Protestant Action Society | |
---|---|
General Secretary | John Cormack |
Founded | 1933 |
Ideology | Religious conservatism Anti-Catholicism Anti-Irish immigration |
Religion | Protestantism |
The Protestant Action Society was a political party in Edinburgh active in the 1930s. It was founded by John Cormack in 1933 and had elected nine members to the Edinburgh Corporation in 1936 with 31 per cent of the vote. [1] [2]
In June 1935 the party organised protests which involved disturbances in Waverley Market [3] : 23–25 and then what has been called "the Morningside Riot" in Canaan Lane when a crowd of around 20,000 Protestant Action supporters stoned and jeered 10,000 attendees at a Eucharistic Congress. [4] [3] : 29–31 [2]
Although often compared to the fascist movements active at the time, the society physically attacked Blackshirt meetings in Edinburgh due to the British Union of Fascists support for a United Ireland. [5] The party emerged at a time when other similar movements were arising in other parts of Scotland, such as the similar Glasgow based Scottish Protestant League, and the Scottish Democratic Fascist Party.
One of the councillors was the Jewish antique dealer Esta Henry who was elected to one of the Canongate wards in 1936. [5] [6]
Cormack tried to encourage the Orange Order in Scotland to join in his movement, but with so little success that he left the movement in 1939 and was not readmitted until the late 1950s. [5] [6]
At its peak the party had 8,000 members. [5]
Red Clydeside was the era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, and areas around the city, on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. Red Clydeside is a significant part of the history of the labour movement in Britain as a whole, and Scotland in particular.
Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland independent of the UK. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism". Loyalists are often said to have a conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests. They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments to support them. The term 'loyalism' is usually associated with paramilitarism.
The Francist Movement was a French fascist and anti-semitic league created by Marcel Bucard in September 1933 that edited the newspaper Le Francisme. Mouvement franciste reached a membership of 10,000 and was financed by the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. Its members were deemed the francistes or Chemises bleues (Blueshirts) and gave the Roman salute.
The far-right leagues were several French far-right movements opposed to parliamentarism, which mainly dedicated themselves to military parades, street brawls, demonstrations and riots. The term ligue was often used in the 1930s to distinguish these political movements from parliamentary parties. After having appeared first at the end of the 19th century, during the Dreyfus affair, they became common in the 1920s and 1930s, and famously participated in the 6 February 1934 crisis and riots which overthrew the second Cartel des gauches, i.e. the center-left coalition government led by Édouard Daladier.
Joseph Wallace "Jock" Cunningham was a British volunteer in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. He became a battalion and brigade commander and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He played a key role in the Battle of Jarama, one of the principal military actions of the Spanish Civil War.
Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations.
The Scottish Protestant League (SPL) was a far-right political party in Scotland during the 1920s and 1930s. It was led by Alexander Ratcliffe, who founded it in 1920.
The Progressive Party was a municipal political organisation that operated in several Scottish cities and towns in the 20th century. It was based on tacit anti-Labour co-operation between the Unionist Party, Scottish Liberals and independents.
Thomas Gerard Philip Gallagher is a Scottish political scientist. He taught politics at the University of Bradford until 2011 and is now Emeritus Professor of Politics at the university.
Scottish Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War comprised 23% of the estimated 2,400 men and women who travelled from Great Britain to serve in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Along with the 549 military volunteers, extensive funds and support for Republican Spain were raised through a nationwide grass-roots Aid for Spain movement; per capita, Scotland's contributions were among the most substantial foreign aid offered to the Republic over the period of 1936–1939.
British fascism is the form of fascism which is promoted by some political parties and movements in the United Kingdom. It is based on British ultranationalism and imperialism and had aspects of Italian fascism and Nazism both before and after World War II.
The Scottish Democratic Fascist Party (SDFP) or Scottish Fascist Democratic Party was a political party in Scotland. It was founded in 1933 out of the Scottish section of the New Party by William Weir Gilmour and Major Hume Sleigh.
Esta or Esther Henry was an antiques dealer in Edinburgh, Scotland. Born in Sunderland, in her time she was the subject of news stories in many countries and known for her eccentric behavior. Sometimes called "Mrs. Scotland" in the press, she had ties to a number of notable people and events, including British queens and the auction of the collections of King Farouk of Egypt. She was born Esther Louis daughter of Louis Louis and Eveline Jackson. She married her first husband James H (Jacob) Henry on 28 August 1902 in Edinburgh.
An Election to the Edinburgh Corporation was held on 3 November 1936, alongside municipal elections across Scotland. The election took place amidst an increasingly sectarian political climate, with hardline Protestant and anti-Catholic political parties being on the rise in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1930s. The Protestant Action Society (PAS); Edinburgh's far-right Protestant grouping which had inspired a sectarian riot the previous year, won 31% of the vote and got 5 new members elected. The PAS had won 24% in the previous years election.
William Weir Gilmour (1905–1998), was a Scottish politician who was associated with five different political parties; the Independent Labour Party, the New Party, the Scottish Democratic Fascist Party, the Labour and Co-operative party and the Liberal Party.
Robert Allan was a Scottish trade unionist who served as leader of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).
esther henry edinburgh.