The Rise and Fall of Oswald Mosley.
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| Oswald Mosley 1896 to 1980 |
After the war of 1914-1918,
Oswald Mosley returned from the carnage of war determined to make a difference
in the United Kingdom. He had seen the suffering of war and the humane side of
this man wanted to build a better Britain. In the long run; one might say he
was a perverted patriot who meant well. Adolf Hitler and Mussolini were men who wanted to serve their nations and perhaps Mosley was lucky not to be as dreadfully successful at winning power. His terrible
legacy might have been more enhanced because he did advocate an anti-Jewish
policy and one of his close party members would be William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw)
All this happened and came about after being frustrated with radical political
adventures in the 1920s. All the good he tried to do was blown away when he
tried to launch his British Union of Fascists in the 1930s
In his early days, Oswald Mosley
gained prominence for his articulate ability and often made stirring speeches
as a young politician. He championed a lot of working men’s causes and made
compelling speeches that allured voters to him. He was also very outspoken
against The Black and Tans and Auxiliary Police units that were causing great
suffering in Ireland. So much so that he left the Conservative party and walked
across the floor. This all seems very strange in the early days form a man that
would lead the British Union of Fascists and try to make peace with Nazi
Germany and Italy. These initial things brought Oswald Mosley much admiration
and respect, especially championing the Irish cause against the thuggish police
tactics of the Black and Tans.
The Labour party was new at the
time and Mosley found a welcome from this new party after walking across the
floor and leaving the coalition Conservative led government – Insulting and
Shaming the Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George. This was impact politics –
very daring – very radical – and extremely attention gathering. This sort of
thing gets attention, but if you are going to take things seriously; such
extreme behaviour warrants distrust in the long run. Perhaps the newly emerging
Labour party welcomed the positive publicity, but never really trusted the man
Mosley in the long run. Perhaps he was too much of a loaded gun. He worked with
the party for a long time but was never given a post of great prominence. He
got frustrated and tried to bulldoze his way into the higher spectrum of the
Labour party by putting forward a memorandum among other things.
He tried to do a lot to help the
working man and the Mosley Memorandum to get British industry up and running
with jobs for the working man all over the UK; got rejected by the Labour party
cabinet. He tried to forward this proposal a second time and was further frustrated
by rejection. This memorandum was believed to have been good in theory. Even
after the decades went by; many thought that this Mosley Memorandum for getting
British industry going might have been good if put to practise.
In the end Mosley once again
walked away from his political party as he did with the Conservatives earlier
in the decade. This time it was not too unexpected and it did not carry the
media approval he anticipated. It was almost as though he was throwing his baby
rattle out of the pram. He began to look like a man obsessed with his own
conviction of vanity at an excessive level.
It was almost like he was too
over eager to gain power and began to lose faith with democracy. From here on
he slid into the arms of Fascism that was igniting all of Europe. He formed the
British Union of Fascists and had many celebrities join. There was an
organisation of Black Shirts who turned up at his political rallies, but he
quickly attracted anti-reactionary political movements who often turned up at
his rallies to heckle his ideas. Also Jewish groups who were concerned with
such radical policies got into stand up brawls with the BUF too. There was a
period where he attracted concern because many agreed with his extreme right
wing politics. This was the man who had been in the Labour party and the
Conservatives and could not succeed democratically. All others were misguided
except for him – if only the masses would listen to him.
Eventually the war with Nazi
Germany came and with Italy too. Mosley saw his BUF’s dwindling support
collapse. His inner party member, William Joyce, went to Germany and began
broadcasting for the Nazis.
Oswald Mosley was interned under
national security regulations and was put into custody until 1943. His world
would never be the same. He would try to make breakthroughs into British
politics, but he was a spent force – little more than a joke after World War
II. He went to live in Ireland for a time and then Paris. He would become a sad
figure and to a degree somewhat sympathetic because he started with great
potential as a young man. He may have got swallowed up and drowned in his own faith
of self-importance. This is not meant in a wicked way, because in Mosley we
might see what all humans can become if they are overdosed in admiration at a
young age. I think Mosley might have tragically become overwhelmed in his own verdict
– a would be champion that no one really wanted because he became too
self-obsessed. Again, in his defence, it can happen to the best of young men
and once on such a course it is hard to stop. He charged head on into his own
destruction and was little more than a sad circus relic by the time he passed
away.
There were many good and learned people who admired the young Oswald Mosley when he began in politics in the early 1920s, but one by one he lost the good opinion of good friends as he went on his diverse political journey.
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