Center for Right-Wing Studies

How deeply did sympathy for German fascism run in the British establishment in World War Two; and to what extent were pro-Hitler members of the British political and military ruling classes willing to betray their country to the Nazi regime and its Axis allies ? Drawing on primary source material contained in previously-classified MI5 and Government files, this paper adduces evidence that,  contrary to the conventional history of a country united in opposition to Hitler, right-wing British MPs, Peers and senior figures in the military clandestinely worked – individually and collectively – to hasten a German victory, and to supplant the elected British Government with a pro-Nazi puppet regime. The activities of this ‘Fifth Column’ included espionage, sabotage, unlawful private attempts to broker peace deals between Germany and Britain, sending military and political intelligence to Berlin, and plans to launch armed fascist coups d’état on London’s streets.

The Security Service files containing this evidence were withheld from public scrutiny for more than half a century; they were gradually released to the UK National Archives between 2000 and 2017. Together with de-classified files from other departments, they also reveal the eagerness of successive British Governments to protect the leading political, military and society figures who betrayed their country. But beyond these are other files – identified in the declassified MI5 dossiers – which have not been released to the National Archives.  They relate to yet more aristocrats, MPs and military officers who worked on behalf of Germany during the war. 

This paper questions whether their suppression indicates a continuing determination to conceal the scale of pro-Nazi fascist sympathisers in positions of power during World War Two.