Oswald Mosley

He was tall, slender, and trim, with a cavalryman's bearing. His face was well-bred, with regular, chiseled features, often described as attractive or "sharp." He wore a neat, thin mustache that accentuated his features. It wasn't overly thick, but it was noticeable enough to add masculinity and expressiveness to his face. Mosley's dark hair was neatly styled, parted on the side and combed back. His hair was slicked back at the temples. He wore a Blackshirt uniform, consisting of a black shirt and gray trousers. In his off-duty days, he wore elegant civilian suits.

Oswald Mosley was a charismatic, ambitious, and natural leader, combining intellect with a highly rigid, fascist ideology. He was distinguished by his dynamism, oratorical skill, and radical views, including anti-Semitism, support for Hitler and Mussolini, and a desire for authoritarian rule. Contemporaries noted his appeal and ability to lead people, despite the controversial nature of his ideas. Quite ruthless and radical, Mosley used tactics of physical intimidation, political provocation, and outright violence to suppress dissent and opponents.

He was born on November 16, 1896, into an aristocratic family. By the late 19th century, the Mosley family owned land in Staffordshire in central England, including the Rolston estate, where Oswald Mosley was born. During his early years, he was raised by his mother and paternal grandfather. Mosley maintained a warm relationship with his mother throughout his life, who supported many of his political endeavors, including the founding of the British Union of Fascists. Mosley was educated at the privileged private school in Winchester, and in January 1914, at the age of 17, he entered the renowned military academy (Sandhurst). During his school years, Mosley enjoyed fencing and boxing, achieving notable success in these sports. In the 1930s, he competed for the Great Britain fencing team several times. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Mosley, having been commissioned a second lieutenant, left college and in October 1914 joined the XVI Lancers, stationed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He served as a cavalry and infantry officer and also served in the Royal Air Force as an observer pilot. In early 1915, during a training flight, Mosley suffered a serious injury—a multiple fracture of his right leg—as a result of an awkward landing. As a result, he was forced to leave the Western Front and underwent extensive treatment. In the fall of 1915, Mosley returned to active duty in France, but was soon forced to return to England for a second leg operation and further treatment. After his discharge from hospital, doctors declared Mosley unfit for combat service, and he worked in the Foreign Office and the Munitions Ministry until the end of the war.

The First World War had a significant impact on Mosley's views and ideas. In his memoirs, he wrote admiringly of military brotherhood, noting that during the war he realized the need to build "a better country" and "create a nobler world" in memory of his fallen comrades. In large part influenced by these sentiments, Mosley decided to engage in politics after the war's end in November 1918 and stood as a Conservative candidate in the first post-war parliamentary elections. Mosley won the election on December 14, 1918, and at 22, he became the youngest member of parliament at the time. The former officer was one of the leaders of the New Members' Committee, established after the election. It consisted primarily of war veterans who, according to Mosley, sought to fulfill campaign promises and implement "the advanced policies of social reform put forward by Lloyd George." However, soon after joining the House of Commons, Mosley concluded that members of the older generation could not understand the young men who had fought in the war, and that the hopes of the "war generation" for a "better world" were unlikely to be realized. During the autumn session of parliament in 1920, Mosley moved to the opposition benches in the House of Commons. In 1921 and 1923, he won two parliamentary elections, standing as an independent Conservative.

