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The far-right (french: Extrême droite) tradition in France finds its origins in the Third Republic with
Boulangism 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 ...
and 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 ...
. The modern "far right" or radical right grew out of two separate events of 1889: the splitting off in the Socialist International of those who chose the nation and the culmination of the "Boulanger Affair", which championed the demands of the former Minister of War General Georges Boulanger. 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 ...
provided one of the political division lines of France.
Nationalism 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: The ...
, which had been before the Dreyfus Affair a left-wing and Republican ideology, turned after that to be a main trait of the right-wing and, moreover, of the far right. A new right emerged, and nationalism was reappropriated by the far right who turned it into a form of
ethnic nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
, itself blended with anti-Semitism,
xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
,
anti-Protestantism Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its followers. Anti-Protestantism dates back to before the Protestant Reformation itself, as various pre-Protestant groups such as Arnoldis ...
and anti-Masonry. The Action française, first founded as a review, was the matrix of a new type of counter-revolutionary right-wing, and continues to exist today. During the interwar period, the ''
Action française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
'' (AF) and its youth militia, the ''
Camelots du Roi The King's Camelots, officially the National Federation of the King's Camelots (french: Fédération nationale des Camelots du Roi) was a far-right youth organization of the French militant royalist and integralist movement Action Française act ...
'', were very active. Far right leagues organized riots. The
Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an atte ...
(OAS) was created in Madrid by French military opposed to the
independence of Algeria Independence Day ( ar, عيد استقلال, french: Jour de l'Indépendance), observed annually on 5 July, is a National Holiday in Algeria commemorating colonial Algerian independence from France on 5 July 1962. Algerian War (1954–196 ...
.
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
founded the
Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...
(FN) party in 1972. At the 1986 legislative elections, the FN managed to obtain 35 seats, with 10% of the votes. Mark Frederiksen, a French Algeria activist, created in April 1966 a neo-Nazi group, the FANE (''Fédération d'action nationaliste et européenne'', Nationalist and European Federation of Action). However, in 1978, neo-Nazi members of the GNR-FANE broke again with the FN. During the 1980s, the National Front managed to gather, under
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
's leadership, most rival far-right tendencies of France, following a succession of splits and alliances with other, minor parties, during the 1970s.


Third Republic (1871–1914)

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 ...
was a turning point in the political history of France and in the Third Republic (1871–1940), established after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and the 1871
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
. The modern "far right" or radical right, grew out of two separate events of 1889. The Socialist International was formed at the Paris Conference, which imposed doctrinal orthodoxy on socialists and demanded their allegiance to the international working class rather than their nation. This forced patriotic socialists to choose either their nation or the international workers' movement. Many chose their nation and fell into violent conflict with their former socialist comrades. Those who chose the nation and retained the strategy of violence, then used most often against their former comrades, formed much of the base of the radical right. Many of those people also proved susceptible to the blandishments of anti-Semitism, which has long been a hallmark of the radical right. This would include (socialist) Maurice Barrès, (communardes)
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 ...
and
Gustave Paul Cluseret Gustave Paul Cluseret (13 June 1823 – 22 August 1900) was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and Delegate for War during the Paris Commune. Biography In the French Army Clus ...
, (Blanquists) Charles Bernard and
Antoine Jourde Antoine Jourde (23 September 1848 – 30 January 1923) was a French politician. He was born into a peasant family and worked in an umbrella factory, a flower shop and for a wine dealer among other jobs. He was elected as a Boulangist and socialis ...
, among others. A second event of 1889 was the culmination of the "Boulanger Affair" which championed the vague demands of the former Minister of War General Georges Boulanger. Boulanger had attracted the support of many socialists by ordering lenient treatment of strikers when the army was called upon to suppress strikes. He also rattled his saber against Germany, which pleased French patriots intent on taking revenge. But this alarmed the other ministers, who dropped Boulanger from the government. When his champions mounted an electoral campaign to have him elected to the Chamber of Deputies, the government reacted by forcing him out of the Army. His backers then elected him to the Chamber again from Paris, where he gained the support of both conservatives, who loathed the Republic, and socialists with their own ideas about how the Republic should be remade. This joining of the left and right against the center formed the foundation upon which the radical right was built in subsequent years. Violent agitation in Paris on the election night in 1889 convinced the government to prosecute Boulanger in order to remove him from the political scene. Instead of facing trumped up charges, Boulanger fled to Belgium. His supporters, "Boulangists" afterward nursed an intense grievance against the Republic and reunited during the Dreyfus Affair to oppose the Republic and "back the army" once again.


