He was in conflict with other fascist groups which he tried to assimilate into his BUF but they resisted. They all felt the same about Mosley and saw him only interested in his own advancement and not that of the workers of the country. However, the main groups mentioned above would eventually fade away and Mosley became the dominant voice of Fascism in Britain. The Fascists would enter the late ’thirties with a clear anti-Semitic attitude and pro-German with a liking for the Nazi systems, especially their colourful staging of events and uniforms. Mosley believed this would be attractive to the workers he sought to recruit. He also argued he was for Britain and the British Empire, which he saw threatened by the international conspiracy of the Jews. Whilst the majority of Mosley’s followers, his foot soldiers, did come from the working class, he attracted some from the middle-class and upper ranks of society. Mosley was extremely active in attempts to prevent a war with Germany, blaming the Jews for provoking it and thus justifying Germany’s treatment of them. By 1939, Mosley’s fascism had brought together Nazism and anti-Semitism but he had been rejected by the majority of the Establishment and the British public. However, even within the Royal House of Windsor, echoes of Mosley’s views could be found. In July 1933, the Prince of Wales said, ‘It is no business of ours to interfere in German internal affairs either re Jews or re anything else.’
From the earliest days of Fascism in Britain one document in particular was an essential part of the basis of all fascists’ beliefs about Jews. These were the Protocols mentioned earlier.
In that first Great War a naval officer rose to great heights in the service of Britain and its Empire. He fought against the Germans and played an important part in that country’s defeat. Having served his country and been awarded all the honours of state, this officer retired as an Admiral and looked set for a well-earned peaceful retirement. With a passion for the British Empire he looked for ways to use his reputation to strengthen it and to see it flourish. Part of this desire led him to look to the defeated enemy, Germany, and to build relationships with that country, which he believed would yield peace in Europe and allow Britain to concentrate on the Empire. In seeking to build these relationships the naval hero took a path that brought him into contact with the Nazi leaders of Germany. These German leaders would eventually confront Britain and wage war against her. He also joined fellow travellers who held strong Fascist views and were strident anti-Semites.
Many of these also were sympathetic to Germany and the Nazi regime. A great deal of their activities was actively against British interests and it would suggest he too was betraying his country. The British Security Service (SIS) took an interest in his activities which led to him being arrested and incarcerated in Brixton prison, without trial, for being a danger to Britain. A photograph appeared in many newspapers on the day after his arrest. It showed the Admiral and his wife with a photograph of Hitler and a Stormtrooper statuette on their sideboard. The common consensus was that he was a Nazi sympathiser.
What was the truth about these allegations made against him? Was he pro-German and a supporter of the Nazi government? Did he conspire to bring about a fascist revolution in Britain? With the help of secret files and newspaper reports, what follows explores how this high ranking naval officer, Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, found himself in a cramped prison cell as an enemy of the country that he had served.
Chapter 1
Germany and Europe before the Great War
There are two versions of the start of the First German Reich (Empire). For some it was the crowning of Charlemagne in the year 800. Others point to the crowning of Otto I (Otto the Great) in the year 962. Whichever view is taken, it was the Peace of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648 that brought the effective end to this first German empire. It was finally confirmed in 1806 when Emperor Francis II abdicated following defeat by the French in 1805 when Napoleon sent his Grand Army into Germany. The mighty alliance of Russia, Britain, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Naples and the German states could not prevent his victory. The French procession through the Germanic territories saw the Tricolour waving over the soil of Austria and Germany. 27,000 Austrian soldiers survived and suffered the humiliation of laying down their arms to the victorious forces of Napoleon. The indigenous people rose up and they conducted widespread resistance to the French. Alongside their physical resistance, the people conducted a propaganda war. Pamphlets were issued condemning the French and calling for resistance to continue against them. Johannes Philipp Palm was a simple bookseller in Nuremberg who would not bend the knee and actively distributed the pamphlets. One such pamphlet entitled Germany’s Deepest Humiliation was found in his possession. Arrested and interrogated, he refused to name the printer or publisher of the pamphlet. The French tried him in what was considered a mock trial and made an example of him. By Napoleon’s orders, he was taken to Braunau-on-the-Inn and on 26 August 1806 he stood blindfolded before a French firing squad. The bullets of the French tore into his chest and he collapsed in a bloody heap. The seeds of resentment against anyone attempting to ever again destroy the future Germany were sown in the minds of its people by this history. Following Napoleon’s defeat Prussia, Austria and France had intermittent conflicts. Mini revolutions arose within the various German states and they were not yet a truly united country. In Braunau-on-the-Inn in 1866, long after the French were finally expelled from Germany and Austria, a monument was erected to Johannes Philipp Palm.
In 1871 the German Empire (Second Reich) under Wilhelm I unified the states except for Austria, who as a great power in her own right, cherished her independence. Otto Von Bismarck emerged as the first Chancellor of Germany. Eventually the country regained its independence from outside forces and expanded its territories absorbing neighbouring colonies.
