This thesis has been an attempt to isolate the contribution that was made to the fascist movements of Sir Oswald Mosley by Alexander Raven Thomson. Despite featuring in most studies of Mosley's fascist enterprises, until this study little was known of his life and thus the proper context for his work had been lost. In this attempt to analyse Raven Thomson a chronological structure has been adopted. Special attention has, however, been placed on his developing thought in response to Oswald Spengler's prognosis for the future of Europe, before and after his acceptance of fascism in both its inter-war and post-war incarnations. This has enabled new insights into his Corporate State ideas within fascism and the anti-Semitic campaign within which he was an active participant, both of which had been the source of previous academic interest. Unlike other studies in this field which present the reader with either an examination of Mosley fascism to 1940 or British fascists after the war, this study bridges this artificial gap and thus seeks to illustrate the continuity of fascism in Britain. This longer period of study allows for wartime internment and Raven Thomson's part in the revival of fascism to be fully discussed. The result is a biography that attempts to place the subject within its proper context.

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Denna uppsats ämnar finna de faktorer som drev före detta suffragetter till att ansluta sig till den fascistiska organisationen British Union of Fascists (BUF), samt redogöra för organisationens syn på kvinnors och kvinnors roll i samhället.  BUF grundades 1932 och var den största och mest framstående fascistiska gruppen i Storbritannien under mellankrigstiden. I samband med att organisationen nådde sin höjd i mitten av 1930-talet blev den ökänd för sina våldsamma möten och konfrontationer med politiska motståndare. De våldsamma metoderna som fascisterna använde skulle alienera dem från den breda brittiska politiken. När BUF proklamerade sitt stöd för Adolf Hitlers Nazityskland kom organisationen att fördömas av både den brittiska allmänheten och de etablerade partierna. British Union of Fascists skulle motsätta sig andra världskriget och uppmanade regeringen att förbjuda organisationen och arresterade många högtuppsatta medlemmar 1940. Fascismen var känd för att ha en patriarkal, traditionalistisk och reaktionär syn på kön och kvinnor. Men trots detta lyckades organisationen attrahera tidigare suffragetter. Så hur kunde de som tidigare kämpat för jämställdhet gå med i en rörelse som motsatte sig jämställdhet? Vilken syn hade BUF på kvinnan och kvinnorollen? För att svara på detta har jag studerat och analyserat ideologisk text skrivna av organisationens grundare och ledare Oswald Mosley samt andra fascistiska medlemmar. Jag har också använt mig av tillgänglig forskning från etablerade professorer och historiker för att nå en slutsats.   Resultatet visar att British Union of Fascists hade en mycket traditionalistisk och reaktionär syn på kvinnan och kvinnorollen. Svaghet betraktades och beskrivs som feminint och manlighet betraktades och beskrivs som styrka. BUF ansåg att kvinnan rent naturligt föredrog hemmet framför arbete och att moderskapet var kvinnans högsta kallelse i livet. Fascisterna betraktade kvinnors framgångar i kampen för jämställdhet som samhällets degeneration och förfall. Resultaten visar även att det fanns många faktorer som drev de tidigare suffragetterna till British Union of Fascists. Vilka faktorer som var avgörande beror på suffragetten i fråga. I min forskning har jag hittat tre exempel på tidigare suffragetter som gick med i BUF. Dessa var Norah Dacre Fox, Mary Sophia Allen och Mary Richardson. De faktorer som fick Norah Dacre Fox att ansluta sig till BUF var primärt möjligheten för sig och sin partner att få politiska karriärer. Fox hävdade att BUF var suffragettrörelsens arvtagare men jag har inte hittat några bevis för att detta var en primär faktor som fick henne att gå med i organisationen. De faktorer som fick Mary Sophia Allen att gå med i BUF var sannolikt krigsutbrottet 1939. Allen var sedan tidigare en beundrare av Adolf Hitler vilket troligtvis fick henne att motsätta sig ett krig mot dennes regim. Hon tjänstgjorde även under första världskriget och var troligtvis väl medveten om krigets fasor, något som kan ha bidragit till att hon motsatte sig ett nytt krig. De faktorer som fick Mary Richardson att gå med BUF var att hon ansåg att organisation och fascismen som ideologi var det enda som kunde rädda landet från stagnation. Richardson såg också mycket i BUF som påminde henne om suffragettrörelsen, och som en militant suffragett i sin ungdom kan BUFs militarism och paramilitära aktioner ha varit attraktiva. Det är därför troligt att de faktorer som fick Richardson att gå med i fascisterna var en kombination mellan att tro på dem som en politisk kraft såväl som deras militanta tillvägagångssätt. Richardson lämnade organisationen efter interna bråk och kom att anklaga organisationen för att i själva verket motarbeta kvinnors rättigheter. Strävan efter jämlikhet kan därför mycket väl ha varit en bidragande faktor till att hon anslöt sig till fascisterna, men jag har inte hittat några bevis som uttryckligen pekar på detta. / This essay revolves around the fascist organization British Union of Fascists (BUF) and their view on women and women’s role in society. It also examines former suffragettes who joined the organization, with the goal of establishing which factors contributed to them seeking membership in the organization.  Founded in 1932, the BUF was the largest and most prominent fascist group in the United Kingdom during the interwar period. Reaching its peak in the mid-1930s, the organization would become infamous for violent rallies and clashes with political opponents. The violent methods of the fascists would alienate them from mainstream British politics. And the organization would be condemned by both the British political establishment and British public after pleading their allegiance to Adolf Hitlers Nazi Germany. The British Union of Fascists would oppose the second world war, prompting the government to ban the organization and arresting numerous high-ranking members in 1940. Fascism was known for having a patriarchal, traditionalist and reactionary view on gender and women. But despite this fact, the organization managed to attract former suffragettes. So how come that those who fought for equality between the sexes would join a movement that opposed the same? How did British Union of Fascists view women and the female role?  To answer this, I have studied, and analysed ideological text written by the organizations founder and leader Oswald Mosley, alongside other fascist members. I have also used available research by established professors and historians to reach a valid conclusion.    The result shows that the British Union of Fascists had a highly traditional and reactionary view on women. Weakness was viewed and described as feminine, while masculinity was viewed and described as strength. The group regarded the home as women’s natural habitat, and childbirth as their highest calling in life. The fascists viewed women’s recent achievements in the struggle for equality as the degeneration and downfall of society.  The results also shows that there were numerous factors that drove the former suffragettes, each depending on the suffragette in question. In my research I have found three examples of former suffragettes who joined the BUF. These were Norah Dacre Fox, Mary Sophia Allen and Mary Richardson. The factors that made Norah Dacre Fox join the BUF was primarily the possibility of herself and her partner to gain political careers through the organization. Fox did argue that she viewed the BUF as successors to the suffragette movement, but I have not found any evidence that proves that this was a primary factor for her joining the BUF. The factors that made Mary Sophia Allen join the BUF were most likely the outbreak of the second world war. She was an admirer of Adolf Hitler which probably made her oppose a war against his regime. She also served during the first world war, something that might have contributed to her opposing a new war due the horrors of warfare. Mary Richardson joined the BUF because she believed that the organization and the ideology of fascism were needed to save to country from its downfall. Richardson also saw a lot in the BUF that remined her of the suffragette movement, and as a militant suffragette in her youth the BUFs militarism and paramilitary actions might have been attractive. It is therefore likely that the factors that made Richardson join the fascists were a combination between agreeing with their views on the degeneration of British society as well as their militant actions. Richardson did leave the organization after a falling-out with its leader, and she would accuse the group of working against women’s rights. The pursuit of equality might very well have been a contributing factor for joining, but I have not found any evidence that explicitly points to this.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2006. / Supervisor: Wayne Thorpe. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-334).

