British Fascism

The rise of fascism in Britain during the 1930s, and its subsequent fall, has been subject to robust scholarly research, disproportionate to its tangible impact on history. This fact perhaps owes much to the incongruity of a fascist presence in a country that was, in retrospect, on the precipice of war against fascism.Scholarly work undertaken on this subject has tended to orient itself around the perspective of the fascists at this time, that is, it has mainly elaborated on why fascism as a movement contributed to its own demise. Somewhat ignored is the question, why opposition to fascism was successful? I wish to suggest that the opposition to the fascist movement prevailed due to two decisive factors: its ability to influence the narrative around the unfolding political violence while simultaneously forcing the hand of the government to intervene.

This chapter surveys the primary and secondary literature on the far right in Britain since 1967. It examines the social science and historical scholarship on Britain’s main extreme-right and radical right parties and social movements including the National Front (NF), the British National Party (BNP), UKIP and the English Defence League (EDL). Autobiographies and memoirs by far-right and anti-fascist activists, as well as investigations by journalists are also reviewed and contextualised. The chapter explores extreme-right subcultures such as Holocaust denial, white power music, the ‘metapolitical’ New Right, digital activism and terrorism as well as various forms of transnational organising and the ‘cultural’ turn in fascism studies.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of chapter 12 of Tomorrow Belongs to Us: The British Far Right since 1967 edited by Nigel Copsey and Matthew Worley (Abingdon: Routledge 2017) available online https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315563824/tomorrow-belongs-us-nigel-copsey-matthew-worley?context=ubx&refId=ed373be9-c653-4a32-943b-242452c34c2e

Britskou unii fašistů (British Union of Fascists; BUF) založil Sir Oswald Mosley dne 1. října 1932. Třebaže se jednalo o největší britskou fašistickou stranu, nikdy se ani vzdáleně nepřiblížila významu svého německého a italského protějšku a bez výrazného úspěchu po zákazu britské vlády v červnu 1940 ukončila svou činnost. Navzdory tomu se těší významnému badatelskému zájmu, což vyplývá zejména z faktu, že ideologové BUF byli na rozdíl od jiných hnutí schopni rozvinout ucelenou ideologii a poměrně racionální politický program, vycházející z filozofického základu, jenž byl založen na směsi Lamarckovy genetické teorie, Spenglerových úvahách o úpadku Západu, Nietzscheho vitalismu a Shawovy vize vzkříšení "nového člověka". Ústřední tematikou ideologie BUF byl mýtus o znovuzrození. Černokošiláči byli naprosto přesvědčeni, že "éra demokracie" je u konce a jejich země potřebuje znovuzrození, které může přinést jenom korporativní stát. Stará, zkorumpovaná a prohnilá demokracie měla podle nich být odstraněna a nahrazena novým, kvalitativně lepším fašistickým systémem založeným na vůdcovském principu a osobní odpovědnosti. Mosleyho muži se viděli jako bojovníci nové éry, elita, jež měla vést národ na cestě k návratu zpět na výsluní. Monografie analyzuje fašistický mýtus o znovuzrození v ideologii a propagandě BUF, poukazuje na aktivismus a entusiasmus členů hnutí a dokládá, že víra v tento mýtus byla u mnoha z nich autentická. Zejména kapitoly popisující různé odznáčky, plakety, přezky, kravaty, nášivky, šperky a další předměty s fašistickou symbolikou demonstrují to, jak hluboce byli Černokošiláči "ponořeni" do myšlenek fašismu na každodenní úrovni, jak silná byla jejich víra v přicházející krizi a nevyhnutelnost radikálních řešení. Tyto zdánlivě nepodstatné drobnosti dokazují, že politický aktivismus fašistů přesahoval cokoli, co známe z praxe běžných demokratických politických stran, a že fašismus byl mnohem nebezpečnější, než se na první pohled může zdát.

A review of the development of fascist discourses over time proves the centrality and salience of gender, which is reveased as having metaphor, social-role oriented, and reproductive dynamics. In this paper, we propose a 5-part model to account for imbrications of gender in fascism across national contexts. Using a discourse-historical and multimodal approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, we then trace how gender surfaces in 60 years of British fascist discourse, showing how the model can be applied in the specifics of one national context. In British post-war fascism, gender, sexuality and fecundity were articulated around the masculinity of Empire, Galtonian eugenics, and competing with migrant fecundity. We identify how some of these gendered dynamics may be contrasted with with other forms of fascism.