On 20 April 1889, Klara the wife of Alois Hitler gave birth to a son, Adolf. As the young boy grew, he was a withdrawn child and wandered alone through Braunau-on-the-Inn. At his school, he would learn of this humiliation of Germany and of the resistance of men like Palm. Often he came to the memorial of Johannes Philipp Palm and the stories of how Germany suf-fered under the French burned into his soul. He would write about this episode in later life and it would be an inspiration for his ambitions in Europe. He, like most Germans, had a resolve that Germany would never again be subjected to any foreign power. Never again would Germany be humiliated. Adolph Hitler would be called to put his life on the line to demonstrate that resolve.
Germany and Austria formed an alliance based on their historic relationships and a concern that France threatened their respective countries. Italy joined this alliance concerned that France would intervene in its attempt to increase territory in North Africa. France in turn sought to protect herself by throwing her lot in with Britain and Russia. This was further complicated by the Italians who secretly came to an agreement with France over the status of the Balkan territories. Italy and Spain meanwhile remained under the rule of their respective royal families, though not without their own internal troubles.
It has to be borne in mind that all parties in these alliances were prepared to abandon them if their own national interests were threatened and secret arrangements were frequently made with other parties. Thus the peace in Europe was always fragile because of these alliances and competing claims to territories and their boundaries. Quite unexpectedly, whilst Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was visiting Sarajevo, he was assassinated by a young Yugoslavian nationalist. This allowed the Austro-Hungarian Empire an opportunity to prevent the expansionist aims of Serbia in the Balkans by making impossible demands of the Serbians. These demands were not met and within a month, Europe was plunged into the darkness of war. Germany would invade Belgium and its old enemy France. Britain would make demands that were ignored and the result was the horrific Great War. It saw thirty-seven million casualties resulting in almost nine million deaths. Britain and her allies lost five million with Germany losing just fewer than three and a half mil
lion. Europe lay devastated in the wake of the war, with Germany brought to her knees.
Admiral Sir Barry Domvile commanded ships of Her Majesty’s navy that were crucial in defeating Germany. The victorious allies imposed severe penalties on Germany, as the aggressor. These penalties were enshrined in the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. As a rising star in the Navy and being groomed for higher things in Naval Intelligence, Domvile was involved on the side-lines of the discussions on the treaty. He did not agree with the conclusions reached:
‘The merit of a treaty of peace does not lie so much in the actual test of the conditions to be observed, as in the wisdom and foresight exercised in respect to the durable nature of the treaty. To some this may appear a distinction without a difference, but it is not so. For example, if the peace conditions are harsh, it is obviously necessary to arrange that they can be enforced and maintained without danger of retaliation, involving a further breach of the peace. To make a peace treaty which can neither be expected to endure, nor yet to be capable of enforcement, even after a further recourse to arms, is just silly.’
In Britain the response to the war was great anger against Germany. The slogans of the day reflect the hatred of the majority of the population. ‘Hang the Kaiser’ and ‘Make Germany Pay’ were the common cries in the newspapers. A typical example of the mood was reflected in the Daily Record on Tuesday 3 December 1918:
HANG THE KAISER
‘With a section of the most sober-thinking public calling for the death of the ex-Kaiser political candidates are finding it awkward to avoid any reference to the proposition. The heading I have given to this paragraph has become the popular catch phrase.’
From the Houses of Parliament to the bar at the local pub, the sentiment felt, as the soldiers and sailors returned home, was a determination that Germany must pay heavily for her actions. France particularly was vociferous in calling for the damages against Germany to be severe. Lloyd George presented a public face in support of these views but privately he had concerns. He was looking to Russia and feared the expansion of Communist influence throughout Europe. His thoughts were that Germany, if treated properly, would be a bulwark against any advance from Russia. Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson, the American President, had such repugnance for the war that he wanted to separate himself from the problems of Europe and could not wait to get the whole matter out of his way. Italy had been treated with contempt by the Allies, even though it had fought on their side but without any great significance. They were excluded from the negotiations, because before the war they had been part of a tri-partite treaty with Germany and Austria. Italy had broken that treaty in 1915, by joining the side of the allies. Germany was therefore completely isolated, with few friends. The second German Reich came to an end in humiliation and defeat.
The penalties for Germany were severe. It lost a great amount of territory. France was given the Alsace-Lorraine area. Denmark was allowed to take Northern Schleswig. Poland received West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia. Hultschin was given to Czechoslovakia. Belgium took control of Eupen and Malmedy. The League of Nations took control of the Saar, Danzig and Memel with the intentions of allowing the populations to vote how they wished to be governed and by whom. All of these territories would become matters of great controversy in the run up to the Second World War. The League also took decisions to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The new states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia emerged. Poland expanded and received some of this land. This too would become an issue in the Second World War. Further humiliation of Germany came with restrictions on their military. Limited to 100,000 men in the army, they could not have tanks. Whilst they were permitted the use of gliders, there could be no proper air-force and only six naval ships were permitted. A demilitarised zone was imposed around the Rhine which no armed German could enter. France would later, against a background of protests from her allies, occupy the Ruhr region of Germany. Financially Germany stood on the precipice of bankruptcy. Furthermore, Germany would be forced to accept a ‘war guilt’ clause that held it responsible for starting the war and therefore responsible for making reparations to the allies for all damages to the countries on the allied side. There was no fixed amount for these. Germany had to accept signing a blank cheque which eventually would be £6.6 billion pounds. There was no conceivable way Germany would ever pay.
