Fellow Travellers of the Right: British Enthusiasts for Nazi Germany, 1933-1939 by Richard Griffiths

Author:Richard Griffiths [Griffiths, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571310142
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2015-08-26T23:00:00+00:00

The Abyssinian Interlude, and the French Popular Front

The next two months saw Germany virtually banished from the headlines, as the Abyssinian War drew relentlessly to a close. Negotiations between Britain, France and Germany had continued; Ribbentrop had arrived in London with a new peace plan on 1 April. The British Government sent a list of questions to the German Government to which the German Government neglected to reply. The matter was occasionally mentioned in the press, in passing. But the crisis was over, and there seemed to be more important things to consider.

The Abyssinian War roused many emotions. Despite the fact that it had been at the centre of attention for a year, interest was heightened for two reasons: (a) the complete victory of Mussolini (military opinion had forecast that it would take at least two winter campaigns);63 (b) The strong evidence of Italian ‘beastliness’, particularly in the matter of the use of mustard-gas.

Addis Ababa was occupied on 5 May, and the Duce made a speech announcing that ‘Abyssinia is Italian’. Opinions, in Britain, were violent, on one side and on the other. The Saturday Review, forgetting Germany, had returned to its true love with a full-page picture of Mussolini, coupled with an article called ‘Bravo, Mussolini!’, on 25 April.64 On the news of the fall of Addis Ababa, Lady Houston sent a telegram to Mussolini which ran as follows: ‘TEN THOUSAND TIMES BRAVO BRAVISSIMO: OH! SPLENDID MAN!! I REJOICE TO KNOW THAT YOUR EXCELLENCY HAS TRIUMPHED OVER YOUR ENEMIES IN ABYSSINIA AND YOUR ENEMIES IN ENGLAND. AND ALL YOUR ENGLISH FRIENDS CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR GREAT VICTORY. LONG LIVE ITALY! LUCY HOUSTON.’65

While not going to Lady Houston’s extremes, a number of other people took up Italy’s case. But it must be admitted that, if there had been a majority who were pro-German in March, there appeared to be a majority who were anti-Italian in April and May. Much of it was caused by what was seen as ‘the beastly conduct of Italy in Abyssinia’.66 Italy’s use of ‘unlimited’ warfare had shown how terrible modern war was.

There were several corollaries to this attitude. If war was now so horrible, some thought, peace must be preserved at any price. For others, Italy had now become so clearly the villain of Europe that Germany’s internal policies faded into insignificance. As Germany, at any rate, was consciously playing down her internal policies in the year 1936, the contrast appeared even greater.

As for France, she was seen by Lord Hugh Cecil and others to have completely let down the side.67 ‘Public opinion’ was now ‘seriously alienated’ from France.68 In a sense, France could not win; she had lost the support of most sections of British opinion.

Meanwhile, events had happened in France which were further to affect British views. The General Election (first round: 26 April: second round: 3 May) had brought to power the Popular Front, an alliance of Radicals, Socialists and Communists. This was an unknown quantity, for two reasons: the installation of

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