Paul Jules André Marion (27 June 1899,
Asnières-sur-Seine
Asnières-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies on the left bank of the river Seine, some eight kilometres from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of ...
– 2 March 1954) was a French Communist and subsequently
far right journalist and political activist. He served as the French Minister of Information from 1941 to 1944.
Early years
Marion joined 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 ...
in 1922 and wrote for ''
L'Humanité
''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist."
History and profile
Pre-World Wa ...
'' as well as being elected to the party's central committee in 1926. After a spell in Moscow working for
Comintern he left the Communist Party to join the more moderate
Socialist Republican Union, which counted
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 ...
amongst its membership, in 1929. He switched his allegiance to the
Parti Populaire Français
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.
...
(PPF) in 1936. Despite his political origins Marion was quoted as saying that the PPF would ally itself with the
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
and his grandmother in order to defeat communism. In 1938 he published the Programme of the PPF, a document that defended capitalism as well as endorsing
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 ...
. Marion was widely associated with the more moderate tendency within the PPF, which emphasised anti-communism above all, as opposed to the openly fascist tendency loyal to
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, ...
. He also wrote for a number of right-wing journals, including
Jean Luchaire
Jean Luchaire (21 July 1901 – 22 February 1946) was a French journalist and politician who became the head of the French collaborationist press in Paris during the German military occupation. Luchaire supported the ''Révolution nationale'' d ...
's ''Notre Temps''.
The same year he was one of a group of leading members who split from the PPF, feeling that
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 ...
had become too fulsome in his support for
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
whilst also endorsing accusations that Doriot had been using his position to personally enrich himself. Marion was part of a loose group of leading members, unofficially led by
Pierre Pucheu, who left the party together in early 1939.
Vichy
Reunited with Doriot under the Vichy regime, he served as
Minister of Information
An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...
from 1941 to 1944. His power grew as he was elected to the controlling committee of the
Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (french: Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchévisme, LVF) was a unit of the German Army during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially design ...
and, along with
Jacques Benoist-Méchin, pushed to
Pierre Laval
Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occ ...
the idea that the group should become an official arm of the Vichy government. In his government office he also helped to create an Association of Friends of the
Waffen SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
, which played a central role in recruitment. He also attempted to use his position to politicise France's youth groups although in this endeavour he was unsuccessful. He remained in office until 1944 when a group of radicals briefly took power and he was replaced by
Philippe Henriot
Philippe Henriot (7 January 1889 – 28 June 1944) was a French poet, journalist, politician, and minister in the French government at Vichy, where he directed propaganda broadcasts. He also joined the Milice part-time.
Career
Philippe Henriot, ...
. Marion returned to office soon afterwards following Henriot's death and served in his former position when the Vichy government was shifted to
Belfort
Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...
, although by then it was effectively powerless.
Post-war
Sentenced on 14 December 1948 to ten years in prison, he was pardoned in 1953 for medical reasons, and died of illness in 1954. Although he took no further role in politics Marion was reported as advising friends and supporters to vote for the
Rally of the French People
The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle.
Foundation
The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resign ...
in the immediate post-war elections.
[Anderson, ''Conservative Politics in France'', p. 310]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marion, Paul
1899 births
1954 deaths
People from Asnières-sur-Seine
French Communist Party politicians
French Section of the Workers' International politicians
Socialist Republican Union politicians
French Popular Party politicians
Ministers of Information of France
Comintern people
People of Vichy France
French collaborators with Nazi Germany
French male writers
Former Marxists
French politicians convicted of crimes
Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
20th-century French journalists