Jeune Nation (; English: Young Nation) was a French
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
,
neo-Pétainist and
neo-fascist
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...
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 ...
movement founded in 1949 by
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 nationalist ...
and his brothers. Inspired by
Fascist Italy and
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 ter ...
, the group attracted support from many young nationalists during the
Algerian war
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
(1954–62), especially in the
French colonial army
The ''Troupes coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' ("Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the military forces of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were de ...
. Promoting street violence and extra-parliamentarian insurrection against the
Fourth Republic, members hoped the turmoils of the
wars of decolonization would lead to a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
followed by a nationalist regime. Jeune Nation was the most significant French neo-fascist movement during the 1950s, gathering at its height 3,000 to 4,000 members.
Suspected of a bomb attack 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 repre ...
, Jeune Nation was dissolved by official decree during the
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacem ...
. The organization nonetheless survived through the 1960s via several other nationalist organizations, primarily the
Federation of Nationalist Students
The Federation of Nationalist Students (''french: Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes'', FEN) was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as ...
(1960–1967), 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 att ...
(1961–1962), ''
Europe-Action
''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...
'' (1963–1966),
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
L'Œuvre Française
L'Œuvre Française (, OF; English: "The French Work"), also called L'Œuvre (), was a French nationalist, néo-Pétainist and antisemitic far-right movement founded in 1968 by Pierre Sidos. Inspired by the "semi-fascist"See:
* Vichy France: St ...
(1968–2013), all established by former Jeune Nation members.
History
Background: 1943–1948
Jeune Nation's founder,
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 nationalist ...
, joined the fascist
Parti Franciste in 1943 at 16 years old, the minimum required age. His father, François Sidos, was executed in 1946 for his involvement in the
Vichy
Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais.
It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...
paramilitary
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 France, Vichy regime (with Nazi Germany, German aid) t ...
. Pierre avoided a harsher sentence since a minor at the time of the events and was convicted to five years in jail. The time he spent serving his sentence comforted the political convictions he had built before and during the war, and Pierre Sidos began to imagine "Jeune Nation" during prison time.
Discredited by earlier European far-right experiences, French nationalist parties scored poorly in elections from the fall of fascism in 1945 until the rise of 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:
...
in the 1980s. Neo-fascists groups nonetheless saw in the immediate post-war new reasons to swing into action, mainly the fight against
communist expansion and the defense of the
French empire
French Empire (french: Empire Français, link=no) may refer to:
* First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 and by Napoleon II in 1815, the French state from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815
* Second French Empire, led by Nap ...
against
decolonization
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
.
Creation and emergence: 1949–1953
Released earlier from prison on 4 August 1948, Sidos quickly contacted his brothers François et Jacques to help him work on his project. In 1949, the final structure of the organization had been designed but the Sidos brothers lacked money, and far-right sponsors were not abundant in the immediate post-war. Pierre then requested assistance from Jeanne Pajot, a rich
bonapartist
Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...
and a friend of
Pierre Taittinger
Pierre-Charles Taittinger (4 October 1887 – 22 January 1965) was the founder of the Taittinger champagne house and chairman of the municipal council of Paris in 1943–1944 during the German occupation of France, in which position he pl ...
, former leader of 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 creati ...
. She accepted to fund them and the movement—called at that time "La Jeune Nation"—held its first presentation on 22 October 1949 in Pajot's apartment.
In 1952, they published a monthly magazine, ''Peuple de France et d'Outre-mer'' ("People of France and Overseas France"). The movement also tried to establish links with other nationalist right-wingers abroad and Sidos went to London to visit fellow groups.
They were soon joined by other nationalists like Albert Heuclin, Jean Marot, Jacques Wagner and
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 ...
.
On 23 March 1950, the group was officially declared to the
Prefecture of Police In France, a Prefecture of Police (french: Préfecture de police), headed by the Prefect of Police (''Préfet de police''), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Pol ...
, but it remained publicly unknown for several years. In 1954, two events changed the destiny of Jeune Nation: the end of the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
on July 20, and the beginning of the
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
on November 1.
Street violence: 1954–1957
The movement experienced a sudden fame and a rise in membership after the return of military personnel from south-East Asia. On 11 November 1954, ten days after the beginning of the
Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
, Pierre Sidos announced the official birth of the movement "Jeune Nation" under its final name. Tixier-Vignancour, opposed to violent actions, soon left the group to create his own organization, the
Rassemblement National Français
''Rassemblement National Français'' (RNF) (French, 'French National Rally') was a French far-right party active between 1954 and 1957.
