British Political Extremism 1930s

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European Context

European Context of Political Extremism

  • Economic crisis of the Wall Street Crash pushed some European countries towards political extremism
    • Some countries - notably Germany and Spain - saw the rise of dictators such as Hitler and Franco
      • Others - Russia and Italy - already had dictatorship in place; Stalin and Mussolini
  • Other countries witnessed violent conflict between extreme political countries

In Britain, there were extreme political parties, but they never got close to power or disrupt daily life.

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The BUF - Info

The British Union of Fascists (BUF) - 

  • Formed October 1932
    • After Sir Oswald Mosley visited Fascist Italy
    • Italian fascism shown through wearing of black uniforms, silver insignia and use of a fascist salute
  • Mosley a gifted orator
    • Used this to his advantage; over 100 speeches, 3 books and many articles for publicity
  • 1936 renamed due to German influence as British Union of Fascists and National Socialists
  • Gained support from Lord Rothermere, proprietor of the Daily Mail (lol no surprise there)
    • By 1954 had over 50,000 members (!!!)
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The BUF - Reasons to Support

Why did people support it?

  • Support strongest in parts of London and some northern cities like Liverpool & Manchester
  • Typical recruits were young working class men
    • Felt disillusioned with traditional party politics 
      • Collapse of economy and 2nd Labour Gov, cuts and means testing
      • Felt there were limited efforts to deal with unemployment
    • Were impressed with contrast of dynamism of Italian fascism and Nazi Germany
  • Some traditional Labour supporters 
    • disillusioned with Labour in 1931
  • Some support from those who wanted better relations with Hitler's Germany in order to avoid another World War, or thought Hitler was a great defence against Red Scare
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The BUF - Failure

Why did the BUF fail?

  • Mosley started following Hitler's anti-Semitic approach
    • Won some support in E. London and Manchester
      • However, for every supporter it attracted, at least one potential supporter was put off

  • 1935 membership declined to just 5,000
  • Electorally a failure
    • No MPs or even local councillors elected 
  • Unpopular violence
    • Indoor rally at Olympia Hall in 1934
    • 'Battle of Cable Street' 1936
      • To many people they were symbols of fascist brutality and racism
  • Further unpopularity in later 1930s due to close association with ideals and racial policies of Nazi Party
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The CPGB - Info

The Communist Party of Great Britain

  • 1920-1990
  • Based on a distinct philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
  • Claimed to provide working classes and their middle-class supporters with a more progressive and equal society
  • After Russian revolution 1917, appeared to be building what British sympathisers named 'a new civilisation'.
  • Always small numerically, but had influence beyond its numbers
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The CPGB - Reasons to Support

Reasons to support

  • Capitalism appeared to be collapsing, with parliamentary democracy appearing to be unable to cope
    • Revolutionary ideas grew in appeal to many idealist young people
  • Faced with mass unemployment, break-up of Labour Gov 1931 and creation of BUF, membership rose
  • Rise of fascism in Europe made communism attractive because seemed to be them carrying the fight against fascism
    • Particularly in late 1930s with outbreak of Spanish Civil War, many young communists left Britain to help fight (George Orwell)
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The CPGB - Success

Success

  • Several Trade Unions had leaders who were communists or at least sympathetic
    • Communists played a key role in major strikes such as Lancashire cotton industry 1932 or Birmingham rent strike 1939
  • Played a leading role in organisations such as National Unemployed Worker's Movement, which had 50,000 members in early 30s.
    • Apart from advice to workers, organised 'hunger marches' and mass demonstrations - some of which resulted in violent confrontations with the police
  • Party membership doubled in 1930s; communist newspaper 'The Daily Worker' had a circulation of over 80,000 copies
    • 'The Left Book Club' - in which communist authors were prominent - had 50,000 members by 1939
  • Most importantly - unlike the BUF - obtained 2 MPs, whilst a number of Labour MPs were sympathetic to ideas
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The CPGB - Failure

Why was it not successful?

  • Whilst had it some influence, it remained limited
  • Membership was never more than 1800
  • National Government never felt truly worried by it
  • Police kept a close eye on their activity, whilst policies were brought in to prosecute communists
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Direct Factors Limiting Political Extremism

National Government Policies

Legislation passed to curb activities of both communists and fascists:

  • 1934 Incitement to Disaffection Act 
    • Used to prosecute anyone advocating revolution or violence of any kind
  • 1936 Public Order Act
    • Banned wearing of political uniforms 
    • Gave police greater power to control and even ban political meetings/demonstrations

Fact that government had to introduce these policies could indicate that they did feel a slight threat from extreme political groups

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Indirect Factors Limiting Political Extremism 1

National Government

  • Huge parliamentary majorities in 1931 & 1935
    • Ensured stability and prevented exploitation of power vacuum
    • No need for political alliances with any extremists
  • 9 years of National Gov = stability, and Foreign Policy by Baldwin and Chamberlain prevented conflict with communist and fascist countries (appeasement)

The Labour Movement

  • Rejected any alliance with communist, preventing large growth in popularity
  • Key Labour members like Bevin fought communism within Trade Unions
  • Despite huge loss in 1931, Labour retained its core vote
  • Labour remained main opposition party

International Events

  • Late 1930s truth about Stalin regime beginning to be known
  • Alienation from soviet regime with Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
    • Took CPGB by surprise and made them look ridiculous and unpatriotic
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Indirect Factors Limiting Political Extremism 2

Mussolini Abyssinia Invasion 1935

  • This combined with support of Franco (Spain) 1936 reduced support for fascist Italy
  • Nazi Germany discredited through violence such as Kristallnacht in 1938 and by aggressive foreign policy
  • Outbreak of WW2 further discredited BUF
    • Fear of them becoming a threat led Churchill to arrest Mosley and over 700 followers

The Economy

  • Recovered from 1933-1934
  • Mass unemployment much reduced by 1937
  • Midlands and south-east new industry growing rapidly and a comfortable lifestyle developing
  • British middle-class did not suffer economic disaster (like in Germany)
  • Pockets of deep unemployment in depressed areas, however, did not lead to political extremism
    • If anything they became demoralised / apathetic or got used to life on benefits
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Indirect Factors Limiting Political Extremism 3

CPGB and BUF

  • Communists never had outstanding leader
  • BUF had Mosley, but despite charisma he was impatient and a poor administrator
  • BUF got reputation for thuggery which lost it support

Britain Itself

  • Continued strength of political institutions
    • Especially parliament and monarchy
  • Unlike Germany and Russia, WW1 had not ended in defeat and revolution
    • Already happened for Britain in 1649 = stability
  • No widespread loss of faith in parliamentary government or in constitutional monarchy even after abdication crisis of 1936
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Historian Quotes

  • the 1930s "are haunted by the spectres of mass unemployment, hunger marches, appeasement, and the rise of fascism at home and abroad

Stevenson and Cook

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