''The Week'' was a radical British newspaper from 1933 until 1941.

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

journalist

Claud Cockburn Francis Claud Cockburn ( ; 12 April 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a British journalist. His saying "believe nothing until it has been officially denied" is widely quoted in journalistic studies, but he did not claim credit for origin ...

launched the first British publication known as ''The Week'' as a

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

in the spring of 1933, after he had returned from reporting on

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It focused on the rise of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

Jessica Mitford Jessica Lucy "Decca" Treuhaft (née Freeman-Mitford, later Romilly; 11 September 1917 – 23 July 1996) was an English author, one of the six aristocratic Mitford sisters noted for their sharply conflicting politics. Jessica married her secon ...

attributed the journal's influence to its use of undercover sources. It ceased publication in 1941.Spartacus Educational
/ref> In the late 1930s, ''The Week'' was highly critical of

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeaseme ...

and his policy of

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governme ...

.Watt, Donald Cameron "Rumors as Evidence" pages 276-286 from ''Russia War, Peace and Diplomacy'' edited by Ljubica & Mark Erickson, London:

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

, 2004 page 278. Cockburn maintained in the 1960s that much of the information in ''The Week'' was leaked to him by Sir Robert Vansittart, the Permanent Under-Secretary of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. At the same time, Cockburn claimed that

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

was spying on him because of ''The Week''; but the British historian D.C. Watt argued that it was more likely that, if anyone was spying on Cockburn, it was the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and intelligence in British, Commonwealth, Irish, and other police forces. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usu ...

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

who were less experienced in this work than MI5. Cockburn was an opponent of

before the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

. In a 1937 article in ''The Week'', Cockburn coined the term Cliveden set to describe what he alleged to be an upper-class pro-German group that exercised influence behind the scenes. ''The Week'' ceased publication shortly after the war began. Watt alleges that the information printed in ''The Week'' included rumours, some of which suited Moscow's interests.Watt, Donald Cameron "Rumors as Evidence" pages 276-286 from ''Russia War, Peace and Diplomacy'' edited by Ljubica & Mark Erickson, London:

, 2004 page 283. Watt used as an example the claim ''The Week'' made in February–March 1939 that German troops were concentrating in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

for an

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was ...

, which Watt says had no basis in reality.

References

News magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom English-language magazines Magazines established in 1933 Magazines disestablished in 1941 Marxist magazines United Kingdom in World War II {{Europe-poli-mag-stub