The ’Mutiny Against Destiny’- 1929
Oswald Mosley as leader of the BUF, 'The Blackshirts'. The picture captures Mosley's theatrical style of politics and his extreme ego.
That fact that Britain was a victorious power in the Great War partly helps to explain the generally limited impact of extremism, and particularly Fascism, on British politics in the 1920’s. Britain had no great national grievance to fester on, such as in the case of Italy and its supposedly limited gains from the war, or Germany and it’s ‘stab in the back’ myth. The fair economic climate of the 1920’s, together with a generally liberal and well-established political culture, also contributed to extreme ideologies being no more than the most minor of irritants in the 1920’s. Several factors were to be responsible for this changing as the 1920’s progressed. Notably, the spread of Communism in Europe, first, distantly, in Russia, and, later closer to home, in France, contributed to a sense of menace from the forces of the left which would only be strengthened by the post-war extension of the franchise. A growing sense developed amongst some sections of the middle-class of an ‘unnatural’ level of social strength amongst the working class, and a longing to a return to a supposedly harmonious Edwardian social settlement, particularly after the ‘red election’ of 1929. Equally, just as Bolshevism seemed to be in the ascendant in Europe, radical, anti-democratic solutions seemed to be the answer to the avoidance of communism as more and more states adopted Fascist or authoritarian political solutions; democracy and moderate government in Europe seemed to be increasingly being ‘squeezed’ under economic and political depression; the exception, rather than the rule.
However, as in France or Russia, experiences of the fear and gore of the trenches was as likely to turn a person to pacifism, religion, Socialism, or Communism as it was to turn them to Fascism. In particular, British communism had been immeasurably strengthened by the mismanagement of the Joyhnson-Hicks government, and had emerged from a totally insignificant force to a movement with Parliamentary representation. The events surrounding that government had also had the effect of doing much to dent the confidence of the middle-class in the Tories as the party of stability, and alienate both moderate and radical opinion alike. The following onset of depression in 1929 had brought about a culmination in Britain’s negative fortunes, after many years of prosperous stability under the relatively recent Curzon ministry – now itself swiftly something of a fading memory of a ‘better age’ for Britain.
The rise of British Fascism was certainly not predetermined, but the electoral success of the CPGB in the 1929 election, together with international trends, both political and economic, and the failure of the right-wing of the Tory party under Joyhnson-Hicks virtually assured some kind of prominence to a British Fascist movement. Until the end of the twenties, however, British Fascism had been no more than a small-scale gathering of cranks and die-hards, focused around such groups as the British Fascisti, lead by amateurish yet spirited Rotha Lintorn Orman (And one of the only Fascist groups to ever be lead by a woman.), the Imperial Fascist League, and other fringe groups. There was, therefore, no obvious pre-existing base for a significant unified British Fascist movement, either in terms of leadership or structure, as the depression set in.
That was set to change quicker than could be imagined, and largely thanks to the efforts of one man – Oswald Mosley. An establishment, aristocratic figure by background, Mosley had served in the Great War in the Royal Flying Corps, a division of the armed forces arguably more dangerous for those involved than for those in the trenches. Elected as a Conservative in the 1918 ‘Hang the Kaiser’ election, Mosley had gone on to largely alienate many within his party, often placing his right to air his views above that of party loyalty and discipline; a largely unheard of way of approaching politics in the Conservative Party. Mosley came to view Britain as being locked in a life-or-death struggle for her place in the world, a struggle that could only be ended favourably by tackling the continuing problem of unemployment and economic decline head-on, in a radical fashion. Despite being persuaded to stay within the party during the Curzon government (Mosley married one of Curzon’s daughters, Cynthia in 1920.), and with the Labour party being out of government, Mosley increasingly saw that there was little room for his radical proposals within the Parliamentary system, or within the Tory party, settled as it was in the rhythms of gradual and conventional solutions to economic problems. The continuing weakness of the Labour Party in the twenties also prevented any possible emergence of a radical alternative to standard economic thinking, even if Labour could provide it. Mosley crossed the floor in 1926 to become an independent, and, in 1927, after the total failure of the Joyhnson-Hicks government, formed the New Party, a short-lived experiment which was terminated with Mosley’s conversion to Fascism in 1928, the publication of
The Greater Britain, and the formation of the British Union of Fascists early the next year.
The BUF flag, with the distinctive circle and lighting flash design, representing the Fascist ideal of 'purpose within unity'.
In
The Greater Britain, Mosley’s thinking reached it’s final development, and he postulated that Britain was – drawing on themes first drawn up in nationalist circles in Oswald Spengler’s
Decline of the West - in terminal decline, as it grew economically weak and politically moribund, labouring under the “old gangs” of British politics, who were unable or unwilling to face up to the challenge of radicalising Britain to keep up with its international competitors. The solution was a revival of Britain under a dictatorial regime (Supposedly based around the strong centralised monarchy of Tudor times which had first launched Britain’s arrival on the world scene) which would have full power to break the mould, and carry out the necessary economic measures, leading to a rebirth of national sentiment and the confirmation of Britain’s place in the world.
Combining rationally presented economic argument with the irrational flair of nationalism, the party entered into the 1929 election hoping to survive rather than prosper. It did – just. Mosley barely retained his seat, and two other BUF candidates scraped through in London's East End to be elected. Astonishing in of itself, the election success of the BUF went hand-in-hand with the much more successful CPGB. Ironically, both results probably marked a kind of success for the BUF; as British Communism grew, in tandem with Communism in Europe, so to did the BUF’s chances of attracting opposition support. So to, the election underpinned Mosley’s new position as the undisputed head of British Fascism more generally, with practically all other Fascist parties and groups being subsequently absorbed or amalgamated into the BUF. For a party less than a year old, it was an astonishing result, but whether Mosley could build on it to enter into any position of prominence was still up for debate.
Looks like the French are the ones who will do the Blitzkrieg with Trosky now in power! I can't wait for the showdown! Again exellent update Vincent Julien! 
