International Third Position
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International Third Position (ITP) was a group formed by Nick Griffin and Derek Holland and as a continuation of the Political Soldier movement that originated in the right-wing British National Front in the early 1980s. With a very small membership the ITP preached a form of revolutionary nationalism that attacked capitalism and looked to the Strasser brothers and writers like Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton for inspiration. Italian nationalist Roberto Fiore acted as the movement's eminence grise (and chief financial backer) while seeking asylum in Britain in the 1980s following his implication in Italian terror bombings by the Terza Posizione movement. Fiore was later acquitted of all involvement.
Initially the ITP distanced itself from traditional Fascism and Nazism, promoting "racial separatism" rather than crude racism. Under Mr. Holland's influence it also aligned itself closely to the "Third Universal Theory" of Muammar al-Qaddafi, and sold copies of "The Green Book." The International Third Position operated more as an "elite cadre" than a mass movement. It sought to become an umbrella organisation for various national revolutionary parties throughout Europe and the world.
Though a key formulator of the Third Positionist platform, Nick Griffin left only months after the ITP's formation. He quickly threw his lot in with the British National Party, which he later took control of. Derek Holland, though appearing at nationalist functions as late as 2002, appears to have retired from active political involvement. Mr. Fiore moved back to Italy in the 1990s to start his own Third Positionist movement called Forza Nuova.
International Third Position is also the name of an ideology (after which the British ITP was named) that combines nationalist and social elements, drawing from the early 20th Century Distributists, Social Creditors, Guild Socialists and other "radical patriots". As a variation of national socialism, critics on the left tend to see International Third Position ideology as a form of neofascism, while others see it as displaying characteristics of a leftwing ideology.
The ITP changed its name to England First in 2001 and has since become a part of the European National Front with groups such as the German NPD, Spanish Falange, Italian Forza Nuova, Romanian Noua Dreapta, Polish NOP and others.
The most recent ITP/ENF gathering in central London in April 2005 drew 150 supporters.
This tendency, although sometimes referred to as following a "third way", should not be confused with either the political party in the U.K. calling itself Third Way (although this group also has it's roots in the defunct Official National Front), nor with the centrist Third way electoral movement.