Why did a viable fascist movement not emerge in Britain?

Fascism is ‘an authoritarian or nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organisation’[1], and in general use refers to extreme right-wing, authoritarian or intolerant views or practices. It has been said that the term originated with the rise of Mussolini, and it tends to relate to the belief that one ethnic group are supreme. In order to answer the question it is vital to define other key words within the question, as the meaning of the words could be debated amongst historians. In more general terms, ‘viable’ is said to mean ‘capable of working successfully’[2], and ‘movement’ is said to mean ‘a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas’[3]. The idea of Britain is difficult to establish because ‘Since the 1950s Britain has experienced a period of accelerated social and cultural change’[4]. In this essay I will argue that Britain did not see a viable fascist movement, and there is a multi-causal explanation for this. I will attempt to highlight the main reasons why Britain did not embrace a fascist movement whilst the modern period saw other parts of Europe where issues with fascism were arising, for example Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, bearing in mind the above definitions and interpretations.

In trying to assess why a viable fascist movement did not emerge within Britain I will analyse the British culture, economy, politics and other factors and why the state of each of these meant that the need for a rigid and extremist government never emerged.
Firstly, fascism failed because economically Britain has never been in such a dire situation where it required the intervention or allowed widespread support for a rigid and strict leadership, Even during times where unemployment was high. Thorpe argues that the unemployed were ‘much more likely to respond to the reformist policies of most trade unions and the Labour party than radical solutions.’[5] However, the 1930s did see an economic depression and there was still little support for a fascist movement. This demonstrates that there were other factors involved in answering the question of why Britain remained free from a fascist dictatorship within the modern period, for example culture.

It has been said that the British are more ‘tolerant of outsiders’ as they ‘marked their commitment to the rules of the democratic game’[6], and it was these principles on democracy, and the focus on international corporation rather than nationalism which allowed Britain to keep fascism at bay. Geographically, Britain’s border was in a strong position against attack, whereas Europe’s borders could be changing all the time as their territories were so close to one another, possibly explaining the stronger fear of outsiders in Europe as opposed to Britain. Furthermore, it could be argued that Britain was more tolerant of so-called ‘outsiders’ as the first migrants came to Britain in the 1950s. Whilst large-scale immigration largely finished in the 1970s as a result of laws being imposed which restricted immigration, I would argue that the British were now able to recognise cultural diversity without the onset of Xenophobia. This, coupled with a mostly stable economy, meant that there was never a need for the British to scapegoat a minority group, unlike the events which unfolded in the latter half of the 20^th Century within Germany, which led to large scale persecution and genocide of the Jews.  

There were factors of the political system which hindered any progress of the fascist movement in Britain, for example, the voting system. Britain, unlike other countries voted using the ‘first-past-the-post’ system, meaning that votes were based on regional collective votes rather than individual votes in proportional representation voting. This meant that the widely scattered extremist voters within regions around the country could not become concentrated into dangerous figures, but were instead outvoted by the majority of their region.

Whilst I would argue that a viable fascist movement never emerged successfully within Britain, it must be acknowledged that there was a presence of fascist groups there within the modern period. The first instance of some right wing activity was with Sir Oswald Mosely who established the British Union of Fascists (BUF) Mosely was said to be have ‘a fatal flaw in his character, on overwhelming arrogance and an unshakable conviction that he was born to rule’[7], showing the kind of self-assured man he was. The BUF was created after Mosely met Mussolini ‘in January 1932… and was impressed by Mussolini's achievements and when he returned to England he disbanded the New Party and replaced it with the British Union of Fascists’.[8]. This shows that the English idea of fascism originated from the Italian example, and it could be argued that because Mussolini’s regime was based on the problems within Italy, this could explain why Mosely’s attempt to mirror Mussolini and his ideologies failed. Mosely became involved in politics especially during the 1930s, and attempted to gain support from the unemployed at this time of economic difficulty. Thurlow argues that Mosely’s campaign ‘failed to convince the nation that authoritarian methods were necessary to solve Britain's economic crisis' and it 'was blamed for fomenting the violence and public disorder which became associated with its activities in the 1930'[9] Thorpe also comments on the ‘instability and rootlessness of the movement’[10]. This supports my argument that whilst fascist activity emerged at some points within British history, a viable fascist movement did not.  Thurlow goes on to argue that 'the British economy staged a revival in that decade... new industries and house building in the south and east of the country led to a growth rate', showing that even whilst Britain experienced economic depression, aside from the Lancashire cotton farmers, there was never enough support across Britain for the BUF to take control.  Additionally, this source shows that Britain recovered at such a rapid rate that there was never widespread discontentment for a long enough period for people to turn to the extreme and ‘last resort’ solutions.  

