Module EPL 3041 Semester 2
1998
The course seeks to explain the roots and nature of the British
fascist tradition and ideology, and to examine the links between
its inter-war and post-war forms as well as with foreign manifestations.
The social and intellectual bases of the various movements are
examined, along with their leaders - Arnold Leese, Oswald Mosley,
William Joyce, A.K. Chesterton, Colin Jordan, John Tyndal. The
manifest failure of the British fascists to make any significant
impact on main-stream politics is used to test the belief that
it has always been handicapped by the consensual nature of British
political culture and the strength of the orthodox political
parties. The course concludes with a discussion of British neo-Fascism
today.
Lectures.
Part 1. Inter-War Fascism.
1. Native Traditions of Intolerance.
2. The Precursors of British fascism.
3. The Origins of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).
4. Oswald Mosley.
5. Who Were the Blackshirts?
6. Anti-Semitism and the BUF.
7. The Ideology of the BUF.
8. The Failure of British fascism. between the wars.
Part 2. Post-War Fascism.
9. The Politics and Ideology of the National Front. 1967-1980.
10. Failed Again? Factionalism and violence on the extreme
right in the 1980s and 90’s.
Basic Textbooks:
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1985.
Blackwells (1989)*
M. Cronin The Failure of British Fascism (Macmillan)
1996
G.C. Webber The Ideology of the British Right 1918-1939
St. Martin’s Press, (1986)
Reference Books:
P. Rees Fascism in Britain: An Annotated Biography,
Harvester, London 1979
P. Gordon & F. Klug Racism and Discrimination in Britain:
A Select Bibliography 1970-83, Runnymede Trust, London, 1984.
MODULE ASSESSMENT.
A written up seminar paper of 1000/1500 words one week after
giving it = 20% of marks.
An end of Semester examination (two questions in two hours)
= 80% of marks
KEY: BL 1 = One Copy in Boots Library: Cl 2 = Two Copies in
the Clifton Library.
Cha = Chaucer Library.
1. Outline and evaluate the importance of the native traditions
of intolerance and reaction which existed in Britain in the nineteenth
and early 20th century.
C. Holmes Anti-Semitism in British Society. BL 2
K. Lunn & R Thurlow British Fascism. Chs 2-4. BL
1
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1985,
Ch. 1. BL 4 Cl 3
R. Thurlow: ‘Racial Populism in England’. Patterns
of
Prejudice, Vol 10, No 4, 1976 BL3 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow ‘Racial Prejudice in British Society.’
Patterns of Prejudice, Vol 13, No 4, 1979. BL3 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow ‘The Powers of Darkness’, Patterns
of Prejudice, Vol 12, No 6, 1979. BL 3 (Photocopy)
P Rees Fascism and pre-Fascism BL 1
P. Panayi Racial Violence in Britain in the 19th and 20th
centuries. Ch 1 BL 4 (Photocopy)
H.W. Koch ‘Social Darwinism as a factor in the ‘"New
Imperialism"’ in H.W. Koch, The Origins of the First
World War, BL 4 (Photocopy)
C. Holmes ‘Houston Stewart Chamberlain in Great Britain.’
Wiener Library Bulletin, Vol xxiv No 2, 1970. BL 2 (Photocopy)
C. Holmes ‘Godwin Smith: (1832-1910): A "liberal"
anti-Semite’. Patterns of Prejudice, Vol 11, No 3, 1977
BL 2 (Photocopy)
M. Blinkhorn: Fascists and Conservatives. Ch 1. BL
2 Cl 2
R. Benewick: Political Violence and Public Order Ch
2 BL 2 CL 1
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. Ch 2
BL 2 Cl 1
P Kennedy & A. Nicholls Nationalist and Racialist Movements
in Britain and Germany Before 1914. (Various Chapters) Cl
1
A Kushner & K. Lunn Traditions of Intolerance.
