Ideology and International Relations

During the interwar years a new political ideology known as fascism began to appear across Europe. Fascism was first introduced to Britain by Miss Rotha Lintorn Orman who founded the British Fascisti in 1923 however fascism in Britain received little recognition until 1932 when politician Oswald Mosley founded the British Union of Fascists.

The British Union of Fascists was a far-right movement and through the use of party newspapers and other forms of propaganda they began to spread the views among both supporters and the general public. One of the newspapers that the BUF used to inform the public about their party was called The Blackshirt which was targeted towards existing members and supporters of the BUF. The issues often included articles informing readers of fascist news both in Britain and in Europe as well as detailing the policies of the BUF.

The Blackshirt newspaper was published between February 1933 – May 1939. It was initially published weekly however this later changed to monthly publications.

Another newspaper that was published by the BUF was called Action which adopted a less political format. The aim of this newspaper was to recruit new members and keep BUF sympathisers informed.

First published in February 1936, Action newspaper continued to be issued until May 1940

Ideology

One of the main ideologies of the BUF was their nationalistic and patriotic views. They wanted to preserve the British Empire and transform Britain into an independent state.

Party policy was often published in issues of The Blackshirt .

This was intended to educate people on what the BUF stood for and aimed to achieve

Mosley’s response to the capitalist crisis and the economic crisis during the 1930’s were central to the policies of the BUF. He was very much focused on building a successful corporate state and in his book The Greater Britain, there is a chapter dedicated to discussing the idea of a corporate state.

Discussion of the corporate state in issue of The Blackshirt

Quote for The Greater Britain; book by Oswald Mosley

Since the party policies were directed towards bringing both economic and social transformation, the fascist ideology appealed to many people including women and those who were unemployed. With regard to the workers and the unemployed, the BUF promised to provide work as well as raise wages.

In the initial stages of the party, the BUF renounced anti-semitism however in the later 1930’s violence towards Jews became much more common in the BUF. For example, in East London speeches became more anti-Semitic and Jewish communities suffered from attacks by the BUF. The BUF were also anti-communist, however despite their violent reputation, the BUF were often victims of attacks from communist groups.

Cartoon published in The Daily Express. The BUF were often involved in violent conflicts with anti-fascist groups.

Mosley and Mussolini

In January 1932 Mosley visited Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini in Rome. He was inspired by and admired Mussolini for the fascist state he had built thus leading to a change in perspective for Mosley and the development of his own fascist party. Mosley relied on Mussolini for both funding and establishing a fascist party and ideology that reflected that of Italian fascism.

Mosley (right) visiting Mussolini in Italy

Sources

Cullen, S.  ‘Political Violence: The Case of the British Union of Fascists’, Journal of Contemporary History 28.2 (1993)

Love, G. ‘’What’s the Big Idea?’: Oswald Mosley, the British Union of Fascists and Generic Fascism’, Journal of Contemporary History, 42.3 (2007)

Mosley, O. The Greater Britain (London: Jeffcoats Ltd., 1932)

The British Union of Fascists collection, British Online Archives

Written by Evie Craig