Sir Oswald Mosley patří mimo jakoukoli pochybnost k nejpozoruhodnějším postavám britských dějin 20. století. V britské a v menší míře též v evropské politice byl totiž přítomen prakticky po celé dlouhé století. Byl při většině klíčových událostí meziválečného období a udržoval styky s nejvýraznějšími osobnostmi své doby – Benitem Mussolinim, Adolfem Hitlerem a Franklinem D. Rooseveltem, stejně jako s Nevillem Chamberlainem nebo Winstonem Churchillem. „Proslavil“ se však zejména jako zakladatel a vůdce nejvýznamnějšího britského fašistického hnutí – Britské unie fašistů. Mosleyho životopis provede čtenáře nejen jeho životem, ale plasticky vykreslí i pohnuté britské a evropské dějiny minulého století.

DESPERATE MEASURES OR CREATIVITY? BUF PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES Significant proportion of the British Union of fascists’ (BUF) members were convinced that the existential threats to the nation and civilisation are hard facts and adopting fascism as the form of government was an absolute necessity for the survival of the British nation. This faith and devotion to the cause expressed itself in the enthusiasm for the cause, readiness for self-sacrifice and very active propagating of the ideas. Troubled by the lack of finance and resources, BUF members came with a variety of propaganda techniques, which demonstrate their commitment to and enthusiasm for fascism. Some ideas were very creative, some we could consider desperate. This article focuses on the BUF’s propaganda machinery and is describing some of the not very common propaganda techniques that BUF used. 41 See advertisements in The Blackshirt, No. 199, 19th December 1936, p. 2; Action, 18th June 1938, p. 6, and others; see also, SPU...

Oggetto dell'intervento è la rievocazione storica, il pageant, e del suo significato all’interno di due romanzi inglesi dell’interwar period: "Between the Acts" (1941) di Virginia Woolf e "Wigs on the Green" (1935) di Nancy Mitford. Il pageant ha rivestito un ruolo di primo piano nell’Inghilterra degli anni compresi fra le due guerre, assurgendo a simbolo della tradizione inglese e della Englishness, trovando, inoltre, un forte riscontro nella letteratura di quel periodo. Nel romanzo di Woolf, esso diventa da un lato evocazione nostalgica di un passato quasi mitico di un Inghilterra rurale caratterizzata da un’armonia insulare tipicamente britannica, dall’altro, invece, amara constatazione dell’impossibilità di un ritorno ad esso: attraverso la rievocazione storica messa in scena da Miss La Trobe, Woolf intende porre l’accento su quel caos ineluttabile che contraddistingue la condizione umana nel mondo moderno e su quel profondo senso di solitudine e isolamento della società inglese sull’orlo del secondo conflitto mondiale. Mitford utilizza invece il pageant come strumento per smascherare l’inconsistente ideologia nazionalista del fascismo inglese di quegli anni, considerata dalla scrittrice solo vuota retorica priva di scopo, e rappresentata, in Wigs on the Green, dal personaggio di Eugenia Malmains, la più ricca ereditiera inglese - versione romanzesca della sorella della scrittrice, la fascista Unity Valkyrie - fervente sostenitrice di Captain Jack delle Union Jackshirts, partito fascista immaginario basato sulla British Union of Fascists di Sir Oswald Mosley. Partendo da una breve introduzione del pageant e del ruolo che riveste nella letteratura inglese degli anni ’30, si passa poi alla sua contestualizzazione all’interno delle opere di queste due scrittrici, focalizzandosi, in particolare, sul significato che assume all’interno del quadro storico-politico, culturale e sociale.

