Paix et Liberté (, ''Peace and Liberty'') was an

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and 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, when the United States and the ...

movement that operated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the 1950s.

Founding

In response to the

Stockholm Appeal The Stockholm Appeal was an initiative launched by the World Peace Council on 19 March 1950 to promote nuclear disarmament and prevent atomic war. Background On 15 March 1950, the World Peace Council approved the Stockholm Appeal, calling for an ...

for

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

Jean-Paul David Jean-Paul David, (14 December 1912 – 31 July 2007), was a French politician. He was mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie between 1947 and 1977 and deputy for Seine-et-Oise (later Yvelines). Youth and early career Son of Ernest-Henri David (municipal c ...

, then Radical Socialist Party deputy mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie and later Secretary General of the

Rally of Republican Lefts The Rally of Republican Lefts (french: Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the ...

, created ''Paix et Liberté'' in 1950, to counter the activities of 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 ...

. Its propaganda efforts received substantial financial backing from 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

.René Sommer, "Paix et Liberté : la Quatrième République contre le PC", L'Histoire , n° 40. ''Paix et Liberté'' was one of the organizations of the "anti-Communist apparatus" booming during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. The organization had the support of

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 mea ...

, President of the Council and many other politicians of the time. But the experiment stopped in 1955 because of a thaw in international relations.

Propaganda

Paix et Liberté published, distributed and posted hundreds of thousands of posters in France in the 1950s. These posters were reproduced in the form of vignettes, attacking the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and communist ideology, but also the

and its leaders, such as

Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947. Pre-War Thorez, ...

and

Jacques Duclos Jacques Duclos (2 October 189625 April 1975) was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial ...

, accusing them of being agents of the USSR. Jean-Paul David also used the radio with his show ''Les causeries au coin du feu'' (fireside chats), which lasted only a few minutes, inaugurated on September 22, 1950.

Posters

"The dove that goes BOOM" (1950, 300,000 copies) was the first in a series of posters (on average 3 per month were released between 1950 and 1955). It parodied

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

's Dove of Peace, that

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...

had chosen to symbolize the congress of the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization with the self-described goals of advocating for universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mas ...

, held in Paris in April 1949. In this picture, the dove was shown metamorphosing into a Soviet

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

: its wings have become tank treads and its head a tank turret. This picture was later used at the end of the 1951 US Army anti-communist propaganda film '' The Big Lie''. In reference to the Stockholm Appeal (''L'appel de Stockholm'' in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

), a poster was produced of ''La pelle de Stockholm'' ("The shovel of Stockholm"), digging the grave of the countries in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

References

External links

Paix et Liberté - Graphical Posters

Paix et Liberté Collection at Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paix et Liberte French Fourth Republic Organizations established in 1950 Anti-communist organizations 1950 establishments in France Anti-communism in France Anti-communist propaganda

Founding

Propaganda

Posters

See also

References

External links