Although many things changed between the 1930s and the early 1990s, it was to the general publics’ panic, when in 1993 the BNP’s ‘party's candidate... won a seat on the council in a by-election'[11]. There was relief when they 'lost it at the full election the following year'[12]. Despite the panic caused by the media, these fascist movements had a bad reputation and were not taken seriously by the masses. Furthermore, in terms of leadership and organisation, there was a general failure of any real organised fascist movement. Driver argues that ‘Evidence suggests that older people are also more likely to vote BNP, as are those with few or no qualifications'[13]. This could show that those who do vote for the BNP tend to be uneducated or have somewhat outdated ideas, possibly indicating why no real organised movements have been roused within Britain.

The final part of my argument will examine other European countries and attempt to explain why they experienced a fascist movement, and how their circumstances differed from Britain’s, in order to establish a common cause amongst the other countries which Britain lacked.

Firstly, Italy experienced fascism with the rise of Mussolini. After World War 1 there was a poor economy, which subsequently led to large divisions within society. This coupled with an extreme fear of communism, forced people to panic and lean to the extreme right to prevent a feared left wing government from taking hold.

My second example is the fascist movement within Germany. People were tired of their quality of life, and similarly to the economic issues within Italy, there seemed to be no answers for the economic crisis that was at hand. ‘At the end of the war ushered in the first truly liberal political regime (the Weimar Republic) but deprived it of much-needed political legitimacy in the eyes of large sectors of the population, as it identified the system with national humiliation, political weakness, ineffiency and social division,’[14]. This perceived weakness of the Weimar Republic from the offset combined with their lack of answers for the economic depression in Germany led people to turn to the Nazi party, as they finally answered their grievances and offered a solution to the countries issues. Additionally, (and again, similarly to Italy) they promised to end the communist threat, in particular, as this worried those such as successful and powerful businessmen.

I would argue that from looking at these two examples of fascism within Europe, Britain does not fall under either category politically or economically. It is mainly accepted that Britain was mainly successful economically, and was never majorly threatened by communism. This would completely eradicate the need for a far right governmental force.

To conclude, it is important to understand that in the case of Britain, a viable fascist movement did not emerge for a number of reasons. Therefore, we have a multi-causal explanation which is a combination of economic stability, British tolerance, lack of organised movement, and the workings of the political voting system.
In looking to the future, we should observe moments such as 1993-95 where there were moral panics that the BNP could gain genuine support, Driver’s argues ‘while it is clear that a large majority of the electorate are hostile to far right parties - and would never vote for them - nearly 20 per cent of the public said that they might vote for the BNP in the future’.  From this, I think although there are a number of people within Britain today who would consider voting for the BNP, due to things like rising acts of religious and political extremism, there is something significant about British society which prevents them from taking their thoughts one step further to actively voting. It could be that we live in a multicultural and ethnically diverse society, and that although there is some prejudice against minorities, those minorities have become such an integral part of the society that taking action against them would be impossible and absurd. Additionally, there has never been a dire enough situation within modern Britain which would give cause to the scapegoating and subsequent persecution of one minority group which seems to be a common theme within examples of the rise of fascism in rest of Europe.

Bibliography

C. Blamires, World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2, (USA 2006)

D. Christopher, British Culture: An Intoduction, (London 1999)

 E. Cronin, The Failure of British Fascism: The Far Right and the Fight for Political Recognition, (Britain 1996)

S. Driver, Understanding British Party Politics, (Cambridge 2011)

J. Lee, Jennie Lee explained her views on Oswald Mosley available at:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pfascists.htm (accessed 01/02/13)

Oxford Dictionaries, ‘Definition of ‘fascism’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fascism (accessed 01/02/13)

Oxford Dictionaries, ‘Definition of ‘viable’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/viable (accessed 01/02/13)

Oxford Dictionaries, Definition of ‘movement’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/movement?q=movement (accessed 01/02/13)

Spartacus Educational, Article on British Union of Fascists available at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pfascists.htm

A. Thorpe, The Failure of Political Extremism In Inter-War Britain, (Exeter 1988)

R. Thurlow, Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1945, (London 1998)

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[1] Definition of ‘fascism’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fascism (accessed 01/02/13)

[2] Definition of ‘viable’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/viable (accessed 01/02/13)

[3] Definition of ‘movement’ available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/movement?q=movement (accessed 01/02/13)

[4]  David Christopher, British Culture: An Intoduction, (London 1999), page 1

[5] Andrew Thorpe, The Failure of Political Extremism In Inter-War Britain, (Exeter 1988), page 69

[6] Ed. Ed Cronin, The Failure of British Fascism The Far Right and the Fight for Political Recognition: The Far Right and the Fight for Political Recognition, (Britain 1996), page 54

[7] Jennie Lee explained her views on Oswald Mosley available at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pfascists.htm (accessed 01/02/13)

[8] Article on British Union of Fascists available at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pfascists.htm (accessed 01/02/13)

[9] Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1945, (London 1998), page 62

[10] Thorpe, The Failure of Political Extremism In Inter-War Britain, page 70

[11] Stephen Driver, Understanding British Party Politics, (Cambridge 2011), page 144

[12] Driver, Understanding British Party Politics, page 144

[13]Driver, Understanding British Party Politics, page 145

[14] Cyprian Blamires, World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2, (USA 2006), page 509