Dreyfus Affair and foundation of the Action française

In 1894, a Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was arrested on accusations of treason and sharing intelligence with the German Empire. 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 ...
provided one of the political fault lines of France.
Nationalism 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: The ...
, which had been before the Dreyfus Affair a left-wing and Republican ideology, turned after that to be a main trait of the right-wing and, moreover, of the far right.
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
entered the political scene with his open letter "
J'Accuse…! "''J'Accuse...!''" (; "I Accuse...!") is an open letter that was published on 13 January 1898 in the newspaper ''L'Aurore'' by Émile Zola in response to the Dreyfus affair. Zola addressed President of France Félix Faure and accused his govern ...
", followed by other writers, artists and scholars supporting him with a "Manifesto of the Intellectuals", helping to define the meaning of the term "
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
", while the left and right were at loggerheads, mainly over the questions of
militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
,
nationalism 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: The ...
,
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
and
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
. Until then, nationalism was a Republican, left-wing ideology, related to the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
and the Revolutionary Wars. It was a
liberal nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, in ...
, formulated by Ernest Renan's definition of the nation as a "daily plebiscite" and as formed by the subjective "will to live together." Related to "revanchism", the belligerent will to take revenge against Germany and retake control of Alsace-Lorraine, nationalism could then be sometimes opposed to imperialism. In the 1880s, a debate thus opposed those who opposed the " colonial lobby", such as radical
Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...
, who declared that colonialism diverted France from the "blue line of the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
" (referring to Alsace-Lorraine), socialist
Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...
and nationalist Maurice Barrès, against Moderate Republican
Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
, republican
Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, Ga ...
and
Eugène Etienne Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".ethnic nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
, itself blended with anti-Semitism,
xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
, anti-Protestantism and anti-Masonry.
Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...
(1868–1952), founder of "
integralism In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within t ...
" (or "integral nationalism"), created the term "Anti-France" to stigmatize "internal foreigners", or the "four confederate states of Protestants, Jews, Freemasons and foreigners" (his actual word for the latter being the far less polite '' métèques''). A few years later, Maurras would join the monarchist ''
Action française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
'', created by Maurice Pujo and
Henri Vaugeois Henri Vaugeois (25 April 1864 – 11 April 1916) was a French teacher and journalist who was one of the founders of right-wing nationalist Action Française movement. Biography Vaugeois was born in L'Aigle, Orne, on 25 April 1864. He settled in ...
in 1898. Maurras, who was an agnostic, spearheaded a monarchist and Catholic revival. He pragmatically conceived of religion as an ideology useful to unify the nation. Most French Catholics were conservatives, a trait that continues today. On the other hand, most Protestants, Jews and atheists belonged to the left. Henceforth, the Republicans' conception was, to the contrary, that only state secularism could peacefully bind together diverse religious and philosophical tendencies, and avoid any return to the
Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
. Furthermore, Catholic priests were seen as a major reactionary force by the Republicans, among whom anti-clericalism became common. The
Ferry laws The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French laws which established free education in 1881, then mandatory and Laïcité, ''laic'' (secular) education in 1882. Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, i ...
on public education had been a first step for the Republic in rooting out the clerics' influence: they would be completed by the
1905 law on the separation of Church and State The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State (French language, French: ) was passed by the Chamber of Deputies (France), Chamber of Deputies on 9 December 1905. Enacted during the French Third Republic, Third Republic, it establi ...
. Action française, first founded as a review, was the matrix of a new type of counter-revolutionary right-wing, and continues to exist today. Action française was quite influential in the 1930s, in particular through its youth organization, the
Camelots du Roi The King's Camelots, officially the National Federation of the King's Camelots (french: Fédération nationale des Camelots du Roi) was a far-right youth organization of the French militant royalist and integralist movement Action Française act ...
, founded in 1908, and which engaged in many street brawls, etc. The Camelots du Roi included such figures as Catholic writer
Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as defe ...
and
Jean de Barrau Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...
, member of the directing committee of the National Federation, and particular secretary of the duc d'Orléans (1869–1926), the son of the Orleanist
count of Paris Count of Paris () was a title for the local magnate of the district around Paris in Carolingian times. After Hugh Capet was elected King of France in 987, the title merged into the crown and fell into disuse. However, it was later revived by the ...
(1838–1894) and hence Orleanist heir to the throne of France. Many members of the
OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
terrorist group during the Algerian War (1954–62) were part of the monarchist movement. Jean Ousset, Maurras' personal secretary, created the
Catholic fundamentalist Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ...
organization Cité catholique, which would include OAS members and founded a branch in Argentina in the 1960s. Apart from the Action française, several
far-right league 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 ...
s were created during the Dreyfus Affair. Mostly anti-Semitic, they also represented a new right-wing tendency, sharing common traits such as
anti-parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
, militarism, nationalism, and often engaged in street brawls. Thus, the nationalist poet
Paul Déroulède Paul Déroulède (2 September 1846 – 30 January 1914) was a French author and politician, one of the founders of the nationalist League of Patriots. Early life Déroulède was born in Paris. He was published first as a poet in the magazine '' ...
created in 1882 the anti-semitic Ligue des patriotes (League of Patriots), which at first focused on advocating 'revanche' (revenge) for the French defeat during the Franco-Prussian War. Along with
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 ...
, the journalist Edouard Drumont created the
Antisemitic League of France 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. F ...
in 1889. Also anti-masonic, the League became at the start of the 20th century 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 ...
'', a name chosen in reaction against the masonic lodge of the '' Grand Orient de France''.