Intro, Chs 1 & 2. Cl 1
G. Dangerfield The Strange Death of Liberal England.
Cl 2
2. Were the various ultra-Right groups which existed prior
to the formation of the British Union of Fascists in 1932 truly
‘fascist’?
M. Cronin (ed) The Failure of British Fascism. Ch 2
and conclusion BL 3
D. Baker ‘The Extreme Right in the 1920s’ Ch 2.
in M. Cronin (ed) The Failure of British Fascism. BL 3
(Photocopy)
C. Holmes Anti-Semitism in British Society. BL 2
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1985,
Ch. 3. 4. BL 2 Cl 2
R. Thurlow ‘Racial Populism in England.’ Patterns
of Prejudice, Vol 10, No 4, 1976. BL 2 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow: 'The "Jew Wise" Dimensions of British
Political Anti-Semitism 1918-39.' in Immigrants and Minorities,
6,1, March 1987. BL 4 (Photocopy)
K. Lunn ‘The ideology and Impact of the British Fascists
in the 1920s’ in A Kushner & K. Lunn Traditions of
Intolerance. BL 3 (Photocopy)
K. Lunn & R Thurlow British Fascism. Chs 2-4. BL
2 Cl 2
R.M. Gorman ‘Racial Anti-Semitism in England: the legacy
of Arnold Leese.’ Wiener Library Bulletin, vol. xxx
No 43/44 1977. BL 2 (Photocopy)
G. Lebzelter: Political anti-Semitism in England 1918-38.
Ch's 3-5. BL 1
M. Blinkhorn: Fascists and Conservatives. Ch. 1 &
Ch. 14 BL 2 Cl 2
R. Benewick: Political Violence and Public Order Ch
2 BL 2 CL 1
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. Ch 2.
BL 2 Cl 1
B.A. Cosmin ‘Colonial Careers of Marginal Fascists’.
Wiener Library Bulletin, Vol xxvii, No 30/31, 1974. BL 2 (Photocopy)
A Kushner & K. Lunn Traditions of Intolerance. Cl
1
G.C. Webber: 'Intolerance and Discretion: Conservatives and
British Fascism 1918-1926'. Cl 1
R. Griffiths: Fellow Travellers of the Right. Ch. 3
BL 2 Cl 1
3. Why did Mosley break with orthodox politics to found the
British Union of Fascists in 1932?
R. Skidelsky: Oswald Mosley. Ch. 1-15 BL 3 Cl 3
R. Skidelsky Politicians and the Slump. Ch 8 and passim.
BL 2 Cl 2
C. Cross: The Fascists in Britain. BL 1
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain 1918-85. Ch 4-7 BL 4
Cl 3
R. Wohl: The Generation of 1914. Ch .3-6. BL 1 Cl 4
R. Griffiths: Fellow Travellers of the Right. Ch 1-3.
BL 1 Cl 1
R. Benewick: Political Violence and Public Order Ch
4-7 BL 2 CL 1
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. Ch 4-7
BL 2 Cl 1
D. L. Baker Ideology of Obsession: A.K. Chesterton &
British Fascism. Ch. 6. BL 4
O. Mosley: My Life. Ch 1-14. BL 1 Cl 4
N. Mosley: Rules of the Game. BL 2
4. Assess Oswald Mosley’s importance to British Fascism
in the 1930s.
R. Skidelsky: Oswald Mosley. BL 3 Cl 3
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-85.
Ch. 7. BL 4 Cl 3
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. (Also
published as Political Violence & Public Order) Ch
3 and 7. BL 2 Cl 1
G.C. Webber ‘The economy’ Ch 5 The Ideology of
the British Right 1918-1939 BL 3 (Photocopy)
K. Lunn & R. Thurlow British Fascism. Ch 5-6. BL
1
O. Mosley: My Life. BL 1 Cl 4
O. Mosley Extracts from The Greater Britain, BL 3 (photocopy)
O. Mosley Fascism: 100 Questions asked and Answered. BL 1
N. Mosley: Beyond the Pale. BL 2 Cl 1
A. Weale Renegades: Hitler’s Englishmen. Ch 1
BL 3
C. Cross: The Fascists in Britain. BL 1
R. Thurlow: ‘Destiny and Doom: Spengler, Hitler and British
Fascism’ Patterns of Prejudice Vol 15, No 4, 1981.
