The French Right Between the Wars: Political and Intellectual Movements from Conservatism to Fascism

274 Pages·2014·0.927 MB·English

by  Samuel Kalman

The French Right Between the Wars

T F R B W
HE RENCH IGHT ETWEEN THE ARS
Political and Intellectual Movements
From Conservatism to Fascism
R
Edited by
Samuel Kalman and Sean Kennedy

berghahn
N E W Y O R K (cid:127) O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
First published in 2014 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2014, 2016 Samuel Kalman and Sean Kennedy
First paperback edition published in 2016
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The French right between the wars : political and intellectual movements from conservatism to fas-
cism / edited by Samuel Kalman and Sean Kennedy.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78238-240-9 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-78533-040-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-78238-241-6 (ebook)
1. France—Politics and government—1914–1940. 2. France—Intellectual life—20th century.
3. Fascism—France—History—20th century. 4. Conservatism—France—History—20th century.
5. Right and left (Political science)—France—History—20th century. 6. Right-wing extremists—
France—History—20th century. 7. Parti social français. I. Kalman, Samuel, 1971– author, editor of
compilation. II. Kennedy, Sean, 1969– author, editor of compilation.

DC396.F745 2014

320.53'30944–dc23
2013017989

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78238-240-9 hardback

ISBN: 978-1-78533-040-7 paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78238-241-6 ebook
C
ONTENTS
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Acknowledgments vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
PART I. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS
Chapter 1. Crowd Psychology, Anti-Southern Prejudice, and
Constitutional Reform in 1930s France: The Stavisky Affair
and the Riots of 6 February 1934 25
Kevin Passmore
Chapter 2. Avec une brutalité toute particulière: Fascist Sympathies,
Racial Violence, and the Municipal Police and Gendarmerie
in Oran, 1936–1937 48
Samuel Kalman

Chapter 3. The Veterans and the Extreme Right: The Union

nationale des combattants, 1927–1936 65
Chris Millington

Chapter 4. Pacifi sm, the Fascist Temptation, and the Ligue des droits
de l’homme 81

Norman Ingram

PART II. GENDER AND THE RIGHT

Chapter 5. Right-Wing Feminism and Conservative Women’s Militancy
in Interwar France 97
Magali Della Sudda
vi (cid:127) contents
Chapter 6. Gender, the Family, and the Fascist Temptation: Visions of
Masculinity in the Natalist-Familialist Movement, 1922–1940 112
Cheryl A. Koos
Chapter 7. Was there a Fascist Femininity? Gender and French Fascism
in Political Context 127
Geoff Read
Chapter 8. An Overview of Women and Gender in French Fascism 141
Daniella Sarnoff
PART III. INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL TRENDS
Chapter 9. “Our Body Doesn’t Have to be Ugly”: Physical Culture,
Gender, and Racial Rejuvenation in the Croix de feu / Parti
social français 163
Caroline Campbell
Chapter 10. Defending Christian Civilization: The Evolving Message
of the Parti social français, 1936–1939 180
Sean Kennedy
Chapter 11. Were French Elites Allergic to Fascism? A Study of the
Reception of the 1930s Dictatorships in Three French Periodicals 195
Laurent Kestel
Chapter 12. Salvation, Satire, and Solidarity: Right-Wing Culture
in Interwar France 210
Jessica Wardhaugh

PART IV. HISTORIOGRAPHY

Chapter 13. Beyond Left and Right: Rethinking Political Boundaries
in 1930s France 227
William D. Irvine

Notes on Contributors 240

Selected Bibliography 243
Index 250
A
cknowledgments
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Those studying the extreme right in interwar France face a twin challenge. The so-
called Immunity Thesis championed by a wide variety of French academics mini-
mizes the existence of Gallic fascism, positioning such movements as miniscule
and completely at odds with the vast majority of politicians and the general public
alike. On the Anglo-American side, the prevailing trend seeks to define fascism as
a generic political model, and particularly to underscore its success in France.
In a way, both positions reflect the established doctrines of their respective
eras. The Gaullist resistancialist myth of the post–World War II period found
its ultimate expression in the work of historians who, following the lead of René
Rémond in the late 1950s, sought to portray France as anti-fascist, staunchly
Republican, and, if anything, proponents of moderate conservatism characterized
by the small-town and provincial elites of the Alliance démocratique and Fé-
dération republicaine, their background and parliamentary liberalism not much
different than the centrist Radicals. Conversely, the leading historians of French
fascism from the 1970s onward, including Zeev Sternhell, William Irvine and
Robert Soucy, sought to revise this portrait at the very moment when a series
of scholarly and cultural voices began to challenge the prevailing narrative of
France as a nation of resistance to fascism, in which the wartime Vichy regime
was termed a mere blip in an otherwise unbroken republican trajectory. The re-

sult was a Manichean divide: either France was fascist or it was not, and scholar-
ship increasingly took sides, with evidence mobilized in support of one version

