TLIAW: Standing In Seats, Fighting in the Streets

American politics seems dull to the British. The moderate two party consensus, the genial attitude of their legislature, the good-natured tone of their campaigns. They seem grey, insipid and boring to a native of Britain's shores. But ask an American what they think of British politics, and if they know about it at all, they'd call it either one of the most atrocious displays of casual tribalistic violence in Europe, or one of the greatest political spectator sports on the planet.

Beginning in the 1930s at the extremes of the political spectrum, the phenomenon of the political paramilitary has entered the mainstream. Every party that has a presence on the political scene has a branch of marching troops, dressed in colourful uniform and occasionally armed. More than anything else, the paramilitaries are responsible for the dramatic polarisation of British politics and the scarcely concealed aggression of Parliamentary debates.

Whereas the Democratic and Progressive Parties of the United States have broadly similar outlooks on the world and indeed collaborate on a great deal, this cannot be said of Britain. People identify with a political party in a tribal way that many foreigners find difficult to comprehend, and while alliances of parties are necessary to make government function, there is deep-seated animosity directed against their opponents. 'Tories' versus 'Socialists', 'Nationals' versus 'Independents', 'Commies' versus 'Nazis' versus 'Kibbos'. Britain's divided multi-party system is violent, ideological and bitter.

In this essay, we will study the paramilitary arm of each major party, their history, their traditional alliances, and their tactics. We will also look into the impact these uniformed political battalions have had on their communities and on the discourse of British politics.

Oh wow!

Yeah, this should be interesting.

*popcorn*

This could be quite cool.

Wow, multi-party UK... with paramilitaries.

Let's just say you had my interest, now you have my attention!

MOAR!

Is this the backstory to Making Murder Sound Respectable? If it ain't, sign me up anyway.

You have my attention. Do go on.

You had my curiosity... Now you have my attention.

Hot damn. Subscribed.

My body is ready.

Oh wow, this'll be good.

My Body is not ready.

My body is very ready.

SOCIAL CREDIT

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Uhura's Mazda said:

SOCIAL CREDIT

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Click to expand...

*Cribs Furiously*

While it might seem more appropriate to look at the largest parties and their attendant militant cadres, we should begin with Britain's most venerable political paramilitaries, as they are the movements which began Britain's accelerating slip into increasing partisanship and political violence. And a good place to start would be the most notorious group of all.

THE BLACKSHIRTS

The term 'Blackshirts' evolved out of derogatory slang, but as the British Fascist Movement has split, reformed and co-opted new groups and ideas over the decades since the foundation of the original British Union of Fascists, the term Blackshirt has become a label of honour, a general agreement between the groups of the far-right to cooperate in fighting those groups they hold in particularly low esteem.

The Blackshirts' official name is the Blackshirt League of Patriotic Fighters. Aside from a few one-man bands who take exception, the Blackshirts have represented the British far-right since the fragmentation of the BUF in the 1940s.

The BUF was very much the creature of Oswald Mosley, and he brought fascism into the public eye. His assassination in 1940, led to a series of fascist riots and a brief surge in support for the BUF at a time when the far-right was under a great deal of pressure due to the ongoing war with Nazi Germany. However, this outburst of violence led to an equally violent counter-reaction, with the Jewish Self-Defence Brigades and the precursor of Labour Front, the Anti-Fascist Battalion, taking a prominent part. These anti-fascist brigades were often intimately connected to the Home Guard and to the Auxiliary Brigades that Churchill formed in preparation for a Nazi invasion and occupation. The violent crushing of the BUF and mass internment of its leaders led to the BUF splintering into a patchwork of local fascist groups, with little coordination.

It wasn't until the 60s that the Blackshirts re-emerged. Mosley had declared that every great movement needed a 'hate-plank' and while the Blackshirts have retained their hatred of the Jews, the resurgent Blackshirt movement now presented itself in opposition to mass immigration. The largest of the new fascist parties, with national presence was the National Front. However, the far right was perpetually arguing and fighting with itself and while the NF tended to come out on top in these clashes, it didn't do the movement any good.

What transformed the far-right was the intervention of Enoch Powell. The Conservative Party had long sought to place itself at the centre of British politics and Powell, an economic monetarist and patriot, feared what was happening. In the early 70s, he left the Tories and joined Harry West's United Ulster Unionist Coalition, which had co-opted the religious conservatives of the Democratic Unionists and presented a more hardline anti-nationalist face than previous Unionist leaders. Powell built alliances with the more moderate leaders of the National Front, and what emerged was the alliance of Unionists and National Fronters.