Rassemblement National Français was founded on 20 May 1954 by Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour and Maurice Bard ...
. Jeune Nation held its first congress on 11 November 1955, when they adopted 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 ...
as their emblem. Dismissing mass parties, Sidos aimed at creating a small and faithful army, with a revolutionary general staff ready to seize power and rule as a
military junta
A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
when their moment has come.
Labeling themselves the "successors of
those of 1934" and targeting young people in their recruitment, Jeune Nation was joined in 1956 by
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 wi ...
, then 21, who later opposed Sidos and mark a shift between
euro-nationalism and the "nostalgic
neo-Petainists of
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 nationalist ...
."
If they were largely inspired by the ideologies of
fascist Italy and
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 ter ...
, Jeune Nation however began to break with the
collaborationist
Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory".
The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...
circles that had been protecting them since Sidos' prison time. As
Gaullists
Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...
and former resisters were joining their ranks during the Algerian war, Sidos banned any evocation of the period 1933–1945 among its militants, with only a few events like the commemorations of
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 liberat ...
or that of
6 February 1934 allowed to take place.
The group was known for their violent attacks, especially on communists. On 9–10 October 1954, a commando led by Sidos
carjacked
Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...
a van transporting issues of the communist newspaper ''
L’Humanité Dimanche'', then destroyed them and assaulted the driver who died a few months later as a result of his injuries. A few days later, Sidos sent a letter to the newspaper ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' to "formally disapprove of the individual violence committed in recent times".
In March 1958,
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 ...
testified at the trial of four accused Jeune Nation militants. During demonstrations organized on 8 November 1956 to denounce the Soviet military intervention in the
Hungarian Uprising, Jeune Nation stormed and partly set to fire the headquarters of 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. A ...
in Paris. In the midst of protests at
place de l'Étoile
Place Charles de Gaulle (), historically known as the Place de l'Étoile (), is a large road junction in Paris, France, the meeting point of twelve straight avenues (hence its historic name, which translates as "Square of the Star") including t ...
in April 1954, they mauled Prime Minister
Joseph Laniel
Joseph Laniel (; 12 October 18898 April 1975) was a French conservative politician of the Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful ...
and Minister of Defense
René Pleven
René Pleven (; 15 April 1901 – 13 January 1993) was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant ...
, and on 25 November 1957 Jeune Nation organized a violent protest in front of the American embassy to denounce arms exports towards Algeria.
Dissolution and recreation attempts: 1958–1960
Jeune Nation was dissolved on 15 May 1958 by an official decree of
Jules Moch
Jules Salvador Moch (15 March 1893, in Paris – 1 August 1985, in Cabris, Alpes-Maritimes) was a French politician.
Biography
Moch was born into a renowned French Jewish military family, the son of Captain Gaston Moch and Rébecca Alice Po ...
, then
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
, two days after the putsch of Algiers and the beginning of the
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacem ...
. The group had been suspected of a bomb attack that occurred on 6 February 1958 in a lavatory at 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 repre ...
and was involved in the troubles of May 13 in Algeria.
The association was regardless declared again under a new name to the
Police Prefecture on 7 October 1958, and officially recreated as "Parti Nationaliste" by
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 nationalist ...
and
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 wi ...
during a congress attended by around 600 people on 6–8 February 1959. The new organization was designed by Venner as a coordination structure for all far-right movements in France via a ''Comité d’Entente'' (Entente Committee). It was dissolved only four days later on 12 February 1959 following violent protests against Prime Minister
Michel Debré
Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...
in Algeria. Both Venner and Sidos were eventually arrested, respectively in April 1961 and July 1962, after the issue of an arrest warrant on 24 January 1960 for "recreating a disbanded league" and "compromising State security". They were convicted on 19 June 1963 to a suspended 3-year jail sentence and a 2,000
Fr fine.
The bi-monthly magazine ''Jeune Nation'', launched on 5 July 1958 to serve as an ideological organ for the rebirth of the group, was not affected by the new dissolution of February 1959. The periodical, which violently attacked
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
as far as calling for his assassination, had turned into a monthly magazine in January after financial and readership issues. Articles were written by
Jacques Ploncard d'Assac
Jacques Ploncard (13 March 1910 – 20 February 2005), also called "Jacques Ploncard d'Assac", was a French writer and journalist and a political activist – he was, among other things, a member of the Parti Populaire Français. Following the fa ...