or the other. As for the study of the non-fascist right, it practically disappeared
by the 1980s, not least because its conclusions did not easily fit into the dualist

schema. This is not to deny the very real value in the research and published
work that appeared during those decades. Yet by the 1990s, a number of young

historians began to move beyond the traditional confines, broadening the field
of inquiry to include examinations of organizations themselves (including con-
servative parties and groups) as individual actors, and paying increased attention
to gender, culture, imperialism, and many other variables, in addition to politics.
viii (cid:127) acknowledgments
With this in mind, our collection aims to refocus scholarly energy in the pur-
suit of a more nuanced portrait of the French right. Its contributors do not wish to
engage in the debate over the rectitude of the Immunity Thesis, or to contribute
to the discussion over the existence of a unique French fascism, and what its
defi ning characteristics might be. Rather, The French Right Between the Wars aims
to reevaluate conservative and fascist movements and intellectuals, seeking to
provide a new interpretive framework based upon the centrality of gender, im-
perialism, political culture, and intellectual or cultural trends to fascist discourse
and action. Chapter subjects range from the cultural politics of the right in 1930s
France and its twinning of physical culture and racial rejuvenation to attempts to
forge a specifi cally fascist femininity in interwar France and the relationship be-
tween fascist movements and colonial violence in French Algeria. This volume
thus provides a current snapshot of innovative trends in the study of the Gallic
right and the nation’s political, cultural, and social history more broadly, from a
wide variety of critical perspectives.
Clearly, two people alone could not have orchestrated such an undertaking. The
editors wish to thank a number of individuals whose assistance proved invaluable
in the publication of this collection. Most importantly, we must thank those who
contributed to the volume. Their hard work and superb scholarship alone renders
this collection worthy of a readership. That they took time from very busy research
and teaching schedules to provide multiple drafts deserves our sincere gratitude.
We must further thank the team at Berghahn Books, and particularly Marion
Berghahn, for fostering the collection in its initial stages, and Ann Przyzycki De-
vita, whose editorial skill greatly enhanced the fi nal product. Thanks are also due
to the three anonymous readers, whose detailed and insightful critique and sugges-
tions improved each chapter in the volume. Finally, we are grateful to Manchester
University Press for permission to reprint portions of Chris Millington’s monograph

From Victory to Vichy: Veterans in Interwar France, and to Berghahn for permission
to reprint (in slightly modifi ed form) William Irvine’s chapter, which originally ap-

peared in the journal Historical Refl ections/Réfl exions Historiques as “Beyond Left and
Right, and the Politics of the Third Republic: A Conversation.”
Thanks are also due to a number of colleagues whose contributions made this

volume possible. Laurent Kestel, Brian Jenkins, and Bill Irvine provided encour-
agement, helped to sculpt the interpretive framework of the volume, and dis-
seminated much-needed advice at key moments. In a similar vein, we thank our
colleagues in the History Departments at the University of New Brunswick and

St. Francis Xavier University for their unwavering support.

Most importantly, we have to thank friends and family. Samuel Kalman would
particularly like to mention his wife Brenda and son Josh, whose love and un-
derstanding made the completion of this project possible: As always, I could not
have done it without you both! Sean Kennedy is grateful as always to his wife
Lisa, who as usual has been encouraging and good humored throughout the ups
and downs of preparing this work.
A
BBREVIATIONS
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AD Alliance démocratique
ADP Auxiliaires de la défense passive
AF Action française
ALP Action libérale populaire
AMSJA Association médico-sociale Jeanne d’Arc
APD Association de la paix par le droit
CC Comité central
CFTC Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens
CGT Confédération générale du travail
FFCF Fils et fi lles des Croix de Feu
FNC Fédération nationale catholique

FNF Fédération nationale des femmes

FR Fédération républicaine

FRI Fédération républicaine indépendante
GRM Garde républicaine mobile

JP Jeunesses patriotes
JUNC Jeunes de l’Union national des combattants
LDH Ligue des droits de l’homme

LFF Ligue des femmes françaises

LICA Ligue internationale contre l’antisémitisme
LPDF Ligue patriotique des françaises
MSF Mouvement social français
PCF Parti communiste français
x (cid:127) abbreviations
PDP Parti démocrate populaire
PPF Parti populaire français
PRNS Parti républicain national et social
PSF Parti social français
RDP Revue du droit public et de la science politique
RG Renseignements généraux
RNAS Rassemblement national d’action sociale
RNP Rassemblement national populaire
RPF Rassemblement du peuple français
RPP Revue politique et parlementaire
SF Solidarité française
SFCM Société des fi lles du coeur de Marie
SFIO Section française de l’internationale ouvrière
SP Sciences politiques
SPES Société de préparation et d’education sportive
SPF Syndicats professionnels français
UF Union fédérale
UFCS Union féminine civique et sociale
UFSF Union française pour le suffrage des femmes
UL Union latines
UNC Union nationale des combattants

UNVF Union nationale pour le vote des femmes

VN Volontaires nationaux