The League of Patriots (french: Ligue des Patriotes) was a French

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 of ...

, founded in 1882 by the

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 ...

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 ''R ...

, historian

Henri Martin Henri Martin may refer to: *Henri Martin (historian) (1810–1883), French historian *Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin (1860–1943), French impressionist painter *Henri Martin (French politician) (1927–2015), French communist leader *Henri Martin (Am ...

and politician

Félix Faure Félix François Faure (; 30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899) was the President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Se ...

. The Ligue began as a non-partisan nationalist league, supported among others by writer

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, calling for ' revanche' (revenge for the French defeat during the Franco-Prussian War) against the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. One of the original purposes of the Ligue was to offer pre-military training, allowing members to participate in gymnastics and

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

shooting.

History

Ligue des Patriotes, manifestation, 14 juillet 1912

The league was formed with Léon Gambetta's blessing; Gambetta's education ministry included Déroulède in its Military Education Commission, which was also formed in 1882. However, during the

Boulanger affair 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 ...

, Déroulède co-opted the Ligue to support the general, alienating many Republican members. After Boulanger's exile in 1889, the Ligue was suppressed by the government. Upon the discovery that Victoria, the future German Empress, had stayed in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

and Saint-Cloud (a town destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War) during her unofficial visit to France in 1891, the Ligue incited a public uproar. The disorder surrounding the visit eventually resulted in the Crown Princess cutting her trip short and being escorted under French military protection, for her safety, to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

to board a ship to England. In 1898, the Ligue was revived to become involved in 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 ...

engaging in noisy and often violent

anti-Semitic 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 ...

, right-wing protests. At this stage, the Ligue is estimated to have had 60,000 members, largely in Paris. After a failed coup d'état attempt in 1899 at the

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

of President

, one of the Ligue's founders who later distanced himself from its positions,

was sentenced to exile from France for 10 years; the Ligue was again dissolved. Nevertheless, the nationalist author

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the Self'' in 1888. ...

became again its leader in 1914, at the eve of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Biographical notice
of Barrès on the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

's website Upon Barrès's death, General

Édouard de Castelnau Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne (1 ...

became leader, with

Alexandre Millerand Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the sta ...

as president of honour. De Castelnau became head of the

Fédération Nationale Catholique The Fédération Nationale Catholique (FNC) ( en, National Catholic Federation) was a French movement that was active in the 1920s and 1930s, with the purpose of defending the Catholic Church against secular trends in the governments of the time. T ...

, which made him resign the leadership in 1926, as well as the presidency in 1932. The Ligue was definitely dissolved in the late 1930s, after General Denis Auguste Duchêne briefly reformed it in 1939.

Notable members

* Ernest Boulanger, leader *

, founder *

, nationalist writer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligue Des Patriotes French Third Republic French far right leagues Proto-fascists Members of the Ligue des Patriotes