,
Henry Coston
Henry Coston (Paris, 20 December 1910 – Caen, Normandy, 26 July 2001) was a French far-right, anti-Semitic journalist, collaborationist and conspiracy theorist.
Biography
After joining the Action française, Coston was influenced by journali ...
,
Pierre-Antoine Cousteau
Pierre-Antoine Cousteau (18 March 1906 – 17 December 1958) was a French polemicist and journalist. He was the brother of the explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
Leftist activism
He was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, and educated in the Un ...
or Tixier-Vignancour.
Joined by the young
François d'Orcival
Amaury de Chaunac-Lanzac (born 11 February 1942), better known as François d'Orcival, is a French conservative journalist and essayist. He is the president of the editorial committee at '' Valeurs Actuelles'' and sits on the board of directors of ...
, Pierre Poichet and Georges Schmeltz (known as "Pierre Marcenet") in September 1959, the last issue of the magazine ''Jeune Nation'' was seized four months later by the police on 28 January 1960. The three students then decided to found on 12 April 1960 the
Federation of Nationalist Students
The Federation of Nationalist Students (''french: Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes'', FEN) was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as ...
(FEN). Initially in favour of the project, Sidos eventually opposed to the
euro-nationalist stance introduced by Venner and adopted by the FEN. He broke with the latter in 1964 to create
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 ...
.
Ideology
Jeune Nation defended
anti-parliamentarianism
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 ...
,
corporatism
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
, the
French army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
and the
colonial empire
A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas, settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state.
Before the expansion of early mode ...
,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
,
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, as well as violent actions to overthrow the regime. They also dismissed
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
,
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
and its embodiment: the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Agenda
Their political agenda was the establishment of an "authoritarian and popular, national and social State," similar to the ''
Révolution nationale
The ''Révolution nationale'' (, ''National Revolution'') was the official ideological program promoted by the Vichy regime (the “French State”) which had been established in July 1940 and led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain's regime wa ...
'' 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 ter ...
: a new army to "educate the youth", the expropriation of housings formerly possessed by "expelled ''métèques''
ogsdeemed undesirable", an
Italian fascist-like
corporatist unionism, the "elimination of stateless capitalism and effortless incomes" and the founding of a state led by a "selected and politically educated" elite. Jeune Nation was however less
vichyst than other contemporary nostalgic movements that aimed essentially at defending the memory of
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...
.
The movement tried to launch a revolutionary fight outside of the parliamentary system in order to overthrow the
Fourth Republic, which was according to them "the only hope for nationalism". Jean Malardier, adherent of Jeune Nation and former
LVF member, described the group as "aspiring and devoting the whole of itself to the national insurrection". The ideas of "democracy" and "decadence" were interwoven in the group's analysis of the society and their doctrine stated that "fighting against
rance'sdecadence
eantfighting against the
emocraticregime". Jeune Nation also referred to the achievement of a "second revolution", the first one being
that of 1940 and evidently not
that of 1789. They also envisaged the construction of Europe "from Narvik to Cape Town" and "from Brest to Bucharest", "founded on the common civilization and destiny of the white race".
Structure
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 nationalist ...
was the chief ideologue and leader of Jeune Nation. His brother François served as the president, and Jean Malardier as the treasurer. The leadership team was called the "conductoire".
Symbols
The group used 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 ...
as their symbol, which may come from an initiation to Celtic
esotericism
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...
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 nationalist ...
received in prison (1946–48) from Marcel Bibé, a former
Bezen Perrot
The Bezen Perrot ( Breton; ), officially the Breton SS Armed Formation (german: Bretonische Waffenverband der SS) was a small collaborationist unit established by Breton nationalists in German-occupied France during World War II. It was ...
member. During his internment, Sidos began to write about
druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
ism and the Celtic Cross, which he described as the allegory of the "walking sun and universal life" in his prison notes.
Sidos has stated that he was looking for a simple emblem to reproduce, unlike the eagle or the wild boar used by fascist groups at that time. Since its 1949 revival by Jeune Nation, the symbol has become popular among far-right movements in France and beyond in Europe.
Notable members
*
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 nationalist ...
— founder of Jeune Nation,
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 ...
and
L'Œuvre Française
L'Œuvre Française (, OF; English: "The French Work"), also called L'Œuvre (), was a French nationalist, néo-Pétainist and antisemitic far-right movement founded in 1968 by Pierre Sidos. Inspired by the "semi-fascist"See:
* Vichy France: St ...
