If you have already reached the fifth season of the famous BBC series, Peaky Blinders, then you are probably familiar with the name Oswald Mosley . The politician was one of the controversial stars of the United Kingdom during the pre-World War II movements for founding his own party, known as Partido Novo, focused on the far right.
After a A bankrupt military career, Mosley entered politics and won his first Conservative MP election at the age of 21, serving in the House of Commons from 1918 until 1931, when he lost his seat for founding the New Party, which had its name changed to British Union of Fascists (BUF) the following year, after he returned from a trip from Italy, where he fell in love with the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini.
He publicly advocated against the participation of the England on the side considered by him to be “wrong” in the future war, that is, the coalition of the Allies. Going further, on October 3, 1936, almost on the cusp of Adolf Hitler’s planned Nazi invasion of Poland, he led the chaotic and decisive Battle of Cable Street, in the East End of London.
The pro-death march
Oswald Mosley. (Source: The Mirror/Reproduction)
When Mussolini started his Fascist Party in Italy, in mid-1919, it was a matter of time before the extremist movement spread across Europe in a domino effect, impregnating various political aspects of the decade with its ideology, becoming the main responsible by the beginning of the war.
As fascism advanced, members of communist parties or left-wing movements began to fight back, in an attempt to prevent the ideology from taking hold. When this reality reached London, largely motivated by Mosley’s activism, the East End district, where the largest population of Jews and other refugees was concentrated, was the target of anti-Semitism preached by the politician and his 15,000 Blackshirts, a kind of paramilitary group. .
The episodes of violence against minorities culminated in a response from the opposition, including local unionists, communists, anarchists and socialist groups; causing a series of street fights, like the one on Cable Street.
(Source: Facing History/Reproduction)
This began with a march announced by Mosley in the heart of the East End, where there was maximum concentration of Jews – despite a petition presented by the Council of the Jewish People to stop the act, showing that his intention was to cause some trouble. This became even clearer with the distribution of anti-Semitic pamphlets by the Blackshirts throughout central London, inviting those interested to participate.
The Communist Party and other groups organized to block the Fascist activity, but with support from the Metropolitan Police and the media, the Blackshirts managed to make their way into Whitechapel – but not for long.
Curbing the enemy
(Source: Arcola Theater/Reproduction)
The opposition closed the way with several parked cars, so Mosley diverted his disciples to Cable Street, a street parallel to the main one, but to no avail, as anti-fascists and residents surprised them with a street littered with glass, marble and blockages.
The result was a shower of rotten fruit hurled through the windows, buckets of boiling water, feces and other types of objects; causing the marchers to revolt. That is, it didn’t take long for them to go into physical confrontation with the opponents.
Ironically or not, only 6 Blackshirts were arrested that day, in contrast to the 79 members and left allies. Cable Street resistance spread throughout London, which gathered so much effort that Mosley backed off with his troupe.
The following year, the Public Order Act was passed, banning people to wear political uniforms in public, a direct result of what happened on Cable Street.
(Source: Time/Play)
The Blackshirts even committed episodes of violence in the following years, but the public’s negative perception of their conduct had already been established, worsening with the outbreak of war.
Mosley, his disciples and other leaders and supporters of the fascist movement, ended up in prison in 1940. He was only released 3 years later and, politically disgraced, moved to France in 1951, where he died on December 3, 1980, in Orsay.
What happened that day on Cable Street was instrumental both in pruning the roots of fascism in London and in uniting efforts to combat the spread of the movement across Europe.