The early 1920s marked a turning point for Mosley not only in his political position but also in his personal life. In the spring of 1920, he married the youngest daughter of Lord Curzon, then acting Foreign Secretary and former Viceroy of India (1899–1905). Several hundred guests attended the wedding ceremony of Oswald Mosley and Cynthia Curzon, which took place on May 11, 1920, including King George V and Queen Mary of Great Britain, King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elizabeth, Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law, and many other representatives of the British establishment. Mosley's family life was a happy one, and the relationship between the couple remained calm and friendly throughout their marriage (until Cynthia's death in 1933 from peritonitis). Cynthia supported her husband in most of his political endeavors. In 1921, they had a daughter, Vivienne, and two years later, a son, Nicholas, who later (in the mid-80s) wrote a book about his father. In March 1924, Mosley defected to the British Labour Party. This decision stemmed from his disillusionment with the Conservatives' ability to create a country "worthy of heroes" and was fueled by his dissatisfaction with his position as a backbencher. Furthermore, after the formation of the first Labour government in January 1924, Mosley realized that the party could truly propel him to the highest echelons of power. In the elections held in late October 1925, Mosley failed to gain a seat in Parliament, losing only a narrow majority to the prominent Conservative Party figure and future Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. From 1924 to 1926, outside Parliament, Mosley visited several countries, including the United States.

Soon after switching to Labour, Mosley became a prominent figure in the new party. His organizational skills and oratorical talent, as well as his good manners and aristocratic background, allowed him to become close to Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald and quickly advance in the Labour Party. In 1926, he contested a parliamentary by-election. Mosley outscored his political opponents and became one of the Labour Party's representatives in the House of Commons. In 1928, upon the death of his father, he inherited the title of baronet. In 1929, Labour won the general election and formed the cabinet. Mosley, now a parliamentarian again, joined the second Labour government and was given the post of junior minister – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, whose duties included assisting the Minister responsible for employment in tackling the unemployment problem.

Employment was a pressing issue in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the 1920s, the number of unemployed in Britain was at least a million. At the beginning of 1930, this number rose to 1.52 million, and by the end of the year, to 1.991 million. Having become a member of the government, Mosley put forward a series of proposals to address unemployment in January 1930. The central plank of the program was public funds for the creation of new jobs. However, the program failed to gain support from the Labour Party leadership. It seemed financially dubious, particularly insofar as it called for £100 million to be allocated for road construction across the country. Mosley disagreed with the Labour leaders' position and demonstratively resigned from the government at the end of May 1930. In October 1930, during the Labour Party conference, he criticized R. MacDonald's policies, but received no support from the participants.

In late 1930, Mosley continued to insist that the state needed to intervene more actively to address the country's socioeconomic problems. He proposed introducing state control over external purchases of raw materials and food, effectively isolating the UK's domestic market from external influences. Mosley's plan was to be implemented by a cabinet of five ministers without portfolio, vested with broad powers and effectively independent of parliament. This so-called Mosley Manifesto was rejected by the majority of Labour MPs. Mosley became disillusioned with the traditional parties. The country's socioeconomic situation continued to deteriorate, and the Labour government was unable to address pressing issues. In early March 1931, he left Labour and founded the New Party, a political organization whose platform developed the ideas of Mosley's Manifesto.

The brochure "National Policy" reveals the New Party founder's desire to limit democracy in the country, expand the powers and authority of the executive branch, and, using social rhetoric, appeal to broad segments of the population. In October 1931, 24 New Party candidates were defeated in the general elections. Mosley became completely disillusioned with parliamentarism. He turned to the experience of the Italian fascists. In January 1932, he met with Mussolini in Italy and finally decided to organize a fascist union. In October 1932, Mosley announced the creation of the British Union of Fascists.

The main idea was to limit the power of parliament and effectively establish a dictatorship in the country. British fascists actively used social rhetoric, nationalist, and anti-communist propaganda. They organized storm troopers who beat up political opponents at rallies. Beginning in the fall of 1934, Mosley's fascists began an anti-Semitic campaign, and in the late 1930s, they supported Hitler's aggressive aspirations in continental Europe. In October 1936, fascists attempted to march through a heavily Jewish area. Violence, now known as the "Battle of Cable Street," erupted between protesters attempting to block the march and police attempting to push it through. Police Commissioner Sir Philip Game halted the march, and the BUF abandoned it.

