The Imperial Fascist League (Racial Fascism), a booklet outlining the principles and guidelines of the Imperial Fascist League of England which sought cooperation with the Nazis in Germany. Published by Erich Wotzel. England, late 1920s. Rare evidence of the activities of a small pro-Nazi group in Britain in the 1920s.
Booklet of antisemitic and fascist principles of the British Imperial Fascist League founded by Arnold Leese with the aim of taking over democratic England, expelling the Jews, and turning it into an ally dictatorship of Nazi Germany. In the booklet’s paragraphs one can see how far the movement’s members had gone in England, advocating clear Nazi principles, preference for the Aryan race, and removal of Jews from all areas of society. “Leese and his followers want to build politics on the basis of race, and therefore choose the swastika adorning their flag and publications as a clear symbol of their struggle” (from the booklet’s introduction).
Among the paragraphs appearing in the booklet we find: “The league’s goal is to replace the current worn out “democratic” system of government by adopting a fascist constitution under the monarchy… The first principles demand the following policy: Preservation of the national character… Cancellation of the evil foreign influences of Jews in particular… The true value of the Aryan or Nordic race is in its instincts, derived from the experience of its fathers passed down as hereditary memory… The new leaders will know that race is the basis for all politics, they will study the creative history of their Nordic race… The Jews who destroyed our civilization through speculative activities for profit purposes, used financial power to humiliate us in body and soul… The press is controlled by Jews…”. At the end of the list of principles it says: “We will not delude ourselves. The trouble is not over, for Judaism and the forces it controls remain poison in all countries of Europe. But finally in the clear policy laid before us… We have a glimmer of hope that the war with all its horrors will be postponed for many years… But if Britain joins hands with Germany and with other proper powers in a great effort… Then finally for ourselves and for those who will come after us, there will be something to offer in the future…”.
The Imperial Fascist League (IFL) was a British fascist political movement founded by Arnold Leese in 1929 after breaking away from the British fascists. The group advocated antisemitism and the dominance of the ‘Aryan race’ in a ‘racial fascist corporate state’, Leese was particularly influenced by the propagandist of the Nazi Party Julius Streicher, the racist publisher of “Der Sturmer”; In the mid-1930s the group indirectly received funding from the Nazis. Initially, the group advocated policies like corporation, monetary reform and removal of citizenship from Jews, and with radicalization it replaced its flag and incorporated the swastika. Despite there being between 150-500 members at most, its public profile was higher than its actual membership would indicate. The Imperial Fascist League went into sharp decline with the outbreak of World War II.
Extremely rare. Not listed in the world cat library catalog.
36 p. 17 cm. Very good condition.
