François de La Rocque (; 6 October 1885 – 28 April 1946) was the leader of the French right-wing league the

Croix de Feu , logo = Croix de Feu.svg , logo_size = 200px , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = 11 November 1927 , dissolution = 10 January 1936 , successor = Fr ...

from 1930 to 1936 before he formed the more moderate nationalist

French Social Party , logo = French Social Party emblem.svg , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = , dissolution = , predecessor = Croix-de-Feu , headquarters = Rue de Milan, P ...

(1936–1940), which has been described by several historians, such as

René Rémond René Rémond (; 30 September 1918 – 14 April 2007) was a French historian, political scientist and political economist. Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques (JEC France in 1943) and a ...

and

Michel Winock Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

, as a precursor of Gaullism.

Early life

La Roque was born on 6 October 1885 in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, the third son of a family from

Haute-Auvergne Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...

. His parents were General Raymond de La Rocque, commander of the artillery defending the Lorient Naval Base, and Anne Sollier. He entered

Saint Cyr Military Academy In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

in 1905 in a class known as "Promotion la Dernière du Vieux Bahut". He graduated in 1907 and was posted to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and the edge of the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

and in 1912 to

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lun ...

. The next year, he was called to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

by General

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in ...

. Despite the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, La Roque remained there until 1916 as officer of native affairs, when he was gravely wounded and repatriated to France. Meanwhile, his older brother Raymond, a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the army, had been killed in action in 1915. However, La Roque volunteered to fight on the Western Front and was sent to the trenches of

the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

to command a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

. After the First World War ended in 1918, he was assigned to the interallied staff of Marshal

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...

, but in 1921 he went to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

with the French Military Mission under General

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy in Paris. After graduating in 1 ...

. In 1925, he was made chief of the Second Bureau in the

Rif War The Rif War () was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by History of France, France in 1924) and the Berbers, Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at ...

during Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

's campaign against

Abd el-Krim Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi (; Tarifit: Muḥend n Ɛabd Krim Lxeṭṭabi, ⵎⵓⵃⵏⴷ ⵏ ⵄⴰⴱⴷⵍⴽⵔⵉⵎ ⴰⵅⵟⵟⴰⴱ), better known as Abd el-Krim (1882/1883, Ajdir, Morocco – 6 February 1963, Cairo, Egypt) ...

in Morocco. La Rocque resigned from the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

in 1927 with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Croix de Feu and February 6, 1934 crisis

La Rocque came from the

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

and

social Catholic Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...

movement created by Félicité Robert de Lamennais in the late 19th century. He then joined the Croix de Feu in 1929, two years after it had been formed, and took it over in 1930. He quickly transformed the veterans' league; created a paramilitary organisation (''les dispos'', short for ''disponibles'' – availables); and formed a youth organization, the Sons and Daughters of the Croix de Feu (''fils et filles de Croix de Feu''). He also accepted anybody who accepted the league's ideology in the ''Volontaires nationaux'' group (National Volunteers). The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

made La Rocque add to its

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

ideology a social program of defense of the national economy against foreign competition, protection of the French workforce, lower taxes, fighting speculation and criticisms of the state's influence on the economy. That was overall a vague program, and La Rocque stopped short of giving it the clearly antirepublican and fascist aspect that some National Volunteers demanded of him. La Rocque concentrated on organizing military parades and was very proud of having taken over the Interior Ministry by two Croix de Feu columns on the eve of the

February 6, 1934 riots February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

. The Croix de Feu took part in the far-right demonstrations in Paris, with two groups, one on the rue de Bourgogne, the other near the ''

Petit Palais The Petit Palais (; en, Small Palace) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

''. They were to converge on the

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the '' Rive Gauche'' of the Seine, across from the Place de la Con ...

, the seat of the National Assembly, but La Rocque ordered the disbandment of the demonstration around 8:45 p.m., when the other far-right leagues started rioting on ''

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. ...