Determining how 'Britain' reacted to the rise of Hitler is problematic, due to Britain not being made up of a homogenous group. This period saw an economic depression, the creation of the British Union of Fascists in 1932, an anti-fascist movement, a renewed interest in eugenics and fitness and a continuation of so-called 'parlour anti-Semitism'. Its people cannot, therefore, be confined to one reaction or attitude to the rise of Hitler. The phenomena of British Fascism and Anti-Fascism activity are useful microcosms for gauging the complexity and variety of reactions. People from many levels of society engaged in either pro or anti fascist activity during the 1930s. The reaction to the anti-Semitic dimension of the Nazi regime is also a useful factor as it vastly complicated reactions to the regime. For example, Hitler initially fascinated British eugenicists, as he was one of the first leaders to put their ideas into practice, but they decried his anti-Semitism and the extreme levels to which he implemented eugenic policies. The contemporary sources that will be examined are the newspaper articles produced by British correspondents to Germany and the correspondence of Horace Rumbold, the British ambassador to Germany in this period. It will be seen that as newspapers had significant social influence and as such both reflected and manipulated the British reaction to Hitler, their uncertainty was mirrored in Britain.

The paper attempts to look at the British Union of Fascists’ (BUF) propaganda in the light of the partial agreement or ‘new consensus’ that has emerged in fascist studies in recent years. Based on the official BUF party press, publications, pamphlets, propaganda posters, speeches and the public appearances of the movement’s leading figures and other forms of propaganda, this article analyses the propaganda of the BUF as not just in terms of such crude ‘brainwashing’ or ‘social control’, but also as a form of social engineering – in other words, as a serious attempt to realise the ideas of an alternative modernity and of a political, economic, social and cultural revolution which enlists the enthusiasm, commitment and creativity of the fascist cause.

(research article) Rivista Storica Italiana, CXXXI, 1, 2019, pp. 205-232.
Durante i primi anni Novanta veniva pioneristicamente inaugurato da Marco Palla un nuovo filone di studi nel campo della riflessione storiografica sul corporativismo, teso ad analizzare le percezioni straniere nei confronti dello Stato corporativo nell’ambito della diplomazia britannica legata alla politica estera. Questo filone di ricerca è intersecabile con gli studi sul fascismo britannico, incluso il ruolo e le visioni delle donne fasciste inglesi, e sui legami instaurati con i modelli politici delle dittature europee. Sono però, mancate indagini volte a ricostruire l’influsso del fascismo italiano in relazione a vari aspetti progettuali, teorici e sociali del corporativismo.
Questo saggio sonda le posizioni su fascismo e corporativismo rintracciabili in diversi ambiti del mondo britannico, portando alla luce scuole e profili leader per la ‘propaganda corporativa’ del regime – come Luigi Villari, personalità chiave per la propaganda del fascismo nel mondo anglofono soprattutto in relazione agli ambienti accademici.

A review of the revised 1998 edition of Richard Thurlow's masterly book 'Fascism in Britain' (1985). The original edition included groundbreaking material and new perspectives on how the police, MI5 and the Home Office dealt with the potential public order threat posed by the British Union of Fascists (BUF). The revised and updated 1998 edition does not alter the main arguments; it is still mainly a historical account of British fascism which explores the complex relationship between fascist theory and practice and aims to describe the evolution of a number of ideological 'traditions' common to both the interwar and postwar British extreme right. Its strength remains in Thurlow's very thorough knowledge of the interwar variant.

(monograph) Focalizzandosi sulla diplomazia culturale estera del fascismo, il volume si concentra sul case study britannico individuando per la prima volta il ruolo svolto dai docenti universitari di Italian Studies nell’ambito della propaganda all’estero del regime. Per fare questo, si avvale di un lavoro d’archivio su fonti britanniche ed italiane in precedenza inesplorate soprattutto dei The National Archives di Londra, dell’Archivio Storico Diplomatico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e dell’Archivio Fondazione Ugo Spirito e Renzo De Felice. Il libro ricostruisce così l’attività politica di intellettuali «funzionari» e «militanti», includendo l’analisi di personalità rimaste in precedenza del tutto inesplorate in relazione al loro rapporto – talvolta solido, altre ambiguo - con il regime: da Cesare Foligno, docente universitario di italianistica presso l’Università di Oxford negli anni della dittatura in Italia, ad  Alfredo Obertello e Piero Rèbora, rispettivamente delle università di Cardiff e di Liverpool e Manchester. Il risultato è la scoperta di un avvincente network che offre un contributo originale per esplorare da una diversa e più esaudiente prospettiva l’esercizio della propaganda estera fascista così come il problema dell’inquadramento politico degli italiani emigrati durante il Ventennio.

