The Watchfulness Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals (''Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', CVIA) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

political organization created in March 1934, in the wake of the

February 6, 1934 riots February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (t ...

organized by

far right leagues 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 fighting, street brawls, Demonstration (people), demonstrati ...

, which had led to the fall of the second ''

Cartel des gauches The Cartel of the Left (french: Cartel des gauches, ) was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), and other smaller left-republican parties that ...

'' (Left-Wing Coalition) government. Founded by Pierre Gérôme, philosopher Alain, physicist

Paul Langevin Paul Langevin (; ; 23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the ''Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', an ant ...

and ethnologist

Paul Rivet Paul Rivet (7 May 1876, Wasigny, Ardennes – 21 March 1958) was a French ethnologist known for founding the Musée de l'Homme in 1937. In his professional work, Rivet is known for his theory that South America was originally populated in pa ...

, it edited a

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

, ''Vigilance'', and boasted more than 6,000 members at the end of 1934. The CVIA had an important role in the unification of the three left-wing families ( Radical-Socialist Party,

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(SFIO, socialist party) and

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

) which led to the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

in 1936. It divided itself however on the attitude to adopt toward

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

: while most members opposed the

appeasement policy Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governme ...

which led to the November 1938

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

, some upheld

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace camp ...

over all.

Foundation of the CVIA

The Committee was founded in March 1934 under the initiative of Pierre Gérôme (pseudonym of François Walter, who worked doing audits at the ''

Cour des Comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 an ...

''). Pierre Gérôme had first contacted the CGT trade union, in particular André Delmas and Georges Lapierre, who directed the ''Syndicat national des instituteurs'' (SNI), a teachers' trade union affiliated to the CGT. Three important personalities took part in the Antifascist Committee's foundation:

, a socialist ethnologist, philosopher Alain, often considered as the thinker of the Radical-Socialist Party (although his

anti-militarism Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

and resistance toward all powers might lead him to be categorized as an anarchist or libertarian thinker), and physicist

, close to the

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

(PCF). The founding text of the CVIA, a manifest titled ''Aux travailleurs'' (To Labor, March 5, 1934), had an immediate success. In a few weeks, the Committee boasted 2,300 members, and at the end of 1934, more than 6,000 members (teachers, writers, journalists, etc.) Gathering the three left-wing families (Radical-Socialist, SFIO and Communist Party), the Committee retrospectively appears as a precursor to the

(1936–38) led by

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

Antifascism and pacifism: divisions among the Committee

The Committee was torn apart as soon as 1936, dividing itself on the issue of

and the

towards

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

. Supporters of a firm attitude toward Hitler left the CVIA in two successive moments: first at the June 1936 Congress, with Paul Langevin's departure from the CVIA's head; and after the November 1938

between Germany, France and the UK. In this last occasion, France divided itself into ''Munichois'' (partisans of the accords and of the appeasement policy) and ''Anti-Munichois'', opposed the accords — this division line did not follow the left/right wing separation, with members from each side supporting both options. Whilst head of the government

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II. Daladier was born in Carpe ...

was acclaimed at his return from Munich, the realist pacifist tendency of the CVIA, represented by Paul Rivet and Pierre Gérôme, left the Committee at this occasion, thus leaving only the most radical pacifists in the Committee (Alexandre, Léon Emery). A few of the most radical pacifists would go as far as collaborating with the German troops in the hope of a reestablishment of the Republic (replaced after the 1940

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

by the

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the '' status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abs ...

"French State" led by Marshall Pétain). These pacifists would gather themselves into the ''Ligue de la pensée française'' (French Thought League). Despite these divisions, the ''Comité de vigilance'', as it was popularly known, remained an important moment of the history of antifascism and of the left-wing in France. It had an important role in unifying the various perspectives from the parties that composed the Popular Front (Radical-Socialist Party, SFIO and PCF), and it created a lasting antifascism political tradition, which doubtlessly had its shares in the creation of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. Paul Rivet, for example, would be a member of the Resistant ''

Groupe du musée de l'Homme The ''Groupe du musée de l'Homme'' (French for 'Group of the Museum of Man') was a movement in the French resistance to the German occupation during the Second World War. In July 1940, after the Appeal of 18 June from Charles de Gaulle, a resis ...

'' (

musée de l'Homme The Musée de l'Homme (French, "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an anthropology museum in Paris, France. It was established in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne ...

group).

