Fascism and fascists in Britain in the 1930s: A case study of Fascism in the North of England in a period of economic and political change.

摘要

The thesis is comprised of four parts. The first, consisting of two udchapters, challenges some generally accepted views about the 1930's asuda whole and emphasises the change in political consciousness thatudoccurred in the minds of ordinary people. The ideology of the B. U. F.udis analysed in the context of the decade.udThe second part, consisting of five chapters, provides a detailed historyudof the B. U. F. in the North of England from the days of its precursor, theudNew Party, to the detention of the leading B. U. F. members in 1940-udMuch of the history of the movement is concerned with Manchester thoughudattention is also paid to other areas in the North of England. The 1938udManchester municipal elections also receive attention, because of theudcampaigns waged by the B. U. F. candidates. This is the first majorudregional study of the B. U. F.udThe third part deals with the ordinary membership of the B. U. F. in theudNorth of England. The two chapters in this section assess previousudjudgements regarding B. U. P. membership and make use of interviews andudunpublished manuscripts to provide the most detailed analysis of theudmembership of a British Pascist party.udThe final part of the thesis consistsq firstlyq of a detailed account ofudthe reaction of the Jewish community, both nationally and in-thrighesterg toudthe anti-Semitism of the B. U. P., and, secondly, the attitude of the police,udjudiciary, local authorities and the government to the rise of theudBritish Union of Fascists.