Between the wars

During the interwar period, the ''
Action française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
'' (AF) and its youth militia, the ''
Camelots du Roi The King's Camelots, officially the National Federation of the King's Camelots (french: Fédération nationale des Camelots du Roi) was a far-right youth organization of the French militant royalist and integralist movement Action Française act ...
'', were very active in Paris. Apart from the AF, various
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 brawls, demonstrations and riots. The term ''ligue'' was ...
were formed and opposed both ''
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 ...
'' (Coalition of the left) governments.
Pierre Taittinger Pierre-Charles Taittinger (4 October 1887 – 22 January 1965) was the founder of the Taittinger family, Taittinger champagne house and chairman of the municipal council of Paris in 1943–1944 during the German occupation of France during ...
thus formed the ''
Jeunesses Patriotes The ''Jeunesses Patriotes'' ("Young Patriots", JP) were a far-right league of France, recruited mostly from university students and financed by industrialists founded in 1924 by Pierre Taittinger. Taittinger took inspiration for the group's creat ...
'' in 1924, which imitated the style of the Fascists, although it remained a more traditional authoritarian movement. The following year,
Georges Valois Georges Valois (real name ''Alfred-Georges Gressent''; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. ...
created '' Le Faisceau'', heavily inspired by Benito Mussolini's
Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
. In 1933, the year Adolf Hitler gained power in Germany, perfumer
François Coty François Coty (born Joseph Marie François Spoturno in Corsica ; 3 May 1874 – 25 July 1934) was a French perfumer, businessman, newspaper publisher, politician and patron of the arts. He was the founder of the Coty perfume company, today a ...
founded ''
Solidarité française Solidarité Française ("French Solidarity") was a French far-right league founded in 1933 by perfume manufacturer François Coty (1874-1934) as a "Parti national corporatif républicain". After Coty's death, it was commanded by Major Jean Renau ...
'' and
Marcel Bucard Marcel Bucard (7 December 1895 – 13 March 1946) was a French Fascist politician. Early career A decorated soldier who earned a reputation for bravery in World War I, Bucard became active in politics after 1918, initially as a member of '' ...
formed the '' Francisme'', which was subsidised by Mussolini. Another important league was
François de la Rocque François de La Rocque (; 6 October 1885 – 28 April 1946) was the leader of the French right-wing league the Croix de Feu from 1930 to 1936 before he formed the more moderate nationalist French Social Party (1936–1940), which has been ...
's ''
Croix de Feu , logo = Croix de Feu.svg , logo_size = 200px , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = 11 November 1927 , dissolution = 10 January 1936 , successor = Fr ...
'', which formed the base for the ''
Parti Social Français , logo = French Social Party emblem.svg , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = , dissolution = , predecessor = Croix-de-Feu , headquarters = Rue de Milan, P ...
'' (PSF), the first mass party of the French right-wing. Mussolini was much more popular in right-wing circles than Hitler due to the negative reaction many French conservatives had to Hitler's repression of dissident German conservatives and Catholics in 1933 and 1934. Apart from the leagues, a group of
Neosocialist Neosocialism was a political faction that existed in France and Belgium during the 1930s and which included several revisionist tendencies in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). During the 1930s, the faction gradually dista ...
s (
Marcel Déat Marcel Déat (7 March 1894 – 5 January 1955) was a French politician. Initially a socialist and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), he led a breakaway group of right-wing ' Neosocialists' out of the SFIO in 1933 ...
,
Pierre Renaudel Pierre Renaudel (19 December 1871 – 1 April 1935) was a French socialist politician and journalist. Biography He served as central committee member of the League of Human Rights (''Ligue des droits de l'homme'', LDH), was a founder and ''m ...
, etc.) were excluded in November 1933 from the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, the socialist party) because of their revisionist stances and admiration for fascism. Déat would become one of the most ardent collaborationists during World War II. Another major player in France's right-wing world between the wars was
Jacques Doriot Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Party (P ...
. Doriot had been expelled by the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...
after proposing a
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 ...
with other leftist parties, which at that time was seen as
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
by his party's hierarchy. Personally hurt and embittered by his expulsion, Doriot would slowly change sides, eventually openly denouncing communism and going on to found the
Parti Populaire Francais The French Popular Party (french: Parti populaire français) was a French fascist and anti-semitic political party led by Jacques Doriot before and during World War II. It is generally regarded as the most collaborationist party of France. ...
or PPF, the largest pre-war right wing party. Other important figures of the 1930s include
Xavier Vallat Xavier Vallat (December 23, 1891 – January 6, 1972), French politician and antisemite who was Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in the wartime Vichy collaborationist government, and was sentenced after World War II to ten years in pr ...
, who would become General Commissioner for Jewish Affairs under
Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...
, members of the ''
Cagoule A cagoule (), also spelled cagoul, kagoule or kagool, is the British English term for a lightweight weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood (usually without lining), which often comes in knee-length form.The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, The Ca ...
'' terrorist group (
Eugène Deloncle Eugène Deloncle (20 June 1890 – 17 January 1944) was a French politician and Fascist leader, who founded of the “Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action" (CSAR), known as "The Hood" ( la Cagoule), and became a prominent Nazi collaborator ...
,
Eugène Schueller Eugène Paul Louis Schueller (20 March 1881 – 23 August 1957) was a French pharmacist and entrepreneur who was the founder of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty. He was one of the founders of modern advertising. Foun ...
(the founder of ''
L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...
'' cosmetic firm), Jacques Corrèze, Joseph Darnand, who later founded the ''
Service d'ordre légionnaire The Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL, "Legionary Order Service") was a collaborationist militia created by Joseph Darnand, a far right veteran from the First World War. Too radical even for other supporters of the Vichy regime, it was granted it ...
'' militia during Vichy, etc.). To obtain arms from fascist Italy, the group assassinated two Italian antifascists, the Rosselli brothers, on June 9, 1937, and sabotaged aeroplanes clandestinely supplied by the French government to the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
. They also attempted a coup against 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 ...
government, elected in 1936, leading to arrests in 1937, ordered by Interior Minister Marx Dormoy, during which the police seized explosives and military weapons, including anti-tank guns. Far right leagues organised major riots on 6 February 1934. The groups did not coordinate their efforts and the riots were suppressed by the police and military. Elements on the left were convinced that uniots was essential to suppress fascism, and in 1936 they formed 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 ...
and dissolved the leagues. However the right-wing leagues promptly reorganized as political parties and continued vocal attacks on the left.


