Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal [also called: Marconi affair] ( English Marconi scandal or Marconi affair ) was a domestic political scandal in Great Britain from 1912 to 1913. It arose from allegations of abuse of office against high-ranking members of the liberal government Asquith , including some cabinet ministers, and fundamentally shattered the confidence of the British people in the integrity of government and the political class in general. The name of the scandal goes back to the Marconi Company , the leading company for telecommunications (wireless telegraphy, etc.) in Great Britain at the time, which played a central role in the alleged corruption affair . The matter came to prominence as one of the few press campaigns in British history with pronounced anti-Semitic undertones.
Course of the affair
As one of the largest public limited companies in the UK, the Marconi Company had always been a political issue and an object of government action because of its enormous importance to the British economy. In the summer of 1912, several ministers of the then incumbent Liberal government were accused in the press of having used inside knowledge about the Marconi Society, which they had acquired as members of the government, in order to gain private economic advantages for themselves. In particular, the press alleged that the politicians had misused their knowledge of internal government decisions that had not yet been made public and which affected the Marconi company, in order to gain knowledge of the foreseeable price development of the Marconi shares on the stock exchange to participate in these shares. So they would have used the knowledge advantage granted to them in their capacity as officials and political decision-makers of the state to gain advantages as private individuals, and thus gain unfair advantages on the stock market over other speculators.
First, the weekly Outlook raised charges of stock fraud against several ministers, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary) David Lloyd George , the second most important man in the government and leader of the left wing of the party. Various other press organs picked up the Outlook report and produced their own "investigative" reports on the implications. In addition to Lloyd George, Sir Rufus Isaacs , as Attorney General the government's top legal advisor, came under the crosshairs of criticism. The criticism of his person was based in particular on the fact that his brother Godfrey Isaacs was a managing director at Marconi. Isaac's Jewish ancestry eventually led the reports of some of the press organs to take on decidedly anti-Semitic tints and to indulge in prejudices and clichés, for example the magazine New Witness published by Cecil Chesterton .
A parliamentary committee of inquiry was finally set up to clarify the matter . Although the latter found that Isaacs and Lloyd George had acquired shares for the American subsidiary of Marconi, the allegation of corruption or misuse of information could not be substantiated.
consequences
Although the parliamentary committee of inquiry could not find any clear evidence of abuse of office on the part of Lloyd Georges, the Marconi affair established the reputation of the future Prime Minister as a political greyhound and corrupt seeker of advantage, which accompanied him for the rest of his political career and his reputation as "the founder of the British Welfare State ”(as Minister of Commerce and Chancellor of the Exchequer) and“ The Man Who Won the War ”(as Prime Minister in World War I ) should stick as a permanent stain.
Cecil Chesterton was charged by Isaacs for defamation in the wake of the Marconi scandal and sentenced by a court to a fine of £ 100.
literature
- Lady Frances Annesley Donaldson: "The Marconi Scandal" , London 1962.
- Henry Mayer Hyndman: "The Official Murdering of British Seamen by Mr. Lloyd George and the Board of Trade: With Sidelights from the Marconi Inquiry. Transcript from the Shorthand Note of AW Arnold. "[Verbatim report of a speech on this subject delivered at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, London, EC, on April 14th, 1913] , London 1913 (popular pamphlet of the British Socialist Party)
- Kenneth Lunn: The Marconi Scandal and related aspects of British anti-Semitism . (No location) 1978.