WI Britain turns fascist

Not quite sure how, but I thought it was an interesting idea that was less prominent. What if the British Empire turned fascist during the Interwar Era?
 
I think maybe you need to clarify your intent here. Are you wondering what a fascist UK would do when World War II came around, who they would ally with etc? Are you wondering what the mythology and aesthetics of the government would be?

For the latter, I'd recomend Richard Loncraine's film Richard III for an idea of how a fascist UK of that era would have looked. I'd assume it would have all the traditional trappings of British monarchism, but probably not be so anti-Catholic, since some of their support would probably be coming from the reactionary Catholic elements.

Mind you, if they really went old-school fascist, in the sense of revolutionary rhetoric welded to reactionary politics, it might look a little different. Maybe they'd go for an anti-establishment, Robin Hood sort of an image, portraying themselves as traditional English folk heroes taking on the corrupt artistocracy. This would be more analagous to Hitler and Mussolini, than to Franco and Petain.
 
I think maybe you need to clarify your intent here. Are you wondering what a fascist UK would do when World War II came around, who they would ally with etc? Are you wondering what the mythology and aesthetics of the government would be?

For the latter, I'd recomend Richard Loncraine's film Richard III for an idea of how a fascist UK of that era would have looked. I'd assume it would have all the traditional trappings of British monarchism, but probably not be so anti-Catholic, since some of their support would probably be coming from the reactionary Catholic elements.

Mind you, if they really went old-school fascist, in the sense of revolutionary rhetoric welded to reactionary politics, it might look a little different. Maybe they'd go for an anti-establishment, Robin Hood sort of an image, portraying themselves as traditional English folk heroes taking on the corrupt artistocracy. This would be more analagous to Hitler and Mussolini, than to Franco and Petain.

I was talking of the former, on who they'll ally with and how WWII would change. But I will look at Richard III since it looks terrifically interesting.
 
I can only have so many famous actors in a single movie without orgasming. :p
It's definitely worth a watch. Put a towel down then. ;)

Anyway, the most likely PoD would be a much more dramatic 1926 General Strike, which was the watershed event that the British Fascists (pre-split) were all waiting for, and the lack of violence emerging from that led to their splitting and their turn to the far-right. If things reach emergency levels, the Fascist lobby could strengthen within the Conservatives to the extent that the national cabinets would be dominated by imperialist and authoritarian interests. An England willing to play ball with Italy would lead to dramatic differences in German foreign policy, assuming that the Nazis or another reactionary movement seizes power in the aftermath of the Great Depression (assuming that's not butterflied away.)

Bear in mind that at this stage the "Fascists" would be right-wing but not far-right, as that turn was the result of a lack of acceptance/popularity in the aftermath of the split, i.e. you may get a "standard" authoritarian government without the marching music, colour-coded clothes and salutes.
 
Given that the British fascist movement only really got into anti-Semitism when it started to decline, could a more successful Fascist movement result in a non-Jew hating fascist regime (or at least one that doesn't go out of their way to kill them all).

Would a Fascist Britain ally with Germany, or would they try to limit their influence? After all Britain has its own Imperialist ambitions and its historical policy towards Europe for the past several centuries has centred around keeping the place divided and weak. Maybe they'll side with the Austrofascists against the Anschluss?

I wonder how they would regard France. Would they try to maintain friendly relations in an attempt to contain German expansionism, or would they seek to attack Britain's traditional enemy?
 
My gander is that the British fascists would ally with Germany but place themselves at arm's length; don't think any British politician was a serious Germanophile.
 
My gander is that the British fascists would ally with Germany but place themselves at arm's length; don't think any British politician was a serious Germanophile.

They would easily be more anti-german that what happened IOTL. Ian McKellen :D would not wait long to savagely rearm to counter german ambitions.
 
My gander is that the British fascists would ally with Germany but place themselves at arm's length; don't think any British politician was a serious Germanophile.

Given that the British fascist movement only really got into anti-Semitism when it started to decline, could a more successful Fascist movement result in a non-Jew hating fascist regime (or at least one that doesn't go out of their way to kill them all).

Would a Fascist Britain ally with Germany, or would they try to limit their influence? After all Britain has its own Imperialist ambitions and its historical policy towards Europe for the past several centuries has centred around keeping the place divided and weak. Maybe they'll side with the Austrofascists against the Anschluss?

I wonder how they would regard France. Would they try to maintain friendly relations in an attempt to contain German expansionism, or would they seek to attack Britain's traditional enemy?

Maybe, but it could equally be a peace movement. Like Spain - vaguely pro Germany but unwilling to be drawn into a European war. You might see equivalent British units serve in the Wehrmacht like the Spanish Blue Division. Also the fascist movement in Britain is largely anti-semitic from the start.


Anyway, the most likely PoD would be a much more dramatic 1926 General Strike, which was the watershed event that the British Fascists (pre-split) were all waiting for, and the lack of violence emerging from that led to their splitting and their turn to the far-right. If things reach emergency levels, the Fascist lobby could strengthen within the Conservatives to the extent that the national cabinets would be dominated by imperialist and authoritarian interests. An England willing to play ball with Italy would lead to dramatic differences in German foreign policy, assuming that the Nazis or another reactionary movement seizes power in the aftermath of the Great Depression (assuming that's not butterflied away.)

Bear in mind that at this stage the "Fascists" would be right-wing but not far-right, as that turn was the result of a lack of acceptance/popularity in the aftermath of the split, i.e. you may get a "standard" authoritarian government without the marching music, colour-coded clothes and salutes.

The problem with this timeline is that the Government doesn't need the Fascist movement if the General Strike turns more violent or problematic. Baldwin had the support of a significant number of the population in combating the General Strike (look at all the volunteers who turned out to run essential industries and services for instance). Plus you don't need fascists for the Government to take a harder line on the strikers if they get violent - there were plenty in the cabinet for that.

The result that you talk about, as you point out, isn't actually fascist. It might seem pedantic of me, but if you strip away the marching music, uniforms, salutes, etc, you are stripping away not just the stage dressings of Fascism but a crucial part of what the ideology is.

I think that this is a very hard WI to achieve - that said Britain itself doesn't have to turn Fascist for parts of the Empire to be fascist. There were Fascist movements in Australia and South Africa that attracted support. Maybe it could be worth thinking about these as locations?
 
I think that this is a very hard WI to achieve - that said Britain itself doesn't have to turn Fascist for parts of the Empire to be fascist. There were Fascist movements in Australia and South Africa that attracted support. Maybe it could be worth thinking about these as locations?
A British-Australian-South African fascist union is very intriguing to think about. :p If they took all the African colonies and India, that's basically two-thirds of of what they used to have, right?
 
Not quite sure how, but I thought it was an interesting idea that was less prominent. What if the British Empire turned fascist during the Interwar Era?

Very, very unlikely. The combination of social forces in the UK was very different from those countries where fascists came to power. The UK had a stronger bourgeoise and a long parliamentary tradition. Britain was probably the country in Europe least likely to turn fascist.
 
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