Oswald Mosley

Resumen La política hoy en día está plagada de trincheras. Parece que, con el triunfo del pensamiento único neoliberal y la manifiesta "confusión de la época", la izquierda esté abanderando la lucha contra el fantasma del fascismo. Un fascismo espectral, un fascismo que cuando tratamos de asir se esfuma entre nuestros dedos... El producto de ello es un fuego cruzado incesante que marca, etiqueta y desprecia a todo aquel que se mueva por fuera de los límites de lo posible, lo políticamente correcto. El frentepopularismo resurge hoy más fiero que nunca contra un enemigo inexistente, haciendo de la sospecha infundada del Pasolini más pesimista, una sospecha reveladora y revelada, mesiánica y vigente. "Io profetizzo l'epoca in cui il nuovo potere utilizzerà le vostre parole libertarie per creare un nuovo potere omologato, per creare una nuova inquisizione, per creare un nuovo conformismo. E i suoi chierici saranno chierici di sinistra" (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Radio Radicale, 1975). Es la tarea de nuestro tiempo dar sentido a aquellos conceptos y categorías que se han desdibujado con un cortoplacismo y torpeza sin parangón. Llamemos a las cosas por su nombre. Este breve artículo pretende explicar sucintamente aquellas bases doctrinales, es decir, aquellos axiomas sobre los cuales descansa el fascismo clásico (comprendido entre 1919

Britskou unii fašistů (British Union of Fascists; BUF) založil Sir Oswald Mosley dne 1. října 1932. Třebaže se jednalo o největší britskou fašistickou stranu, nikdy se ani vzdáleně nepřiblížila významu svého německého a italského protějšku a bez výrazného úspěchu po zákazu britské vlády v červnu 1940 ukončila svou činnost. Navzdory tomu se těší významnému badatelskému zájmu, což vyplývá zejména z faktu, že ideologové BUF byli na rozdíl od jiných hnutí schopni rozvinout ucelenou ideologii a poměrně racionální politický program, vycházející z filozofického základu, jenž byl založen na směsi Lamarckovy genetické teorie, Spenglerových úvahách o úpadku Západu, Nietzscheho vitalismu a Shawovy vize vzkříšení "nového člověka". Ústřední tematikou ideologie BUF byl mýtus o znovuzrození. Černokošiláči byli naprosto přesvědčeni, že "éra demokracie" je u konce a jejich země potřebuje znovuzrození, které může přinést jenom korporativní stát. Stará, zkorumpovaná a prohnilá demokracie měla podle nich být odstraněna a nahrazena novým, kvalitativně lepším fašistickým systémem založeným na vůdcovském principu a osobní odpovědnosti. Mosleyho muži se viděli jako bojovníci nové éry, elita, jež měla vést národ na cestě k návratu zpět na výsluní. Monografie analyzuje fašistický mýtus o znovuzrození v ideologii a propagandě BUF, poukazuje na aktivismus a entusiasmus členů hnutí a dokládá, že víra v tento mýtus byla u mnoha z nich autentická. Zejména kapitoly popisující různé odznáčky, plakety, přezky, kravaty, nášivky, šperky a další předměty s fašistickou symbolikou demonstrují to, jak hluboce byli Černokošiláči "ponořeni" do myšlenek fašismu na každodenní úrovni, jak silná byla jejich víra v přicházející krizi a nevyhnutelnost radikálních řešení. Tyto zdánlivě nepodstatné drobnosti dokazují, že politický aktivismus fašistů přesahoval cokoli, co známe z praxe běžných demokratických politických stran, a že fašismus byl mnohem nebezpečnější, než se na první pohled může zdát.

Sir Oswald Mosley patří mimo jakoukoli pochybnost k nejpozoruhodnějším postavám britských dějin 20. století. V britské a v menší míře též v evropské politice byl totiž přítomen prakticky po celé dlouhé století. Byl při většině klíčových událostí meziválečného období a udržoval styky s nejvýraznějšími osobnostmi své doby – Benitem Mussolinim, Adolfem Hitlerem a Franklinem D. Rooseveltem, stejně jako s Nevillem Chamberlainem nebo Winstonem Churchillem. „Proslavil“ se však zejména jako zakladatel a vůdce nejvýznamnějšího britského fašistického hnutí – Britské unie fašistů. Mosleyho životopis provede čtenáře nejen jeho životem, ale plasticky vykreslí i pohnuté britské a evropské dějiny minulého století.

