The British Brothers' League (BBL) was a British anti-

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, extraparliamentary,

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

, the "largest and best organised" of its time. Described, in the 21st century, as proto-fascist, the group attempted to organise along

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

lines.

History

The group was formed in May 1901 in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

as a response to waves of immigration that had begun in 1880 and had seen a rapid increase in the numbers of Russian and Polish Jews, as well as others from Eastern Europe, into the area. As a result, Captain William Stanley Shaw formed the BBL to campaign for restricted immigration with the slogan 'England for the English' and soon formed a close alliance with local

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Major Evans-Gordon. Initially the League was not

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and was more interested in keeping out the poorest immigrants regardless of background, although eventually Jews became the main focus. The organisation promoted their cause with large meetings, which were stewarded by guards whose role was to eject opponents who entered and raised objections. The League claimed 45,000 members, although membership was actually fairly irregular as no subscriptions were charged and anyone who signed the organisation's manifesto was considered a member, with Tory MP Howard Vincent amongst them. As a result attempts to militarise the group largely failed, although the movement continued to organise demonstrations against immigrants. The

Aliens Act 1905 The Aliens Act 1905 (5 Edw. 7. c. 13) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.Moving Here The act introduced immigration controls and registration fo ...

, which restricted immigration, was largely seen as a success for the BBL and, as a result, the movement by and large disappeared. It officially carried on until 1923, albeit on a tiny scale, and was associated with G. K. Chesterton and the

distributist Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princi ...

movement. Nonetheless, they resurfaced from time to time with new immigrant scares, and shortly before the outbreak of the First World War they received a public donation of ten shillings from Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, who had been caught up in a growing public swell of

Germanophobia Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its people, and its culture. Its opposite is Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment mainly emerged following the unification of Ge ...

as war loomed.Winder, ''Bloody Foreigners'', p. 264 The league also left behind a legacy of support for

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

groups in East London and this was exploited by the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

, the British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women, the

Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the ...

and the National Front who gained followings there.

References

Bibliography

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External links

BBL rally poster
{{Use British English, date=April 2025 Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom British nationalism Far-right politics in the United Kingdom Anti-immigration politics in the United Kingdom Antisemitism in the United Kingdom 1901 establishments in the United Kingdom 1923 disestablishments in the United Kingdom History of immigration to the United Kingdom Proto-fascism