Vichy France


Fifth Republic

The
Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an atte ...
(OAS) was created in Madrid by French military officers opposed to the
independence of Algeria Independence Day ( ar, عيد استقلال, french: Jour de l'Indépendance), observed annually on 5 July, is a National Holiday in Algeria commemorating colonial Algerian independence from France on 5 July 1962. Algerian War (1954–196 ...
. Many of its members would later join various anti-communist struggles around the world. Some, for example, joined the Cité catholique fundamentalist group and went to Argentina, where they were in contact with the Argentine Armed Forces.
Jean Pierre Cherid Jean-Pierre Cherid (November 20, 1940, in Algiers – March 19, 1984, in Biarritz, France) was a far right French activist and later mercenary of Moroccan descent. A former French paratrooper, he first became a member of the Organisation armée s ...
, former OAS member, took part in the 1976
Montejurra massacre The Montejurra incidents, was a neo-fascist terrorist attack that took place on May 9, 1976, when two Carlist members were killed and another three seriously wounded by right-wing gunmen at the annual Carlist Party celebration that was held in ...
against left-wing Carlists.Rodolfo Almirón, de la Triple A al Montejurra
, PDF
He was then part of the Spanish GAL death squad, and participated in the 1978 assassination of Argala, one of the
ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
members who had killed
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
's Prime minister,
Luis Carrero Blanco Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...
, in 1973.
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour (12 October 1907 – 29 September 1989) was a French lawyer and far-right politician. Elected to the National Assembly in 1936, he initially collaborated with the Vichy regime before leaving for Tunisia in 1941. After a ...
was the far-right candidate at the 1965 presidential election. His campaign was organised by
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
. Charles de Gaulle said of Tixier-Vignancourt: "Tixier-Vignancour, that is Vichy, the Collaboration proud of itself, the
Milice The ''Milice française'' (French Militia), generally called ''la Milice'' (literally ''the militia'') (), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime (with German aid) to help fight against the Fre ...
, the OAS".
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
founded the
Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...
(FN) party in 1972, along with former
Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...
member
Jacques Bompard Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...
, former Collaborationist
Roland Gaucher Roland Gaucher (13 April 1919 – 27 July 2007) was the pseudonym of Roland Goguillot, a French far-right journalist and politician. One of the main thinkers of the French far-right, he had participated in Marcel Déat's fascist party Rassemblemen ...
,
François Duprat François Duprat (26 October 1940 – 18 March 1978) was an essayist and politician, a founding member of the Front National party and part of the leadership until his assassination in 1978. Duprat was one of the main architects in the introduct ...
, who introduced the
negationist Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with '' historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinter ...
thesis to France, and others nostalgics of
Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...
,
Catholic fundamentalist Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ...
s, etc.Le Pen, son univers impitoyable
''
Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...
'', September 1, 2006
Le Pen presented himself for the first time in the 1974 presidential election, obtaining 0.74%. The electoral rise of the FN did not start until
Jean-Pierre Stirbois Jean-Pierre Stirbois (30 January 1945, Paris – 5 November 1988, Jouars-Pontchartrain) was a French far-right politician. Elected deputy mayor in 1983 of Dreux, a city of around 30,000 inhabitants at the time, he was one of the main architects ...
's victory, in 1983, in Dreux. The FN became stronger throughout the 1980s, managing to unite most far-right tendencies, passing electoral alliances with the right-wing Rally for the Republic (RPR), while some FN members quit the party to join the RPR or the Union for a French Democracy (UDF). At the 1986 legislative elections, the FN managed to obtain 35 seats, with 10% of the votes. Meanwhile, other far-right tendencies gathered in
Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and ...
's ''
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
'' think-tank, heading a pro-European and neopagan line. Some radical members of the "national revolutionary" tendency quit the FN to form other minor parties (
Party of New Forces Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN). De ...
, PFN, and
French and European Nationalist Party The French and European Nationalist Party (french: Parti nationaliste français et européen or PNFE) was a French nationalist militant organization active between 1987 and 1999. Led by Claude Cornilleau until 1996, its slogan was "France first, ...
, PNFE).


French Third Position's relations with the National Front

Mark Frederiksen, a French Algeria activist, created in April 1966 a neo-Nazi group, the FANE (''Fédération d'action nationaliste et européenne'', Nationalist and European Federation of Action). The FANE boasted at most a hundred activists, including members such as Luc Michel, now leader of the '' Parti communautaire national-européen'' (National European Communautary Party), Jacques Bastide, Michel Faci, Michel Caignet and
Henri-Robert Petit Henri Petit (alias: Henri-Robert or Henry-Robert) (1899–1985) was a French journalist, Collaborationism#France, collaborationist under the Vichy regime, and French far-far-right activist. Henri Petit wrote several Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic and ...
, a journalist and former Collaborationist who directed under the
Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
the newspaper '' Le Pilori''. The FANE maintained international contacts with the British group the
League of Saint George The League of St George is a neo-Fascist organisation based in the United Kingdom. It has defined itself as a "non-party, non-sectarian political club" and, whilst forging alliances with different groups, has eschewed close links with other extrem ...
. The FANE rallied
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
's National Front in 1974, gathered around
François Duprat François Duprat (26 October 1940 – 18 March 1978) was an essayist and politician, a founding member of the Front National party and part of the leadership until his assassination in 1978. Duprat was one of the main architects in the introduct ...
and
Alain Renault Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
's
Revolutionary Nationalist Groups The Revolutionary Nationalist Groups (french: Groupes nationalistes révolutionnaires, GNR) were a French far-right organization which gathered the nationalist revolutionary tendency between 1976 and 1978. Founded by François Duprat and his fri ...
(GNR), which represented the nationalist revolutionary tendency of the FN. But in 1978, neo-Nazi members of the GNR-FANE broke again with the FN, taking with them sections of the FN youth movement, the
Front National de la Jeunesse Rassemblement national de la jeunesse (RNJ), formerly the Front National de la Jeunesse (FNJ; en, National Youth Front; 1973–2018) and the Génération Nation (GN; en, Nation Generation; 2018–2022), is the youth organization of the French N ...
.Annuaire de l'extrême droite en France
On the other hand, GNR activists closer to the
Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...
(Jacques Bastide and Patrick Gorre) joined
Jean-Gilles Malliarakis Jean-Gilles Malliarakis (born 22 June 1944 in Paris) is a French far-right politician and writer. Biography Early far-right activism Jean-Gilles Malliarakis is the son of Greek painter 'Mayo' (Antoine Malliarakis) and of a French mother. He gr ...
to found, on February 11, 1979, the
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( es, Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , MNR) is a centre-right conservative political party in Bolivia and was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenc ...
(''Mouvement nationaliste révolutionnaire''), which became in 1985
Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from ...
(''Troisième Voie''). After this brief passage at the National Front, Mark Fredriksen created the ''Faisceaux nationalistes européens'' ( FANE) in July 1980. These would eventually merge with the '' Mouvement national et social ethniste'' in 1987, and then with the PNFE (French and European Nationalist Party) in January 1994, which also gathered former National Front members. Dissolved first in September 1980 by
Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...
's government, Fredriksen's group was recreated, and dissolved again in 1985 by
Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...
' government. Finally, it was dissolved a third time in 1987 by Jacques Chirac's government, on charges of "violent demonstrations organised by this movement, which has as one of its expressed objective the establishment of a new
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
regime," the " paramilitary organisation of this association and its inciting of
racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
."