DESPERATE MEASURES OR CREATIVITY? BUF PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES Significant proportion of the British Union of fascists’ (BUF) members were convinced that the existential threats to the nation and civilisation are hard facts and adopting fascism as the form of government was an absolute necessity for the survival of the British nation. This faith and devotion to the cause expressed itself in the enthusiasm for the cause, readiness for self-sacrifice and very active propagating of the ideas. Troubled by the lack of finance and resources, BUF members came with a variety of propaganda techniques, which demonstrate their commitment to and enthusiasm for fascism. Some ideas were very creative, some we could consider desperate. This article focuses on the BUF’s propaganda machinery and is describing some of the not very common propaganda techniques that BUF used. 41 See advertisements in The Blackshirt, No. 199, 19th December 1936, p. 2; Action, 18th June 1938, p. 6, and others; see also, SPU...

There have been recurrent ideas in post-1945 far Right ideology in Britain concerning representations of culture. In common with the ideology of interwar generic fascism, a cultural 'crusade' was envisaged by post-war neo-Fascist ideologues. This chapter illustrates and critically examines the far Right's prescriptions for cultural 'renewal' through brief exploration of the texts of three neo-Fascist movements operating in the postwar British context: the Union Movement (UM), the National Front (NF), and the British National Party (BNP).

The historiography of the rise and fall of Britain's largest, and only significant, fascist party, the British Union of Fascists (BUF), has been lively since its inception. As several leading historians in the field (notably Stanley Payne and Richard Thurlow) remarked, the number of academic works on the topic greatly surpasses its importance. The interest in the movement's history, however, refuses to die down and the number of works detailing various aspects of BUF operations continues to multiply. This study does not aspire to give an exhausting description of all published works on the BUF. Instead, it aims to chart the basic tendencies in historiography pertaining to the BUF and to inform the reader of fundamental, as well as the most recent scholarly work on the topic.

The paper attempts to look at the British Union of Fascists’ (BUF) propaganda in the light of the partial agreement or ‘new consensus’ that has emerged in fascist studies in recent years. Based on the official BUF party press, publications, pamphlets, propaganda posters, speeches and the public appearances of the movement’s leading figures and other forms of propaganda, this article analyses the propaganda of the BUF as not just in terms of such crude ‘brainwashing’ or ‘social control’, but also as a form of social engineering – in other words, as a serious attempt to realise the ideas of an alternative modernity and of a political, economic, social and cultural revolution which enlists the enthusiasm, commitment and creativity of the fascist cause.

(research article) Rivista Storica Italiana, CXXXI, 1, 2019, pp. 205-232.
Durante i primi anni Novanta veniva pioneristicamente inaugurato da Marco Palla un nuovo filone di studi nel campo della riflessione storiografica sul corporativismo, teso ad analizzare le percezioni straniere nei confronti dello Stato corporativo nell’ambito della diplomazia britannica legata alla politica estera. Questo filone di ricerca è intersecabile con gli studi sul fascismo britannico, incluso il ruolo e le visioni delle donne fasciste inglesi, e sui legami instaurati con i modelli politici delle dittature europee. Sono però, mancate indagini volte a ricostruire l’influsso del fascismo italiano in relazione a vari aspetti progettuali, teorici e sociali del corporativismo.
Questo saggio sonda le posizioni su fascismo e corporativismo rintracciabili in diversi ambiti del mondo britannico, portando alla luce scuole e profili leader per la ‘propaganda corporativa’ del regime – come Luigi Villari, personalità chiave per la propaganda del fascismo nel mondo anglofono soprattutto in relazione agli ambienti accademici.