In the autumn of 1936, Mosley visited Germany, where he married Diana Guinness (née Mitford). She came from an old English aristocratic family, her parents being Lord and Lady Redesdale. One of Diana's six sisters, Unity, a staunch Nazi supporter, visited Germany several times, where she became closely acquainted with Hitler. Adolf Hitler attended Mosley's wedding at Goebbels's home, presenting the newlyweds with a silver-framed photograph of himself. During the first months of World War II, Mosley and the Union he led continued their activities. However, after Winston Churchill came to power, the country's leadership decided to put an end to the BUF's political activity. In May and June 1940, Oswald Mosley, along with most of the BUF's leaders, was arrested, and in July the entire fascist organization was outlawed.

MI5 conducted covert surveillance on Mosley, including through listening devices. The authorities tolerated Mosley's agitation until the Battle of France. Mosley was arrested on May 23, 1940, less than two weeks after Winston Churchill became prime minister. Lord Birkett interrogated Mosley for 16 hours but never formally charged him. Instead, he was interned under Ministry of Defence Regulation 18B. Most other active fascists in Britain suffered a similar fate, leading to the virtual elimination of the Union of Fascists from the British political scene. Mosley's wife, Diana, was also interned in June shortly after the birth of their son, Max Mosley; for most of the war, the Mosleys lived together in a house on the grounds of Holloway Prison. Later that year, the Union of Fascists was banned by the British government. There, Mosley had the opportunity to read widely, studying German and ancient Greek history. Mosley's wife, Diana, was also imprisoned. She was arrested in late July 1940, when her second son, Max (the future president of the FIA), born with Mosley, was 11 weeks old (their first son, Alexander, was born in 1938). After eighteen months of separate detention, the Mosleys were allowed to live together in a section of Holloway Prison. Over the last two years, they were able to meet friends in prison and were allowed to cook their own meals. Despite the lenient prison regime, Mosley's old venous condition worsened in prison. Consequently, on the recommendation of doctors and following the pleas of influential friends, the former leader of the BUF was released from prison in November 1943 for health reasons.

After World War II, Mosley returned to active politics. On February 7, 1947, he founded the Unionist Movement, which brought together over 50 small far-right organizations and groups. In the post-war years, Mosley actively advocated the unification of Western European countries. Mosley believed this was necessary to counter the aggressive ambitions of the USSR in Europe. The leader of the Unionist Movement advocated for the buildup of military power in Great Britain and a united Europe. In Mosley's vision, Europe would be armed to the level of the United States and the USSR. Mosley proposed the formation of a pan-European government to address international issues, defense, economic policy, finance, and national development. He believed that such a supranational body would help avoid economic crises and unemployment and would regulate prices and wages, thereby raising the standard of living for Europeans. As a prerequisite for the prosperity of a united Europe, Mosley believed it was necessary to annex a third of Africa, which would become Europe's agricultural and raw material appendage. The founder of the Unionist Movement also advocated the preservation of the British colonial empire. Mosley promoted these plans for European unification in the pages of the magazine "The European," which he published from 1953 to 1959, and in the West German magazine "Nation Europa." To solve Britain's domestic political problems, Mosley proposed repatriating all immigrants from the country.

He also expressed disagreement with the findings of the Nuremberg Trials against Nazi war criminals. Mosley was also one of the first Holocaust deniers in Britain. Mosley's response to the Holocaust was to first deny the program of extermination of the Jews and the existence of Hitler's orders for genocide, and then to blame any crimes committed on the Allies or the Jews themselves. Advocating such ideas, Mosley stood in the 1959 general election for parliament for the first time since the end of World War II. British voters did not support his views, and Mosley failed to become a member of the House of Commons. Subsequently, in the early 1960s, he attempted to create a National Party of Europe, which would unite leading far-right organizations in Western European countries. However, this initiative failed to gain traction. As a result, Mosley withdrew from active politics after 1962. He lived primarily in France, where he died on December 3, 1980, at the age of 84. He wrote an autobiographical book, “My Life”.