*
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 wi ...
— founder of ''
Europe-Action
''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...
''
*
François d'Orcival
Amaury de Chaunac-Lanzac (born 11 February 1942), better known as François d'Orcival, is a French conservative journalist and essayist. He is the president of the editorial committee at '' Valeurs Actuelles'' and sits on the board of directors of ...
— member of the editorial committee at ''
Valeurs Actuelles''
*
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 ...
— candidate in the
1965 presidential election
*
Jean-Jacques Susini — co-founder of 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 att ...
*
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 introducti ...
— founding member of 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:
...
*
Richard Bohringer
Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor.
Personal life
Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...
—
César Award for Best Actor
This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actor (french: César du meilleur acteur).
History
Superlatives
Winners 1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Multiple wins and nominations
The following indiv ...
recipient
*
Pierre Bousquet
Pierre Bousquet (November 1919 – 27 August 1991) was a French journalist and far-right politician. A former section leader (''Rottenführer'') in the Waffen-SS Charlemagne Division, Bousquet was the first treasurer and a founding member of th ...
— founding member of 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:
...
*
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 ...
*Alain Robert
Legacy
Continuity
Jeune Nation formed the most significant part of civil members in the pro-colonial paramilitary group
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 att ...
(OAS), founded in 1961. If they tried to import the OAS structures into Europe (via OAS-Métro), they never managed to spread the armed insurrection outside of Algeria.
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 nationalist ...
created
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 ...
in 1964, but broke with the group in 1965–1966. He then founded
L'Œuvre Française
L'Œuvre Française (, OF; English: "The French Work"), also called L'Œuvre (), was a French nationalist, néo-Pétainist and antisemitic far-right movement founded in 1968 by Pierre Sidos. Inspired by the "semi-fascist"See:
* Vichy France: St ...
in 1968, and remained its leader until 2012.
Following the ban of its organ ''Le Soleil'' in 1990, L'Œuvre Française founded in early 1994 in new magazine named ''Jeune Nation''. L'Œuvre dissolved by official decree on 24 July 2013 along with its youth movement, "Jeunesses Nationalistes", the website was re-activated by nationalist militants
Yvan Benedetti and Alexandre Gabriac, with the copyright "1958–2013 Jeune Nation".
Post-fascist split
The
Federation of Nationalist Students
The Federation of Nationalist Students (''french: Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes'', FEN) was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as ...
(FEN) was created in 1960 by former Jeune Nation students after the publication of a "Manifesto of the Class of '60" where they committed themselves to "action of profound consequence", as opposed to "sterile activism", thus breaking with the street insurrection previously advocated by Jeune Nation.
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 wi ...
launched his nationalist magazine ''
Europe-Action
''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...
'' in 1963 and aimed at removing "old ideas" from nationalism and fascism, such as
anti-parliamentarianism
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 ...
,
anti-intellectualism
Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, and science as impractical, politically mo ...
or a patriotism reduced to the boundaries of the nation-state—promoting instead a
pan-European nationalism
European nationalism (sometimes called pan-European nationalism) is a form of nationalism based on a pan-European identity. It is considered minor since the National Party of Europe disintegrated in the 1970s.
History
The former British Union of ...
. Venner also abandoned the myth of the ''coup de force'' ("power grab") and asserted that a political revolution would not be able to happen before a cultural one, which could be reached only via the public promotion of nationalist ideas until they achieve majority approval.
See also
*
Parti Franciste; first movement joined by Pierre Sidos in 1943,
*
Federation of Nationalist Students
The Federation of Nationalist Students (''french: Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes'', FEN) was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as ...
, 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 att ...
, ''
Europe-Action
''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...
'',
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 ...
and
L'Œuvre Française
L'Œuvre Française (, OF; English: "The French Work"), also called L'Œuvre (), was a French nationalist, néo-Pétainist and antisemitic far-right movement founded in 1968 by Pierre Sidos. Inspired by the "semi-fascist"See:
* Vichy France: St ...
; main organizations that succeeded Jeune Nation,
*
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the Republicanism, republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of ...
and
Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
; for historical context.
References
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official site of the Jeune Nation newspaper (Yvan Benedetti)
{{French far right
Neo-fascist organizations
Defunct political parties in France
Fascist parties in France
French nationalist parties
Far-right politics in France
Far-right politics in Europe