18990910 Edouard Drumont and Libre Parole

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 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 ...

, Albert Millot, and Marquis de Morès. First known under the name of (National Antisemitic League of France) or (French Antisemitic League), this nationalist league was particularly active during the Dreyfus Affair. Beside spreading

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 ...

propaganda, the League was also

anti-Masonry Anti-Masonry (alternatively called anti-Freemasonry) is "avowed opposition to Freemasonry",''Oxford English Dictionary'' (1979 ed.), p. 369. which has led to multiple forms of religious discrimination, violent persecution, and suppression in so ...

and

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 ...

. It had as general delegates

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 ...

was an active member of it. The League was located on rue Lepic in Paris. Its 1889 foundation was inspired by the success of Drumont's antisemitic pamphlet '' La France juive'' (1886), and also by the

Boulangist crisis 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 ...

. It was supported by newspapers such as Drumont's '' La Libre Parole''; Jules Guérin's French weekly '' L'Antijuif ( fr)'' (Paris, 1896-1902); the daily ''

La Cocarde LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

( fr)'' (1888-1907) founded by Georges de Labruyère ( fr) and edited September 1894 - March 1895 by

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. ...

; Henri Rochefort's '' L'Intransigeant''; and the Catholic newspaper ''

La Croix La Croix primarily refers to: * ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper * La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to: Places * Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...

''. Beside propaganda, the League also organized antisemitic demonstrations and provoked some riots, a method later generalized by the far-right leagues in France. It denounced the

Panama scandals Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...

, took side against

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

and spread conspiracy theories concerning the Masonry's alleged activities in the Third Republic. After a disagreement between Drumont and Guérin in 1899, the League became, under the direction of Guérin, the Grand Occident de France, still antisemitic but even more anti-Masonic, the name itself being a reaction against the Masonic

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonry, Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly ab ...

. It was thereafter essentially linked to Guérin's newspaper, ''L'Antijuif''. The League progressively disappeared after the "

Fort Chabrol A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...

" affair and the arrest of Guérin. After an initial surge during the Dreyfus Affair, far right leagues appeared again during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

References

{{Authority control Anti-communist organizations French far right leagues French nationalism Anti-Masonry Antisemitism in France Organizations established in 1889 Dreyfus affair

See also

References