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To: kabumpo
No, Edward was not out of the picture, he was still in the royal family and had connections throughout the power elite. Edward favored German fascism as a bulwark against communism, and even initially favored an alliance with Germany. Edward's experience of the First World War led him to support appeasement. Hitler considered Edward to be friendly towards Nazi Germany and thought that Anglo-German relations could have been improved through his influence.

Among the British elite were a number of very important Britons who were German-friendly and admired what Hitler was doing in Germany. Hitler was seen as a strongman whose policies were rebuilding Germany. That he might become a threat to the very existence of the UK was downplayed or ignored. Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor) and Adolf Hitler were personal friends. Hilter often said that Edward's influence would be useful should the UK clash with Germany.

One of these highly connected establishment types was Sir Oswald Moseley, 6th Baronet of Ancoats, fourth cousin to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was the Earl of Strathmore's daughter, and fourth cousin once removed to Queen Elizabeth II. Oswald Moseley was head of the British Union of Fascists from 1932 to 1940. The BUF was a synthesis of both Italian Fascist and German NSDAP ideas. Prior to organizing the BUF, Moseley had been a Fabian Socialist in the 1920s through 1931.

Moseley was very closely connected to the newly ascendant German National Socialist Worker's Party (NSDAP or Nazis). In 1936, Moseley married his mistress Diana Mitford in the Berlin home of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Adolf Hitler was one of the guests. Moseley's Union of Fascists and their German ties were seen as an increasing national security risk as crisis after crisis headed to war on 1 September 1939. After the outbreak of war Moseley led the campaign for a negotiated peace.

The decision to go to war was not a popular one in England and Neville Chamberlain was prime minister until his government fell after the debacle in France in the Spring of 1940. The new PM Winston Churchill ordered Moseley's arrest, along with almost all other BUF leaders, and he was imprisoned until November 1943. Release from prison was followed by house arrest until the end of the war and defeat of Germany.

Edward VIII (now the Duke of Windsor) was opposed to war with Germany. Exactly why he was made a major general and assigned to the BEF in France is unclear. The German Minister in the Hague (February 1940) claimed Edward had leaked war plans about the defense of Belgium to the Germans.

When the German blitzkrieg rolled through the Low Countries and into France, the Windsors and their entourage fled, eventually finding lodging with a pro-German banker friend. While in Lisbon, Edward continued to undermine British war policy by making statements to the press and passing along information to the Germans.

An antiwar interview with the Duke, widely distributed, served as the last straw for the British government. Edward's continual interference with the war effort saw Prime Minister Winston Churchill threaten the Duke with a court-martial if he did not return to British soil. The Windsors did as Churchill demanded. In August 1940, a British warship dispatched the Windsors to the Bahamas. The Duke was appointed Governor General of the Bahamas by King George VI, Edward's successor to the throne. There, in Churchill's view, the Duke could do the least damage to the British war effort. The Duke was not happy and despised his posting. His wartime travel was effectively controlled by the British Foreign Office. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered covert surveillance of the Duke and Duchess when they visited Palm Beach, Florida, in April 1941. The Duke remained as Governor of the Bahamas until 28 July 1945.

One of the reasons why the Crown was able to control the Duke's affairs was through his allowance. Edward wasn't as rich as his lifestyle demanded. He had a title and substantial holdings (first as Duke of York and later as Duke of Windsor), but he depended, after his abdication of the throne, on the support of the British taxpayer to "live large." After his death from cancer in 1972, his widow continued to live off her husband's estate and his allowance until her death in 1986.

81 posted on 12/12/2010 12:45:07 PM PST by MasterGunner01 (To err is human; to forgive is not our policy. -- SEAL Team SIX)
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To: MasterGunner01

I.know all this. You said he had a military command that he deserted and I said that was not true. Read your original post.


88 posted on 12/12/2010 1:39:13 PM PST by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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