The Tixier-Vignancour Committees (''Comités Tixier-Vignancour'', also known as ''Comités TV'' and abbreviated as ''CTV'') was a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

aligned with the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

, founded by

Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour (; 12 October 1907 – 29 September 1989) was a French lawyer and Far-right politics, far-right politician. Elected to the National Assembly (France), National Assembly in 1936, he initially collaborated with the Vichy ...

for the

1965 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 5 December 1965, with a second round on 19 December. They were the first direct presidential elections in the Fifth Republic and the first since the Second Republic in 1848. It had been widely expe ...

. After the election, in which Tixier-Vignancour secured 5.2% of the vote, the Comités TV transformed into the "Alliance républicaine pour les libertés et le progrès" (ARLP). The party did not achieve success and faded by 1974.

History

Beginnings

Informally active since the previous year, the group was officially registered in the ''

Journal officiel A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'' on July 17, 1964, under the name "Association pour le soutien de la candidature d'opposition nationale à la présidence de la République". Commonly referred to as "Tixier-Vignancour Committees" (Comités TV), it was led by far-right lawyer

.. From its inception, former deputy

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 ...

served as secretary general of the Comités TV and as campaign director for Tixier-Vignancour's 1965 presidential bid. Other former parliamentarians ( Poujadists, members of the CNIP, and disillusioned

Gaullists Gaullism ( ) 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 withdrew French forces from ...

) joined the campaign, including

Philippe Marçais Philippe Marçais (16 March 1910 – 31 May 1984) was a French Arabist and politician. A director of the from 1938 to 1945, he was dean of the Faculté des Lettres d'Alger and député of French Algeria from 1958 to 1962. The Arabist William Ma ...

, Jean-Robert Thomazo, Jean-Baptiste Biaggi, Alain de Lacoste-Lareymondie, and

Jean Dides Jean Dides (5 August 1915, Paris – 2 April 2004, Paris) was a police commissioner and member of General Intelligence (RG) under the government Mendes France, French Poujadist councilor and MP. He is in charge of the fifth section of RG whose ...

1965 Elections

The Comités TV fielded candidates in the municipal elections of March 1965 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In the December 1965 presidential election, Tixier-Vignancour placed fourth in the first round, receiving 5.20% of the vote. His strongest support came from the

Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

, home to many

Pied-Noir The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

s displaced by the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. In the Var department, he garnered 14%. Strongly anti-Gaullist due to

de Gaulle's 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 ...

Algerian policy, Tixier-Vignancour urged his supporters to vote for

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

, the left-wing candidate, in the second round. This recommendation divided his followers.

ARLP, Decline, and Dissolution

At the national congress in January 1966, Tixier-Vignancour and figures like Raymond Le Bourre,

Raymond Bourgine Raymond Bourgine (()9 March 1925 – 29 November 1990) was a French journalist and politician. He served as editor-in-chief of ''Valeurs Actuelles'' from 1966 to 1990 and as French Senator from 1977 to 1990. Michel GurfinkielRaymond Bourgine dans ...

, and Jean-Robert Thomazo transformed the Comités TV into the Alliance républicaine pour les libertés et le progrès (ARLP). The ARLP aimed to promote "doctrines of liberty and progress... in accordance with the spirit of

Western civilization Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social no ...

". However, Jean-Marie Le Pen did not participate, criticizing Tixier-Vignancour for his lack of political authority and for endorsing Mitterrand during the presidential runoff. Prominent figures like

Roger Holeindre Roger Holeindre (; 21 March 1929 – 30 January 2020) was a French Army veteran, politician and author. He served in the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, was a member of the National Assembly from 1986 to 1988. Holeindre also served as th ...

François Brigneau François Brigneau (; 30 April 1919 – 9 April 2012) was a French far-right journalist and author who was a leading figure in '' Ordre Nouveau'', the National Front and the Party of New Forces. Early years Brigneau was born in Concarneau; P ...

, and

Dominique Venner Dominique Venner (; 16 April 1935 – 21 May 2013) was a French historian, journalist, and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding the neo-fascist and white national ...

also left, while members of

Europe-Action ''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...

formed the Nationalist Movement for Progress (MNP). Defections increased in subsequent years. Raymond Le Bourre, the party's secretary general in 1967, left after disputes with Tixier-Vignancour. In 1968, Yvan Anchier established the Union for Progress and Freedoms (UPL), opposing Tixier-Vignancour's rapprochement with the majority. Another secretary general, Gaston de Sansac, resigned in 1971 to form the Independent and Liberal Republican Alliance (ARIL). By 1973, the ARLP withdrew from the Gaullist majority. In 1974, Tixier-Vignancour proposed merging with the Republican Party of

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

and the Democratic Centre of

Jean Lecanuet Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a French Centrism, centrist politician. Biography Lecanuet was born to a family of modest means in Rouen and gravitated towards philosophy studies. He received his diplo ...

Ideology

Classified as far-right within the French

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...

, the Tixier-Vignancour Committees brought together supporters of

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 ...

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

, anti-Gaullists, and anti-communists.

References

{{French far right Far-right political parties in France Political parties established in 1964 Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Defunct political parties in France