Henri-Auguste d'Halluin (February 6, 1897,

Wasquehal Wasquehal (traditional pronunciation ; currently common pronunciation ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The town originally had a Flemish name; it was written as ''Waskenhal'' in the 11th century. Geography Wasquehal ...

– January 22, 1985), known by the pseudonym Henri Dorgères, was a French political activist. He is best known for the

Comités de Défense Paysanne The Comités de Défense Paysanne or French peasants, Peasant Defense Committees was a network of radical Agrarianism, agrarian groups France founded in 1929. Foundation There had previously been groups that espoused agrarian militancy such as ...

which he set up in the interwar period. Henri Dorgères was born in 1897, in

, a small town in north of France. He was interred by the Germans during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After passing his baccalaureate he studied law for two years. As a student he was an active

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

. While working in public relations in Wasquehal, he married Cécile Cartigny in Lille on April 23, 1921. In 1921, he moved to

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, to work as a journalist. In 1925 he became an editor of the regional Catholic daily '' Le Nouvelliste de Bretagne'' and in 1928 became the editor in chief of the farming journal ''Progrès agricole de l'Ouest''. During that time it was claimed that he became a member of the Camelots du Roi of

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

. It was as a journalist in Rennes in 1929 that he founded his first Peasants' Defense Committee. These committees had action squads known as Greenshirts, which became a general name for the organisation. In 1934 he claimed that a system like Italian fascism would resolve a lot of problems in French agriculture. There is an ongoing historical debate as to whether, or how far, Dorgeres could be seen as fascist. On March 31,

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

he stood unsuccessfully in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the Blois constituency as a candidate for the Front paysan where he was narrowly defeated in the

second round of voting The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

by the

Radical-Socialist The Radical Party (, ), officially the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party ( ), is a liberal and social-liberal political party in France. Since 1971, to prevent confusion with the Radical Party of the Left (PRG), it has also bee ...

candidate

Émile Laurens Émile Laurens was a French politician born on 29 January 1884 in Réquista (Aveyron (department), Aveyron) and died on 16 June 1940 in Blois (Loir-et-Cher). He was recognized as having died for France. He replaced the former and future Prime Mi ...

. in a constituency vacated by the former and future Prime Minister

Camille Chautemps Camille Chautemps (; 1 February 1885 – 1 July 1963) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic, three times President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). He was the father-in-law of U.S. politician and statesman Howar ...

for a Senate seat. During this time he wrote the book "Haut les fourches" ("Raise the Pitchforks"), laying out an anti-Republican and anti-Parliamentary back to the land program. During the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

Dorgères became one of nine directors of the Peasant Corporation, the Vichy body that was designed to put into practice the

corporatist Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...

ideas of interwar agrarian activsts. He was also a member of the Vichy National Council and awarded the

Ordre de la Francisque A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to f ...

by Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

for his work in the French right-wing. Because of his work with the

, Dorgères was imprisoned by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

during the

liberation of France The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...

in 1944. He was released because of work he had done with the Resistance during the war. In

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

he was elected as for the

Poujadist Pierre Poujade (; 1 December 1920 – 27 August 2003) was a French right-wing populist politician after whom the Poujadist movement was named. Biography Pierre Poujade was born in Saint-Céré (Le Lot), France, and studied at Collège Saint- ...

Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans The Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans (French: ''Union de défense des commerçants et artisans''), known as Union and French Fraternity (French: ''Union et fraternité française)'' after 1956, was a right-wing populist political ...

to the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from the Breton

Département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

; he remained in the Assembly until 1958 when he lost the newly created Ille-et-Vilaine's 4th constituency to Isidore Renouard. In 1959 he published his memoir ''Au XXe siècle : 10 ans de

jacquerie The Jacquerie () was a popular revolt by peasants that took place in northern France in the early summer of 1358 during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt was centred in the valley of the Oise north of Paris and was suppressed after over tw ...

''.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * 1897 births 1985 deaths Politicians from Nord (French department) Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans politicians Members of the National Council of Vichy France Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Members of Parliament for Ille-et-Vilaine French tax resisters French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Order of the Francisque recipients People convicted of indignité nationale French agrarianists People affiliated with Action Française {{IlleVilaine-politician-stub