1 - Protectionism vs Internationalism

Summary

This chapter focusses on two refugee movements caused by the Nazi regime: Jews and dissidents from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia seeking refuge before the outbreak of war in September 1939; and Dutch and Belgium refugees who arrived in May 1940 as they fled the German advance. The Britain they were attempting to enter was still fearful of mass unemployment and was a country of endemic antisemitism and everyday xenophobia. Still self-confident on the world stage and driven by its imperial interests, Britain was nevertheless obliged to engage with the emerging internationalist and humanitarian structures of the League of Nations. The tensions caused by these competing forces saw Britain retaining its anti-alien immigration legislation while also becoming a signatory of the League’s 1933 and 1937 Refugee Conventions and dominating many of its refugee initiatives. As the refugee crisis deepened, voluntary organisations stepped into the humanitarian vacuum, with their activity demonstrating the diversity, energy and resourcefulness of British civil society. As well as paying particular attention to the role of refugee organisations, this chapter demonstrates how the balance between state and voluntary initiatives changed over the duration of the war as government became ever-more drawn into supporting refugees who had reached Britain’s shore.