The Battle of Cable Street 

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Now that Britain’s racist riots are–I hope–behind us, this might be a good time to look back at what happened on London’s Cable Street in 1936.

The background? (If you stay here long, sooner or later you’ll end up slogging through a bit of background.) Hitler held power in Germany and Musolini ditto in Italy. The British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, claimed to have 50,000 members, and I’m not saying it didn’t, only that we’re taking their word for it and–oh, hell, it was a long time ago and for our purposes doesn’t really matter. It was big and it was most definitely fascist, complete with the antisemitism, the black shirts, the salute, and the violence. It had a gang of toughs known as the Biff Boys. 

 

Screamingly irrelevant photo: everlasting pea

The roots of antisemitism

Antisemitism was the Islamophobia of the era (in case you’re tempted to tell me that’s antisemitic, keep in mind that I’m Jewish), and it has deep roots in Britain. We could go back to 1290, when Edward I expelled the Jews from England, but let’s start instead at the turn of the twentieth century, when some of the people who opposed the Boer War (1899 to 1902; I had to look it up) blamed it on the Jews–they were imperialists, financiers, bankers, and capitalists. Not long after that, they were blamed for World War I (because they were financiers etc.) and the Russian Revolution (because they were communists). 

One of the oddities of antisemitism is that the Jews appear as both capitalist bloodsuckers who control the world and communist revolutionaries who want to overthrow the capitalist bloodsuckers who control the world. Basically, it works like this: if you see a problem, the Jews caused it. 

But antisemitism wasn’t all name calling and finger pointing. It was respectable. At University College London, in the name of improving the country’s genetic stock, Karl Pearson opposed Jewish immigration and argued that attempts to improve “inferior races” were a waste. Among other things, his work provided an intellectual grounding for the Nazis’ race theories.  

I focus on Jews here because we’re talking about antisemitism, but to be fair he was generous about handing out inferior race labels. 

Clubs and institutions–think golf clubs and things of that sort–had quotas to limit the number of Jewish members they’d accept. That continued into the 1960s. 

In the early 1930s, fascism was also respectable, not only for its antisemitism but because it offered a bulwark against communism, which in the midst of the Great Depression was a powerful force. Fascism appealed to industrialists who were desperate to keep their workers in line and to aristocrats, who’d lost considerable power–and along with it, money–to the industrialists. Again, to be fair, it didn’t appeal to all of them, but some went for it.

Take, for example, a 1934 headline in the Daily Mail, reflecting the opinions of its aristocratic owner, Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st (ahem) Viscount Rothermere: “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” Harmsworth saw fascism as the wave of the future, was enthusiastic about Hitler and Mussolini, and opposed votes for women and wrote, “The fact is that quite a large number of people now possess the vote who ought never to have been given it.” 

Archibald Ramsay, son of the Earl of Dalhousie, founded the Right Club,  whose logo was an eagle killing a snake with the initials P.J., standing for “Perish Judah.” 

As an article by Adam J. Sacks points out, any hereditary aristocracy has a built-in affinity with theories about pure blood. “Even today,” he writes, “adoptees into aristocratic families in the UK are ineligible to inherit titles or properties.”

Oswald Mosley himself was a baronet. As titles go, it’s minor-league, but hey, it’s one more title than I have.

Or want.

But why should we spend our time with baronets, viscounts, and other riffraff when we can talk about the king? Edward VIII was openly pro-fascist. After he gave up the throne, he told Hitler, “We are derived from the same race with the blood of the huns flowing in our veins.” He’s on record as having told the Nazi high command “that continued heavy bombing will make England ready for peace.” 

Sacks sums it up by saying, “There is hardly a major British institution that was left untouched by fascism, from the Bank of England to the Daily Mail to the House of Commons. . . . If there is a story to be told about Britain and fascism, let it be this: while the people of Britain stood up to the Nazis, the British ruling class were in many cases enthusiastic collaborators–and found justification for being so in their own aristocratic roots and worldviews.”

 

The British Union of Fascists

Mosley overdid the violence at a couple of BUF rallies, where his Biff Boys beat up hecklers badly and more to the point, visibly, and he lost some of his support. That led him to refocus, organizing in a handful of working class neighborhoods. In 1935, the BUF newspaper said, “We are now the patriotic party of the working class.”

Led by a baronet.

One of the things they did was hold threatening open-air meetings on the fringes of the East End, which in the 1930s was a mainly Jewish neighborhood, and forget that noise about Jewish bankers and financiers, the people here were poor. Soup kitchens had lines outside every night.. And to double down on the parallel between antisemitism and Islamophobia, many of the Jews were immigrants. 

Individual Jews were attacked on the street, shopkeepers were threatened, antisemitic slogans were painted on walls. One or two of the articles talk about the residents feeling like they were living under siege.

 

Enough with the background. What happened?