BL 3 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow ‘The Black Knight’, Patterns of Prejudice,
Vol 9, No 3, 1975 BL 3 (Photocopy)
R. Skidelsky ‘The Problem of Mosley’, Encounter,
1967. BL 2 (Photocopy)
5. What kind of individuals were attracted to British Fascism
as leaders and followers and why?
R. Skidelsky: Oswald Mosley. Ch. 16. BL 3 Cl 3
A. Weale Renegades: Hitler’s Englishmen. BL 3
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. (Originally
published as Political Violence & Public Order) Ch.
6. BL 2 Cl 1
G. C. Webber: 'Patterns of membership and support for the
BUF'‘, Journal of Contemporary History, 19, 1984
BL3 (Photocopy)
G. C. Webber ‘The British Isles’, in D. Muhlberger
The Social Basis of European Fascist Movements. Ch. 3. BL
2
J. Brewer ‘Looking back at fascism: A Phenomenological
Analysis of BUF Membership.’ Sociological Review,
4, 1984. BL3 (Photocopy)
J. Brewer ‘The BUF: Some tentative Conclusions on its
Membership’ pp 542-56 in S. V. Larson et al: Who Were
the Fascists....? BL 2
Mandle, W. F. ‘The Leadership of the British Union of
Fascists’ Australian Journal of Politics and History,
December 1966. BL2 (Photocopy)
C. Cross: The Fascists in Britain. BL 1
T. P. Linehan East London for Mosley the BUF in East London
1933-40. BL 2
J. A. Cole Lord Haw-Haw & William Joyce BL 1
R. West The Meaning of Treason. Ch 1: x-xi BL 3 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow: Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1985.
Ch's. 2 & 6. BL 2 Cl 3
R. Griffiths Fellow Travellers of the Right. BL 2 Cl
1
K Lunn & R Thurlow, British Fascism. Ch. 9 - 10
BL 1
D. Baker Ideology of Obsession: A.K. Chesterton and British
Fascism. BL 4
D.L. Baker: 'The Appeal of Fascism: Pathological Fantasy or
Intellectual Coherence?' Patterns of Prejudice, July
1986. BL 2 (Photocopy)
N. Nugent & R King The British Right. Ch 8. BL
2
W.F. Mandle Anti-Semitism and the British Union of Fascists.
(See me)
R. West The Meaning of Treason. Ch 1: x-xi BL 3 (Photocopy)
6. What role did anti-Semitism play in the BUF?
K. Lunn & R. Thurlow British Fascism. Ch 5. BL
2 Cl 2
R. Thurlow Fascism in Britain: A History. Ch. 8. BL
4 Cl 3
D. Baker Ideology of Obsession: A.K. Chesterton & British
Fascism. Ch 7. BL 4
W.F. Mandle Anti-Semitism and the British Union of Fascists.
(See me)
R. Skidelsky Oswald Mosley. Ch. 20 BL 2 Cl 3
G. C. Lebzelter Political Anti-Semitism in England.
Ch 5 BL 1
C. Cross: The Fascists in Britain. BL 1
J. A. Cole Lord Haw-Haw & William Joyce BL 1
C. Holmes Anti-Semitism in British Society. BL 2
C. Holmes Anti-Semitism in British Society. Ch 16 BL
(3 Photocopies)
C. Holmes John Bull’s Other Island. Cl 5
C. Holmes Immigrants and Minorities in British Society.
Cl 1
C. Holmes A Tolerant Country? Cl 8
R. Benewick: Political Violence and Public Order Ch
7-11 BL 2 CL 1
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. Ch 7-11
BL 3 Cl 1
S. Cullen: ‘The development of the ideas and policy of
the BUF, 1932-40, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol
22, 1987. BL 2 (Photocopy)
A Kushner & K. Lunn Traditions of Intolerance.
