'The Fascist' British Fascist Newspaper

[BrodieBartfast]

Hello folks.

I was originally going to post this item in the 'Western Allies' paperwork section, but felt that it did not belong there, given its nature. The level of antisemitism on display here is rather vile, and I do not feel that it belongs in that subforum, alongside artifacts from the side that fought against these ideas.

This is a copy of 'The Fascist', a newspaper printed by the Imperial Fascist League (IFL), a pre-war British Fascist organisation. These, like other pre-war British Fascist items, are not easy to find.

The IFL was headed by Arnold S. Leese, a British politician who - prior to his entry into far-right politics - was a prominent veterinary expert specialising in camels. Around 1924, he joined the British Fascists, but was generally unsatisfied with them, describing the party as 'conservatism with knobs on'. He left the group in 1928, and founded the Imperial Fascist League the following year.

In 1932, he was approached by Oswald Mosley with the aim of absorbing the IFL into the BUF (British Union of Fascists). Leese refused, and later attacked Mosley, describing him as a 'Kosher Fascist'. A feud between the two parties developed, which culminated in members of the BUF sabotaging IFL meetings, and assaulting its members on the street. The IFL was eventually diminished to the point of irrelevance as a result of this, and the BUF became the dominant Fascist party in Great Britain.

This copy of 'The Fascist' was printed in May 1939, and focuses heavily on the apparently imminent war with Germany. As mentioned at the top, this newspaper is shockingly antisemitic, even by Fascist standards. It is offensive almost to the point of parody, and makes for very difficult, very sobering reading. It is a relief that such voices did not find their way into the mainstream of British politics, and that in the war that followed, the forces of good ultimately triumphed over hatred and evil.

Not a pleasant item by any means, but a historical one. And a reminder that Germany was not the only country in which Fascism reared its ugly head.



Regards, B.B.