The National Popular Rally (french: Rassemblement national populaire, ''RNP'', 1941–1944) was a French political party and one of the main collaborationist parties under 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 ...

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 opposing ...

. Created in February 1941 by former members of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) of the

neosocialist Neosocialism was a political faction that existed in France and Belgium during the 1930s and which included several revisionist tendencies in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). During the 1930s, the faction gradually dista ...

tendency and led by

Marcel Déat Marcel Déat (7 March 1894 – 5 January 1955) was a French politician. Initially a socialist and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), he led a breakaway group of right-wing ' Neosocialists' out of the SFIO in 1933 ...

, the party was heavily influenced by

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 ...

and saw the circumstances of the occupation as an opportunity to revolutionize France.

February–October 1941: the RNP-MNR period

, a

expelled from the SFIO in November 1933 and former Minister, first proposed to create a single state party during the 1940 summer, immediately following the proclamation of the

. Briefly arrested by the

French police Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, ...

on 13 December 1940, he finally created the RNP in February 1941, which became one of the primary collaborationist parties, along with

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 ...

's French Popular Party (PPF),

Marcel Bucard Marcel Bucard (7 December 1895 – 13 March 1946) was a French Fascist politician. Early career A decorated soldier who earned a reputation for bravery in World War I, Bucard became active in politics after 1918, initially as a member of '' ...

's Francisme and Pierre Clémenti's French National-Collectivist Party. Immediately, the German authorities imposed a fusion between Marcel Déat's RNP and the far-right

Social Revolutionary Movement The Revolutionary Social Movement (in French: ''Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire'' MSR) was a fascist movement founded in France in September 1940. Its founder was Eugène Deloncle, who was previously associated with ''La Cagoule'' . The MSR supp ...

(MSR) of Eugène Deloncle, an inheritor of the

Cagoule A cagoule (), also spelled cagoul, kagoule or kagool, is the British English term for a lightweight weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood (usually without lining), which often comes in knee-length form.The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, The Ca ...

terrorist group. The first committee of direction of the RNP-MSR was composed of two RNP members and three MSR members: Marcel Déat, Jean Fontenoy, Jean Van Ormelingen (alias Jean Vanor), Eugène Deloncle and Jean Goy. However, the fusion between the RNP and the MSR was a failure, in part because Déat's RNP recruited mainly among former members of the

French Left The Left in France (french: gauche française) was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' Internatio ...

while the MSR was from the beginning located on the far-right of the political spectrum. The MSR conserved ''de facto'' its autonomy inside the RNP and was mainly charged of forming the RNP's security service. After the assassination attempt of Paul Collette against

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occ ...

, 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 Prime Minister and Marcel Déat on 27 August 1941, the latter accused the MSR of having attempted to eliminate him. Thereafter, the MSR was excluded from the RNP in October 1941, leading to the reorganization of the RNP (and exclusion of elements close to the MSR) until the first months of 1942.

The RNP without the MSR (after October 1941)

The ideology of the RNP was clearly of a fascist nature, advocating antisemitic and racist policies and sharing a strong admiration for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Despite this, it differed from

's French Popular Party (PPF) in that it maintained the principle of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

, public education, anti-clericalism or the conservation of sculptures of

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in ...

, a

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

symbol, in the townhalls. Those ideas created constant conflicts between the RNP and more reactionary elements of Vichy who also supported the ''

Révolution nationale The ''Révolution nationale'' (, ''National Revolution'') was the official ideological program promoted by the Vichy regime (the “French State”) which had been established in July 1940 and led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain's regime wa ...

'' ("National Revolution") and had been trained in the ''

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 fil ...

'' monarchist movement. On a tactic level, the RNP supported Pierre Laval and criticized the "Vichy reactionaries" and the PPF. Marcel Déat maintained close links with the German ambassador in Paris,

Otto Abetz Heinrich Otto Abetz (26 March 1903 – 5 May 1958) was the German ambassador to Vichy France during the Second World War and a convicted war criminal. In July 1949 he was sentenced to twenty years' hard labour by a Paris military tribunal, he was ...

, whilst Doriot turned himself towards the SS. After Laval's return to government in April 1942 and the Nazi occupation of the Southern Zone in November 1942, Déat focused all his efforts on creating a single party of the Collaboration which would permit him to impose himself as its sole leader. In November 1942, the leaders of the RNP, Déat and Georges Albertini, met with MSR leaders such as Georges Soulès. Following this meeting, the RNP created the National Revolutionary Front (''Front révolutionnaire national'', FRN) which gathered the main collaborationist parties, apart from Doriot's PPF. The FRN thus included the RNP-Labour Social Front, the MSR, the Parti franciste, the '' Groupe Collaboration'', the ''Jeunes de l'Europe nouvelle'' and the '' Comité d’action antibolchévique'' (Anti-Bolshevik Action Committee). Déat furthermore managed to gain to his side the secretary of the PPF, Jean Fossati, and named to the head of the FRN

Henri Barbé Henri Barbé (14 March 1902, Paris – 24 May 1966, Paris) was a French Communist, and later, fascist politician. Life A metallurgical worker, at 15 he joined the Young Socialists. Attending the Third International, he naturally opted for t ...