This paper explored the life and fascist ideology of Major James Strachey Barnes (1890-1955), especially his attempts to portray fascism as a universal creed. Barnes was a key figure behind the International Centre of Fascist Studies in 1928-31, and also made radio broadcasts for the Italian Fascist regime in World War Two.

This is a book review of Graham Macklin: 'Failed Fuhrers: A History of Britain's Extreme Right' (Routledge, 2020). It suggests that Macklin's new book is a major contribution to the historiography on Britain's fascist and extreme right history in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Based on a forthcoming book chapter to be included in one of Peter Lang book series, this paper seeks to explore the representations of urban and rural spaces and its memoirs in European and British far-right 'political culture' during the mid-1920s and the 1930s by taking Italy, German and Britain as case studies. Through an identification of realistic and imaginative landscapes traceable in the memorialist literature produced by Fascists, this research analyses how spaces and civilizations have been represented and/or remembered and their connection with the development of political projects and aims. These include, for instance, the search of consensus for Fascist-Nazi internal and foreign politics such as the relation between the State and the Church, approval for racial discrimination among society and the defence of the public images of charismatic leader during the post-Second World War period – as with the case of Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists in Britain. Investigating previously unexplored memorialist literature of Fascism in Europe and beyond, this research explores from a fresh perspective how and why Fascism was experienced in different countries and measures the impact played by literary representations of cities, rural spaces and civilizations in developing Fascist political programmes and ideologies. In so doing, it assists in assessments of the links between Fascism and other important elements in society of that time, including ideas of race and colonialism, leading to offer an original contribution to the field of memory studies and those of 20 th century Europe's history, political ideologies and politics.

As a historian working on both the interwar fascist and contemporary far right, I have become more aware of how the 'myths' and 'realities' of past events, especially those associated with the Second World War, can be used and abused by people with a blatantly ideological agenda, especially current-day members of the extreme right. This has been particularly the case with the 'Battle of Britain', a highly selective version of which - rather shockingly - has been appropriated in some British far right propagandistic literature in an attempt to make dubious political claims about the nature of society today. This brief article provides a summary of some of my new research on this topic and the more general abuse of history by the far right.

Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, attempted to portray himself as a reluctant antisemite, a narrative many historians have bought into. Daniel Tilles argues that such a reading is wrong. Opposition to Jews was at the very core of the would-be dictator’s ideology.

... Ringraziamenti particolari vanno a Giuseppe Parlato, diret-tore della Fondazione Spirito, eaLucia R. Petese, la quale ha catalogato e inven-tariato le carte Pellizzi e la cui preziosa consulenza ha accompagnato l'intero svi-luppo della ricerca e della stesura del libro. ...

This article considers the extent to which the Holocaust galvanized British antifascism in the 1960s. It explores whether the genocide surfaced in Jewish antifascists’ motivations and rhetoric but goes beyond this to assess the Holocaust’s political capital in wider antifascism and anti-racism. The article considers whether political coalitions were negotiated around Holocaust memory, for example, by analysing whether Jewish antifascism intersected with the black and Asian communities of Smethwick and Southall respectively who were targeted by the far right in 1964. Using archival materials and newly-collected oral histories, the article surveys organisations including the Jewish Board of Deputies, the 62 Group, Yellow Star Movement and Searchlight newspaper. It will argue that the Holocaust played a more important role in 1960s’antifascism than has been recognised. Jewish groups fragmented around the lessons of the genocide for their antifascism. The Holocaust influenced race relations legislation and became a metonym for extreme racist violence.

The summer of 1976 is an under-cited moment of significance in the history of race and immigration in post-war England. A series of major incidents appeared to highlight lasting racial fractures in English society, often exacerbated by the provocative editorial decisions of the press. This article, focused particularly on events in the Lancashire town of Blackburn, analyses some of the ways in which constructions of a “crisis of race relations” were developed in local and national newspapers during this tumultuous summer.