Alain de Benoist's ''Nouvelle Droite'' and the ''Club de l'Horloge''

In the 1980s,
Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and ...
became chief theorist of the ''
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
'' movement, creating the think-tank
GRECE The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne ("Research and Study Group for European Civilization"), better known as GRECE, is a French ethnonationalist think tank founded in 1968 to promote the ideas of the Nouvelle ...
in 1968, some of whose members were involved with the formation of the
Club de l'Horloge The Carrefour de l'Horloge (literally ''The Clock Crossroad''), formerly Club de l'Horloge (1974–2015), is a French far-right national liberal think tank founded in 1974 and presided by Henry de Lesquen. The organization promotes an "integral n ...
in 1974. They advocated an
ethno-nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
stance focused on European culture, which advocated a return of paganism. Members of the GRECE quit the think tank in the 1980s, such as
Pierre Vial Pierre Vial (born 25 December 1942) is an academic medievalist tied to the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3. A Nouvelle Droite leader, he is the founder of the Identitarian association Terre et Peuple. Biography Pierre Vial was born on 25 Decembe ...
who joined the FN, or
Guillaume Faye Guillaume Faye (; 7 November 1949 – 6 March 2019) was a French journalist, writer, and leading member of the French New Right. Earlier in his career, anti-Zionism permeated his work; later on, criticism of Islam became prominent in his writi ...
who quit the organisation along with others members in 1986. Faye participated in 2006 in a conference in the US organised by ''
American Renaissance The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance ...
'', a
white separatist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
magazine published by the
New Century Foundation The New Century Foundation is a white supremacist organization founded in 1994 by Jared Taylor known primarily for publishing a magazine, ''American Renaissance'', which promotes white supremacy. From 1994 to 1999, its activities received conside ...
. Alain de Benoist occasionally contributed to the ''
Mankind Quarterly ''Mankind Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed journal that has been described as a "cornerstone of the scientific racism establishment", a "white supremacist journal", and "a pseudo-scholarly outlet for promoting racial inequality". It covers phy ...
'' review, which supports
hereditarianism Hereditarianism is the doctrine or school of thought that heredity plays a significant role in determining human nature and character traits, such as intelligence and personality. Hereditarians believe in the power of genetics to explain human ch ...
and is associated with the US think tank the
Pioneer Fund Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences". The organization has been described as racist and white supremacist in nature. One of its first project ...
, headed by
J. Philippe Rushton John Philippe Rushton (December 3, 1943 – October 2, 2012) was a Canadian psychologist and author. He taught at the University of Western Ontario until the early 1990s, and became known to the general public during the 1980s and 1990s for resea ...
, the author of ''
Race, Evolution and Behavior ''Race, Evolution, and Behavior: A Life History Perspective'' is a book by Canadian psychologist and author J. Philippe Rushton. Rushton was a professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario for many years, and the head of the contro ...
'' (1995), which argues in favour of a biological conception of "
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
". GRECE and the Pioneer Fund are actively involved in the race and intelligence debate, postulating that there is an identifiable link between levels of intelligence and distinct ethnic groups. The Club de l'horloge itself had been founded by
Henry de Lesquen Henry de Lesquen (born 1 January 1949) is a French politician. A retired official and former radio host, de Lesquen has been the president of the Carrefour de l'Horloge, a national liberal think tank, since 1985. A blogger and YouTuber since th ...
, a former member of the conservative Rally for the Republic, which he quit in 1984. Others members of the Club de l'horloge, such as
Bruno Mégret Bruno Mégret (; born 4 April 1949) is a French former nationalist politician. He was the leader of the Mouvement National Républicain political party, but retired in 2008 from all political action. Youth and studies Born in Paris, Bruno Mégre ...
, later joined the FN after a short time in the RPR.


Rise of the National Front in the 1980s and Mégret's split

During the 1980s, the National Front managed to gather, under
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
's leadership, most rival far-right tendencies of France, following a succession of splits and alliances with other, minor parties, during the 1970s.


Party of New Forces

One of those parties, the
Party of New Forces Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN). De ...
(PFN, ''Parti des forces nouvelles''), was an offshoot of the National Front, formed from a 1973 split headed by
Alain Robert Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man) or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbi ...
and François Brigneau who first organised the '' Comité faire front'' which subsequently merged into the PFN. The PFN was formed mainly by former members of New Order (''Ordre nouveau'', 1969–1973), who had refused to merge into the FN at its 1972 creation. New Order, dissolved by Interior Minister
Raymond Marcellin Raymond Marcellin (19 August 1914 in Sézanne, Marne – 8 September 2004) was a French politician. Biography The son of a banker, he studied law at the University of Strasbourg and the University of Paris. He worked as a lawyer for three ye ...
in 1973, was itself a successor to
Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...
(1964–1968) and of the Union Defense Group (GUD, ''Groupe union défense''). Close to the
Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...
and supporting a "national-revolutionary" thesis, this tendency maintained links with the FN, despite some tensions. The GUD, in particular, had published the satiric monthly ''Alternative'' with the Youth Front (''Front de la jeunesse''), the youth organisation of the FN. They also had attempted alliances with other far-right parties in Europe, with New Order organising the alliance "A Fatherland for Tomorrow" (''Une patrie pour demain'') with the Spanish
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
, the Italian Social Movement (MSI) and the German National Democratic Party. This European strategy was continued by the PFN, who launched the Euroright alliance, with the MSI, the Spanish New Force and the Belgian PFN, for the 1979 European elections. Headed by
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour (12 October 1907 – 29 September 1989) was a French lawyer and far-right politician. Elected to the National Assembly in 1936, he initially collaborated with the Vichy regime before leaving for Tunisia in 1941. After a ...
, the PFN won 1.3% of the vote. This electoral failure prompted
Roland Gaucher Roland Gaucher (13 April 1919 – 27 July 2007) was the pseudonym of Roland Goguillot, a French far-right journalist and politician. One of the main thinkers of the French far-right, he had participated in Marcel Déat's fascist party Rassemblemen ...
and François Brigneau to quit the party and join Le Pen's National Front.


