The Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans (French: ''Union de défense des commerçants et artisans''), known as Union and French Fraternity (French: ''Union et fraternité française)'' after 1956, was a

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

political party in France from 1953 to 1962, led by

Pierre Poujade Pierre Poujade (; 1 December 1920 – 27 August 2003) was a French right-wing populist politician after whom the Poujadist movement was named. Biography Pierre Poujade was born in Saint-Céré (Le Lot), France, and studied at Collège Saint- ...

History

The Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans was founded in 1953 by

as a tax protest organisation in the Lot Department in

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

. It published a newspaper, ''Fraternité française''. It also had an anthem, written by

André Montagard André Montagard (; 1888 – 28 February 1963) was a French songwriter and poet. He wrote the lyrics to several songs, including ''Maréchal, nous voilà !'', one of the unofficial national anthems during Vichy France. He published four poetry col ...

in 1955. Poujade recruited up to 800,000 members. In the 1956 legislative election the party took 12.62% of the vote, winning 52 seats 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 repr ...

, primarily from rural areas. In the assembly, the party changed its name to ''Union et fraternité françaises'' (Union and French Fraternity). One of its deputies was a young

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

, elected for the

Seine Department Seine is a former department of France, which encompassed Paris and its immediate suburbs. It was the only enclaved department of France, being surrounded entirely by the former Seine-et-Oise department. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE n ...

's 3rd

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. The party sat in opposition to

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Ministe ...

's government. The movement promoted the repeal of taxes for small business owners. By 1958, it had become strongly opposed to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

's policy of

decolonisation Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. It was also opposed to the proposed

European Defence Community European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

. It supported a "new Estates General" which would restructure the political system. It exhibited some

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

tendencies; its leader said that " rime Minister Pierre Mendès France, who was Jewish">Pierre_Mendès_France.html" ;"title="rime Minister Pierre Mendès France">rime Minister Pierre Mendès France, who was Jewishis French only as the word added to his name". After

re-entered the political fray in 1958, the movement largely faded from view, failing to hold its position in the 1958 French legislative election">1958 legislative election. Deprived of its parliamentary representation, it dissolved in 1962 because of infighting.

References

1953 establishments in France 1962 disestablishments in France French nationalist parties Far-right political parties in France Right-wing populism in France Tax resistance in France French Fourth Republic History of the National Rally (France) Jean-Marie Le Pen Defunct far-right parties Defunct political parties in France Antisemitism in France Reactions to the Algerian War Anti-Arabism in France Antisemitic political parties {{France-poli-stub