AHC: Fascist Britain

With a POD after June 28, 1919 (the signing of the Treaty of Versailles), have the United Kingdom fall under a fascist government (the flavor of fascism doesn't matter as long as Britain goes fascist). Bonus points if you manage to have this fascist Britain survive to the present-day as well.
 
The best case scenario I could think of would be if Hitler’s fascism was similar to Mussolini’s. Both leaders maintain a peaceful position to acquiring land. Perhaps Hitler stops after the Sudetenland. An economic crisis in the late 30s for Britain causes a rise in unemployment which undermines Chamberlaim as Prime Minister. Mosley goes all out on promoting his Mosley Memorandum to combat unemployment instead of falling to anti semitism in an early 1940 General Election and through his charisma is able to win a dozen or so Seats for the BUF. The Tories lose their majority to a rise in support for Labour, the BUF and the Liberals. Chamberlain steps down due to ill health and a more hard right Tory leader is elected. With fascism far less discredited in this TL the new leader forms a coalition with the BUF.
 
Britain going Fascist is possible , forget Hitler through, it will not go Nazi.

So if after WW1 the social situation is worse with veterans feeling cheated, popular discontent rises, Mussolini's march on Rome is emulated but more in the sense of a bigger and earlier Jarrow March. Labour and the Unions stay quiet and refuse to back it similar to OTL meaning veteran/working class support starts moving to the Fascists.

Sometime in the mid-late 20's the BUF ( for want of a better name ) becomes a major force in British politics. The depression hits and it wins the election via the popular vote ( the existing parties are blamed, Labour especially being punished/broken for not supporting the working man/veteran during the march ).

Now given the nature of Britain its not going to be as anti-Semitic as the other Fascist parties, more them and us with us defined as the empire, so anti-French/American/Russian due to perceived actions in WW1 leading to Britian's issues.

Fast forward to the rise of Hitler, initially supported by the BUF but getting much colder as his polices become clear. Munich still goes as OTL since no butterflies for Britain trying to avoid another war but the British military is in a better shape due to military spending being used as a stimulus to try and get out of the depression. Since shipyards would be otherwise idle and planes were sexy, the bulk of the extra spending is on ships and planes ( Second London Naval treaty does not happen due to more mistrust so more refits followed by ships starting to be laid down in 1936, KGV's being 45000 tons, carriers larger etc. Planes will be more numerous and may be different but the thinking of the bomber always getting through will still cloud things ).

Poland is still the flashpoint, Britain even under a fascist government is not going to let Germany expand that much so you end up with a alliance of necessity between Britain and France. Less trust will mean the UK's contribution in France may be lower on the ground but a stronger air component and more naval activity. The British commanders will definitely have orders to keep their lines of retreat to the sea open.

Norway, goes better for the Allies, more patrol planes and submarines mean its seen as an invasion not a break out and the RN gets in place. Oslo airport still falls to a paratroop attack but the seaborne invasions are destroyed or turned back. Vicious fighting takes place but the inability of the Germans to take a port means the invasion is a costly failure.

As the French are still as badly organized as OTL France still falls, however the BEF gets back in better shape and, due to more spending and hence more escorts, the Battle of the Atlantic is much more in Britain's favor ( obviously Norway being allied helps a lot but politics means its trumpeted as a RN victory ).

Italy dithered due to the German defeat in Norway and does not declare war in time, they ask Hitler for spoils in return for joining after France falls but flush with victory he turns them down. Britain he declares will seek terms now. Britain as per OTL vows to fight on and the Battle of Britain goes more or less OTL just less panic on the British side due to larger reserves. Hitler asks Italy to join but Mussolini by now is in a huff and rebuffs him.

A standoff then ensures till Hitler decides to invade Russia .....
 
Britain going Fascist is possible , forget Hitler through, it will not go Nazi.

So if after WW1 the social situation is worse with veterans feeling cheated, popular discontent rises, Mussolini's march on Rome is emulated but more in the sense of a bigger and earlier Jarrow March. Labour and the Unions stay quiet and refuse to back it similar to OTL meaning veteran/working class support starts moving to the Fascists.

Sometime in the mid-late 20's the BUF ( for want of a better name ) becomes a major force in British politics. The depression hits and it wins the election via the popular vote ( the existing parties are blamed, Labour especially being punished/broken for not supporting the working man/veteran during the march ).
The thing I am struggling with here is how do you make a Fascist Party a major party in the 1920s? There were Fascists in the UK prior to the Great Depression, but they didn't get any traction, so it feels like you'd need a pretty dramatic change to make them a significant force.
 
The thing I am struggling with here is how do you make a Fascist Party a major party in the 1920s? There were Fascists in the UK prior to the Great Depression, but they didn't get any traction, so it feels like you'd need a pretty dramatic change to make them a significant force.
Basically the returning veterans feeling more betrayed, their sacrifices ignored etc compared to OTL. The mainstream parties either ignore it completely or stay quiet due to fear of being labelled communist supporters (a big Labour fear at the time). This builds up resentment and the fringe parties reap the benefits. The fascists, seeing what Mussolini achieved, decide capitalize on this by organizing a Jarrow March on steroids in the mid 20's, Labour/the unions as per OTL shoot themselves in the foot by not supporting it alienating the veterans\working class for a time.

This causes what would have been a temporary shift to the fascists in the 1929 elections ( in coalition with Labour, fascists may now be seen as far right but many polices are socialist in nature ) but less than six months later the Great Depression starts.