1981 presidential election

The French far-right was divided in the 1981 presidential election, with both Pascal Gauchon (PFN) and Le Pen (FN) attempting, without success, to secure the 500 signatures from mayors necessary to stand as candidates. François Mitterrand (
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
) won those elections, competing against Jacques Chirac ( Rally for the Republic, RPR).


1983 elections and rise

These succeeding electoral defeats prompted the far-right to unify itself. In 1983, the FN managed to make its first electoral breakthrough, taking control of the town of Dreux:
Jean-Pierre Stirbois Jean-Pierre Stirbois (30 January 1945, Paris – 5 November 1988, Jouars-Pontchartrain) was a French far-right politician. Elected deputy mayor in 1983 of Dreux, a city of around 30,000 inhabitants at the time, he was one of the main architects ...
obtained 17% of the votes in the first round, for the FN municipal list. In the second round, he merged his list with Chirac's RPR list (headed by
Jean Hieaux Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...
), enabling the right to claim a victory against the left. Chirac supported the alliance with the far-right, claiming that the Socialist Party, allied with 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 Engels. ...
in government, had no lessons to give. This first electoral success was confirmed at the 1984 European elections, the FN obtaining 10% of the votes. Two years later, the FN gained 35 deputies (nearly 10% of the votes) at the 1986 legislative elections, running under the label of "''Rassemblement national''. Those elected included the monarchist Georges-Paul Wagner. Internal disputes continued however to divide the far-right. Following the 1986 elections, which brought Jacques Chirac to power as
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, some hardliners inside the FN broke away to create the
French and European Nationalist Party The French and European Nationalist Party (french: Parti nationaliste français et européen or PNFE) was a French nationalist militant organization active between 1987 and 1999. Led by Claude Cornilleau until 1996, its slogan was "France first, ...
(PNFE, Parti Nationaliste Français et Européen), along with members of Mark Frederiksen's Third Position FANE. Three former members of the PNFE were charged of having desecrated, in 1990, a Jewish cemetery in
Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; la, Carpentoracte) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. ...
. The PNFE was also implicated in the
1988 Cannes and Nice attacks In the 1988 Cannes and Nice attacks, neo-Nazis posing as Jewish extremists bombed Sonacotra immigrant hostels in 1988, killing one person and hurting sixteen. Attacks On 9 May 1988, a Sonacotra hostel in Cannes that was frequented by North Afri ...
.


Mégret's split, Le Pen's 2002 score and subsequent electoral fall

The most important split, however, was headed by
Bruno Mégret Bruno Mégret (; born 4 April 1949) is a French former nationalist politician. He was the leader of the Mouvement National Républicain political party, but retired in 2008 from all political action. Youth and studies Born in Paris, Bruno Mégre ...
in 1999. Taking many FN elected representatives and party officials with him, he then created the
National Republican Movement The National Republican Movement (''Mouvement national républicain'' or MNR) is a French nationalist political party, created by Bruno Mégret with former Club de l'Horloge members Yvan Blot (also a member of GRECE) and Jean-Yves Le Gallou, as a ...
(MNR). However, with an eye to the 2007 legislative elections, he supported Le Pen's candidacy for the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
. During these presidential elections,
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
only took 10.4% of the vote, compared to his 16.9% first round result in 2002, qualifying him for the second round, where he achieved 17.79% against 82.21% for Jacques Chirac ( Rally for the Republic, RPR). With only 1.85% in the second round of the 2002 legislative elections, the FN failed to gain any seats in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. In the 2007 presidential election, Le Pen finished fourth, behind Nicolas Sarkozy,
Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...
and François Bayrou.
Philippe de Villiers Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist.Main Website Retrieved 4 March 2009. He is the founder of the Puy du Fou them ...
, the Catholic traditionalist candidate of the
Movement for France The Movement for France (french: Mouvement pour la France, MPF; ) was a conservative, soft Eurosceptic and Gaullist French political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It was led by Philippe de ...
(especially strong in the conservative
Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.
region), was sixth, obtaining 2.23% of the vote. This electoral slump for the FN was confirmed at the 2007 legislative elections, the FN obtaining only 0.08% of the votes in the second round, and therefore no seats.


Le Pen's succession

These electoral defeats, which contrasted with the high score obtained at the 2002 presidential elections, caused financial problems for the FN, which was forced to sell its headquarters, the ''
Paquebot Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
'', in
Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...
. Le Pen then announced, in 2008, that he would not compete again in presidential elections, leaving the way for contest for the leadership of the FN between his daughter, Marine Le Pen, whom he favoured, and
Bruno Gollnisch Bruno Gollnisch (; born 28 January 1950) is a French academic and politician, a member of the National Front (FN) far-right party. He was a member of the European Parliament and was chairman of the European Parliamentary group ' Identity, Tra ...
. The latter had been condemned in January 2007 for
Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
, while Marine Le Pen attempted to follow a slicker strategy to give the FN a more "respectable" image.


FN 2010s surge

Since her election as the leader of the party in 2011, the popularity of the FN continued to grow apace as the party won several municipalities at the 2014 municipal elections; it topped the poll in France at the
2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...
with 25% of the vote; and again won more votes than any other party in the 2015 departmental elections. The party once again came in first place in the 2015 regional elections with a historic result of just under 28% of the vote. By 2015, the FN had established itself as one of the largest political forces in France, unusually being both most popular and most controversial political party. For the
2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...
, Le Pen came third in the first round, scoring 17.9% – the partys then best showing ever for the FN. For the 2017 presidential election, Le Pen came second in the first round, scoring 21.3% – the best showing ever for the FN. in the second round she came second with 33.9% a best for NF. In 2018, the National Front was renamed ''National Rally''.