Mosley announced that the British Union of Fascists would march through the East End, in uniform. 

The Jewish People’s Council against Fascism and Anti-Semitism–the JPC–circulated a petition asking for the march to be stopped. Within two days they’d gathered 100,0000 signatures and the petition was presented to the Home Secretary, who said goodness, no, he couldn’t interfere with freedom of speech or movement. Instead, he sent a police escort (6,000 in one telling, 10,000 in another) to keep protesters from interfering with the march.

The JPC started organizing to do exactly that–interfere. Various sources credit slightly different combinations of groups for this, but let’s go with the counter-demonstrators being from the Jewish and Irish communities, from trade unions, and from the Independent Labour and Communist parties. More respectable Jewish organizations were urging the Jewish community to stay indoors and avoid confrontation. This was very much an action of the left, and the crowd that turned out on the day was big enough to block Gardiners Corner at Aldgate. The estimates I’ve seen range from 100,000 to 300,000. 

The march was made up of 3,000 Blackshirts, and they waited near the Tower of London for the police to clear them a path, which they tried to do by charging the crowd on horseback and wading in with batons. They’d beat the crowd onto the pavement and more people would stream onto the street. Four tram drivers abandoned their trams where they blocked the road.

Meanwhile around the Tower of London, fights broke out between Blackshirts and antifascists. 

Eventually, the police gave up on clearing a path and redirected the march to Cable Street, a narrow street leading to the docks. (In one telling, this was Mosley’s decision.) A combination of Jews and Irish dockers barricaded the street. (The final third of Cable Street was predominantly Irish.)

When the police broke through the barricade, they were faced with a second barricade and while that slowed them down women threw things at them from upstairs windows. 

Eventually the police retreated and told Mosley to head his march in the opposite direction and disperse. 

A member of the Jewish community later said, “I was moved to tears to see bearded Jews and Irish Catholic dockers standing up to stop Mosley. I shall never forget that as long as I live, how working-class people could get together to oppose the evil of fascism.” 

Another said, “it was amazing because we saw Jews, Orthodox Jews with long silk coats and soft felt hats and the sidepieces standing shoulder to shoulder with Irish Catholics, dockers and Somali seamen. . . . They all felt there was a need to be out there to stand on that particular day.” 

A third said, “In Stepney nothing had changed physically. The poor houses, the mean streets, the ill-conditioned workshops were the same, but the people were changed. Their heads seemed to be held higher, and their shoulders were squarer–and the stories they told! Each one was a ‘hero’–many of them were. . . . The ‘terror’ had lost its meaning. The people knew that fascism could be defeated if they organised themselves to do so.”

The acclaim wasn’t universal. Time magazine described it as an “anti-Fascist rampage . . . which turned out to be London’s biggest riot in years.”  

By the end of the day, 85 people had been arrested, 79 antifascists and 6 fascists. Many of the antifascists were beaten by the police and some were sentenced to hard labor. What happened to the fascists who were arrested I don’t know.

Cable Street marked a turning point for the British Union of Fascists. The leaders turned on each other. Some resigned. The organization didn’t collapse but it did lose momentum. It also lost Mussolini’s financial support, which had been substantial. In 1940, not long after the start of World War II, Mosley and other leaders were in prison.

32 thoughts on “The Battle of Cable Street ”

  1. Pingback: The Battle of Cable Street  – It's Only Words

  2. This was one of the stories told by my paternal grandfather, Wilfred. Another was Peterloo.

    Several years ago, touring Normandy, I found a small roadside war cemetery. Several of the soldiers there were Jewish. Their gravestones said they “Also fought at the Battle of Cable Street.”

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  3. It might be worth a mention of the family of Mosley’s wife at this time.

    Diana, Lady Mosley (née Freeman-Mitford; 17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003), usually known as Diana Mitford was one of the noted Mitford sisters.

    She was married first to Bryan Walter Guinness, son and heir to the Baron Moyne. Secondly, she married Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. She was divorced from her first marriage on the grounds of adultery with Mosely. Her second marriage, in 1936, took place at the home of Joseph Goebbels, with Adolf Hitler as guest of honour. Later her involvement with fascist political causes resulted in three years’ internment during the Second World War.

    The Mitford sisters.

    The family became particularly known in the 1930s and later for the six Mitford sisters, great-great-great-granddaughters of William Mitford, and the daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney Bowles.[a] They were celebrated and at times scandalous figures, who were described by The Times journalist Ben Macintyre as “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur”.[2]

    INCIDENTALLY, not all the Aristocracy were pro-fascist. It’s to the great shame of the UK that we have allowed the rise of People like Nigel Farage to gradually REFORM the fascist movement and put BULLY Boys back on our streets. We might disagree with the politics of the Israeli Government but Anti-Semitism has no place in the World today. Jews, So called Christians and the World of Islam have all contributed greatly to the knowledge of the World. It’s time to recognise that we are all just people, and learned to live in peace with each other,not allowing a Fascist minority to create problems just because they spaeak more loudly than anyone else. If America falls to the Far Right, the WORLD FALLS TOO.

