Extreme Politics

The growth of private armies was an unexpected and disturbing reaction to the depression in Australia. The best known of these were the ‘New Guard’ and the ‘White Army’. These groups were usually made up of World War I veterans and organised along military lines. The New Guard was led by ex AIF officer, Eric Campbell. He and his followers feared that the unemployed workers might turn to communism to solve the economic problems of the day.

In early 1933 Eric Campbell toured Europe to supplement his 'data about Fascism'. In London he met representatives of both the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and the Imperial Fascist League. Brandishing a letter of introduction from the BUF's Sir Oswald Mosley, Campbell continued his European fascist tour, seeking audiences with Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. In Berlin the New Guard leader observed 100,000 Nazis rallying in front of the Imperial Palace in Unter den Linden. He was highly impressed.

In 1931 the advent of an aggressive right-wing movement in the form of the New Guard hardly came as a major surprise to members of the Australian labour movement. Throughout the 1920s labour papers had warned about the dangers of a Mussolini-style movement emerging in Australia and kept diligent watch over any suggestions that this was happening. The intelligence facility of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) also advised caution and vigilance about the machinations of the party's far-right opponents.

The labour response to the New Guard was immediately and uniformly hostile. Labour and leftist newspapers across the political spectrum as well as trade union, communist, unemployed and Labour Party organisations, all denounced the New Guard. The NSW Labour Council and state ALP executive attacked it as a 'Fascist organisation', as did the major trade unions, and rank and file activists and individual ALP and trade union branches.

In December 1931, the communist group United Front against Fascism (UFAF) was formed. At suburban meetings in early 1932 the UFAF warned that the New Guard had declared “open war …upon all members of the Working Class”.

Communists agreed that the depression was proof of the failings of a capitalist system and pointed to an idealised version of life in Russia as an example of a state where there was full employment. Communists groups were often involved in political actions aimed at improving conditions for the unemployed.

The New Guard however, believed that they could maintain law and order by taking over the running of the state in the event of a communist uprising. In reality they used fear to attack any political group they disagreed with.

Exercises:

On a new page in your books put the Heading “Extreme Politics”. Under the heading write a 1/2 page summary based upon the information above. After you have completed the summary, write the following sub-headings and the questions in your books and answer them in full sentences using the links to the websites listed below.

The New Guard

1. Who were the New Guard?
2. How many members did the New Guard have?
3. What did they do in Sydney?
4. Find and write down the definition of "coup d'etat".
5. What other well known personalities were members of the New Guard?
6. What was their goal and what did they want to stop happening?

Communist Party of Australia

1. Who formed the the Communist Party of Australia?
2. Where did they hold their meetings?
3. What was the name of their paper?
4. What was the Union's attitude to the party?