Sir Oswald Mosley;

After Mosley’s drop out of mainstream British politics in 1930, Oswald Mosley had founded a new party that had to find ways to recruit new members and flex their political muscles. As the leader of the BUF, Oswald Mosley took great effort in attempting to make his party heard. To accomplish this, he would follow the example set by other fascist leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler and would hold rallies and marches. He also enjoyed early approval from certain media outlets. Viscount Rothmere, a British nobleman, wrote an article for the newspaper The Daily Mail entitled, “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” in January 1931. In the article, Rothmere extols the virtues of Fascism, and how well the ideology would do in Britain. For example, he writes, "Though the name and form of Fascism originated in Italy, that movement is not now peculiar to any nation. It stands in every country for the Party of Youth. It represents the effort of the young generation to put new life into out-of-date political systems…While the leaders of other States are reorganizing their national resources to break the crushing grip of the world crisis, our own are content to drift and dawdle." 5 Mosley was able to capitalize on positive exposure from people such as Rothmere, and by June 1934, the BUF boasted approximately 50,000 members.6

>However, with Mosley and the BUF’s rising popularity came those who sought to oppose what he and the group stood for. At every one of the BUF’s rallies, there were counter-protestors of various types, and some were simply anti-fascists. On June 6, 1934, and at the peak of BUF popularity, Mosley held a rally at the Olympia in London, where there was a significant turnout of fascists and anti-fascists. The rally at the Olympia would foreshadow what was to take place months later at Cable Street. In the newspaper The Manchester Guardian published June 18, 1934, the correspondent captures the scene. They write, "Thousands of workmen went to this meeting and carried out a brilliant anti-Fascist demonstration. The Fascist demonstration was a fiasco. Although 1,500 policemen did everything to protect the Fascists, the latter got a stormy reception from the workmen. In the hall, there were such clashes and such demonstrations of protest that Mosley could not speak. One hundred and fifty persons were
injured, seven of them gravely.”7

>On the other hand, there were those that believed that rally was a success. The Manchester Guardian also published an account of the story from the Fascist perspective, stating, "In some places, the Muscovite sub-men, let by the scum of the Jewish East, attacked the police and threw thin ropes around the legs of the horses.... The policemen who were thus thrown to the ground were then trampled underfoot by the crowd, in which there were many Jews and negroes. After the meeting members of the audience were again attacked by Communists and again there was bloodshed... When during the meeting, several Marxists shouted insults of the German Leader... they were thrown out with their heads all bloody... by the Blackshirts. It was probably the bloodiest but also the most successful meeting ever witnessed by Fascism here in England."8 Both sides, Fascist and anti-Fascist believe that they had won the fight and their causes strengthened by the events that took place.

As annoying in Peaky Blinders

>However, in the public eye, events at the Olympia was entirely negative as it would expose the public to Fascist violence, and their anti-Semitism. Mosley's stance on Jews would cost him his most prominent backer, and many regular BUF members. For example, Mosley wanted to deport Jews in the financial industry, “who have grossly abused the hospitality of Britain.” 9 Mosley wrote to Viscount Rothmere, "We don't admit Jewish members into our movement because they have bitterly attacked us... therefore, are unacceptable as members of our organization. We are certainly not prepared to relax our attitude towards the Jews.” 10 To which Rothmere replied, "I made it quite clear in my conversation with you that I never could support any movement with anti-Semitic bias."11 Due to this event, BUF lost 90% of its membership, dropping from 50,000 to 5,000 by the end of 1934. 12

The Eternal Anglo

>On October 4, 1936, Mosley sought to lead a march of just 5,000 BUF members through predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in London’s East End. 13 Having shifted more towards anti- Semitism, Mosley justified a march in this area, as The Blackshirt put it, "Mr. Chater, an old truculent yes man, typical of the Socialist conception of leadership... had admitted that the cause of the trouble in the East End of London was brought about by Jewish communism." 14 While on the one hand, Mosley though The Blackshirt, came down hard on the rich Jews that he blamed for robbing the country of its prosperity, and on the other hand praised the Jewish working class. For example, he said before Cable Street, "Alas! ye anti-Semites, why act ye in this way?Gazeon the Jewish working class, and list to what I say. When have they undercut your wage, or cheated ye by stealth? Never! The simple, honest Jew scorns ill-begotten wealth." 15 Here, Mosley appears to support anti-Semitism, yet does not want to alienate his working-class base that might see hard working Jewish folks every day. Although, he ultimately chooses to go through with the October 4 march through Jewish neighborhoods.

