Sir Oswald Mosley | |
|---|---|
 Mosley in 1922 | |
| Leader of the British Union of Fascists[a] | |
| In office 1 October 1932 – 10 July 1940 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 7 June 1929 – 19 May 1930 | |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald |
| Preceded by | Ronald McNeill |
| Succeeded by | Clement Attlee |
| Member of Parliament for Smethwick | |
| In office 21 December 1926 – 7 October 1931 | |
| Preceded by | John Davison |
| Succeeded by | Roy Wise |
| Member of Parliament for Harrow | |
| In office 14 December 1918 – 9 October 1924 | |
| Preceded by | Harry Mallaby-Deeley |
| Succeeded by | Sir Isidore Salmon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Oswald Ernald Mosley 16 November 1896 Mayfair, London, England |
| Died | 3 December 1980 (aged 84) Orsay, Essonne, France |
| Political party | British Union of Fascists (1932–1940) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouses | |
| Children |
|
| Parent | Sir Oswald Mosley, 5th Baronet |
| Education | Winchester College |
| Alma mater | Royal Military College, Sandhurst |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British Empire |
| Branch/service |  British Army
|
| Years of service | 1914–1918 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards | |
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow from 1918 to 1924 and for Smethwick from 1926 to 1931. He founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 and led it until its forced disbandment in 1940.[1][2][3][b]
After military service during the First World War, Mosley was one of the youngest members of Parliament, representing Harrow from 1918, first as a Conservative, then an independent, and finally joining the Labour Party. At the 1924 general election he stood in Birmingham Ladywood against the future prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, coming within 100 votes of defeating him. Mosley returned to parliament as Labour MP for Smethwick at a by-election in 1926 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Labour government of 1929–1931. In 1928, he succeeded his father as the sixth Mosley baronet, a title in his family for over a century.[4] Some considered Mosley a rising star and possible future prime minister.[5] He resigned in 1930 over discord with the government's unemployment policies. He chose not to defend his Smethwick constituency at the 1931 general election, instead unsuccessfully standing in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mosley's New Party became the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932. As leader, he publicly espoused antisemitism and sought alliances with other fascist leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Fascist violence under Mosley's leadership culminated in the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, during which anti-fascist demonstrators including trade unionists, liberals, socialists, communists, anarchists, and British Jews prevented the BUF from marching through London's East End. Mosley subsequently held a series of rallies around London, and the BUF increased its membership there.[6][7]
In May 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, Mosley was imprisoned and the BUF was banned. He was released in 1943 and, politically disgraced by his association with the enemy, moved abroad in 1951, spending most of the remainder of his life in Paris and two residences in Ireland. He stood for Parliament during the post-war era but received very little support. During this period he was an advocate of Pan-European nationalism, developing the Europe a Nation ideology,[8] and was an early proponent of Holocaust denial conspiracy theories.[9][10]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Sir Oswald Mosley – Meteoric rise and fall of a controversial politician". The Times. 4 December 1980. p. 19.
- ^ "'Worst' historical Britons list". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ Dorril, Stephen (6 October 2017). Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism. Thistle. ISBN 978-1-910670-71-2.
- ^ "Life and Times of Sir Oswald Mosley & the British Union of Fascists". Holocaust Research Project. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Worley, Matthew (January 2011) [22 December 2010]. "Why Fascism? Sir Oswald Mosley and the Conception of the British Union of Fascists". History. 96 (1 (321)): 72. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.2010.00507.x. ISSN 0018-2648. JSTOR 24429007 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Barling, Kurt (4 October 2011). "Why remember Battle of Cable Street?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ Philpot, Robert. "The true history behind London's much-lauded anti-fascist Battle of Cable Street". Times of Israel. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Edgerton, David (28 June 2018). The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-197596-2.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hobbs, Mark (2017). "The men who rewrite history: Holocaust denial and the British far right from 1967". In Copsey, Nigel; Worley, Matthew (eds.). Tomorrow Belongs to Us: The British Far Right Since 1967. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317190882.