Members of the CVIA

Founders

*Pierre Gérôme (pseudonym of François Walter) *

(socialist ethnologist) * Alain (philosopher) *

(communist physicist) *André Delmas (SNI, CGT) *Georges Lapierre (SNI, CGT)

Other members

*Michel Alexandre and Jeanne Alexandre (close to philosopher Alain).. * Jean BabyCVIA manifesto
/ref> *

Victor Basch Basch Viktor Vilém, or Victor-Guillaume Basch (18 August 1863/1865, Budapest – 10 January 1944) was a French politician and professor of germanistics and philosophy at the Sorbonne descending from Hungary. He was engaged in the Zionist move ...

* Marcel Bataillon *

Albert Bayet Albert Pierre Jules Joseph Bayet (1 February 1880, Lyon – on 26 June 1961, Paris) was a French sociologist, professor at both the Sorbonne and the École pratique des hautes études. Biography He was the son of Charles Bayet, Byzantine ar ...

*Henri Bouche (aeronautics specialist and author of "Non! La Guerre n'est pas Fatale!") *

André Chamson André Chamson (6 June 1900 – 9 November 1983) was a French archivist, novelist and essayist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the father of the novelist . Biography Chamson was born at Nîmes, Gard. Having studi ...

Georges Canguilhem Georges Canguilhem (; ; 4 June 1904 – 11 September 1995) was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science (in particular, biology). Life and work Canguilhem entered the École Normale Supé ...

* Francis Delaisi (socialist journalist and economist, member of the Human Rights League (LDH), of the CVIA; collaborated during the Occupation). *

Jean Guéhenno Jean Guéhenno born Marcel-Jules-Marie Guéhenno (25 March 1890 – 22 September 1978) was a French essayist, writer and literary critic. Life and career Jean Guéhenno, writer and educator, was a prominent contributor to the NRF. He was edito ...

* René Iché * Jules Isaac (historian, author of the famous school-manual Malet-Isaac).Judith Rice, “Jules Isaac & Pope Benedict XVI.”
/ref> *

Frédéric Joliot-Curie Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (; ; 19 March 1900 – 14 August 1958) was a French physicist and husband of Irène Joliot-Curie, with whom he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of Induced radioactivity. T ...

Paul Nizan Paul-Yves Nizan (; 7 February 1905 – 23 May 1940) was a French philosopher and writer. He was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire and studied in Paris where he befriended fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre at the Lycée Henri IV. He became a member of ...

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and Minister of Culture (France), minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Go ...

* René Gosse (SFIO, for a short time PCF, dean of the faculty of sciences in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, resistant killed in 1943). *Roger Hagnauer (educator, PCF, CGT- FO). *

Jean Lescure Jean Lescure (14 September 1912 – 17 October 2005) was a French poet. Biography Lescure was born in Asnières-sur-Seine. In 1938, he published his first plaquette of poems, "Le voyage immobile", and launched the review "Messages" (two issue ...

(secretary of

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

, worked at the radio and in theaters, including resistant activities during Vichy). *
Marcel Lefrancq
(

Belgian Communist Party french: Parti Communiste de Belgique , abbreviation = KPB-PCB , colorcode = , leader1_title = Historical leaders , leader1_name = Joseph Jacquemotte Julien Lahaut Louis Van Geyt , founder = Julien Lahaut , founded = , dissolved = , me ...

) * Simone Weil (social critic, philosopher, mystic)

References

Bibliography

* Nicole Racine-Furlaud, "''Pacifistes et antifascistes. Le Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes''" in ''Des années trente. Groupes et ruptures'', textes réunis par Anne Roche et Christian Tarting, Paris, Editions du

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

, 1985. * Nicole Racine, "''Le Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes''" in ''Dictionnaire historique de la vie politique française'', sous la direction de J-F Sirinelli,

PUF PUF may refer to: * Physical unclonable function, in computer security, a physically-implemented secure identifier * The University Presses of France *Permanent University Fund, for Texas public universities * Pau Pyrénées Airport in France (I ...

, 1995.

External links

Univ-Paris 1
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comite de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes Political movements Contemporary French history French Third Republic Anti-fascist organizations Left-wing advocacy groups in France Organizations established in 1934 1934 establishments in France 1939 disestablishments in France