Importing fascism: reappraising the British fascisti, 1923–1926. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Importing fascism: reappraising the British fascisti, 1923–1926. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)
- Main Title:
- Importing fascism: reappraising the British fascisti, 1923–1926
- Authors:
- Stocker, Paul
- Abstract:
- Abstract: This article re-evaluates the ideology and significance of Britain's first self-proclaimed fascist party, the British Fascisti (BF) between 1923 and 1926. It challenges the dominant scholarly perception of BF ideology as a virulent form of conservatism or 'Conservatism with Knobs On' by demonstrating that they represent a hybrid movement consisting of both domestic conservative and continental fascist ideas. Thus, the chief purpose of this article is to demonstrate the dynamics of what scholars refer to as 'fascistisation' – the adoption and re-contextualisation of fascist features by non-fascist political movements and regimes. The BF's ideology represents an, at times, contradictory attempt to replicate the Italian Fascist movement and repackage it for a British audience – they were a 'fascistized' right-wing pressure group seeking a new, authoritarian state. Abstract notions of the 'success' of Mussolini's fascist experiment in stemming a Bolshevik revolution and his achievements in bringing order and a new sense of patriotism were re-adapted to the British context. These ideas were manacled to British conservative ideas of Christianity, anti-Socialism and imperialism typically associated with Edwardian Die Hards. Ultimately, the BF's ideology will be proved to be far more complex than scholars have been prepared to acknowledge during a period in which fascism was ill-defined.
- Is Part Of:
- Contemporary British history. Volume 30:Issue 3(2016)
- Journal:
- Contemporary British history
- Issue:
- Volume 30:Issue 3(2016)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 30, Issue 3 (2016)
- Year:
- 2016
- Volume:
- 30
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2016-0030-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 326
- Page End:
- 348
- Publication Date:
- 2016-07-02
- Subjects:
- British history -- fascism -- European history -- fascistisation -- inter-war Britain
Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth II, 1952- -- Periodicals
Great Britain -- History -- 20th century -- Periodicals
941.085 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fcbh20/current ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗
http://www.ingenta.com/isis/browsing/AllIssues/ingenta;jsessionid=47ed8t3n14knr.circus?journal=pubinfobike://fcp/cbh&startyear=2003 ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/13619462.2016.1144509 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1361-9462
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 3425.175950
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 175.xml