The ''Volksfront'' ("People's Front") was a political coalition in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

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 ...

, that was formed in 1928 by the Popular Republican Union (UPR), a group of

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

led by

Charles Hueber Charles Louis Hueber (21 August 1883 – 18 August 1943) was an Alsatian politician. He was the mayor of Strasbourg between 1929 and 1935, and a member of the French National Assembly twice.Charles, Louis HUEBER (1883 - 1943)' Hueber became invo ...

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techno ...

led by Camille Dahlet and the Autonomist Landespartei. The ''Volksfront'' had the goals of greater autonomy for Alsace, safeguards for the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

, the promotion of the Alsatian economy and administrative autonomy for the region. The ''Volksfront'' largely represented a continuation of the defunct '' Heimatbund''.Fischer, Christopher J.
Alsace to the Alsatians?: Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870-1939
'. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010. pp. 198-199 The ''Volksfront'' showed some similarities of the 1911 National Union, which also had been a loose coalition.Fischer, Christopher J.
Alsace to the Alsatians?: Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870-1939
'. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010. pp. 179 Co-operation between Alsatian communists and clerical autonomists had begun with the events of

Bloody Sunday (1926) Bloody Sunday is a name given to political clashes that occurred in Colmar, Alsace, France on August 22, 1926. On that day the French Communist Party and the Colmar section of the Popular Republican Union (1919-1946), Popular Republican Union (a Ca ...

.Callahan, Kevin J., and Sarah Ann Curtis.
Views from the Margins: Creating Identities in Modern France
'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008. p. 146 Regarding the sensitive issue of relations between church and state, the ''Volksfront'' avoided publicly taking a clear stand. The ''Volksfront'' launched two candidates in a parliamentary by-election in 1928, which had been called as two elected autonomist assemblymen (

Eugène Ricklin Doctor Eugène Ricklin (1862 – 4 September 1935) was a popular Alsatian politician known for his fiery opposition both to German and French assimilationist policies in Alsace. Biography Eugène Ricklin was born in Dannemarie(German: ''Damme ...

and Joseph Rossé) had been allowed to take their seats): Marcel Stuermel and René Hauss. The ''Volksfront'' won the 1929 municipal election in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

by defeating the incumbent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

mayor,

Jacques Peirotes Jacques Peirotes (1869, Strasbourg - 1935) was a French and German politician, mayor of Strasbourg from 1919 to 1929. Biography The young Jacques Peirotes, son of a carpenter working at the locomotives factory of Graffenstaden, learned the job ...

, who had been backed by an anticlerical and assimilationist coalition. The ''Volksfront'' won 22 seats in the municipal council.Hülsen, Bernhard von.
Szenenwechsel im Elsass: Theater und Gesellschaft in Straßburg zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich : 1890 - 1944
'. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitäts-Verlag, 2003. pp. 169, 264 It formed a municipal government with Hueber as mayor and Michel Walter as deputy mayor and also gained a strong presence in the municipal election in

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

. After the election, the group around Hueber was expelled from 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 Unit ...

and formed the Opposition Communist Party of Alsace-Lorraine, which became a new constituent of the ''Volksfront''. As the ''Landespartei'' moved closer to

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

, with a discourse that was increasingly

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 ...

and antidemocratic, divisions began to appear in the ''Volksfront''. The UPR was alienated by the antidemocratic, anti-Catholic and antireligious discourse of the National Socialists and deserted the coalition, followed by Dahlet's Progressives in 1933. The ''Volksfront'' was dissolved in 1935.Goodfellow, Samuel.
From Communism to Nazism: The Transformation of Alsatian Communists
', in ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Vol. 27, No. 2 (Apr., 1992), pp. 231-258

References

{{reflist Alsace independence movement German diaspora political parties Political parties in Alsace