    Hugs Ellen.

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    • Thanks for that, David. I did think about mentioning Diana Mitford but I swear if you mention those sisters at all they’ll barge in and take over the entire post. I do love the summary that ends with the poultry connoisseur. Perfect.

      I hope I didn’t make it sound like all British aristocrats were fascists. All I meant to say was that fascism was–well, more or less respectable in those circles.

      Can I push you a little further on disagreeing with the politics of the Israeli government? They really are carrying out genocide. And by conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, they’ve only increased antisemitism.

      I hope you’re wrong about what happens if the far right takes the US. I really, really hope you’re wrong about that.

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      • I recently lost a friend of many years when she accused me of Anti Semitism because I voiced opinions against the Israeli Government. I feel that they have the right to defend themselves but have gone far beyond that under Netanyahu. They are commiting genocide. I suggested that perhaps only supplying arms for Defence and not Offence was a way forward towards a peaceful resolution. I haven’t changed my mind but will be less vocal on the subject now.

        There are no circumstances in which Fascism should be given any credence and a facade of respectability, no matter the class involved. Hate should never be encouraged. I would like to be wrong about America but I fear who will step in to create violence if America will no longer step up to the plate because they have accepted Autocracy under King Trump. They seem nto have forgotten how they railed against Royalty when seeking independance.

        Hugs

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        • They’ve forgotten a lot–basically anything that doesn’t serve their purpose, which is getting and holding power.

          The problem with supplying only defensive weapons is finding where the dividing line is. I’m not sure any weapon can be used only one way and not the other. My reading of the situation is that only shutting down the supply entirely will get their attention. They’re so sure they have other countries over a barrel that they feel free to violate any international law and ignore any diplomatic request they like. As long as other countries are moving delicately, Israel will do what it’s been doing.

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  5. An uplifting episode, for sure. There have been a couple of very popular podcasts and books by Rachel Maddow about similar movements going on in the US. ” America First” has made a comeback lately. Stay tuned…

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  9. I knew the very barest bones of this bit of history, so thanks for giving me much more insight. It’s staggering when we’re confronted with the blatant racism of previous generations. Not that there aren’t racists now, but I think most of them disguise their racism as something else.

    I spotted a few typos, and thought you might want to know:

    Within two days they’d gathered 100,0000 signatures and it was presented to the Home Secretary

    Instead, he sent a olice escort

    They all felt a there was a need

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    • Thanks. I’ll have to go back and do a bit of repair. I used to proof these posts a lot more carefully than I do these days–and my typing’s gotten worse. Not a good combination.

      Folks still found typos. Never try to proof your own work. It all looks fine.

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  10. Ah yes, them good old days – now re-staged in Eastern Germany. At least in Thuringia, where the more or less openly fascist wing of the socalled “alternative” party won.
    The antisemitic tropes never change, always the same crap. I have to admit that I never made it to the end of the “Mythus”, it is not readable for a basically educated person. Makes the “Protocolls” look like high literature.

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  11. I replied two times to your answer starting with “Mythus ?”, and these comments vanished. I did not get the message that they are waiting for approval. I have no idea why, since I am not intoxicated, and on other websites (wordpress or not) things work as usual.
    Anyway, it was just waffle about Rosenberg’s Mythus des XX. Jahrhunderts, and the genealogy behind : Chamberlain-Sprenger-Rosenberg, Langbehn too. And when you mention Chamberlain, you say Wagner.
    A crappy corner of German Kulturgeschichte.
    BTW the book is crap in many respects. The Catholic Church not only put it on the index librorum prohibitorum, but GALEN (yes, the man himself) wrote a largely circulated refutation of the Arian super philosophers bullshit.
    This book is “intellectual” poison, but still works.

    This is the third and final try to publish this comment. If it works, fine. If it does not work Adolf rules the internet.

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    • Adolph is dead and your message reached me–as did, belatedly, on of the earlier ones, which I replied to. If gremlins are in the wires–or the metaphorical wires–then our comments may have crossed in transit. If you have trouble in the future, my email address is on the Contact page (look at the bottom of the masthead) and I’d be grateful if you’d let me know. If the site’s picking up bugs of various sorts, I should see if I can’t get it fixed. I do know that someone’s had trouble subscribing lately.

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    • Who have contempt for the aforesaid. To be fair, though, the left has always had its fair share of activists and leaders from the middle and upper classes. I forget who I’m quoting, but some British leftist, when someone would try to undercut him by pointing out where he came from on the class spectrum, said, “I’m proud to be a class traitor.” Which would have a way of shutting down that line of attack.

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