Keywords

Fascism, Anti-Semitism, Britain

Abstract

Between World Wars I and II, allied forces girded themselves to quash yet another enemy bent on world conquest: fascism. In England, however, the British fascists set about to save what they saw as a dying empire. In an effort to restore Britain's greatness, British fascism held to fascist principles and doctrine to stem the flow of immigration, which fascists saw as darkening the pure British culture. While many of the British fascists strongly admired Nazi Germany's version of fascism, they were unique in that they forged their solutions from social ills that were distinctly British. British fascists were unabashedly anti-Semitic. They feared a Jewish threat to Britain's economy and culture and sought to counter it on every front. History, according to the British fascists, was rife with conspiracies which threatened the established "order of things." Unfortunately, their fears of conspiracy were so fantastic that their rationale was at times clouded and to their detriment. Foremost in the thinking of British fascists, Britain itself and all things British stood paramount to the exclusion of all else. Only an enormous resurgence of British nationalism would serve to regain Britain's proud heritage and future. Widely held principles of British fascism included direct representation in government for all occupations. All Britons would work in the interest of Britain, placing individual interests secondary to the whole of British culture. British fascism called for all Britons to actively involve themselves in the organic body of the British fascist state. Honor, duty, and loyalty would guide all Britons to a heightened sense of nationalism which would enable the individual to flourish within the fascist state. British fascism offered a sense of greatness to the British people. When all Britons embraced the nationalism of British fascism, pride of country, strength of family, honor of the individual, and the greatness of the British Empire all would be restored.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2005

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Kallina, Edmund

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

History

Degree Program

History

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000794

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000794

Language

English

Release Date

January 2006

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Download

Included in

History Commons

Share

COinS