2020s

In the run up to the 2022 presidential election,
Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right politician, essayist, writer and former political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show broadcast on CNews, from 2019 to ...
, a noted far-right pundit with no previous party affiliation or political experience, created his own party,
Reconquête Reconquête (; en, Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, ...
, and overtook Le Pen in the polls. For the 2022 presidential election, Le Pen came second in the first round, scoring 23.15% – the best showing ever for the RN. Zemmour got 7.07%. Total Far Right vote was 32%, the highest vote ever in a French election. Le Pen came second in the second round, scoring 41.46% – the best showing ever for the RN or for a Far Right candidate. In the June 2022
Assemblée Nationale The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...
election, the RN gained 89 seats in the national assembly,winning the party enough seats to form a parliamentary group for the first time since 1986.


Individuals and groups


Individuals

*
Raymond Abellio Georges Soulès (11 November 1907 – 26 August 1986), known by his pen name Raymond Abellio, was a French writer. Life Abellio went to the École Polytechnique and then took part in the X-Crise Group. He advocated far-left ideas, but like man ...
* Marc Augier *
Jacques Bainville Jacques Pierre Bainville (; 9 February 1879 – 9 February 1936) was a French historian and journalist. A geopolitical theorist, concerned by Franco-German relations, he was a leading figure in the monarchist ''Action Française''. As fascinated a ...
* Maurice Barrès *
René Benjamin René Benjamin (1885 in Paris, France - 1948 in Tours, France) was a French writer. In 1915 he received the Prix Goncourt for his novel ''Gaspard''. In 1938, he became the first Goncourt laureate to be appointed a member of the Académie Goncourt ...
* Jacques Benoist-Méchin *
Henri Béraud Henri Béraud (; 21 September 1885 in Lyon – 24 October 1958 in Saint-Clément-des-Baleines, Ré Island), also known as Tristan Audebert, was a French novelist and journalist. He was sentenced to death in 1945, which was later commuted to ...
*
Abel Bonnard Abel Bonnard (19 December 1883 31 May 1968) was a French poet, novelist and politician. Biography Born in Poitiers, Vienne, his early education was in Marseilles with secondary studies at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. A student of literatu ...
*
Paul Bourget Paul Charles Joseph Bourget (; 2 September 185225 December 1935) was a French poet, novelist and critic. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Life Paul Bourget was born in Amiens in the Somme ''département'' of Picar ...
*
Pierre Boutang Pierre Boutang (20 September 1916 – 27 June 1998) was a French philosopher, poet and translator. He was also a political journalist, associated with the currents of Maurrasianism and Royalism. Biography Boutang was an alumnus of the '' Ecol ...
*
Robert Brasillach Robert Brasillach (; 31 March 1909 – 6 February 1945) was a French author and journalist. Brasillach was the editor of '' Je suis partout'', a nationalist newspaper which advocated fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot. After the libera ...
*
Renaud Camus Renaud Camus (; ; born Jean Renaud Gabriel Camus on 10 August 1946) is a French novelist, conspiracy theorist and white nationalist writer. He is the inventor of the " Great Replacement", a far-right conspiracy theory that claims that a "glob ...
*
Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the '' Pr ...
* Jacques Chardonne * Alphonse de Châteaubriant *
Léon Daudet Léon Daudet (; 16 November 1867 – 2 July 1942) was a French journalist, writer, an active monarchist, and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Move to the right Daudet was born in Paris. His father was the novelist Alphonse Daudet, his moth ...
*
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle Pierre Eugène Drieu La Rochelle (; 3 January 1893 – 15 March 1945) was a French writer of novels, short stories and political essays. He was born, lived and died in Paris. Drieu La Rochelle became a proponent of French fascism in the 1930s, ...
*
Édouard Drumont Édouard Adolphe Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917) was a French antisemitic journalist, author and politician. He initiated the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder and editor of the newspaper ''La Libre Parole''. ...
* André Fraigneau *
Pierre Gaxotte Pierre Gaxotte (19 November 1895 – 21 November 1982) was a French historian. Gaxotte was born in Revigny-sur-Ornain, Meuse. He began his career as a history teacher at the Lycée Charlemagne and later worked as a columnist for ''Le Figaro''. Ove ...
* Pierre Gripari *
Kléber Haedens Kléber Haedens (11 December 1913 in Équeurdreville – 13 August 1976), was a French novelist and journalist. He was a monarchist and a member of the Action Française in the 1930s. During World War II he worked as a secretary for Charles Maurra ...
*
Marcel Jouhandeau Marcel Jouhandeau (July 26, 1888 Guéret – April 7, 1979) was a French writer. Biography Born in Guéret, Creuse, France, Marcel Jouhandeau grew up in a world of women presided over by his grandmother. Under the influence of a young woman from ...
* Jacques de Lacretelle *
Jean Mabire Jean Mabire (8 February 1927—29 March 2006) was a French journalist and essayist. A neo-pagan and nordicist, Mabire is known for the regionalist and euronationalist ideas that he developed in both ''Europe-Action'' and GRECE, as well as his c ...
*
Henri Massis Henri Massis (21 March 1886 – 16 April 1970) was a conservative French essayist, literary critic and literary historian. Biography Massis was born on 21 March 1886 in Paris, France. He attended Lycée Condorcet and University of Paris. He began ...
*
Thierry Maulnier Thierry Maulnier (born Jacques Talagrand; 1 October 1909, Alès – 9 January 1988, Marnes-la-Coquette) was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic. He was married to theatre director Marcelle Tassencourt. Early years A ...
*
Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...
* Jean-Pierre Maxence *
Henry de Monfreid Henry de Monfreid (14 November 1879 in Leucate – 13 December 1974) was a French adventurer and author. Born in Leucate, Aude, France, he was the son of artist painter Georges-Daniel de Monfreid and knew Paul Gauguin as a child. Monfreid was ...
*
Lucien Rebatet Lucien Rebatet (15 November 1903 – 24 August 1972) was a French writer, journalist, and intellectual. He is known as an exponent of fascism and virulent antisemite but also as the author of '' Les Deux étendards'', regarded by some as one of ...
*
Hugues Rebell Georges Grassal de Choffat or Hugues Rebell (27 October 1867 in Nantes – 6 March 1905 in Paris) was a French people, French author. He wrote against Christianity and professed paganism while remaining a Catholic. An exponent of Friedrich Nietzsc ...
* Paul Sérant *
Pierre Sidos Pierre Sidos (6 January 1927 – 4 September 2020) was a French far right nationalist, neo-Pétainist, and antisemitic activist. One of the main figures of post-WWII nationalism in France, Sidos was the founder and leader of the national ...
*
Alain Soral Alain Bonnet, known as Alain Soral (; born 2 October 1958), is a far-right Franco-Swiss ideologue, essayist, filmmaker and actor. Claiming to have been a member of the French Communist Party in the 1990s, Soral worked for the National Front ...
*
Georges Vacher de Lapouge Count Georges Vacher de Lapouge (; 12 December 1854 – 20 February 1936) was a French anthropologist and a theoretician of eugenics and racialism. He is known as the founder of anthroposociology, the anthropological and sociological study of race ...
*
Dominique Venner Dominique Venner (; 16 April 1935 – 21 May 2013) was a French historian, journalist and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding '' Europe-Action'', before w ...
*
Pierre Vial Pierre Vial (born 25 December 1942) is an academic medievalist tied to the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3. A Nouvelle Droite leader, he is the founder of the Identitarian association Terre et Peuple. Biography Pierre Vial was born on 25 Decembe ...
*
Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right politician, essayist, writer and former political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show broadcast on CNews, from 2019 to ...


