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. The 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 for 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 was attacked at its Naval Base in Pearl Harbour, and Congress declared 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 Government signed an agreement with the Spanish Government to maintain a strategic alliance between the two nations in case of the threat of invasion by the Communists to the east. As the Cold War began, the USA began relations with Britain and Spain due to their strategic importance close to their Soviet adversaries, and the non-communist nations of Western Europe formed NATO. In 1945, the British Government declared the country a one-party State and the British Fascist Union was proclaimed. This has remained the case to this day, marking Britain's 70th Anniversary as a Fascist State.

Politics & Government

Government Structure

The Monarch: Ambassadorial Figurehead

The Monarch of the British Fascist Union plays a largely figurehead role, expected to epitomise the values and morals of the country. The Monarch is also the highest diplomatic representative possible in Britain, sent on the most important diplomatic missions at home and abroad. The Monarch is technically the Head of State, however there are no ascribed executive powers.

The Cabinet: Executive & Legislature

The government of Britain today is basically described as a Corporate State, and is closely related to the Economy. There are 16 Corporations that manage individual sectors of the Economy, i.e. the Mining Corporation, Agriculture Corporation, Steelmaking Corporation, Medical Corporation, Transport Corporation and so on (A full list of Corporations can be found in the Economy section of this document.) Voting is based on occupational franchise, with Miners voting for a Mining Minister, Doctors and Nurses voting for a Medical Minister etc, resulting in a Cabinet of experts selected by experts. The Cabinet is both the Executive and Legislative of the British Government. The Prime Minister is always the permanent de facto Chairman of the British Union of Fascists, and only changes when the Chairman dies or is voted from his position by the BUF National Congress. Although the Prime Minister is the permanent Head of Government, he cannot initiate legislation without the majority approval of the Cabinet.

Houses of Parliament: Consultative and Judicial

The Upper and the Lower Houses of Parliament still play a role in British politics, albeit a reduced role then was previously seen.

The House of Commons lost its legislative powers following the re-organisation of the government, and now stands as a Representative Chamber for the people. MPs are elected for life-terms, and are only voted for replacement once they retire, die, or forced to leave for other varying reasons. The Commons sits every Wednesday, and the Cabinet must answer questions put forth by citizens through their Members of Parliament in order to justify the representativeness of their actions. In addition to this, the Commons must be informed whenever the Cabinet introduces or alters legislation, and may be asked for their collective opinion on the discretion of the Cabinet. Other than this, The House of Commons has little else of a role.

The House of Lords remains as the Judicial branch of the government. The House of Lords examines legilsation created by the Cabinet in order to ascertain its legality in the face of other laws passed. In such a case, the Lords can return the legislature to Cabinet with recommendations for changes to correct the legality issues involved. Several of the Lords are also what is termed as 'Law Lords', and comprise the High Court of Justice; the highest Judicial body to which citizens can address their grievances.

County Governors: Local Government Executives

The County Governors are a group of unelected officials appointed by the Cabinet to manage the local affairs of the areas they govern; for example, Governor of Nottinghamshire, Governor of Shropshire, Governor of Derbyshire, and so on. The Governors Office acts as a local civil service that manages city- and county-scale provision of public services, such as police enforcement, fire services and waste reclamation services. The Governors also possess regional executive powers in the case of a National Emergency being declared in their respective area.

Political Groups

British Union of Fascists

Leader: Edward Mosley

Symbol:

External Link: British Union of Fascists

The British Union of Fascists was created in 1932 by Oswald Mosley, an ex-soldier who had served in the trenches of the Great War before entering poltics. Mosley modelled himself on another fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. He also modeled his party along the lines of fascist movements in other countries, primarily Italy.

He instituted a black uniform, gaining the party the nickname blackshirts. The BUF was anti-communist and protectionist. It supported the replacement of parliamentary democracy with a system of elected executives with jurisdiction over their own industries - something similar to the corporatism of the Italian fascists.

After the BUF came to power in 1940, the government declared Britain a One-Party Democracy with the British Union as the only legal political organisations in the country. All other poltical parties and pressure groups were banned, and the early rallies of these were violently suppressed by BUF militant groups.

The BUF comprises several internal organisations:

National Congress

The National Congress of the British Union of Fascists comprises every member of the Party, from the Prime Minister to the individual citizen completely un-involved in Politics. The BUF numbers roughly three-quarters of the population of Britain, with membership being non-compulsory but applauded and respected by large groups of the populace. The National Congress meets once every year to hear speeches from the leadership and direct questions to the Party heirarchy on policies, legislation and other issues.

The Information Committee

The Information Committee is the sole Publishing Organisation in the country, and is responsible for the monitoring, approval and censorship of all publications in the British Fascist Union. The Information Committee decides on whether information should be released to the public and where information damages the stability of the Party and/or the State and should therefore be suppressed.

The Stormtroopers (ST)

The ST is the strong-arm of the BUF Party, numbering 30,000 professional and paid individuals used for security at Party events, bodyguard service, and police auxiliaries in many areas of the country.

Economy

The Economy of the British Fascist Union is largely concentrated on Manufacturing and Service Sector activities, with Agriculture and Mining being the smallest sectors of the economy, albeit highly mechanised and capital-intensive. The majority of the BFU Economy is owned by one of 16 Corporations, with businesses under a certain size excluded from this ownership. The Corporations are not State managed, but are organised and administered by a Corporate Council made up representatives of Consumers, Labour, Employers and Government, so that the whole organisation of Corporate activity can be harmonised for the betterment of the British society.

The list of Corporations is as follows: Mining Corporation, Steelmaking Corporation, Chemical Corporation, Transport Corporation, Medical Corporation, Nuclear Corporation, Vehicle Corporation, Education Corporation, Banking Corporation, Arms Corporation, Agriculture Corporation, Sales Corporation, Fisihing Corporation, Building Corporation, Petrol Corporation, Gas Corporation

Current Economic Statistics can be found at: http://nstracker.retrogade.com/index.php?nation=British+Fascist+Union