Fascist Britain?

What if Oswald Mosley was able to gain power in Great Britain? What would come of his "Union of Fascists"? What stance do you think he would have toward the Nazi's?
 
What if Oswald Mosley was able to gain power in Great Britain? What would come of his "Union of Fascists"? What stance do you think he would have toward the Nazi's?
It is hard to see how Mosley would gain power with the BUF. It had limited appeal to the vast majority of the British people; parading around in silly uniforms has always seemed...well...silly.
With regard to his stance towards the German Nazis, he was a Fascist so would be friendly and generally supportive....but not at the expense of British national interests.
Mosley is frequently portrayed as likely to be a Quisling in the (ridiculous ) event of successful German invasion. He was a patriotic Briton who regrettably became a Fascist. Prior to that he was a leading Labour politician. He broke away to form the New Party when Labour did not adopt the manifesto he wrote. According to Skidelsky, Keynes's biographer, it was one of the best Labour manifestos ever. He is probably a fine example of a spoilt ego triumphing over great ability.
An interesting timeline would be the consequences of Labour having adopted his manifesto.
 
[snip]It is hard to see how Mosley would gain power with the BUF.

From everything I've read he was considered nothing more than a member of the fringe element and not really taken seriously.

Mosley said in his biography he would have refused any offer to collaborate with the Nazi's had Sealion taken place (and worked). Being the book was written postwar I take that statement with a LARGE grain of salt...
 
When Mosely was apart of the Labor party, he had a pretty large gathering of people in the (Liverpool area?) Had he stayed in the party and morphed it into his Union of Fascists he might of had a chance. And if he becomes Prime Minister instead of Churchill, I honestly think he still would have joined France and the US to fight Germany. Mosely's brand of Fascism was more alligned with Mussolini than the Nazis.


Granted that Mosely becoming Prime Minister is almost impossible, I think that if it were to happen, it would be interesting to see how history would play out.
 
From everything I've read he was considered nothing more than a member of the fringe element and not really taken seriously.

Mosley said in his biography he would have refused any offer to collaborate with the Nazi's had Sealion taken place (and worked). Being the book was written postwar I take that statement with a LARGE grain of salt...
Mosley wanted peace between the British Empire and Germany, as did most during the 30s. In particular, the Labour Party opposed re-armament. There is no evidence at all that he would have been a Quisling; it would have been entirely contrary to his previous life history. It is in any event unlikely that Germany would have chosen him to be the head of a defeated UK. It would have chosen a more emollient character in order to placate the populace. Occupation of a defeated country with an inherently hostile population requires huge manpower; it is best to appoint an effective administrator who will try to normalise the occupation and get the population onside or at least accepting. Mosley can never be classified as emollient.
 
You can't deny that Mosley had a brand of Fascism that set him apart from his contemporaries. He wasn't anti-Semitic, and according to his manifesto, wasn't seeking to be a dictator. He thought fascism and democracy could coexist. How that would look is anyone's guess. Putting Mosley in power would make Britain a wildcard of WW2.
 
You can't deny that Mosley had a brand of Fascism that set him apart from his contemporaries.

One thing in particular that makes Mosley an oddity among Fascists is that, unlike his contemporaries, despite still using strongman authoritarian rhetoric and aesthetics, he was fiercely anti-war, and wanted to avoid a repeat of the First World War by whatever means possible. While Hitler and Mussolini were warmongering expansionists wanting to invade other countries for more clay, Mosley was more of an isolationist and Imperial nationalist who wanted Britain's interests to be purely inward-looking and centered on building up the Empire/Commonwealth. He believed that the British Empire had everything it needed to be self-sustaining on its own and can rely on its own internal markets, rather than make itself vulnerable to the instabilities of the global markets (something that the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression proved).

As far as Mosley cared, the rest of the world can just sod off, Britain can stand on its own merits and not have to deal with this ugly business of war anymore... unless somebody went out of their way to provoke them. Otherwise, it's just good business.
 
An interesting timeline would be the consequences of Labour having adopted his manifesto.

There is an excellent timeline written by @EdT similar to that where Mosely becomes a Labour Prime Minister. It's called A Greater Britain, I believe.
 
When Mosely was apart of the Labor party, he had a pretty large gathering of people in the (Liverpool area?) Had he stayed in the party and morphed it into his Union of Fascists he might of had a chance. And if he becomes Prime Minister instead of Churchill, I honestly think he still would have joined France and the US to fight Germany. Mosely's brand of Fascism was more alligned with Mussolini than the Nazis.


Granted that Mosely becoming Prime Minister is almost impossible, I think that if it were to happen, it would be interesting to see how history would play out.
I don't think Mosley could have transformed Labour into a Fascist Party. Even if he were leader, he would be accountable to primarily his MPs and the Trade Unions, most of whom would be highly resistant to such a change. If Mosley were to go down the path of outright fascism that he did OTL, then he wouldn't remain as Labour leader for long. Maybe you'd see a split which would create a stronger New Party/BUF equivalent.

On the other hand, if Mosley had remained in Labour and kept to the views he held prior to converting to fascism, then it is entirely plausible that he becomes leader and eventually PM at some stage. From what I know about Mosley, he always had a somewhat authoritarian character even prior to his BUF days. Whilst the UK would not come anywhere close to being totalitarian state under his leadership, I can see his premiership being remembered both for strong progressive reforms, and for its disturbingly authoritarian bent. Like a British Huey Long.
 
When Mosely was apart of the Labor party, he had a pretty large gathering of people in the (Liverpool area?) Had he stayed in the party and morphed it into his Union of Fascists

That Mosely could eventually have come to power as leader of the Labour Party is conceivable if unlikely. But in that event he would not be a Fascist and his Government would not be a Fascist Government. He could conceivably convert the Labour Party to his ideas of what to do about unemployment, etc., but there is no way he could convert it to fascism--nor in all likelihood would he even try to (his conversion to fascism occurred only after he left Labour).
 
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