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Imperial Fascist League (1929 - 1939)

 Organisation

Dates

  • Existence: 1929 - 1939

Biography

The Imperial Fascist League (IFL) was a British fascist political group founded by Arnold Leese in 1929 after he broke away from the British Fascists. It included a blackshirted paramilitary arm called the Fascists Legion. The group espoused antisemitism and the dominance of the 'Aryan race' in a 'Racial Fascist Corporate State'. Although the group only had a small membership it had a fairly high profile, and published pamphlets and the journal 'The Fascist'.

The British Union of Fascists mounted a campaign against the IFL when it turned down a merger with them in 1932 due to policy differences, and the Imperial Fascist League went into a steep decline upon the outbreak of World War II, when Leese was interned under wartime security regulations. The IFL was not reformed after the war.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Cooper Collection

 Fonds
Reference code: 181
Scope and Contents

Please note that this collection consists of material that is strongly anti-semitic in nature.

The collection contains both published and unpublished material apparently compiled by an individual, thought to be F.T. Cooper, a cartoonist associated with the Imperial Fascist League, and mainly dates from the 1930s. It includes the English language version of the World Service issued by the Nazis in the 1930s.

Dates: c1910 - 1959