Ch. 4-5 Cl 1
W.F. Mandel Anti-Semitism and the British Union of Fascists.
BL 1
R. Thurlow: 'The "Jew Wise" Dimensions of British
Political Anti-Semitism 1918-39.' Immigrants and Minorities,
6, 1, March 1987. BL 3
7. ‘The BUF Drew its main inspiration from Italian Fascism.’
Discuss.
M. Cronin The Failure of British Fascism. Ch. 8. BL
3
D. S. Lewis ‘Corporatism: the philosophy and programme
of the BUF’
Ch 2. from D. S. Lewis: Illusions of Grandeur: Mosley Fascism
and British Society 1931-81. BL 3 (Photocopy)
S. Cullen: ‘The development of the ideas and policy of
the BUF, 1932-40, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol
22, 1987. BL 2 (Photocopy)
S. Cullen: 'The Ideology of the BUF', Journal of Contemporary
History, Vol 21, 1986. BL 3 (ordered)R. Thurlow: Fascism
in Britain: A History, 1918-85. Ch. 7. BL 4 Cl 3
R. Thurlow: ‘Destiny and Doom: Spengler, Hitler and British
Fascism’, Patterns of Prejudice Vol 15, No 4, 1981.
BL 3 (Photocopy)
K. Lunn & R. Thurlow: British Fascism Ch. 6. BL
2 Cl 2
D. Baker Ideology of Obsession: A.K. Chesterton & British
Fascism. Ch 8. BL 4
R. Griffiths Fellow Travellers of the Right. BL 2 Cl
1
J. A. Cole Lord Haw-Haw & William Joyce BL 1
C. Cross: The Fascists in Britain. BL 1
O Mosley. My Life. BL 1 Cl 4
R. Skidelsky: Oswald Mosley. Cl 3
G. C. Lebzelter Political Anti-Semitism in England.
Ch 5 BL 1
N. Nugent & R King The British Right. Ch 6. BL
1
L. P Carpenter : 'Corporatism in Britain 1930-45', Journal
of Contemporary History, 1976. BL 2 (Photocopy)
8. Why did British Fascism fail between the wars?
M. Cronin The Failure of British Fascism, Intro. Chs.
1, 2 3 8 & 9 BL 3
A. Thorpe The Failure of Political Extremism in Inter-War
Britain. BL 2 Cl 3
R. Thurlow Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-85.
Ch. 2 & Conclusion. BL 2 Cl 3
M. Blinkhorn Fascists and Conservatives. BL 2 Cl 2
R. Skidelsky: Oswald Mosley. Intro. & Ch. 18. BL
3 Cl 3
N. Mosley: Beyond the Pale. BL 1 Cl 1
D. Baker Ideology of Obsession: A.K. Chesterton and British
Fascism. Ch. 9. BL 4
R. Benewick: Political Violence and Public Order Ch.
8-11 BL 2 CL 1
R. Benewick: The Fascist Movement in Britain. Ch. 8-11.
BL 2 Cl 1
R. Benewick ‘Interpretations of British Fascism’,
Political Studies Vol 24:1 1975 BL 2 (Photocopy)
K. Lunn & R. Thurlow British Fascism. BL 2 Cl 2
J. Stevenson: ‘The Politics of Violence', in C Cooke
& G. Peele, The Politics of Reappraisal. BL 1 (Photocopy)
A. W. Brian Simpson In the Highest Degree Odious. BL
1 (ordered)
J. Leighton ‘Why Mosley Failed’, The Historian,
No 46, Summer 1995. BL 2 (Photocopy)
R. Skidelsky ‘The problem of Mosley: Why a fascist failed.’
Encounter, 1967 BL 2 (Photocopy)
9. Examine and evaluate the politics of the National Front
in the 1960s and 1970s?
