Raoul Girardet
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Raoul Girardet (6 October 1917 – 18 September 2013) was a French historian who specialized in military societies, colonialism and French nationalism. As a young man he was involved with the right-wing
Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...
movement. He was not antisemitic, but was passionately nationalistic. During World War II he supported the
French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. Later he supported the OAS struggle against giving independence to Algeria.


Life

Raoul Girardet was born on 6 October 1917. His father, grandfather, uncle and cousin were career officers, and he was named after an uncle killed in action in September 1914 during
World War I 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 ...
. He attended the école Levert in Belleville and then the Lycée Voltaire in the
11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...
. He was influenced by the work of Péguy. In the 1930s he was involved in the right-wing
Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he studied at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
, where he was taught by
Pierre Renouvin Pierre Renouvin (January 9, 1893 – December 7, 1974) was a French historian of international relations. He was born in Paris and attended Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he was awarded his aggrégation in 1912. Renouvin spent 1912-1914 traveling in ...
and
Jérôme Carcopino Jérôme Carcopino (27 June 1881 – 17 March 1970) was a French historian and author. He was the fifteenth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française, in 1955. Biography Carcopino was born at Verneuil-sur-Avre, Eure, son of a ...
. He passed his ''
agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...
'' in History, qualifying as a teacher. He did not share the antisemitism of some followers of Maurras and eventually joined the resistance, like many other Action Française sympathizers. He was later awarded the
Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
1939–1945 and was made an officer of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
. At the start of the German occupation of France Roland Laudenbach co-edited the literary review ''Prétexte'' with Jean Turlais and François Sentein, and was associated with the theater company "Le Rideau des jeunes" led by Pierre Franck, whom he had met through
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
. ''Prétexte'' was replaced by ''Cahiers de la génération'' in 1941, and its team became the core of the ''Cahiers français'' published by the Vichy youth organization. The ''Cahiers français'' attracted nonconformists of the 1930s such as Louis Salleron, Jean de Fabrègues,
René Vincent René Vincent (1879–1936) was a French illustrator who was active in the 1920s-1930s. He worked in an Art Deco style and became famous for his poster designs. He was influential in the Art Deco movement in the period between the two world wars ...
and Pierre Andreu, and followers of
Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...
such as Raoul Girardet,
Antoine Blondin Antoine Blondin (11 April 1922 – 7 June 1991) was a French writer. He belonged to the literary group called the '' Hussards''. He was also a sports columnist in ''L'Équipe''. Blondin also wrote under the name Tenorio. Biography Blondin was ...
and Jean Turlais. Raoul Girardet specialized as a historian in military societies, the colonial concept and French nationalism. In 1953, as a teacher at the Lycée Lakanal, he published ''La Société militaire'', which attracted much attention. He was appointed assistant and then assistant master at the Sorbonne. During the
Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
he remained faithful to the idea of French Algeria, and thought that General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
had betrayed the people. To some extent he participated in the activities of the OAS in the "Action politique et propagande" branch, along with intellectuals such as François Bluche, Jules Monnerot and
Jacques Laurent Jacques Laurent or Jacques Laurent-Cély (6 January 1919 – 28 December 2000) was a French writer and journalist. He was born in Paris, the son of a barrister. During World War II, he fought with the Algerian Tirailleurs. Laurent was elect ...
. He wrote for ''L'Esprit public'', and signed a manifesto affirming the "civilizing mission" of the army in Algeria, along with writers such as
Roger Nimier Roger Nimier (31 October 1925 – 28 September 1962) was a French novelist. Life Nimier was born in Paris, and served in the French Army, specifically in the 2nd Hussard Regiment in the Second World War (until 1945). He began to write quite earl ...
and
Henri Massis Henri Massis (21 March 1886 – 16 April 1970) was a conservative French essayist, literary critic and literary historian. Biography Massis was born on 21 March 1886 in Paris, France. He attended Lycée Condorcet and University of Paris. He began ...
. In 1961 he was arrested for his activism in favour of the
OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
, which resisted giving Algeria independence. His involvement with the OAS earned him an arrest and time in jail. After this he mainly devoted himself to work on the major themes of nationalism, colonialism and the military question. He became a lecturer and then a professor at the
Institut d'études politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...
(IEP) in Paris. In the 1960s he taught a course at the IEP on "The Movement of Political Ideas in Contemporary France" with
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 Jean Touchard, Secretary General of the National Foundation for Political Science. He published reference works on The Military Society in France, French Nationalism and The Colonial Idea in France, And an essay on Myths and Political Mythologies. In 1990 in ''Singulièrement libre'', a book of interviews with the journalist Pierre Assouline, he reasserted his love of his country which led to his participation in the Resistance and is commitment to French Algeria. Girardet died on 18 September 2013 at the age of 95.


Publications

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Notes


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girardet, Raoul 1917 births 2013 deaths 20th-century French historians