Alexander Raven Thomson

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Alexander Raven Thomson

In 1926, Thomson became a partner in an engineering firm in London specialising in the manufacture of silver paper, a process that he had learned in Germany.
Born 3 December 1899
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died 30 October 1955
London, England
Nationality British
Citizenship British
Occupation Manufacturer of silver paper
Known for Fascist politician and writer
Political party British Union of Fascists, Union Movement
Spouse Lisbeth Röntgen
Children 3

Alexander Raven Thomson (3 December 1899 – 30 October 1955), usually referred to as Raven, was a Scottish politician and philosopher. He joined the British Union of Fascists in 1933 and remained a follower of Oswald Mosley for the rest of his life; he was considered to be the party's chief ideologue.

Life

Leading members of the BUF in 1935

Back row (left to right): John H Hone – Jack E M Atherley – John Thompson – Richard A Plathen – Robert Gordon Canning – John W Beckett – Bryan D E Donovan – Lt-Col Charles S Sharpe – William Leaper

Front row (left to right): Alexander Raven Thomson – Eric Hamilton Piercy – Ian Hope Dundas – Oswald Mosley – Neil L M Francis Hawkins – Wilfred Risdon – William Joyce

Thomson has been described as the "Alfred Rosenberg of British fascism". A publisher description of his book The Coming Corporate State states:

"Alexander Raven Thomson outlines the (pre-WW2) British Union of Fascists economic proposals to “Democratise” Britain’s economic system. The Coming Corporate State sets out in clear and precise terms the economic infrastructure that would be put in place once the British Union of Fascists came to power. British Union would transfer ownership of all industrial and commercial organisations above a certain size to one of eighteen Corporations covering every aspect of business activity. “The Corporate State is a means of equating economic forces to the needs of the Nation. It is designed to end the chaos and disorder of the present economic system, and replace them by an organised economy. It is designed to break the hidden dictatorship of vested interests and alien financiers who exploit present conditions for their own benefit. These powers have driven Labour Governments out of office, they dictate the policies of National Governments, but they will never control a Corporate State”. It is interesting to note that many points of the British fascist program have actually been silently realised not only in Britain but also in Europe and America."

Early life

Born in Scotland, Thomson was educated in universities in his homeland, the United States and Germany, studying philosophy.[1] He became a leading authority on the works of Oswald Spengler and in 1932 published the book Civilization as Divine Superman, which rejected Spengler's theories about the decline of civilization, arguing that it could be avoided by the rejection of capitalism and its replacement with collectivism.[1] During his studies in Germany, Thomson met and married German woman Elisabeth "Lisbeth", some sources state she was a relative of the X-ray pioneer Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (not a daughter, as sometimes wrongly claimed). They would go on to have three children together; Lisbeth already had a daughter from a previous marriage.[2] Upon his return to Britain he made his money from the manufacture of silver paper, a process he learned in Germany.[3] Thomson's political career began with him joining the Communist Party of Great Britain, although his membership did not last long as he rejected notions of historical materialism and saw himself move more towards corporatism.[1]

British Union of Fascists

He joined the British Union of Fascists in 1933 and soon rose to the post of Director of Policy, from where he became the leading ideological light in the party and a close associate of Oswald Mosley and Neil Francis Hawkins.[1] Whilst in this position he produced his seminal work The Coming Corporate State (1938), in which he set out the vision of a BUF government in Britain. Thomson envisaged the formation of twenty corporations, each controlling a specific sector of the economy. These corporations would be further divided up to cover each individual industry and would also feed into a National Corporation, which would effectively form the government. Corporations would have equal representation for employers, workers and consumers, with elections to the corporations taking the place of existing political activity.[4] Thomson became a leading figure in the BUF and in 1937 he represented the party in Municipal elections in Bethnal Green (SW), winning 23.17% of the votes and finishing ahead of the Liberal candidates..[5] Although he was not elected, the result marked a good total for the BUF. His status in the party now assured, Thomson became editor of the party weekly, Action, in 1939.[6] An important figure in the BUF, he served for a time as Mosley's representative to Germany, a role in which he was closely watched by MI5.[7]

Along with most of the leading members of the BUF, Thomson was detained under Defence Regulation 18B in May 1940 and interned for much of the Second World War.[8] He spent his entire jail spell in Brixton Prison, rather than the generally more favourable prison camp on the Isle of Man, until his release in 1944.[9] Thomson reacted badly to his spell in detention and suffered a nervous breakdown whilst incarcerated.[10]

Union Movement

Following his release Thomson set up a number of book clubs across Britain to ensure the continuing spread of Mosley's ideas.[9] The book clubs served as planning meetings for the future of Mosleyite politics after the war.[11] He also led the Union of British Freemen, a group he set up with fellow ex-BUF member Victor Burgess in 1944 as an attempt to bring together former BUF members.[12] After the war Thomson travelled regularly to Ireland to meet with Mosley and discuss political development.[13] Eager to expand the base of operations of fascism in Britain he also sought unsuccessfully to forge alliances with the proto-environmentalist Rural Reconstruction Association through leading member Jorian Jenks, a former BUF activist, as well as inidividuals on the fringes of Welsh nationalism.[14]

He joined the Union Movement on its foundation in 1948 and became a leading figure in the new party as both General Secretary and the editor of the UM newspaper Union.[9] Playing a leading role in the development of the ideology of the UM, Thomson initially supported Europe a Nation enthusiastically, but soon tired of the esoteric policy and in 1950 organised a brief move to a revival of an SA-style National Socialism.[15] After this he came to advocate a "left-wing fascist" approach, arguing that the UM should target the working class for support with leftist style, anti-capitalism rhetoric.[16]

As well as his important position within the UM domestically, Thomson was also a central figure in the party's international links. Thomson was sent to Spain in 1949 to try to build up support for Mosley in the country, although the trip was somewhat unsuccessful as he failed to impress Franco's government and had to contend with the negative words of former BUF member Angus Macnab, who had grown to loathe Mosley.[17] later Thomson was central in liasing with the New European Order, a group Mosely had no official contact with due to his support for the European Social Movement.[18] His international reputation grew further in 1952 when he was appointed to the editorial board of the prestigious Nation Europa magazine.[19] He also became known as the publisher of Frederick J. Veale's Advance to Barbarism, one of the early pieces of Second World War Historical revisionism.[20] He also contributed to The European, a magazine edited by Diana Mosley.

Death

Thomson continued to serve as leading UM figure until his death in 1955 from cancer.

Works (excerpt)

See also

External link

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Benewick, op cit, p. 117
  2. ↑ S. Dorril, Blackshirt – Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism, London: Penguin, 2007, p. 252
  3. ↑ Dorril, op cit, p. 252
  4. ↑ Benewick, op cit, pp. 143-150
  5. ↑ Benewick, op cit, pp. 279-282
  6. ↑ Benewick, op cit, p. 119
  7. ↑ Dorril, op cit, p. 317
  8. ↑ Benewick, op cit, p. 294
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Biography at Friends of Oswald Mosley site
  10. ↑ G. Macklin, Very Deeply Dyed in Black, New York: IB Tauris, 2007, p. 21
  11. ↑ Dorril, op cit, p. 554
  12. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 39
  13. ↑ Dorril, op cit, p. 553
  14. ↑ Dorril, op cit, pp. 585-6
  15. ↑ Macklin, op cit, pp. 54-5
  16. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 63
  17. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 99
  18. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 110
  19. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 111
  20. ↑ Macklin, op cit, p. 129
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