S. Taylor: The National Front in English Politics.
BL 1
M. Cronin The Failure of British Fascism, Ch 5 6 .
BL 3
R. Thurlow Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-85.
BL 2 Cl 3
D. Edgar ‘Racism, fascism and the politics of the National
Front’, Race and Class, XiX, 2 (1977) BL 3 (Photocopy)
D. Baker: 'A.K. Chesterton, the Strasser Brothers, and the
Politics of the National Front', Patterns of Prejudice,
19, 3, 1985. BL 2 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow 'National Front Ideology: the Witches Brew' . Patterns
of Prejudice, 12, 3, 1978 BL 3 (Photocopy)
B. Bowling ‘The Emergence of violent racism as a public
issue in Britain 1945-81 in P. Panayi: (ed) Racial Violence
in Britain in the 19th and 20th Centuries. BL3 (Photocopy)
M. Billig Fascists: A Social Psychological View of the
National Front. BL 4 Cl 2
M. Billig Fascist Parties in Post-War Britain. BL 2
S. Saggar Race and Politics in Britain BL 1 Cl 1
M. Barker The New Racism. BL 4
Z. Layton-Henry The Politics of Race in Britain. BL
3 Cl 1
P Wilkinson The New Fascists. BL 2
N. Nugent & R. King. The British Right. BL 1
N. Fielding: The National Front. BL 2
N. Fielding ‘Description of the National Front’
Ch 2 from The National Front. by the same author. BL 3 ( Photocopy)
R. Miles et al Racism and Political Action in Britain.
BL 5
V. Ware Women and the National Front BL 1 (Pamphlet)
C. T. Husbands & J. England ‘The Hidden Support for
Racism.’ New Statesman, 11th May 1979. BL2 (Photocopy)
C. T. Husbands ‘The decline of the National Front: The
Elections of 3rd May 1979.’ Wiener Library Bulletin
xxxii, No 49/50: 1979 BL 2 (Photocopy)
R. Thurlow ‘Mosley’s Modified Inheritance.’
THES - 20/11/81 BL 3 (Photocopy)
P. Whiteley ‘The National Front vote in the 1977 GLC
elections: An aggregate data analysis, British Journal of
Political Science No 9, 1979. BL 3 (Photocopy)
B. Kosmin & N Grizzard ‘The National Front in the
two general elections of 1974 Patterns of Prejudice, vol
8, no 6, 1974. BL 3 (Ordered)
10. Outline and evaluate developments in British fascism since
1980.
M. Cronin The Failure of British Fascism. Chs. 5, 7,
8, BL 3
R. Eatwell ‘Fascism and Political racism in Post-War
Britain’, Ch 11, in T. Kushner & K. Lunn Traditions
of Intolerance. BL3 (photocopy)
T Kushner The Fascist as "Other"? Racism and Neo-Nazism
in Contemporary Britain.’ Patterns of Prejudice,
1, 1994. BL 3 (Photocopy)
S. Saggar Race and Politics in Britain. BL 1 Cl 1
G. Harris The Dark Side of Europe: The Extreme Right Today.
BL 1 Cl 1
M. Barker The New Racism. BL 4
G. Ford. Fascist Europe: The Rise of Racism and Xenophobia.
BL 1 Cl 1
L Cheles (et al) Neo-Fascism in Europe. BL 2 Cl 5
L. Cheles (et al) The Far Right in Western and Eastern
Europe Cl 3
Z. Layton-Henry The Politics of Race in Britain. BL
3 Cl 1
Z. Layton-Henry The Politics of Immigration BL 2 Cl
3
P Hainsworth The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA.
BL 1 Cl 1
R. Hill & A Bell The Other Face of Terror. BL 1
J. England ‘The Hidden Support for Racism.’ New
Statesman, 11th May 1979. BL2 (Photocopy)
J. Solomos Race and Racism in Britain BL 1 Cl 2
J. Solomos (ed) Race and Racism in Contemporary Britain
BL 3 Cl 12
P. Gordon & F. Klug New Right, New Racism. BL 2have
