British Fascists
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The British Fascists were the name subsequently taken by the British Fascisti in an attempt to Anglicise them. The movement had been roundly criticized and accused of being in the pay of a foreign leader (ie Benito Mussolini) because of their Italian name and so the name change was seen as a way to underline their independence and patriotism.
Along with the change of name the British Fascists also began to become politically more mature, particularly after the General Strike of 1926, which they saw as a first step towards communism in Britain. The movement developed a programme that called for a strenghtening of the second chamber of Parliament, a cut down on those eligible to vote and a raft of anti-Trade Union legislation. In 1927 the followers of the movement adopted a blue shirted uniform and as such soon became known as the Blueshirts. William Joyce and Arnold Leese were amongst those to have passed through the movement as members.
After 1931 they abandoned their attempts to form a distinctly British version of fascism and instead adopted the full programme of Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party. The appearance of the British Union of Fascists severely damaged the fortunes of the British Fascists, as did the passing of a series of public order laws in the 1930s that banned uniforms and curtailed the right to demonstrate. Even before the outbreak of the Second World War the British Fascists had sunk into oblivion.