the british union of fascists

sir osward mosley

• in october 1932 he formed the BUF

• the BUF brought a distrubing political element to the streets of britain

• they would salute their leader mosley

• the received backing from newspaper baron rothermere , propeteir of the daily mail

• by 1924 its membership increased to appoximately 50,000

• fascism was strong in some parts of london as well as places up north such as liverpool or manchester

• early on, there was enthsusiam from more affluent middle class towns such as harrogate and most of their recruiters were young middle class men

attributes of mosely

• people were drawn into the BUF because of moselys strong personality

• he was an exceptionally talented speaker who could inspire a crowd

• he was a great writer and wrote a book on reducing mass unemployment at a time where many were out of work

• he travelled the world making speeches wherever he went

• mosley was his partys greatest asset but there was a lack of talent among other leaders in the party

support for the BUF

• there was a disillusionment with the traditional political party

• the collapse of the second labour government and the national governments inability to solve the economic crisis and their cut in gov spending increased support

• some labour supporters flirted with the BUF as they felt that some leaders had betrayed them in 1931 with the formation of the national government

• mosleys appeal to anti-semtism gained him approval in certain quarters but it was a two edged sword as so many would be mosley admirers were disgusted by this

stagnation of the BUF

• in the end , the buf and mosley did bot change the political position although it appeared to be a possibilty

• mosley was a credible political figure in the early 1930s

• he hoped that he would be a saviour to the economic crisis in 1930 and present a formidable challeneg to the discredited macdonald and the cautious baldwin

• by 1935, the BUF membership fell to about 5000

• electorally the BUF was a failure with no mps or local councillors

• following the violence of a BUF rally in londons olympia hall in 1934, rothermere withdrew his backing

• in the late 1930s the BUFs close association with the ideology of nazi germany was repugnant to the majority of right minded british people