Queue up nationalizations, abandoning the Gold standard earlier ( 1929 rather than 1931 ) and Keynesian deficit spending ( unlike the OTL austerity measures ). This works in the short term, boosting the economy and generating a feel good factor whilst improving the military ( shipyards not having civilian orders the navy starts refits/rebuilds as well as new construction, some duel use like fast fleet tankers/oilers and auxiliaries ), this enables them to a snap election outright as well as one held in 1935. Longer term it could have just been a bubble and cause a collapse in support, but WW2 erupts first.

Post war, grabbing the NHS proposal from Labour ( including all dentists and restricting private practice to things not covered by the NHS like cosmetic surgery for vanity reasons ), slum clearance, rebuilding war damage along with victory in the war will get probably a couple of election wins. After that butterflies would be whale sized and coming so thick and fast so hard to say.

Remember these are British fascists which I'm seeing as more centrist and populist than their continental rivals, more corporate socialism, indeed a bit similar to OTL Peronism
 
I don't personally think it is possible but the 'closest' you can get is a softer Fascism along the lines of Spain and Portugal

Certainly I do not see it going full on NAZI

IC: As for still existing till today - here is a picture of its current leader ;)

image.jpg
 
Basically the returning veterans feeling more betrayed, their sacrifices ignored etc compared to OTL. The mainstream parties either ignore it completely or stay quiet due to fear of being labelled communist supporters (a big Labour fear at the time). This builds up resentment and the fringe parties reap the benefits. The fascists, seeing what Mussolini achieved, decide capitalize on this by organizing a Jarrow March on steroids in the mid 20's, Labour/the unions as per OTL shoot themselves in the foot by not supporting it alienating the veterans\working class for a time.
Okay, but what specifically would have to happen in order to make veterans feel even more betrayed? IOTL, there was already a strong perception that the government had failed to make good on its 'country fit for heroes' pledge, and Fascism never seriously took root in the UK.
This causes what would have been a temporary shift to the fascists in the 1929 elections ( in coalition with Labour, fascists may now be seen as far right but many polices are socialist in nature ) but less than six months later the Great Depression starts.
It is extremely unlikely that Labour would ever join in a coalition with the Fascists. Yes, there was some common ground on the economy, but most socialists regarded Mosley and the BUF as authoritarian and bigoted. In fact, organising and beating Fascism was probably one of the central preoccupations of the left in this period-see the Battle of Cable Street, the Popular Front, etc.
 
Okay, but what specifically would have to happen in order to make veterans feel even more betrayed? IOTL, there was already a strong perception that the government had failed to make good on its 'country fit for heroes' pledge, and Fascism never seriously took root in the UK.

It is extremely unlikely that Labour would ever join in a coalition with the Fascists. Yes, there was some common ground on the economy, but most socialists regarded Mosley and the BUF as authoritarian and bigoted. In fact, organising and beating Fascism was probably one of the central preoccupations of the left in this period-see the Battle of Cable Street, the Popular Front, etc.
First, I was thinking a worse response to Spanish Flu combined with heightened fear of communists due to more success exporting the revolution ( Finland going Red for a time ) and the Conservatives going penny pinching but keeping what were seen as Toffs perks. All meaning more unhappy people that think the regular parties are tainted. Then the mainstream parties reading the situation wrong and taking things for granted/keeping silent. I'm also giving the Fascists a British Goebbels to get the propaganda side working in overdrive.

To the second, I've moderated the Fascists so they are more corporate socialists, so wanting to co-opt unions rather than fight them and their bigotry is more anti-foreigner ( foreigner in this case being non British Empire ) than the anti-Semite of OTL ( i.e they are merely as anti-Semitic as the rest of the UK at this time ). This should mean far less friction.

I'm going on an election result where the BUP are the biggest party but both Labour and the Conservatives trail by only a few votes. This means any two out of three make a stable government and Labour elected to go into coalition as the least worse option, soundings telling them they would do worse in a rerun.

Got to remember this is not a high probability POD, it does need some thumbs on the scale :).
 
With a POD after June 28, 1919 (the signing of the Treaty of Versailles), have the United Kingdom fall under a fascist government (the flavor of fascism doesn't matter as long as Britain goes fascist). Bonus points if you manage to have this fascist Britain survive to the present-day as well.

This is very unlikely but the best chance I see is to have Mosley and the BUF keep along the current route as OTL, have them win the Battle of Cable Street, cozy up to Mussolini and Franco while simultaneously distancing in Germany. Maintain the isolationist stance but when war breaks out fully commit to the war effort, when if Mosley is imprisoned he needs to continue supporting the UK government and publicly denounce Hitler and Germany and soon Italy. After the war, British fascism can adopt right wing social ideas but left wing solutions, things like NHS, stronger unions, an integrated empire(except for India), and maintaining the peace. I'd say they'd still not win majority yet, let Mosley continue, drop the anti-Semitism that was somewhat present in the party, at least publicly, and when the Suez crisis rolls around advocate for invasion. When the U.S. abandons the U.K. and the nation feels humiliated, he strikes, seizing on the loss of faith within either labour or the Tories to win his first election. At this point I'm certain that Mosley would be swayed by pragmatism to keep most of his economic policy in his head for the good of the nation. However, he can pursue integration with the remaining Dominons as well as some smaller possessions such as Malta, Gibraltar, maybe even Hong Kong and Singapore by granting them mps in the house of commons, I doubt the last two would ever join though, with the loss of Singapore and PRC breathing down Britain's neck. Still, fascism would be seen as both a socially progressive and reactionary movement simultaneously. You might see Britain win some elections after the initial one, never could it become a dictatorship however else it would loose all credibility internally and externally and soon be over thrown. Fascism with British characterisitics you might say
 
A successful British fascism is unlikely in any event, but one thing I am pretty sure of is it wouldn't call itself fascist!
 
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