Other minor groups

Other minor groups that are or have been active in the Fifth Republic include: * Groupe Union Défense is French far-right student association * Bastion Social is a nationalist youth movement *
Unité Radicale Unité Radicale was a French far-right political group close to the Third Position and National Bolshevism thesis. It was founded in June 1998 from the merger of Groupe Union Défense and Nouvelle Résistance/ Jeune Résistance/ Union des Cercle ...
(one of its members,
Maxime Brunerie Maxime Brunerie (born 21 May 1977) is a French convicted criminal and former neo-Nazi activist, known for his 14 July 2002 assassination attempt on Jacques Chirac, then President of France, during the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. Biogr ...
, tried to assassinate President Jacques Chirac in 2002) *
Les Identitaires Les Identitaires (English: The Identitarians), formerly the Bloc identitaire (English: ''Identitarian Bloc''), is an Identitarian nationalist movement in France. Like the French New Right, scholars generally consider the movement far-right ...
, formerly Bloc identitaire, an offshoot of Unité Radicale, dissolved after Brunerie's assassination attempt, which publicly distributes so-called "identity soups" ("''soupes identitaires''"), that is "popular soups" with pork in order to exclude religious Jews and Muslims from them. *
Parti Nationaliste Français et Européen The French and European Nationalist Party (french: Parti nationaliste français et européen or PNFE) was a French nationalist militant organization active between 1987 and 1999. Led by Claude Cornilleau until 1996, its slogan was "France first, ...
(PNFE), a Pan-European nationalist group with which Brunerie was also associated. *
Parti des forces nouvelles Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN). De ...
, formed from an early anti-Le Pen faction of the Front National. * Réseau Radical, a study group. * Troisième Voie, a
Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...
movement with links to the far right student movement Groupe Union Défense.


See also

* Rock identitaire français *
Breton Social-National Workers' Movement The Breton Social-National Workers' Movement (french: Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton) was a nationalist, separatist, and Fascist movement founded in 1941 by Théophile Jeusset. It emerged in Brittany from a deviationist faction of the ...


References


Bibliography

* Davies, Peter. ''The National Front in France. Ideology, Discourse and Power'' (Routledge, 1999) * Fuller, Robert Lynn. ''The Origins of the French Nationalist Movement, 1886-1914'' (McFarland, 2012) * Hainsworth, Paul. "The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen." ''Modern & Contemporary France'' (2012) 20#3 pp: 392-392
abstract
* Hutton, Patrick. "Popular Boulangism and the Advent of Mass Politics in France, 1886-90" ''Journal of Contemporary History'' (1976) 11#1 pp. 85–10
in JSTOR
* Irvine, William. ''The Boulanger Affair Reconsidered, Royalism, Boulangism, and the Origins of the Radical Right in France'' (Oxford University Press, 1989) * Irvine, William D. ''French Conservatism in Crisis: The Republican Federation of France in the 1930s'' (1979). * Kalman, Samuel, and Sean Kennedy, eds. ''The French Right Between the Wars: Political and Intellectual Movements From Conservatism to Fascism'' (Berghahn Books; 2014) 264 pages; scholars examine such topics as veterans and the extreme right, female right-wing militancy, and visions of masculinity in the natalist-familialist movement. * Millington, Chris. ''A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front'' (Bloomsbury, 2019
online review
* Passmore, Kevin. "The Historiography of 'Fascism' in France," ''French Historical Studies'' 37 (2014): 469-499 * Passmore, Kevin. ''The Right in France from the Third Republic to Vichy'' (Oxford University Press, 2013) * Russo, Luana. "France: The historic victory of the Front National." in ''The European Parliament Elections of 2014'' (2014): 181-8
online
* Shields, James. "Marine Le Pen and the ‘New’ FN: A Change of Style or of Substance?." ''Parliamentary affairs'' (2013) 66#1 pp: 179–196
abstract
* Weber, Eugen. ''L'Action Française, Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth-Century France'' (Stanford University Press, 1962) * Winock, Michel. ''Nationalism, anti-semitism, and fascism in France'' (Stanford University Press, 1998) In French * Bertrand Joly, ''Nationalistes et Conservateurs en France, 1885-1902'' (Les Indes Savantes, 2008) * Winock, Michel (dir.), ''Histoire de l'extrême droite en France'' (1993) {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Far Right Movements In France Political history of France History of political thought