Powell and West hoped that such an alliance would spread their ideals of Unionism and Patriotism, but instead it allowed the Protestant paramilitaries of Northern Ireland to spread their knowledge of tactics, weaponry and organisation to the mainland. The Blackshirts were back in force and the alliance of the National Front thugs and Ulster Volunteer Force was the model for co-opting the patchwork of far-right groups which had emerged since the collapse of the BUF. While some groups have remained outside this alliance, the Blackshirts are the largest such group and thanks to the Ulster Unionists' continued electoral success in Northern Ireland and some victories on the mainland by Blackshirt endorsed candidates, they have maintained a veneer of respectability.

Political violence in Northern Ireland is extreme, even by British standards and politics is little more than war fought without guns. A modicum of peace is maintained by a clear delineation of boundaries between Catholic and Protestant communities, a de facto form of segregation. Nevertheless, this doesn't prevent clashes, and the association of the Ulster Unionists and the rest of the Blackshirts with the Orange Order means that the worst outbreaks of violence tend to be on the Marching Days of the Order. The Blackshirts have enjoyed their greatest success in areas sharply divided on religious or ethnic lines, notably the East End of London, Glasgow, parts of Birmingham and Liverpool. They tend to be urban, and working class and despite their roots enjoy little support in more middle class areas. Their primary competition tends to be Labour Front or the Dwyfor Brigades.

The uniform of the Blackshirts isn't, strictly speaking, uniform. The Ulster branch often combine the pseudo-military black uniform with the orange sashes of the Orangemen and in Great Britain there is some regional variation. The black shirt however is universal. It is a symbol of the movement, capable of uniting men and women who may march under a variety of symbols, from the traditional BUF 'flash-in-a-pan', the Hakenkreuz, or the Bloody Hand of Ulster.

Phresh.

I note we went to war with the Nazis, so this isn't Making Mumby Hungry On A Sofa, but it's certainly interesting. Enoch triggering [jazz hands] a Blackshirt revival via the UUP sounds a little like the Unionist Party in a certain 1970s TL.

This is becoming a prime example of Mumbypunk.

I especially like the nod to the fact that the original founders of the Home Guard had been anti-Fascist volunteers in Spain before the War - something which I don't think ever came up in Dad's Army. Although they all seem pretty happy to welcome the Stakhanovite visitor in that episode where Wilson becomes an Honourable; even Mainwaring.

Japhy said:

*Cribs Furiously*

Click to expand...

*Kibbos Furiously*

Uhura's Mazda said:

This is becoming a prime example of Mumbypunk.

I especially like the nod to the fact that the original founders of the Home Guard had been anti-Fascist volunteers in Spain before the War - something which I don't think ever came up in Dad's Army. Although they all seem pretty happy to welcome the Stakhanovite visitor in that episode where Wilson becomes an Honourable; even Mainwaring.

Click to expand...

Mainwaring does gently take the piss, though, saying 'he's a Hero of the Soviet Union, which doesn't necessarily mean he's done anything'. None of the platoon are ex-fighters from Spain, which is accurate – Tom Wintringham designed the Home Guard and was then banned from joining it, because of his own service in the Spanish Civil War.

Meadow said:

Phresh.

I note we went to war with the Nazis, so this isn't Making Mumby Hungry On A Sofa, but it's certainly interesting. Enoch triggering [jazz hands] a Blackshirt revival via the UUP sounds a little like the Unionist Party in a certain 1970s TL.

Click to expand...

There's a certain amount of butterfly murder, but as you can imagine, by the time we get past WWII, there's too many butterflies and they are flapping and they are everywhere oh no please there are so many butterflies all i can hear is flappi

And yeah, I'm going to admit I was inspired by that (and also cumbria fight me). What I hope I've portrayed is that this modern Blackshirt movement isn't what Powell intended and is a case of unintended consequences.

Uhura's Mazda said:

This is becoming a prime example of Mumbypunk.

I especially like the nod to the fact that the original founders of the Home Guard had been anti-Fascist volunteers in Spain before the War - something which I don't think ever came up in Dad's Army. Although they all seem pretty happy to welcome the Stakhanovite visitor in that episode where Wilson becomes an Honourable; even Mainwaring.

Click to expand...

its going to get even philthier

NEXT STOP: THE GREENS (NO NOT THE ECOLOGISTS)

Meadow said:

Mainwaring does gently take the piss, though, saying 'he's a Hero of the Soviet Union, which doesn't necessarily mean he's done anything'. None of the platoon are ex-fighters from Spain, which is accurate – Tom Wintringham designed the Home Guard and was then banned from joining it, because of his own service in the Spanish Civil War.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I get that Jones obviously never told rambling anecdotes about how the Falangists didn't like it up 'em, but I'd just have thought Hodges would have mentioned Wintringham to rile Mainwaring at some point. As I remember, Mainwaring was of the opinion that usually he'd Strenuously Disapprove of the USSR, but that they couldn't be all bad if they were on our side. POUM probably wouldn't fall under that caveat, though.

EDIT: the greens aaaaaaaaagrave