British Union of Fascists
|
The flag of the British Union of Fascists showing the "Flash and Circle" symbolic of "action within unity" |
The
British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a
political party of the
1930s in the
United Kingdom. The party was formed in
1932 by ex-Conservative Party MP, and
Labour government minister
Sir Oswald Mosley. The party was a union, comprised of several smaller Fascist parties, such as the
British Fascisti.
Mosley modelled himself on another
fascist leader,
Benito Mussolini. He also modeled his party along the lines of fascist movements in other countries, primarily
Italy.
He instituted a black uniform, gaining the party the nickname
blackshirts. The BUF was
anti-communist and protectionist. It supported the replacement of
parliamentary democracy with a system of elected executives with jurisdiction over their own industries - something similar to the
corporatism of the Italian fascists.
Many of the BUF's members were drawn from aristocratic and military families and included celebrated military man
J.F.C. Fuller. Its official policy, as represented in speeches and publications through the early 1930s, was anti-
Jewish.
The listeners heard Sir O.Mosley refer to his would-be interrupters as "sweeping of the Continental ghettoes, hired by Jewish financiers": "and alien gang imported from all quarters of Britain by Jewish money to prevent Englishmen putting their case" (The Times, Oct 01, 1934)
In answer to a question about the Blackshirt attitude towards Jews, Sir Oswald Mosley said:- "We will not tolerate within the State a minority organized against the interests of the State. Jews must either put the interests of Britain before the interests of Jewry or they will be deported from Britain." (
The Times, March 25, 1935)
The BUF claimed a membership as high as 50,000 at one point, and the
Daily Mail was an early supporter, famously running the headline
"Hurrah for the Blackshirts!".
Opinion was divided in response to the BUF's black-shirted followers; in some quarters, their unified appearance, and the vision of militant
Britishness they presented, won the party supporters. Others found in them something absurd.
P.G. Wodehouse, for example, based the "amateur
dictator"
Roderick Spode and his
Black Shorts, which appear in his
Jeeves and Wooster stories, on Mosley and the BUF.
Despite considerable - and sometimes violent - resistance from Jewish people, the Labour Party, assorted democrats and the
Communist Party of Great Britain, the BUF still found a following in the
East End of
London, where in the
London County Council elections of
1937 they obtained good results in their strongholds of
Bethnal Green,
Shoreditch and
Limehouse. However, the BUF never faced a
General Election - feeling unready in
1935, they urged voters to abstain, offering the promise of
"Fascism Next Time".
Towards the middle of the 1930s, the BUF's increasingly violent activities, and a growing discomfort at its perceived alignment with the
German Nazi party, began to alienate some of its
middle-class supporters. Membership accordingly decreased. At a rally in London, in 1934, BUF stewards became involved in a violent confrontation with militant communists, and this bad publicity caused the
Daily Mail to withdraw its support from the party.
With its lack of electoral success, the party was drawn away from mainstream politics and further toward extreme
anti-Semitism during
1934-
1935. They organised several anti-Semitic marches and protests in London, such as the one that resulted in the famous
Battle of Cable Street in October
1936. Nonetheless, membership fell to below 8,000 by the end of
1935. The government was sufficiently concerned, however, to pass the
Public Order Act of 1936, which banned the wearing of
political uniforms during marches, required police consent for political marches to go ahead, and effectively destroyed the movement. The BUF was completely banned in May
1940, and Mosley and 740 other senior fascists were
interned for much of
World War II. Mosley made several unsuccessful attempts at a political comeback after the war, most notably in the
Union Movement.
The BUF Anthem strongly resembles the German
Horst-Wessel-Lied (anthem of the NSDAP), and was set to the same tune.
Sound recordings are available of this anthem.
The lyrics are as follows::''Comrades, the voices of the dead battalions,:''Of those who fell that Britain might be great,:''Join in our song, for they still march in spirit with us,:''And urge us on to gain the Fascist state!:(Repeat Last Two Lines)
''We're of their blood, and spirit of their spirit,:''Sprung from that soil for whose dear sake they bled,:''Against vested powers, Red Front, and massed ranks of reaction,:''We lead the fight for freedom and for bread!:(Repeat Last Two Lines)
''The streets are still, the final struggle's ended;:''Flushed with the fight we proudly hail the dawn!:''See, over all the streets the Fascist banners waving,:''Triumphant standards of our race reborn!:(Repeat Last Two Lines)
*
Mosley (movie) (1997)
*
Diana Mosley - Wife of BUF leader Oswald Mosley
*The Times, Monday, Oct 01, 1934; pg. 14; Issue 46873; col C -
Fascist Rally At Manchester Counter-Invective*The Times, Monday, Mar 25, 1935; pg. 16; Issue 47021; col D -
Fascist Policy*
OswaldMosley.com The Friends of Oswald Mosley*
Academic essay examining the failure of Mosley and the BUF
