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British Fascism and the Mainstream Press 1925-39 IN FROM THE COLD? BRITISH FASCISM AND THE MAINSTREAM PRESS 1925-39 JANET ELIZABETH DACK A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Teesside University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2010 Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………….……….3 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………4 List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………..5 Introduction…………………………………………………………………6 Chapter 1. BEYOND THE PALE? – Attitudes towards domestic Antisemitism………………………………………………37 Chapter 2. CAUTIOUSLY DOES IT – Attitudes to German Antisemitism and Jewish Refugees………………………..82 Chapter 3. DEMONISATION OF THE LEFT AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR………….………………………………...…127 Chapter 4. MINDING BRITAIN’S BUSINESS………….…………..161 Chapter 5. DECADENCE, DECLINE, AND RENEWAL - British cultural perceptions……………………………………....213 Chapter. 6 MEDIA RESPONSES TO MOSLEY AND THE BUF…275 Conclusion……………………………………………………..…………312 Bibliography……………………………………………………...………321 2 ABSTRACT For a more complete understanding of the significance of fascism in inter-war Britain, it is important to consider the extent to which fascist views were an expression or extension of existing mainstream views. This thesis uses original research to examine how far the promotion of fascist views converged with mainstream opinion and identifies the issues on which British fascists went beyond the acceptable boundaries of mainstream society. Examining attitudes to antisemitism, refugees, the left, continental dictatorship and appeasement, culture, and, finally, the response of the mainstream press to the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and their reaction to what they perceived as a conspiracy against them, the thesis explores the possibility that there is a sufficient area of discursive overlap to locate British fascists within the mainstream. Significantly, comparison of the British fascist press and mainstream newspapers reveals that, while there were considerable areas of overlapping discourse, nonetheless, the underlying motivations of the fascists and the mainstream clearly differed. With one notable yet brief exception, the majority of the mainstream press regarded British fascists as belonging to the political margins and, increasingly, British fascism and the BUF in particular, defined itself in counter-cultural opposition to the mainstream. 3 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First I must thank my supervisors, Nigel Copsey, Graham Ford, and Colin Holmes for their patience and support. Thanks are also due to Dan Tilles and to Ron Brown for their constructive criticism, and to Matthew Feldman for sound advice. Melanie Devine deserves more than mere thanks for deploying her proof reading skills on my behalf. Secondly, I am grateful for the unfailing helpfulness of the staff at the British Newspaper Library at Colindale. I would also like to thank staff at the library of Teesside University. Thirdly, I extend my gratitude to Teesside University for providing funding to cover some of the necessary research trips, and for the understanding and support provided when domestic difficulties delayed completion. Finally, I could not have completed this thesis without the forbearance of my family and the encouragement of my husband. The intellectual and emotional support of the LWL has also been of enormous benefit. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my father, Ian William Bradshaw. 4 List of Abbreviations BF British Fascisti BNP British National Party BU British Union of Fascists and National Socialists BUF British Union of Fascists CDA Critical Discourse Analysis CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain EFT Empire Free Trade FO Foreign Office IFL Imperial Fascist League LRC Labour Representation Committee MRP Municipal Reform Party NSDAP National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) SA Storm Division (Sturmabteilung) 5 INTRODUCTION It did not take the disgruntled right of British politics long to seek to emulate Mussolini’s example of fascist national renewal. Alarmed by what they perceived as public apathy and the failure of post-war governments to respond to the dual threat of increasing national decline and imminent socialist revolution, they were attracted to the Fascist’s creed of action. The first stirrings of fascism in Britain displayed little to distinguish it from the pre-existing radical right, but later developments saw the adoption of fascist policies and the evolution of an ideology that drew on British traditions as well as fascist principles. Despite some limited success, fascism in Britain failed and much of the historiographical debate has concentrated on identifying the reasons for that failure.1 Richard Thurlow identified three strands within the historiography: comparisons between British fascist movements and Nazism, studies of fascism as a utopian movement and the analysis of British fascism in terms of fascist/anti-fascist confrontation.2 Until recently, existing research on British fascism has focussed on the 'major players', electoral performance, and on the membership and organisation of fascist groups. This reflects a belief held by historians of British fascism that fresh understandings will emerge from more and more detail about the fascists themselves. However, whilst this detail is important, it is symptomatic of what Kenneth Lunn called a ‘failure of imagination’ and a preoccupation with it limits our understanding of the impact of British fascism on mainstream political and social life as well as on the lives of individuals.3 More recently, historians have begun to adopt a more imaginative approach and attention has focussed on the cultural issues bound up with fascism. This has provided some valuable insight; in particular the work of Martin Durham, Julie Gottlieb, Thomas Linehan and Dan Stone has provided both interest and 6 illumination.4 Yet, despite this recent widening of scope, there has been little attention paid to the ideology and attitudes of British fascists in relation to those of the mainstream. Tony Kushner has pointed to the ambiguity in British responses to fascism: ‘a mixture of fascination, repulsion, admiration and disgust’ in which fascism is identified as ‘other’ and, therefore, distanced from the mainstream, yet its image and symbols retain an aura of magnetism.5 Recently, Martin Pugh has suggested that there was common ground between British fascists and the Conservative right. Other historians have expressed similar opinions; Lunn highlighted the links between fascism and the Conservative party at a local level.6 Local studies by Todd Gray, Thomas Linehan, Nigel Todd, and David Turner support Lunn’s findings.7 Pugh also claims that far from being new or alien, the political ideas promoted by inter-war fascists were developments of previous British political thought.8 Likewise, both Neil Nugent and G. C. Webber have shown that other, earlier, right-wing groups had advocated similar economic and imperial policies to those of the BUF.9 To provide an effective analysis of the dynamics of the relationship of British fascism to the mainstream this thesis adopts a thematically driven approach. Its understanding of what constitutes the mainstream is not absolute, offering a more nuanced conception of the mainstream. The position of the mainstream is fluid, relative to the issue under consideration, and variable over time. On occasion the attitudes of the mainstream and the British fascists converge, but because the mainstream is mutable and fascist ideology lacks flexibility and abhors diversity, time and events see them once more at variance. What we perceive as the mainstream can also be described in political terms as the centre. Uwe Backes’ conceptual analysis of political extremism considers the 7 relationship between the extremes of ‘left’ and ‘right’ and their relationship to the centre, and notes that the Aristotelian tradition regards the centre as embodying the principles of moderation. In political terms the centre provides a solid and balanced foundation for an effective political system that incorporates elements from a variety of forms of government and facilitates the interaction of a host of social forces and differing interests.10 More recent definitions of extremism recognise a core formed by political absolutism and monopolist refusal to tolerate the existence of opposing ideologies. Backes relates this to an understanding of extremism as ‘rejecting the minimum conditions of democratic constitutional states.’11 This interpretation would place British fascism outside of the mainstream. However, Backes gives some theoretical underpinning to claims that there were areas of common ground between the mainstream and the fascists when he concedes that ‘the centre contains something of the extremes.’12 This thesis extends our understanding of the significance of fascism in Britain and of its relations with mainstream perceptions. Firstly, it differentiates the mainstream and extreme positions for a variety of significant issues. Secondly, it considers the extent to which fascist views were an expression or extension of existing mainstream views. Thirdly, it identifies the issues on which British fascists went beyond the acceptable boundaries of mainstream society. Finally, where fascist discourse converges with that of the mainstream the significance of that convergence is examined to establish if the underlying motivation is the same, or whether the similarity of language masks different agendas. Using the mainstream and fascist press in a way that has not been attempted before, this thesis
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