Fenner Brockway: a barrier to war and a bridge to peace

This chapter examines Fenner Brockway’s engagement with the idea of a United Socialist States of Europe (USSE) and his evolving stance on European integration. A prominent socialist and anti-colonial activist, Brockway championed European unification in the 1940s as a socialist alternative to both capitalism and Soviet communism, playing a key role in the Movement for the United Socialist States of Europe (MUSSE). However, by the 1950s, his enthusiasm waned as the European project took on a more technocratic and capitalist orientation. He criticized early European institutions such as the ECSC and the EEC for prioritizing Western European economic interests over colonial and post-colonial nations. His shift in perspective highlights broader tensions within the British left regarding European integration, anti-colonialism and socialist internationalism. By tracing Brockway’s journey from advocate to sceptic of European unification, this chapter sheds light on an alternative, radical vision of European unity that was ultimately sidelined in the postwar era.