18990910 Edouard Drumont and Libre Parole

The Antisemitic League of France (french: Ligue antisémitique de France) was founded in 1889 by journalist Edouard Drumont, with the support of other right-wing French antisemites such as Jacques de Biez, Albert Millot, and

Marquis de Morès Antoine-Amédée-Marie-Vincent Manca Amat de Vallombrosa, Marquis de Morès et de Montemaggiore (14 June 1858 – 9 June 1896), commonly known as the Marquis de Morès, was a French duelist, frontier ranchman in the Badlands of Dakota Territory d ...

. First known under the name of (National Antisemitic League of France) or (French Antisemitic League), this

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

league was particularly active during the

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. Beside spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, the League was also anti-Masonry and anti-Communist. It had as general delegates Jacques de Biez.

Jules Guérin Jules Guérin (14 September 1860 – 10 February 1910) was a French journalist and anti-Semitic activist. He founded and led the Antisemitic League of France (), an organisation similar to the , and edited the French weekly (Paris, 1896–190 ...

was an active member of it. The League was located on rue Lepic in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Its 1889 foundation was inspired by the success of Drumont's antisemitic pamphlet ''

La France juive ''La France juive'' ("Jewish France"), subtitled ''Essai d'histoire contemporaine'' ("Essay on Contemporary History"), is an antisemitic tract published by Édouard Drumont in 1886.Michael Curtis ''Verdict on Vichy: power and prejudice in the V ...

'' (1886), and also by the

Boulangist crisis Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...

. It was supported by newspapers such as Drumont's ''

La Libre Parole ''La Libre Parole'' or ''La Libre Parole illustrée'' (French; ''Free Speech'') was a French antisemitic political newspaper founded in 1892 by journalist and polemicist Édouard Drumont. History Claiming to adhere to theses close to social ...

''; Jules Guérin's French weekly '' L'Antijuif ( fr)'' (Paris, 1896-1902); the daily '' La Cocarde ( fr)'' (1888-1907) founded by Georges de Labruyère ( fr) and edited September 1894 - March 1895 by Maurice Barrès;

Henri Rochefort Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

's ''

L'Intransigeant ''L'Intransigeant'' was a French newspaper founded in July 1880 by Henri Rochefort. Initially representing the left-wing opposition, it moved towards the right during the Boulanger affair (Rochefort supported Boulanger) and became a major right-wi ...

''; and the Catholic newspaper ''

La Croix La Croix primarily refers to: * ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper * La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to: Places * Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...

''. Beside propaganda, the League also organized antisemitic demonstrations and provoked some riots, a method later generalized by the

far-right leagues in France The far-right leagues (french: ligues d'extrême droite) were several French far-right movements opposed to parliamentarism, which mainly dedicated themselves to military parades, street brawls, demonstrations and riots. The term ''ligue'' was of ...

. It denounced the

Panama scandals Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...

, took side against Alfred Dreyfus and spread

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

concerning the Masonry's alleged activities in the Third Republic. After a disagreement between Drumont and Guérin in 1899, the League became, under the direction of Guérin, the

Grand Occident de France Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

, still antisemitic but even more anti-Masonic, the name itself being a reaction against the Masonic Grand Orient de France. It was thereafter essentially linked to Guérin's newspaper, ''L'Antijuif''. The League progressively disappeared after the " Fort Chabrol" affair and the arrest of Guérin. After an initial surge during the Dreyfus Affair, far right leagues appeared again during the interwar period.

References

{{Authority control Anti-communist organizations French far right leagues French nationalism Anti-Masonry Antisemitism in France Organizations established in 1889 Dreyfus affair

See also

References