, issued from the PPF. However, the FRN finally was a failure. In March 1944, Déat was named Minister of Labour and of National Solidarity and took as assistants the RNP leaders ( Georges Albertini, Georges Dumoulin, Ludovic Zoretti and Gabriel Lafaye) From then on, he focused more on his ministry tasks than on the organization of the RNP. On 17 August 1944, Déat took refuge in Nazi Germany almost alone. In charge of the youth organisation of the RNP,

Roland Gaucher Roland Gaucher (13 April 1919 – 27 July 2007) was the pseudonym of Roland Goguillot, a French far-right journalist and politician. One of the main thinkers of the French far-right, he had participated in Marcel Déat's fascist party Rassemblemen ...

would also accompany Pétain into exile in the

Sigmaringen enclave The Sigmaringen enclave was the exiled remnant of France's Nazi-sympathizing Vichy government which fled to Germany during the Liberation of France near the end of World War II in order to avoid capture by the advancing Allied forces. ...

Organisation of the RNP following October 1941

The RNP had at maximum 30,000 members. According to the historian Robert Soucy, it had only 2,638 party members, of whom only 12.8 percent were industrial workers. Its mouthpiece, directed by

, was '' Le National Populaire'', but the party was also supported by Déat's daily, ''

L'Œuvre ''L'Œuvre'' is the fourteenth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was first serialized in the periodical ''Gil Blas'' beginning in December 1885 before being published in novel form by Charpentier in 1886. The title, t ...

''. The youth organisation ('' Jeunesses nationales populaires'', JNP) was headed by

Roland Silly Roland Silly (-) was a French trade unionist and politician. In the 1930s, Roland Silly was Secretary of the Federation (or section) of technicians of the CGT and member of the Socialist Party SFIO, led by Paul Faure. During the German occupati ...

(future co-founder of the National Front in 1972) and eight other personalities.

Primary members of the RNP (after October 1941)

The RNP was directed by a permanent commission of 15 members. According to a February 1943 list, these included: * Président:

* General secretary: Georges Albertini (former secretary of the Jeunesses socialistes, future creator of the '' Est-Ouest'' magazine) * Vice president (from January 1943): Maurice Levillain (neosocialist) * Vice président (from January 1943): Michel Brille (former deputy of the Democratic Alliance) *

(former member 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 Un ...

's political bureau, excluded in 1934 and general secretary of the PPF from 1936 to 1939) * René Benedetti (neosocialist) * Francis Desphilippon * Georges Dumoulin * Emile Favier (neosocialist) * Jacques Guionnet * Gabriel Lafaye (neosocialist, state secretary in Camille Chautemps's government in 1938) * Barthélémy Montagnon (former SFIO deputy, expelled in 1933, then neosocialist) * Georges Rivollet (former Minister of War Veterans in right-wing governments of 1934–1935) *

(former member of the SFIO) * Ludovic Zoretti (trade unionist)

Expelled personalities

* Jean Goy (conservative) and Charles Spinasse (Minister of 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 ...

), both expelled in 1942 on charges of being too moderate * René Château (

Radical-Socialist The Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste) is a liberal and formerly social-liberal political party in France. It is also often referred to simply as the Radical Party (frenc ...

) expelled in 1943

Other RNP personalities

* François Brigneau (future co-founder of the National Front) Nonna Mayer and Mariette Sineau
"France:The Front National"
in Helga Amsberger. ''Rechtsextreme Parteien''. Leverkusen. Leske & Budrich, 2002.

Sciences-Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

(p. 4) . *

Pierre Célor Pierre Célor (19 April 1902, Tulle, Corrèze – 6 April 1957) was a member of the French Communist Party from 1923, becoming one of the four secretaries of its Central Committee in 1929, beside Maurice Thorez and Henri Barbé. However, he fell ...

(1919–2007), in charge of the RNP's youth organisation"Roland Gaucher (obituary)"
''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

''. 1 August 2007 . and of the RNP Parisian section from May to November 1943"Ils" avaient un Kamarade !"
. '' REFLEXes''. 11 August 2007 . as well as future founder of the National Front in 1972 * André Grisoni * Fernand Hamard * Henri Jacob * Paul Perrin * Pierre Vigne, trade union leader

Sources

* Pierre-Philippe Lambert and Le Marec. ''Organisation Mouvements et unités de l'État français Vichy 1940-1944''. Paris. Éditions Grancher. 1992. * Pascal Ory. ''Les Collaborateurs 1940-1945''. Paris: Le Seuil. 1976. * Reinhold Brender. ''Marcel Déat und das Rassemblement National Populaire'', Ed. Oldenbourg. Munich. 1992.

References

External links

Documentary films
on the

Institut national de l'audiovisuel The (abbrev. INA), () is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives. Additionally it provides free access to archives of countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia. It has its headquarters in Bry-sur-Marne. Since 20 ...

's website {{Authority control Fascist parties in France French collaboration during World War II Political parties of the Vichy regime ru:Французская народная партия