Germany had never been consulted on the Treaty. It was presented to them just weeks before they were due to sign it. They were given two options; sign or be occupied. They signed. The result was that throughout Germany, as the terms were made known, a great anger arose. The humiliation was too much for many. The Kaiser fled and a third German Reich was not considered amidst this disgrace. At Weimar, the idea of a republic was born and the Weimar Republic came into existence in the fervent hope of a democratic peaceful future for Germany; Berlin was not chosen for this momentous event because it was in turmoil as a Communist revolt was attempting to impose a Marxist state on Germany. These events would bring Adolph Hitler onto the world stage. He too, like Domvile, would come to disagree with the terms of the treaty.
Chapter 2
Germany, Hitler and the British Pre-1940
The simmering resentment of the German people, gave opportunity for Adolf Hitler, the ex-soldier, to come from obscurity. In the Great War, he had risen from private to corporal and showed great courage as a message runner for the German army. His actions brought him into danger and in time he was caught up in a gas attack that left him blind. There has been a debate about his blindness as to whether it was physical or psychosomatic. The evidence is not conclusive. Others involved in the particular gas attack described it as one of mustard gas, which would have physical results. The British records suggest it was White Star, another gas used in the war which was less harmful. Dr. Edmund Forster, who treated Hitler after the gas attack, was a specialist in soldiers suffering from hysteria. He had successfully treated many German soldiers, who had no physical injuries, but who complained of disabilities. It is recorded that Forster had told fellow medical colleagues the details of his treatment of Hitler and its psychosomatic nature. One of these was Ernst Weiss, a surgeon and novelist, who in turn wrote a fictional book, Eye Witness, which was a thinly disguised account of Hitler’s treatment for psychosomatic blindness. Forster himself was found dead, apparently committing suicide at his home in Germany. It has been suggested his death was at the hands of the Nazis who were afraid he would reveal the true nature of Hitler’s blindness.
Whatever the truth about his blindness, Hitler was awarded two Iron Cross medals for his part in the war, the last being first class, an unusual award for a corporal. In light of Hitler’s subsequent slaughter of Jews it is ironic that the recommendation for the medal came from Hugo Gutmann, a Jewish officer.
The army had given this young man a purpose. He had been a drifter and failed to obtain entry into higher education to fulfil his dreams of being an artist. Throughout his drifting he developed a great hatred for Jews and believed them to be at the root of Germany’s problems. After the war, his return to Germany was very traumatic. Released from the army, he no lon-ger had any identity. The proud soldier saw Germany now a defeated nation, internally torn apart by divisions and externally, in his opinion, oppressed by the victorious allies, especially the French. He became convinced that Communism, and behind this, Jews, were the real cause of Germany’s woes. As an agent recruited to spy on meetings of dissidents, he became caught up in German politics through the German Worker’s Party. He became a charismatic speaker and his first major speech was recalled by him in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle):
‘I spoke for thirty minutes, and what before I had simply felt within me, without in any way knowing it, was now proved by reality: I could speak! After thirty minutes the people in the small room were electrified and the enthusiasm was first expressed by the fact that my appeal to the self-sacrifice of those present led to the donation of three hundred marks.’
> This was not just an egocentric view; others around him also recognised his charismatic style and passionate delivery. So it was that Adolf Hitler became the leader of a political movement that emerged; the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP which gave them the name Nazi.
In November 1923, Hitler believed he could overthrow the German government and embarked on what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler had agreed with Colonel von Seisser, the head of the Bavarian State Police, to go to Berlin and prepare for a ‘March on Berlin’. When the Bavarian government had been removed and the Nazis had assumed power, their government would be transferred to Berlin. Hitler told him, ‘Colonel, I will wait until your return, but act then and persuade the Generalstaatskommissar [Gustav von Kahr, general state commissioner] to act’. He did not wait for the Colonel’s return and suspicious that Kahr was in fact going to act against him, went ahead with his own plans. Unknown to him, Seisser had already conspired with Kahr to exclude Hitler from power.
The Putsch failed and he was tried and found guilty of treason. He was given a very lenient sentence, by sympathetic judges, to luxury imprisonment in Landsberg Prison in 1924 and it was there he wrote Mein Kampf This was to be his Weltanschhauung, his world view, which gave a terrifying warning to the world. The book became available in England in October 1933, even being serialised in The Times newspaper. It is certain that anyone in England who was pro-German would have been well aware of the book’s content and Hitler’s intentions.
Hitler's Munich Man Page 2