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Alexander Clifford

@alexclifford.bsky.social

2.1K followers 2K following 280 posts

Research & write on 30s Britain, Spain, Germany. Britain's Iron Chancellor out now! Author of Hindenburg, Ludendorff & Hitler, Fighting for Spain, The People's Army and of the introduction to new release Britain's Iron Chancellor

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · Aug 21

Back in print after 90 years and it’s finally here!

Amazing to receive copies of Britain’s Iron Chancellor, the new edition of the autobiography of Philip Snowden, Labour’s first chancellor

Easily the best memoir of the era

As usual, a fantastic production from Pen & Sword! 🗃️#histbookchat

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 3h

If the polls look like this in 4 years time (big if), a Lib-Lab pact, if not an even broader cordon sanitaire, would be an absolute necessity - and would also work very effectively in FPTP!

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 3h

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 32% (-3)
LAB: 17% (-2)
CON: 17% (+3)
GRN: 15% (+4)
LDM: 12% (=)
SNP: 3% (=)

Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 8 Oct.
Changes w/ 1 Oct.

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 6h

Antifa was a rebadged Red Front Fighters League, a cynical communist attempt to harness the popularity they realised opposing fascism could generate, having missed the bus when the SPD and unions founded the Iron Front

The Iron Front was an attempt to defend democracy from Nazism, Antifa less so

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 6h

The Communists described the Social Democrats as fascists for years, suggesting the term meant little to them other than a stick to beat opponents with

And the smoking gun is the Comintern realised after Hitler’s takeover their tactical error and adopted antifascim in 1935, hence Popular Frontism

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 6h

The Communists cooperated with the Nazis far too much in the period 1930-32 for me to take them seriously as anything other than opportunistically antifascist. Both parties combined to destabilise and eventually paralyse the parliamentary system by ‘32

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 6h

Lots of chat about the original Antifa, Antifaschistische Aktion, from the late Weimar period.

I’m afraid to say they’ve been overly lionised. It was a bandwagon-y Communist attempt to mimic the success and popularity of the social democratic and trade union antifascist organisation, the Iron Front

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

A keen eye! Yes, Walsh is very much a key influence

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

My goodness me, that’s not a magic money tree, it’s a forest

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 1d

Abolishing stamp duty would put a £24.5 billion a year black hole in Government finances by 2030, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

I am biased but this classroom display has got to be the best classroom display ever created

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

Henry Senior is a medieval historian specialising in Grail literature. Part of why he falls out with Indy is the latter making the heinous decision to study archaeology rather than history

Another reason why Senior is better than Junior 😂

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

For anyone doubting the anti-fascist front element of my last post, watch this clip. Jenrick making it very clear which side of the cordon sanitaire he is on

Sounded like he was doing an impression of Robert Carlyle playing Hitler. The call for a New Order is saying the quiet bit very out loud

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 2d

I suspect when Jenrick imagined saying the final words "let's build this new order, let's take our country back," his voice BOOMED and the roar of the crowd was DEAFENING. In the event, his voice cracked and was met with the politeness of a local baking contest won by "a not-bad lemon drizzle". ~AA

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

Any anti-fascist front needs conservatives to be successful. Pleasantly surprised to hear this is being said at Tory Party Conference

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 2d

Michael Heseltine tells @europeanmovement.co.uk event that the Farage's Reform and European populist far right parties are “equivalents to the fascists of the thirties” and adds: ”We have to deal with President Trump for the next 3 years. We don't need his mouthpiece anywhere near No.10.” ~AA 🔥

Robert Peston
@Peston
Heseltine has just addressed a packed meeting of the European Movement at Tory conference. He does not show the restraint of most party leaders in his critique of Farage and Reform: “right wing equivalents to the fascists of the thirties are back on the march: Le Pen in France, AfD in Germany, Fdl in Italy, Vox in Spain and conspicuously Reform in this country. Much of President Trump's language in America coincides with words here in Europe. The immigrant has replaced the Jew as the problem which needs a solution although recent events here have cast a dark shadow…We must make clear that we will never have any part in the populist extremism of Nigel Farage. We have to deal with President Trump for the next 3 years. we don't need his mouthpiece anywhere near Number 10.”
4:26 PM · Oct 7, 2025
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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 1d

It's ok to be Marcus 😂

Reposted by Alexander Clifford

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 2d

There comes a time in every historians life when they realise they aren't Indiana Jones, they're Marcus Brody

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 2d

One of the best cuts in cinema history imo 😂

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 2d

That said, I do like Brody, and the actor who played him, Denholm Elliot, who lived a very full life

Was in RAF Bomber command in WW2, shot down and a POW for 3 years, then an excellent character actor (basically great in everything he's in, see A Room with a View), bisexual, died of AIDS in 1992

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 2d

There comes a time in every historians life when they realise they aren't Indiana Jones, they're Marcus Brody

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Reposted by Alexander Clifford

David Osland @davidosland.bsky.social · 3d

Since 1980, the ECHR has heard just 29 UK immigrant deportation case, and the UK won 16 of them. Quitting will make no material difference to immigration, just weaken protections for absolutely everybody in this country. But Farage and the Tories know that.

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Reposted by Alexander Clifford

Michael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 3d

perfect detail

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 3d

And despite all their current woes, I remain unconvinced the Tory Party is dead

The most successful political party in history won’t die after one landslide and a year of bad polling. They may well be out of power for a long old while but the British system kills minor parties far more effectively

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 3d

When you study the nitty gritty of the rise of Nazis after 1929, it’s the death of the centre-right and conservative parties in Weimar that pave the way for Hitler

The parties of the Weimar right - DDP, DVP & DNVP - are twitching corpses by 1932, repeated relaunches swept away by the brown tide

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 3d

It's fascinating how there are still replies on this, and indeed on every post about the decline of the Tories, with people on the left and centre-left people going 'good'. Honestly, I don't know how big of a warning sign you need that the death of the Tory party is bad for your politics!

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 4d

Removing her will be an act of mercy at this point. It's getting unbearable to watch her flail around.

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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 4d

Awake 👀, asleep 😴

My tortoise shell cat with eyes tight shut

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 4d

Context is indeed key. And in this *specific* context, might it be antisemitic, or at least deeply crass, if your response to a story of antisemitic abuse is “please define antisemitism for me” and “I want to criticise the Israeli government”. Can you not see that at all?

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 5d

Indeed, this is my reaction to conspiracy theories in general. My slightly unserious (but also believe it) take is that all the evidence of human history shows institutions are simply not competent enought to pull off the kind of clandestine omnipotence that most conspiracy theories rely on

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 5d

Doing something so mindnumbingly dumb, putting you beyond the pale of even Reform on the UK political spectrum, if nothing else kind of gives the lie to the conspiracy-adjacent left-wing idea of an omnisicent & omnipotent Israeli lobbying/PR machine constantly pulling the strings of UK politics

Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 5d

I don't think I've been as cup-droppingly shocked at a piece of news for a while as Israel inviting Tommy Robinson on an official visit

Tone deaf doesn't even come close. Wonder if this is Netenyha attempting to hit back for Palestinian recognition? Either way, it's batshit

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