popular and much appraised Danish author, has written the bestseller 'Drengene fra Skt. Petri', a story of a group of young boys who form a resistance group and repeatedly sabotage and destroy Nazi installations until they are finally caught and sent to a concentration camp. 'Drengene fra Skt. Petri' is in fact the dramatization of the true story of 'Aalborg KU', (Aalborg being the 4th largest city in Denmark) and their resistance fight.

[edit] KU after the war

Shortly after the war ended on May 5, 1945 KU experienced a large increase in members again. Two legendary characters in Danish politics, former minister of justice Erik Ninn-Hansen and former prime-minister Poul Schlüter were chairmen during this period.

In the 60s KU considered changing its name to 'Centrum', and the local branch Odense KU even proposed a resolution introducing economic democracy, termed 'ØD' in Denmark at the given period of time. This is to be seen as a result of the spring of 1968, and the drastic drop in membership as the agenda was now mostly set by the left and the hippie- and peace-movement. Any major changes in politics however, never happened, and the name as well as the logo stuck with KU.

[edit] KUs renaissance in the 80's

In the 1980's, as Poul Schlüter became party leader and later prime-minister, and inspired by Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and the conservative wave sweeping over the Western hemisphere, KU experienced a renaissance in membership. Once again as in the 30s, KU set the agenda in many areas of the public debate.

Since then KU has gone down in membeship, but is now once again experiencing an increase in membership and recently gained 800 members in 3 weeks through its kapitalist.dk campaign. The national congress in 2006 drew more than 250 delegates, something which has not been seen in KU for many years.

[edit] KU Today

At the mother party convention in 2005, after heavy research including an interview with former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar, KU proposed a resolution committing the party to a flat tax system, instead of the current progressive Danish tax system. The resolution which was narrowly defeated, caught enormous attention in the media, and the following day, Berlingske Tidende, one of the largest papers in the country, praised KU for its audacity and talent, and proclaimed that KU was the political future of tomorrow.

The current executive board consists of

Kasper Hülsen (National Chairman), Rune Kristensen (Vice-Chairman) and the board, Nicolaj Bang, Mikkel Wrang, Svend Thomsen, Morten Scheelsbeck and Morten Thoregaard.

The three largest local branches in KU are KU Århus, KU Copenhagen and Taastrup KU.

[edit] Honorary and prominent members

KU has had many prominent members, especially in the public debate and larger businesses, many will profess a past as a Young Conservative, particularly in the 1980's, which was revealed in December 2004 at the KU 100 year anniversary, which drew several prominent guests.

The Danish Freedom Institution Libertas was also founded by members of KU.

In 2004 former Prime Minister Poul Schlüter was awarded the honorary membership of KU for excellence in political leadership and for the distribution of conservatism in Danish politics.

[edit] Trivia

KU has many traditions, among these are the Consultant Course ('Konsulent Kursus'), originally a training course for freedom fighters during WWII in KUs summer cottage, which KU has to this day, it still exists, albeit in a moderate form, focusing on developing the leaders of tomorrow.

7 out of 25 places were given to members of KU when CEPOS launced its private University course in free markets.

The KU song is one of KUs trademarks, and is sung after almost every social and political event, although seldom in public. The song is a satire over KUs past in the 30s, and is known throughout the political spectrum. It consists of four verses, and very distinct rules and traditions are attached to each verse.

A very young former prime-minister and honorary member of KU, Poul Schlüter, was chairman in his local KU branch in Haderslev, a small province in southern Jutland, during the German occupation of WWII. The reason for this was that the entire board of his local branch had gone underground into the resistance fight, leaving Poul behind as chairman and the only one not old enough to fight. He later became national chairman of KU as well as party leader and prime minister for 11 years.