British Fascist Union

British Fascist Union

Flag of British Fascist Union
Motto: 'Deu Et Mon Droit'
[1]
Region	The Pacific
Capital	London
Official Language(s)	English (Official), Scottish, Gaelic, other minority languages
Leader	Edward Mosley
Population	5 Million
Currency	Pound Sterling (£)
NS Sunset XML

Brief Description

The British Fascist Union is an alternative history-based nation, set in the Modern Tech world of NationStates. In this alternative timeline, the British Union of Fascists won partnership government in the 1935 General Election and consequently signed a Non-Aggression Pact with the Third Reich, so never entered the Second World War and remained neutral.

Geographical Information

Located in Western Europe, the British Fascist Union is made up of islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France. Climate is temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast. Terrain features mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast. Natural resources availiable are coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate and arable land.

Historical Background

The history of the British Isles is long and varied, so this article will focus primarily on the events post-1935, where the timeline alternates from Real world history.

A Time of Change

The 1930s was a time that saw the uprising of Fascism across Europe. In 1922, Benito Mussolini, leading the Italian Fascist Party, was appointed the Italian Head of Government in a bid to stop a communist revolution. Several years later in 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany at the head of the National Socialist German Workers Party and quickly began turning Germany into a One-Party Dictatorship. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began; a war which would inevitably bring Generalísimo Francisco Franco to power at the head of the Movimiento Nacional Party. In other countries across the continent, right-wing groups sprung up as they gained the popular attention of their respective national publics in the light of increasing concern regarding the possibility of Communist uprisings in Western Europe.

One such group that came to prominence was in Great Britian. Headed by Oswald Mosley, the British Union of Fascists enjoyed public and press support from the Daily Mail newspaper. In 1934, the BUF had 40,000 members, and the decision was made by the Party hierarchy to stand MPs in the 1935 General Election. A total of 300 MPs were stood for Parliament the next year, resulting in 223 BUF MPs in the House of Commons. Whilst not creating an overall majority, the winning Conservative government was reluctantly forced to form a coalition government with the BUF. Mosley was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequor, making up 9 of the 23 Cabinet Ministers as BUF members.

War & Peace

In 1938, as the storm clouds of war rolled across the European Continent, the Third Reich prepared to invade Checkoslovakia. The joint Conservative-Fascist government of Britain sought peace with the Third Reich, culminating in Prime Minister Clement Atlee's infamous visit to Germany that September. The two parties both wished to avoid war, albeit for different reasons; Clement Atlee did not want to be historically remembered for starting one of the world's most horrific wars, whilst Mosley did not see war to be in the British interest, as well as being a personal friend of Adolf Hitler, whom had attended his Berlin wedding in 1936. The Prime Minister returned with his victorious claim of "Peace in our time", declaring that Hitler had agreed not to provoke the United Kingdom into war.

In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, shattering Atlee's dreams of peace. The Prime Minister immediately announced a vote for war with Germany; such a decision requires the majority approval of the Cabinet. The BUF ministers voted against the proposal, and Mosley managed to persuade 3 sympathetic Conservative Ministers to abstain from the voting, resulting in a defeat for the Prime Minister. Mosley went on to call for a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons, declaring Clement Atlee as "a traitor to the people" whom wished to take Great Britain into a war that did not represent British interests. The vote passed, and elections were called in 1940. The result was a landslide victory for the BUF, gaining voters who felt disillusioned with Labour and Conservative party failures in the 1935 elections, and due to their desire to remain out of the war. The BUF became the majority in the House of Commons with 402 seats. With Britain now controlled by a Fascist government, the Third Reich signed a Non-Agression Pact with the UK government and continued on to invade and defeat France. Mosley removed the British Expeditionary Force from the European mainland and redeployed the Armed Forces on the British Isles as a border protection and internal security force.

Turning the Tide of War

On 22 June 1941, the Third Reich invaded the Soviet Union. By December, they had reached the outskirts of Moscow before suffering the devastating counter-attack by the Red Army that resulted in the German Army's retreat from Russian soil. In the same month, the United States of America is attacked at its Naval Base in Pearl Harbour, and Congress declares a State of War between the United States and the Empire of Japan. Due to the alliance of Japan and Germany during the War, relations between the USSR and the USA improved. In 1942, Stalin pledged to enter the war against Japan if the USA would support its war against Germany. A seaborne invasion from the west was deemed impossible, due to the existence of a Fascist Britain and Spain that would not allow a staged invasion from their shores, so American forces were deployed into Russia and attacked alongside Red Army forces on the Eastern Front. The war was long and bloody, and required an invasion of Vichy France after the defeat of Germany. However, the Allies won the war, culminating with the German/French surrender in Paris on January 23 1946. Many of the Nazis fled first to France, and then to Spain and Britain, and the ones captured were brought to trial in Nuremburg.

Post-War History

As the war came to an end and relations cooled between the USSR and the USA, the British Fascist Union