>Seeing that Mosley and the BUF were becoming increasingly anti-Semitic and that a march was planned for 4 October 1936, the Jewish Labour Council called a meeting on July 1936 where many delegates came together to discuss what to do about the Fascists. 16 Some of the recommendations to come out of the meeting include, "co-operation with the anti-Fascist organizations... and that the fight should be carried on under a Jewish rather than a political banner.... Mass meetings of protest against blackshirt propaganda and violence [is needed]. 17 Indeed, this is the type of reception that Mosley and the BUF met on 4 October. The Jewish People's council had a petition signed by 100,000 people to receive authority to maintain peace in the East end on October 4th , for example (Jewish Peoples Council Memo). 18

After days of buildup, and many articles posted in newspapers such as The Blackshirt, The Daily Herald explained that the police would be there to protect the Fascists, The Jewish Chronicle, and even a map of the fascist route in Morning Star, the day of the march had arrived. 19 The anti-Fascists and their allies had rallied together and set up blockades for both the police and the Fascist marchers. According to The Guardian, “Tremendous crowds fathered along the whole route of the proposed procession, and there were frequent clashes, in which the police had to draw their truncheons, shop windows were broken, many people suffered injury, and many arrests were made.” 20 Time Magazine writes, “Ignoring orders from the Labor Party and prominent British Labor leaders, half a million British proletarians liberally sprinkled with Jews went on an anti-Fascist rampage last week which turned out to be London’s biggest riot in years.” 21 In an article by the Times of India, entitled "POLICE CLASH WITH UNRULY CROWDS" the author writes, "There was an exciting incident when the police cleared dense crowds in Royal Mint Street with batons, and nine people were taken to hospital... The police again charged the crowd with baton in Leman Street when it attempted to release an arrested man and stones and other missiles were thrown.” 22 The counter-protestors put up such a fierce fight that Mosley and the BUF marchers were at first forced by the police to take a different route and then were told to abandon their precession altogether. 23

>The anti-Fascists had achieved their objective, to route the Fascist march altogether. However, victory over the Fascists in the battle had failed to immediately stem Fascist influence. On the contrary, sympathy for Fascism had increased after the battle, and that membership in London and the number of meetings had increased after the battle. 24 Additionally, there were still people who believed that the Fascists did nothing wrong. In The Saturday Review, readers wrote in and gave their opinions, stating, "The main cause of recent Sunday riots is alien Jews...One need not be a supporter of Fascism to admire the attitude of Sir Oswald Mosley and his men in very trying circumstances... the old Mother Country is suffering from a weakness of national spirit due to an undercurrent of alientitis in our own country" 25 However, the British government passed the Public Order Act of 1936 in direct response to the Cable Street battle.

The act prohibits quasi-military organizations with the decree, “Organised and trained or organised and equipped either for the purpose of enabling them to. be employed for the use or display of physical force in promoting any political object, or in such manner as to arouse reasonable apprehension that they are organised and either trained or equipped for that purpose.” 26 Also, the act prohibits military-like uniforms and regulates political processions and marches, which would case Fascist numbers to dwindle. 27 Then the death stroke was delivered in May of 1940 when Mosley was arrested under Defense Regulation 18B. The regulation states, "If the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe any person to be of hostile origin or associations or to have been recently concerned in acts prejudicial to the public safety or the defense of the realm or in the preparation or instigation of such acts and that by reason thereof it is necessary to exercise control over him.."28 That is, Mosley became imprisoned and the BUF
dissolved for being Nazi sympathizing Fascists, with the Battle of Cable Street as clear evidence.

End of effort posting.

>Sir Oswald Mosley started his career off as a young and promising politician. As Mosley saw how the British government was ineffective at fixing the issue of rising unemployment, he experienced disillusionment with both main political parties. He looked out into Europe and saw how Fascist nations had managed to turn their luck around, and soon afterward founded the British Union of Fascists. Over time, BUF rhetoric, as well as Mosley’s behavior turned towards Fascist extremism. Mosley’s extremism would eventually lead to clashes with anti-Fascists on various occasions, which when coupled with anti-Semitic rhetoric, had caused much of the BUF support to evaporate. The English people eventually got fed up with the chaos caused by the BUF, specifically the constant clashes with anti-Fascist, and police. Mosley’s Fascist tactics, taken from other Fascist nations, only served to push the English government to regulate groups like his, leading to the dissolution of the BUF, and Mosley’s internment for the duration of World War II as a Nazi sympathizer. The memory of the clashes lives on in England to this day, an example of standing up to hatred and Fascism.

>Darkish skin
>Hooked nose
>Black hair
>Brown beady eyes

He couldn't do it without Edward, and Edward couldn't do it without his title and Hitler.

Looks Ashkenazi.