The Britons
 | |
| Successor | Britons Publishing Society(incorporated 1922) (dissolved and defunct, 1975) |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1919 |
| Founder | Henry Hamilton Beamish |
| Dissolved | 1931 (chiefly limited to publishing house and its sponsorship) |
| Type | Nationalism Antisemitism Racial discrimination Cultural conservatism |
| Purpose | Political organisation and publisher |
| Location | |
Key people | John Henry Clarke |
| Part ofa serieson |
| Antisemitism |
|---|
 |
 Category |
The Britonswas an Englishanti-Semiticandanti-immigrationorganisation founded in July 1919 byHenry Hamilton Beamish.The organisation publishedpamphletsandpropagandaunderimprintnames:Judaic Publishing Co.and later The Britons, and (The)Britons Publishing Society.These entities mainly engaged in disseminating anti-Semitic literature and rhetoric in theUnited Kingdomand called for greater nationalism, being considered academically among the forefront ofBritish Fascists.Imprints under the first label exist for 1920, 1921, and 1922.
According to historianSharman Kadish,The Britons was "the most extreme group disseminating anti-Semitic propaganda in the early 1920s - indeed the first organisation set up in Britain for this express purpose."[1]
History[edit]
The group was founded in London in 1919 byHenry Hamilton Beamish,who had developed an antisemitic worldview while living inSouth Africa.Beamish wrote The Britons' constitution and the group was launched at a meeting of 14 people chaired byJohn Henry Clarke.[2]The group held monthly meetings in London and launched its own publishing imprint, The Judaic Publishing Company Ltd., which was to be the source of much anti-Semitic and conspiratorial literature.[2]Beamish became involved with theSilver Badge Partybut by 1919 had left Britain altogether after facing damages for alibellous posteragainstSir Alfred Mondand, becoming a vehement anti-Semite, progressing to Nazi propagandist.[3]
The Britons continued under John Henry Clarke, an advocate ofhomeopathy,as Chairman and Vice-President (with theSouthern Rhodesia-based Beamish continuing as president) from the formation of the group until his death in 1931. Clarke helped the party to work with the right wing of theConservative Party,and to attract such members asArthur Kitsonand Brigadier-GeneralR. B. D. Blakeney.[citation needed]
The group claimed that its only aim was to get rid of all the Jews in Britain by forcing them to emigrate toPalestine.Only those who could proveEnglish bloodup to grandparent level were allowed membership (despite the name 'Britons'). Group activities centred mainly on publishing, with journals such asJewry Uber Alles,The British GuardianandThe Investigator(which began publishing in 1937 and used aswastikaas its emblem and regular motto 'For Crown and Country,Blood and Soil). These featured contributions from some of the most fanatical and notorious anti-Semites of the time, including Joseph Banister andGeorge Clarke, 1st Baron Sydenham of Combe,as well as translations of work byNazirace theoristAlfred Rosenberg.[4]
They also published anti-Semitic books including a translation, allegedly byVictor E. Marsden,ofThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion.It has been observed that Marsden had died on 28 October 1920; the Britons ceased publication of the first imprint whichNorman Cohnstates came out in 1921. However, the earliest imprint bearing the name of Marsden held by theBritish Libraryis dated 1922 and whose online catalogue shows that it was imprinted by the Britons Publishing Society. No scholarly work exists on Marsden, a one-time correspondent forThe Morning Post,and there has not yet been an accounting of how precisely his name came to be associated with the publication ofThe Protocols.In August 1921, the text was conclusively exposed byPhilip GravesofThe Timesasplagiarism.The translation used was made byGeorge ShanksforEyre & Spottiswoode.ResearcherNick Toczekclaims that for the sum of £30, The Britons purchased a set of printing plates and the publishing rights toThe Jewish Peril: The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zionfrom that company.[5]The Britons continued to publish and sellThe Protocolsfor the rest of their existence, eventually producing 85 editions.[6]Known from 1922 onwards as the Britons Publishing Company, this separate publishing arm produced material for such groups as theBritish Union of Fascistsand other UK anti-Semitic and fascist organizations until 1975.[citation needed]
Short of funding, The Britons was little more than the board of the publishing "house" after Clarke's death in 1931, soon run by solicitor James D. Dell until 1949.[7]It was largely inactive during theSecond World War.It was later revived first by Anthony Gittens and then byA. F. X. Baron.The board launched a new anti-Semitic,far-rightpublicationFree Britain,which featured contributions fromArnold LeeseandColin Jordan,[8]but was largely defunct as a political organization by the 1950s.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Kadish 2013,p. 38.
- ^abToczek 2016,p. 83.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 38.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 269.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 85.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 94.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 96.
- ^Toczek 2016,p. 257.
Bibliography[edit]
- Benewick, Robert (1969).Political Violence & Public Order: A Study of British Fascism.Allen Lane.ISBN978-0713900859.
- Kadish, Sharman (2013).Bolsheviks and British Jews: The Anglo-Jewish Community, Britain and the Russian Revolution.Routledge.ISBN978-1-134-72793-3.
- Lebzelter, Gisela C.(1978).Political Anti-Semitism in England 1918–1939.Springer.ISBN978-1-349-04000-1.
- Toczek, Nick (2016).Haters, Baiters and Would-be Dictators: Anti-Semitism and the UK Far Right(Abingdon: Routledge).
Further reading[edit]
- Anonymoustranslator (George Shanks),The Jewish Peril,(a.k.a. theProtocols of the Learned Elders of Zion) (London: The Britons, 1920)