History: Fascism and Nazism

As well as the threat from the far left, the far right also became a major concern - and a subject of the Security Service's interest - during the 1930s.

In 1920s, admirers of the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini set up a number of fascist movements in the UK. These included groups such as the British Union of Fascists and the Imperial Fascist League.

These organisations initially attracted very little attention from the Service but by about 1934, concern was being raised over the extent of extreme right-wing activities in the UK.Accordingly, the Security Service was given the task of watching and reporting on fascist movements.

The rise of Nazi Germany from 1933 onwards brought with it several distinct threats:

  • The Nazi Party itself and its overseas arm, the Auslandsabteilung (Overseas Organisation).

  • Relations between the Nazis and British fascist parties.

  • General intelligence on Hitler's preparations for war.

  • German espionage in Britain during the run-up to the Second World War.

There were close links between British and European fascists, notably between the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and the Italian dictator Mussolini. This raised fears about the loyalties of fascist sympathisers in the UK, who could potentially have acted as saboteurs or subversives - a "Fifth Column" - if war broke out. During the Second World War, fascist parties in continental Europe did collaborate with the Nazis, as happened in the case of Vidkun Quisling and his Nasjonal Samling party in German-occupied Norway. It was widely feared that British fascists could also have acted as "quislings" in the event of a German invasion.

Investigations of British fascists

Photograph of British fascists marching in LondonBritish fascists marching in London in the 1930s

The Security Service investigated a number of prominent British fascists during the 1930s and 1940s:

Sir Oswald Mosley and his wife Diana were both monitored for many years. They were interned during the Second World War but were released by 1943, although they remained under surveillance for some time afterwards.

AK Chesterton, a cousin of the writer GK Chesterton, was another target of the Service's interest. He was a prominent supporter of Mosley's British Union of Fascists but eventually broke with Mosley. He went on to found the National Front in 1967.

Arnold Leese founded the Imperial Fascist League in 1929 as a vehicle for his strongly pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic views. He was extreme even by fascist standards, denouncing Mosley for supposedly being under Jewish control and calling for the extermination of Jews, long before Hitler adopted a similar policy. Following the war, he was imprisoned for his part in a conspiracy to help Nazi war criminals escape to South America.

The Service's files on these three individuals were released to the National Archives in November 2003. Files relating to a number of other British fascist sympathisers have also been deposited in the National Archives in other releases.