‘Neutral Academic Data’ and the International Right

Abstract

In 1945, the International Right regrouped, both internationally and within Europe. On the European level, two eminent Catholics—Archduke Otto von Habsburg, claimant to the Imperial throne of Austro-Hungary and Opus Dei’s candidate to rule over a united Catholic Europe, and future Franco minister and senior Opus Dei member Alfredo Sánchez Bella—founded CEDI (Centre Européen de Documentation et d’Information—European Documentation and Information Centre), a Madrid-based think tank which aimed to unite European conservative and Catholic political organizations and break the diplomatic isolation of General Franco’s Spain. In 1952–1953, the Cercle Pinay was founded as a clandestine forum of European leaders who aimed to oppose the threat of communism and promote the vision of a Catholic and conservative Europe. In the 1960s, the neo-Fascist ‘Strategy of Tension’ emerged. In Britain, various individuals associated with the Conservative Monday Club were associate with sustained efforts to undermine Harold Wilson’s Labour Government (1974–1976), to discredit Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe (1967–1976), and to have Conservative leader Edward Heath (1965–1975) replaced by someone of a ‘more resolute approach.’ This chapter examines the role of (what was presented as) ‘neutral academic data’ on behalf of the ‘International Right.’