Abstract
In the light of the above entirely accurate sentiments, it might appear that in tackling the reasons behind the ‘failure’ of British fascism in the 1920s the present writer may be engaged in a supererogatory, or at least largely thankless, task. The manifest failure of the British fascists is well known. Mosley himself talked of throwing money down the ‘political drain of British fascism’ (Thurlow, 1989, p. 76). There is also a danger of ‘yet further duplication of an already well told story’ (Lunn, 1989, p. 140). But the time is ripe to bring together the latest thinking on this subject and, besides, as Michael Biddiss has pointed out:
The history of ideas tolerates no general law suggesting that either influence or conscious sophistication stands directly proportionate to worth … prevalent error may be not infrequently more accurately representative of the spirit of an age than ultimately more profitable ideas …
(Biddiss, 1977, p. 20)
No one wastes time in explaining why such quixotic and eccentric movements as the British Fascisti in the 1920s and the Imperial Fascist League in the 1930s, were minute elements on the political fringe.
(Thurlow, 1989, p. 68)
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Baker, D. (1996). The Extreme Right in the 1920s: Fascism in a Cold Climate, or ‘Conservatism with Knobs on’?. In: Cronin, M. (eds) The Failure of British Fascism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24758-5_2
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