Groupe Union Défense (originally named ''Groupe Union Droit''), better known as GUD, is a French

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

formed in the 1960s. After a period of inactivity it relaunched in 2022. The GUD was based in Panthéon-Assas University, a law school in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Ideology

left, Members of the GUD during demonstration in Lyon in 1989 Formed as

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

youth organization, in the mid-1980s, the GUD turned toward support of 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 ...

movements and " national revolutionary" theories, as well as embracing

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

and support for

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

Culture

GUD took as symbol the

Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...

and the

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

''black rats'' (''rats noirs''). Some music groups of Rock identitaire français had connections with GUD.

History

image:Le GUD manifestant le 13 mai 2012.JPG, Members of the GUD during demonstration in

in 2012 GUD was founded in December 1968 under the name ''Union Droit'' at Panthéon-Assas University by ,

Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...

, and some members of the political movement ''Occident''. In its early period, it was a reactionary bourgeois student movement, and some of its early members went on to become mainstream conservative politicians, including

Hervé Novelli Hervé Novelli (born 6 March 1949 in Paris) is a French politician of Italian origin, and a past member of the UDF group. He was a deputé in the Assemblée Nationale for the Indre-et-Loire département from 2002 to 2007, having previously been ...

and

Alain Madelin Alain Madelin (; born 26 March 1946) is a French politician. Politician Madelin was minister of Industry in Prime Minister Jacques Chirac's cabinet from 1986 to 1988, a minister of Business in Prime Minister Édouard Balladur's cabinet f ...

. Members of the GUD participated in the 1969 founding of Ordre Nouveau. During the 1970s and early 1980s, linked to the

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 ...

(PFN),the GUD published the

satiric Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

monthly ''Alternative''. Members in this period included , a Corsican nationalist linked to organised crime and suspected of the murder of . On 9 May 1994 GUD member died after clashes between nationalists and

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...

. Following these event, some French nationalist groups formed an umbrella organization ''Comité du 9-Mai'' (C9M) and holds yearly a commemorative marches in Paris on May 9. In 1998, the Group united itself with ''Jeune Résistance'' and the ''Union des cercles résistance'', offshoots of Nouvelle Résistance group, under the name

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 ...

, but it was dissolved after

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 ...

's failed assassination attempt on president

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

. In 2004, the GUD reformed under the name . Its publication was ''Le Dissident''. In 2017 members of the GUD squatted a building in Lyon and founded political movement Social Bastion. In late 2022,

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

appeared in educational institutions in Paris (including the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

) saying "GUD is back"; a video was released on , a

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

channel used by the far right, commemorating some Greek neo-Nazis; and the GUD slogan “Europe, Youth, Revolution” appeared on stickers in Paris and chants at a right-wing demonstration in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. Its activists were reported to be drawn from far-right trade union , the ultra-right group the

Zouaves The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

traditionalist Catholics 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 (1 ...

from Versailles, and

football hooligans Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...

Members

Successive leaders of the GUD were: Alain Robert, Jack Marchal, Jean-François Santacroce, Serge Rep, Philippe Cuignache, Charles-Henri Varaut, Frédéric Chatillon, William Bonnefoy, Benoît Fleury.

Military volunteers

Some GUD members have fought in

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

in 1976, Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s and in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

during

Karen conflict The Karen conflict is an armed conflict in Kayin State, Myanmar (formerly known as Karen State, Burma). It is a part of the wider internal conflict in Myanmar, the world's longest ongoing civil war. Karen nationalists have been fighting for ...

. In 1985 member of the GUD Jean-Philippe Courrèges was killed in action fighting for the KNLA. GUD members have had links with the '' Department of Protection-Security'', which is the security organization of the far-right political party National Front. Former member of the GUD was member of the

FLNC The National Liberation Front of Corsica ( co, Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica or ; french: Front de libération nationale corse, abbreviated FLNC) was a militant group that advocates an independent state on the island of Corsica, s ...

.Alain Orsoni: seul face à sa peur
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Frédéric Chatillon, Thomas Lagane et Jack Marchal (dir.), ''Les Rats maudits. Histoire des étudiants nationalistes 1965-1995'', Éditions des Monts d'Arrée, 1995, . *

Roger Griffin Roger David Griffin (born 31 January 1948) is a British professor of modern history and political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His principal interest is the socio-historical and ideological dynamics of fascism, as well as v ...

, ''Net gains and GUD reactions: patterns of prejudice in a Neo-fascist groupuscule'',

Patterns of Prejudice Patterns of Prejudice is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the study of historical and contemporary intolerance and social exclusion. Published by Taylor & Francis, the articles are selected via a double-blind method, and publications ...

, vol. 33, n°2, 1999, p. 31-50. * Collectif, ''Bêtes et méchants. – Petite histoire des jeunes fascistes français'', Paris, Éditions Reflex, 2002, .

External links

GUD - ''Histoire des étudiants nationalistes 1965-1995'' (History of nationalist students 1965-1995)
Student societies in France Far-right politics in France French nationalism Anti-communist organizations Neo-fascist organizations Third Position {{France-poli-stub