Oswald Mosley
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Oswald Ernald Mosley, (born on 16 November 1896) is a British politician and the current Commissary for the Exchequer of the Union of Britain.
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Early Life
Mosley is the eldest of three sons of Sir Oswald Mosley, 5th Baronet of Ancoats (1874–1928), and his wife Katharine Maud Edwards-Heathcote. Mosley's family are Anglo-Irish but his branch were prosperous landowners in Staffordshire. He was born at Rolleston Hall, near Burton-on-Trent on November 16, 1896 . When his parents separated he was brought up by his mother and his paternal grandfather, Sir Oswald Mosley, 4th Baronet. Within the family and among intimate friends, he was always called "Tom". He lived for many years at Apedale Hall near Newcastle-under-Lyme.
He was educated at West Downs School and Winchester College. In January 1914 he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst but was expelled in June for a "riotous act of retaliation" against a fellow student.
During the Weltkrieg
During the Weltkrieg he was commissioned in the 16th The Queen's Lancers and fought on the Western Front. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an observer but while showing off in front of his mother and sister he crashed, which left him with a permanent limp. He returned to the trenches before the injury was fully healed and, at the Battle of Loos, he passed out at his post from the pain. He spent some months at desk jobs in the Ministry of Munitions and in the Foreign Office, before choosing to pursue a career in politics.
Political Life
Elected Member of Parliament
Before the end of the Weltkrieg Mosley decided to go into politics as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), although he was only 21 years old and had not fully developed his politics. He was driven by a passionate conviction to avoid any future war and this motivated his career. Largely because of his family background, he was considered by several constituencies. In the general election of 1918 he faced no serious opposition and was elected easily. He was the youngest member of the House of Commons to take his seat. He soon distinguished himself as an orator and political player, one marked by extreme self-confidence. He made a point of speaking in the House of Commons without notes.
Joining the Labour Party
Mosley was at this time falling out with the Conservatives; eventually he 'crossed the floor' and sat as an Independent MP on the opposition side of the House of Commons. Having built up a following in his constituency, he retained it against a Conservative challenge in the 1922 and 1923 general elections. By 1924 he was growing increasingly attracted to the Labour Party, which had just formed a government, and in March he joined. He immediately joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) as well and allied himself with the left.
Role in British Syndicalism
When the 1925 British Revolution broke out, he joined the revolutionaries and became the leader of a small paramilitary group that fought and defeated what was left of the British Army. When the Congress of the Trade Union was called to create the new Constitution, he participated in the creation of the new state, but the final result (a compromise between the factions that enshrined the principals of decentralisation, co-operativism, and isolationism) did not satisfy him. He tried to find support to enforce a more centralised structure, but he only managed to achieve a strong decline in popularity that forced him at the edge of the political scene after 1928.
During this period without much political activity, Mosley gradually became more radical and authoritarian. He spent many months in foreign socialist or syndicalist countries, especially the Commune of France and the Socialist Republic of Italy, and started developing new ideas. In 1932 he raised his voice again to call for high tariffs to protect British industries from international finance, for state nationalization of industry and a programme of public works to solve unemployment. This time, he was supported by other politicians and this lead to his appointment as Commissary for the Exchequer in 1933, a position that he still holds.
He created a new faction, called the Maximists, which has a limited but growing support. Mosley became also a supporter of British nationalism and advocated a more militaristic approach in foreign policy, supporting an expansion of the army. Lately, he has contacted many foreign Syndicalist leaders and is developing with his friend and protégé Clive Lewis, a new doctrine (called Totalitarian Socialism or Totalism, that will probably be announced to the world at the beginning on 1936.
Personal life
In May 1920 Mosley married Lady Cynthia Curzon (known as 'Cimmie'), second daughter of George Curzon, Lord Curzon of Kedleston and Lord Curzon's first wife, the American mercantile heiress, the former Mary Victoria Leiter. Lord Curzon had to be persuaded that Mosley was a suitable husband, as he suspected Mosley was largely motivated by social advancement and her inheritance. The wedding was the social event of the year, attended by many branches of European royalty, including King George V and Queen Mary. Cynthia died of peritonitis in 1933. They had three children:
- Vivien (born in 1921)
- Nicholas Mosley (born in 1923)
- Michael (born in 1932).
He was heir to the Baronetcy of Ancoats prior to the abolition of all hereditary titles after the Revolution, a fact which has been used against him on occasion by those who oppose him