Thesis (M.A.(Historical and Heritage Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2000. / Summary in English and Afrikaans.

This thesis examines the major stages in the political career of Oswald Mosley and argues that a continuity existed in his diagnosis of contemporary history from the moment he entered political life at the end of the First World War as a zealous parliamentarian till his last days as an unrepentant fascist. An ideal type of the 'esoteric' core of Mosley's ideology is used to identify a consistent thread which resolves the contradictions in Mosley's political agitations into paradoxes. Drawing on a theory of ideology which distinguishes between its fundamental and operative dimensions, Mosley's core (fundamental) ideology is depicted ideal typically as the ambition to realize Bntain's potential for national greatness conceived in a future oriented, modernizing rather than a nostalgic or conservative perspective. The structure of the biography follows the chronological narrative of Mosley's life, episodically, illuminating it through pivotal moments in his career. Through a textual and contextual analysis of these moments it identifies the performance of the operative dimension of Mosley's fundamental ideology in order to bring out its internal consistency. Each chapter highlights a theme which may have manifested itself at other moments in Nlosley's life but is especially distinct at one stage of Nlosley's career. These themes are the myth of the airman, leadership, economics, unemployment, the New Party, the nation and Greater Britain, anti-Semitism and violence, philosophical idealism and the philosophy of apologia. The thesis draws on the vast published textual output from Mosley along with reports of his speeches, supported by many contemporary writings relating to chapter topic. These resources are used to demonstrate and shed light on the esoteric mainspring of Mosley's politics. In addition the thesis demonstrates and argues in favour of a biographic methodology which does not construct the inner machinations of the subject's psychology or 'mind' as an explanation of behaviour but looks pragmatically to the significant products of the subject and constructs, ideal typically, a consistent ideological matrix the centre of the subjects politics. This thesis contributes to knowledge of the subject by presenting a pragmatic understanding of Mosley's political motivations and identifying a consistent core to his political pronouncements. The thesis also brings to biographical studies a phenomenological methodology which dispenses with the postulation of a knowable core personality or 'real' psychological life in order to demonstrate the inner coherence of the subject's personality for the purpose of historical reconstruction.

The purpose of this work will be to trace the development from responsible scholasticism to irrational political violence, and to locate the various sources from which the intellectual acceptance of anti-humanitarian violence spring forth.

This thesis examines selected poems from the German author Bertolt Brecht. It critically investigates the claim that expressionist art can be held responsible for opening the door to fascism in Germany. It will place Brecht’s own expressionistic works and his counterfactual approach to traditional church hymns in the context of the Expressionism debate. In 1933 Brecht wrote a collection of songs and poems entitled “Lieder, Gedichte, Choere” during his exile in Paris. Brecht realized early on that with Hitler’s rise, society as he knew it was coming to an end. Because of his sharp and satirical anti-war poetry after WWI, his name was prominent on the black list of the Fascists, and in order to escape prosecution he had to leave Germany in 1933. However, he did not stop criticizing Fascist ideology and especially its re-appropriation of Christian rhetoric.