Oswald Mosley
 Sir Oswald Mosley        (politician) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Oswald Ernald Mosley 16 November 1896 Mayfair, London, England |
| Died | 1980-12-03 (Age 84) Orsay, Paris, France |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Winchester College, Royal Military College, Sandhurst |
| Children | • Vivien Mosley • Nicholas Mosley • Michael Mosley • Alexander Mosley • Max Mosley |
| Spouse | • Lady Cynthia Curzon • Diana Guinness née Mitford |
| Member of | The Other Club |
| Party | Conservative Party, Independent, Labour Party, New Party, British Union of Fascists, Union Movement |
Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet of Ancoats was a British politician who rose to fame in the 1920s as a Member of Parliament and later in the 1930s became leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).[1]
In 1975, Sir Oswald Mosley was interviewed on the Thames Television Today show and was asked about his role in the founding and his leadership of the BUF and his thoughts on antisemitism and Adolf Hitler.[2]
Contents
From Right to Left
After military service during the First World War, Mosley was one of the youngest Members of Parliament for Harrow from 1918 to 1924, first as a Tory, then an Independent, before joining the Labour Party. He returned to Parliament as Labour MP for Smethwick at a by-election in 1926, and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Labour Government 1929–1931. He was considered a potential Labour Prime Minister, but resigned due to discord with the Government's unemployment policies. He then founded the New Party. He lost his seat at Smethwick in the 1931 General Election. The New Party merged with the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932.
Married in Berlin
Sir Oswald Mosley's first wife Cynthia died of peritonitis in 1933, after which he married his mistress Diana Guinness née Mitford (1910–2003). They married in secret in Germany on 6 October 1936 in the Berlin home of Germany's Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels where Adolf Hitler was one of the wedding guests.
Mosley spent large amounts of his private fortune on the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and tried to establish it on a firm financial footing by various means including an attempt to negotiate, through Diana, with Adolf Hitler for permission to broadcast commercial radio to Britain from Germany. Mosley reportedly struck a deal in 1937 with Francis Beaumont, heir to the Seigneurage of Sark, to set up a privately owned radio station on Sark.[3]
Sir Oswald Mosley was was detained on 23 May 1940 and interned when the BUF was banned. He was released in 1943.
Post WWII
After the war, Sir Oswald Mosley was contacted by his former supporters and persuaded to return to participation in politics. He formed the Union Movement, which called for a single nation-state to cover the continent of Europe (known as Europe a Nation) and later attempted to launch a National Party of Europe to this end. The Union Movement's meetings were often physically disrupted, as Mosley's meetings had been before the war, and largely by the same opponents. This led to Mosley's decision, in 1951, to leave Britain and live in Ireland. He later moved to Paris. Of his decision to leave, he said, "You don't clear up a dungheap from underneath it."[4]
Kensington North
Shortly after the 1958 Notting Hill race riots, Mosley briefly returned to Britain to stand in the 1959 General Election at Kensington North. Mosley led his campaign stridently on an anti-immigration platform, calling for forced repatriation of Caribbean immigrants as well as a prohibition upon mixed marriages. Mosley's final share of the vote was 7.6%.[5]
Shoreditch and Finsbury
In 1961 he took part in a debate at University College London about Commonwealth immigration, seconded by a young David Irving.[6] He returned to politics one last time, contesting the 1966 General Election at Shoreditch and Finsbury, and received 4.6% of the vote. After this, Mosley retired and moved back to France, where he wrote his autobiography, "My Life" (1968).
Death
Sir Oswald Mosley died on 3 December 1980 at Orsay outside Paris, France. His body was cremated in a ceremony held at the Père Lachaise Cemetery, and his ashes were scattered on the pond at Orsay. His son Alexander stated that they had received many messages of condolences but no abusive words. "All that was a very long time ago," he said.[7]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Tiny Rowland – portrait of the bastard as a rebel | Article | August 1990 | Nick Davies | All big entrepreneurs have the stink of unpopularity around them. Whether it is through envy or sincere distaste, Donald Trump, James Goldsmith, Rupert Murdoch, Robert Maxwell and Richard Branson have all become popular figures of hate. The one characteristic that has marked out Tiny Rowland is his lack of respect for authority. |
References
- ↑ "Sir Oswald Mosley – Meteoric rise and fail of a controversial politician" The Times page=19, 4 December 1980
- ↑ "Sir Oswald Mosley | Interview | Thames Television | 1975"
- ↑ Barnes, James J.; Patience P. Barnes (2005). Nazis in Pre-War London, 1930–1939: The Fate and Role of German Party Members and British Sympathizers. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-053-8. 9781845190538
- ↑ Jonathan Guinness, Catherine Guinness, The House of Mitford (1985), p. 540.
- ↑ {Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2005). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 194. ISBN 9780826458148.
- ↑ "Mosley Packs Them In", Pi Magazine, 2 February 1961.
- ↑ "Sir Oswald Mosley cremated in Paris" The Times page=6, 9 December 1980
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