This article concentrates on the British Union of Fascists and its attempts to build a 'New Empire Union' in the 1930s to transform the British Empire into a fascist, self-sufficient empire. The BUF, under Oswald Mosley, believed that a fascist revolution, in Britain and in the colonies, was the only way to maintain the British Empire. The BUF hoped that Australia would become a trading partner to create a self-sufficient empire, with the goal of removing Britain from the world of 'international finance'. While Australia was a liberal democracy, the BUF pointed to the 'White Australia Policy' and the treatment of the Indigenous population as examples of the hierarchical racial politics that could form the basis for a sympathetic fascist settler colony. KEYWORDS White Australia Policy; British Union of Fascists; Oswald Mosley; New Guard; settler colonialism; Greater Britain

The remarkable proportion of the ex-servicemen within the membership of the BUF had huge impact on the ideology and the development of the movement. BUF´s propagandists always looked to exploit the attraction of the ex-servicemen to the movement´s military style and organization based on leadership, hierarchy, discipline and physical fitness. They also stressed the existence of the camaraderie similar to the “comradeship of the trenches” within the movement membership. However, in contrary to the continental fascist movements, BUF advocated peace and sought the revival of the British power through economic policies based on self-sufficiency and non-intervention. In its attempt to deepen our knowledge of the ex-servicemen, this article seeks to analyse the BUF´s ideology, economic programme and its appeal to ex-servicemen.

Based on a forthcoming book chapter to be included in one of Peter Lang book series, this paper seeks to explore the representations of urban and rural spaces and its memoirs in European and British far-right 'political culture' during the mid-1920s and the 1930s by taking Italy, German and Britain as case studies. Through an identification of realistic and imaginative landscapes traceable in the memorialist literature produced by Fascists, this research analyses how spaces and civilizations have been represented and/or remembered and their connection with the development of political projects and aims. These include, for instance, the search of consensus for Fascist-Nazi internal and foreign politics such as the relation between the State and the Church, approval for racial discrimination among society and the defence of the public images of charismatic leader during the post-Second World War period – as with the case of Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists in Britain. Investigating previously unexplored memorialist literature of Fascism in Europe and beyond, this research explores from a fresh perspective how and why Fascism was experienced in different countries and measures the impact played by literary representations of cities, rural spaces and civilizations in developing Fascist political programmes and ideologies. In so doing, it assists in assessments of the links between Fascism and other important elements in society of that time, including ideas of race and colonialism, leading to offer an original contribution to the field of memory studies and those of 20 th century Europe's history, political ideologies and politics.

Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, attempted to portray himself as a reluctant antisemite, a narrative many historians have bought into. Daniel Tilles argues that such a reading is wrong. Opposition to Jews was at the very core of the would-be dictator’s ideology.

This chapter discusses the British far right's attempts to construct a 'true', authentic and 'wholesome' version of culture since 1945. It analyses the far right's prescription for political and cultural renewal via a brief exploration of three neo-fascist movements operating after 1945: the Union Movement (formed in 1948), the National Front (formed in 1967), and the British National Party (formed in 1982). The chapter provides a general overview of the common ideas expressed in the discourse of the three movements regarding cultural and aesthetic representations, and how these have shaped the far right's claims about national identity.

It is now clear that the fascist propaganda was more than just a synonym for the manipulation, indoctrination, deceit, distortion or lies and that there was more at work in fascist mindset than only the crude will to power and brainwashing. One of the main motives of fascist propagandists was also "propagation of faith" and significant proportion of the BUF's members were convinced that the existential threats to the nation and civilisation are hard facts. 1 For them, adopting fascism as the form of government was an absolute necessity for the survival of the British nation. This faith and devotion to the cause expressed itself in the enthusiasm for the cause, readiness for self-sacrifice and very active propagating of the ideas. Because of the movement's constant financial problems, BUF would probably not have been able to exist without such activism and devotion of its members. This applies to propaganda as well. Troubled by the lack of finance and resources, BUF members came with a variety of propaganda techniques, which demonstrate their commitment to and enthusiasm for fascism. Some ideas were very creative, some we could consider desperate. This article will focus on the BUF's propaganda machinery and will try to describe some of the not very common propaganda techniques that BUF used. Some aspects of BUF propaganda techniques have been described before. Julie Gottlieb identified several propaganda techniques developed and used by the BUF in her article The Marketing of Megalomania. 2 Gottlieb stressed the importance of the movement's visual culture and its development of a distinctive material culture and innovative political technologies-despite ultimate failure. She focused especially on presenting Mosley as a "celebrity", with his followers as "fans", and his meetings rivalling cinema and theatre. Uniforms and their role in the BUF's propaganda were described by Philip Coupland, who highlighted their importance for conveying the myths of classlessness and dynamism and their central role in the creation of the 1