39
August 24, 1936
Socialist Labour Party Headquarters
Lambeth
In the office of the Chief Whip of the Socialist Labour Party, Oswald Mosley brought the heel of his hand down on a mahogany desk.
"I'm telling you, Emmanuel, if we care to do more than just get through the next election, we must be prepared to revise our ideology. Socialism is on the rise everywhere. Sweden, Catalonia, Germany, America even--maybe they're doing it in different ways, but they're all for what we're for."
Emmanuel Goldstein, MP for Whitechapel and Chief Whip of Socialist Labour, winced at some of the things Mosley liked to call "socialism". True, the new rising movement in Sweden might call itself "National Socialism", but it was obviously just a clone of the dictatorship in Berlin, which, from what he'd read in the newspapers, had little in common with the socialism Goldstein envisioned. He would never go there himself--he'd read about the way they treated Jews there--but it appeared to Goldstein that the benefits of welfare and nationalization applied almost entirely to "Aryans", as Hitler called them, while the Jews were left to fend for themselves or, sometimes, left bloody in the street. For this reason he was very skeptical of the German, and now the Swedish, brand of "socialism".
Mosley continued. "If we don't keep up, we'll fall behind. There's no single kind of socialism--you can't argue with that. England is headed towards socialism sooner or later, and if this party wants to lead the charge, we've got to open ourselves up to new positions. If we keep pushing a single, narrow ideology, we'll be left in the dust within ten years."
Mosley had a point. Even discounting the German "national" socialism, there was no point equating American social democracy with Russian communism. And since Trotsky had invaded Finland and drawn the world's ire, it would be a bad idea to align too closely with the Russian brand of socialism. Then again, it would be unwise to get too close to American socialism, in case Thomas lost the election. Britain would need its own kind of socialism, and Socialist Labour would be the party to supply it. The challenge, though, would be to find this "British Socialism". Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take inspiration from a few brethren movements.
"What do you propose we do?" asked Goldstein.
"I'd like to visit some of the places where socialism is on the rise," replied Mosley. "Russia, Italy, Sweden, Germany, America and Catalonia, if we can pull that off. A 'tour', if you like, of the socialist world*. I'll do some interviews, make some observations, and bring back what I find. We can use some of the other countries' ideas in our next election campaign."
"I don't think we can afford to send you to America. And I don't want you visiting Germany," said Goldstein. "You know the way they treat Jews there. That's not a system I care to model this party after."
Mosley nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. Just Russia, Sweden, Italy and Catalonia, then." Catalonia was a good idea. Since the civil war had started in Spain, everyone had been saying Catalonia was a golden kingdom without the king. This anarchistic socialism might just have something to it.
"All right, if you can clear it with Maxton and the Party Treasurer, we'll send you. But I want Eric Blair will go with you."
"Blair, the reporter? Fine," said Mosley, who had taken a liking to Blair in the past few months. "I assume he will be publishing the details of my trip in the Times?"
"That's the idea, as long as his editor will print them." The Socialist Labour Party wasn't exactly up to its tits in cash. If it was going to spend a few thousand quid subsidizing Mosley's autumn holiday, they'd better get some good publicity out of it.
"All right, then," said Oswald Mosley, hiding a bit of excitement. "I'll go ask Maxton," he said as he turned out the door. Goldstein sat back in his chair, imagining what Mosley might see abroad. As he picked up the telephone receiver and waited to be connected with Blair's office, he wondered to himself what "British Socialism" would end up looking like.
* In OTL, Mosley did a "tour" of this kind in 1932, but only in Mussolini's Italy, where he became impressed with Italian fascism. This is what pushed him to found the BUF.
Socialist Labour Party Headquarters
Lambeth
In the office of the Chief Whip of the Socialist Labour Party, Oswald Mosley brought the heel of his hand down on a mahogany desk.
"I'm telling you, Emmanuel, if we care to do more than just get through the next election, we must be prepared to revise our ideology. Socialism is on the rise everywhere. Sweden, Catalonia, Germany, America even--maybe they're doing it in different ways, but they're all for what we're for."
Emmanuel Goldstein, MP for Whitechapel and Chief Whip of Socialist Labour, winced at some of the things Mosley liked to call "socialism". True, the new rising movement in Sweden might call itself "National Socialism", but it was obviously just a clone of the dictatorship in Berlin, which, from what he'd read in the newspapers, had little in common with the socialism Goldstein envisioned. He would never go there himself--he'd read about the way they treated Jews there--but it appeared to Goldstein that the benefits of welfare and nationalization applied almost entirely to "Aryans", as Hitler called them, while the Jews were left to fend for themselves or, sometimes, left bloody in the street. For this reason he was very skeptical of the German, and now the Swedish, brand of "socialism".
Mosley continued. "If we don't keep up, we'll fall behind. There's no single kind of socialism--you can't argue with that. England is headed towards socialism sooner or later, and if this party wants to lead the charge, we've got to open ourselves up to new positions. If we keep pushing a single, narrow ideology, we'll be left in the dust within ten years."
Mosley had a point. Even discounting the German "national" socialism, there was no point equating American social democracy with Russian communism. And since Trotsky had invaded Finland and drawn the world's ire, it would be a bad idea to align too closely with the Russian brand of socialism. Then again, it would be unwise to get too close to American socialism, in case Thomas lost the election. Britain would need its own kind of socialism, and Socialist Labour would be the party to supply it. The challenge, though, would be to find this "British Socialism". Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take inspiration from a few brethren movements.
"What do you propose we do?" asked Goldstein.
"I'd like to visit some of the places where socialism is on the rise," replied Mosley. "Russia, Italy, Sweden, Germany, America and Catalonia, if we can pull that off. A 'tour', if you like, of the socialist world*. I'll do some interviews, make some observations, and bring back what I find. We can use some of the other countries' ideas in our next election campaign."
"I don't think we can afford to send you to America. And I don't want you visiting Germany," said Goldstein. "You know the way they treat Jews there. That's not a system I care to model this party after."
Mosley nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. Just Russia, Sweden, Italy and Catalonia, then." Catalonia was a good idea. Since the civil war had started in Spain, everyone had been saying Catalonia was a golden kingdom without the king. This anarchistic socialism might just have something to it.
"All right, if you can clear it with Maxton and the Party Treasurer, we'll send you. But I want Eric Blair will go with you."
"Blair, the reporter? Fine," said Mosley, who had taken a liking to Blair in the past few months. "I assume he will be publishing the details of my trip in the Times?"
"That's the idea, as long as his editor will print them." The Socialist Labour Party wasn't exactly up to its tits in cash. If it was going to spend a few thousand quid subsidizing Mosley's autumn holiday, they'd better get some good publicity out of it.
"All right, then," said Oswald Mosley, hiding a bit of excitement. "I'll go ask Maxton," he said as he turned out the door. Goldstein sat back in his chair, imagining what Mosley might see abroad. As he picked up the telephone receiver and waited to be connected with Blair's office, he wondered to himself what "British Socialism" would end up looking like.
* In OTL, Mosley did a "tour" of this kind in 1932, but only in Mussolini's Italy, where he became impressed with Italian fascism. This is what pushed him to found the BUF.
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