My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleytheir final test to feel and think as we do.'At the same time I was re-thinking the social problem in relation to past experience.The following extract briefly summarises a long process: 'Already the thought and theact of the future take shape. We reconcile the old conflicts and begin to achieve, todayin thought and tomorrow in deed, the union of authority with liberty, action withthought, decision with discussion, power with responsibility, vigour with duty,strength with kindness, and service of the people with the attainment of ever higherforms of life' (March 1, 1950).Between my early post-war speeches relating the urgent need for the union of Europeto the new compulsion of science, and this summary of a social attitude evolved fromexperience and new thought, two events decisive for my future were the publication in1947 of The Alternative., an extensive account of my new thinking, and mydeclaration in favour of Europe a Nation during a speech in East London in 1948. TheAlternative reoriented the whole course of my policy, and the phrase Europe aNation—afterwards used so extensively in continental thinking and publication—wasthen uttered for the first time.In addition to the usual papers supporting the party, we ourselves produced between1953 and 1959 a monthly magazine called The European, in which I advanced theseideas in an analysis signed 'European'. Half of the journal was literary, andcontributors wrote from various viewpoints. Diana was the editor; she successfullyheld together a diverse team and wrote admirably herself.I did my utmost to spread my ideas throughout Britain, and later throughout Europewith the exception of France. We had long ago resolved to permit ourselves onehappy land where I was free from all involvement in politics. It may seem curious tosome readers that many of the people who joined with me in the European idea afterthe war had previously been opponents of the parties with which I was supposed to beassociated. In fact, my chief German collaborator of the early post-war period hadbeen strongly opposed to the Nazi Party; he had then been a man of the army, andlater of agriculture, rather than of politics.My objective throughout was to unite as many as possible of those who were infavour of the complete union of Europe, whatever their previous opinions. When wefinally arrived at agreement among various European parties at the conference ofVenice in 1962, it was only a small minority who had previously been fascists ornational socialists. This event was the culmination of years of work, and resulted forme in a success which perhaps was too marked, because people from other countrieswent home and wondered whether they were wise to have committed themselves tosuch advanced ideas. The very degree of the achievement created a certain reaction.I was asked to produce a draft programme to be circulated in advance of theconference, and wrote a document defining my full Europe a Nation policy, which Ihad advocated ever since 1948. It was, of course, very far ahead of contemporarythinking and I did not expect all of it to be accepted, but after long discussion theprogramme was adopted with a few amendments, which I gladly accepted.There was no chairman at this conference. I suggested a gathering in the spirit of theround table of Aachen or King Arthur's round table, but without King Arthur, so that363 of 424