'' in front of the Palais Bourbon. Only lieutenant-colonel de Puymaigre, a member of the Croix de Feu and also a Parisian municipal counsellor, attempted to force the police barrage. After the riots, the French far right and sections of the moderate right criticised him for not having attempted to overthrow the Third Republic. The journalist

Alexander Werth Alexander Werth (4 February 1901, St Petersburg – 5 March 1969, Paris) was a Russian-born, naturalized British writer, journalist, and war correspondent. Biography Werth fled with his father and grandfather to the United Kingdom in the wak ...

argued: :At that time the Croix de Feu, the Royalists, the Solidarité and the Jeunesses Patriotes had no more than a few thousand active members between them, and that they would have been incapable of a real armed uprising. What they reckoned on was the support of the Paris public as a whole; and the most that they could reasonably have aimed at was the resignation of the Daladier Government. When this happened, on February 7, Colonel de la Rocque announced that 'the first objective had been attained.'

Parti Social Français

In June 1936 the

Croix-de-Feu , logo = Croix de Feu.svg , logo_size = 200px , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = 11 November 1927 , dissolution = 10 January 1936 , successor = F ...

, along with all other French far-right leagues, was dissolved by the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

government, and La Rocque then formed the

Parti Social Français , logo = French Social Party emblem.svg , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = , dissolution = , predecessor = Croix-de-Feu , headquarters = Rue de Milan, P ...

or PSF (1936), which lasted until the German invasion of 1940. Until 1940, the PSF took an increasingly-moderate position to become the first French right-wing mass party, with 600,000 to 800,000 members between 1936 and 1940. Its programme was nationalist but not openly fascist. The French historians

Pierre Milza Pierre Milza (16 April 193228 February 2018) was a French historian. His work focused mainly on the history of Italy, the history of Italian immigration to France and the history of fascism, of which he was a recognized specialist. He was prof ...

and

consider that the success of the moderate, Christian social and democratic PSF prevented the French middle class from falling into

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. Milza wrote "

Populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

and nationalist, the PSF is more anti-parliamentarian than anti-republican". He reserved the term "fascism" for

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 ...

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), insisting on the latter party's

anticommunism 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 ...

as an important trait of the new form of fascism. However, that characterisation of the PSF has been questioned; for example, Robert Soucy has argued that the differences between the PSF and fascist movements in Italy and Germany were more superficial than their similarities and that La Rocque was "a dyed-in-the-wool fascist".

Second World War

After the Battle of France of 1940, La Rocque accepted "without restrictions" the terms of the June 1940 Armistice and reorganised the PSF which became the ''Progrès Social Français'' (French Social Progress). La Rocque also accepted the "principle of collaboration", upheld by Marshal

in December 1940. However, at the same time, he was attacked by sectors of the far right, which claimed that he had founded his newspaper with funds from a "Jewish consortium". His attitude remained ambiguous, as he wrote an article in '' Le Petit Journal'' of October 5, 1940 concerning "The Jewish Question in Metropolitan France and North Africa" (''La question juive en métropole et en Afrique du Nord''). H. R. Knickerbocker wrote in 1941 that the ''Petit Journal'' with La Rocque as editor "assumed a more courageously anti-German attitude after the armistice than did most other papers published under the control of the Vichy government". La Rocque approved the repeal of the Crémieux decrees, which had given

French citizenship French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

to Jews in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, but he did not follow the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

in its racist radicalization. He also condemned the ultracollaborationist ''

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 ...

''. La Rocque changed orientation in September 1942 by declaring, "Collaboration was incompatible with Occupation". He entered contact with the '' Réseau Alibi'', which tied to the British

Intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

. He then formed the '' Réseau Klan'' Resistance network with some members of the PSF. La Rocque rejected the laws on the

STO STO may refer to: Businesses and organizations Government * Science & Technology Organization, a NATO organization * ''Service du travail obligatoire'', French men & women between certain ages deported to Germany during WWII to work as slave la ...

, which forced young Frenchmen to work in Germany, and he also threatened to expel any member of the PSF who joined Joseph Darnand's

Milice The ''Milice française'' (French Militia), generally called ''la Milice'' (literally ''the militia'') (), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime (with German aid) to help fight against the Fre ...

or the LVF. He was arrested in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

on March 9, 1943 by the SIPO-SD German police along with 152 high ranking PSF members in Paris, allegedly because he had been trying to convince Pétain to go to North Africa. He was deported first to , now in the Czech Republic; then to

Itter Castle Itter Castle (german: Schloss Itter) is a 19th-century castle in Itter, a village in Tyrol, Austria. In 1943, during World War II, it was turned into a Nazi prison for French VIPs. The castle was the site of an extraordinary instance of the U.S. ...

, Austria, where he found former President of the Council

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II. Daladier was born in Carpe ...

and Generals

Maurice Gamelin Maurice Gustave Gamelin (, 20 September 1872 – 18 April 1958) was an army general in the French Army. Gamelin is remembered for his disastrous command (until 17 May 1940) of the French military during the Battle of France (10 May–22 June 1940 ...

and

. Ill, he was interned in March 1945 in a hospital in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

and was freed by US soldiers on May 8, 1945. He returned to France on May 9, and was placed under administrative internment, allegedly to keep him away from political negotiations, especially from the ''

Conseil national de la Résistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...

'' (CNR), the unified organisation of the resistance. After being released, he was placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

and died on April 28, 1946.

Political heritage

The

(PSF) of François de La Rocque has been described as the first right-wing mass party in France (1936–1940). He advocated: * a presidential regime to end the instability of the parliamentary regime. * an economic system founded upon "organised professions" (

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 ...

). * social legislation inspired by

Social Christianity Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

. Several historians consider that he paved the way to two leading parties of the post-war "republican Right", the Christian democratic

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...

(MRP) and the

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...

Union of Democrats for the Republic The Union for the Defence of the Republic (french: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (french: Union des Démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist p ...

References

Bibliography

* François de la Rocque, ''Pour la conférence du désarmement. La Sécurité française'', Impr. De Chaix, 1932. * François de la Rocque, ''Service public'', Grasset, 1934. * François de la Rocque, ''Le Mouvement Croix de feu au secours de l'agriculture française'', Mouvement Croix de feu, 1935. * François de la Rocque, ''Pourquoi j'ai adhéré au Parti social français'', Société d'éditions et d'abonnements, Paris, décembre 1936. * Mouvement social français de Croix-de-Feu, ''Pourquoi nous sommes devenus Croix de Feu (manifeste)'', Siège des groupes, Clermont, 1937. * François de la Rocque, ''Union, esprit, famille, discours prononcé par La Rocque au Vél'd'hiv'', Paris, 28 janvier 1938, Impr. Commerciale, 1938. * François de la Rocque, ''Paix ou guerre (discours prononcé au Conseil national du P.S.F., suivi de l'ordre du jour voté au Conseil ; Paris, 22 avril 1939)'', S.E.D.A., Paris, 1939. * François de la Rocque, ''Discours, Parti social français. Ier Congrès national agricole. 17-18 février 1939., SEDA, 1939. * François de la Rocque, ''Disciplines d'action'', Editions du Petit Journal, Clermont-Ferrand, 1941. * François de la Rocque, ''Au service de l'avenir, réflexions en montagne'', Société d'édition et d'abonnement, 1949. * Amis de la Rocque (ALR), ''Pour mémoire : La Rocque, les Croix de feu et le Parti social français'', Association des amis de La Rocque, Paris, 1985. * Amis de La Rocque (ALR), Bulletin de l'association.

Studies

* Kevin Passmore, ''From liberalism to fascism : the right in a French province, 1928-1939'', Cambridge university press, 1997. *Jacques Nobécourt, ''Le Colonel de la Rocque, ou les pièges du nationalisme chrétien', Fayard, Paris, 1996. *

, ''Le siècle des intellectuels'', Seuil, 1999.

External links

*
Biography of François de La ROCQUE
* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Rocque, Francois de 1885 births 1946 deaths Politicians from Lorient Politicians of the French Third Republic French military personnel of World War I French Resistance members École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni French Army officers French Social Party politicians Right-wing populism in France