The Intellectual Extreme Right in the Thirties

Abstract

To speak of the extreme right in the thirties is to accept that there were four trends of contrasting sympathies, each of significant difference in terms of strength. First and foremost was the reactionary extreme right (in the literal sense of the word reactionary) as personified by the Action Francaise, who wanted a return to the monarchy. Two trends were to emerge from this movement: firstly a nebulous one which was well represented by the reviews Combat and L’nsurge and which could be qualified as national and revolutionary. The young ‘dissidents’ of this movement, as they referred to themselves, combined social preoccupations with national concerns. Yet despite such social and national interests they remained both wary and critical of fascism and did not collaborate with the Germans. The second off-shoot of the Action Francaise was the group involved in Je suis partout which had been inspired by the Spanish Civil War, and after initially displaying their admiration for and envy of fascism, proceeded openly to declare themselves in favour of it. Almost all of those involved in Je suis partout became avid collaborators. Finally, one must also include Jacques Doriot’s Parti populaire francais (PPF, French Popular Party) as it attracted Drieu La Rochelle among other intellectuals. This movement quickly veered towards fascism. In terms of political sympathy it distinguished itself from Je suis partout with its ‘spirit’ born out of ‘revolutionary emotion’ which sought to merge both right and left, and to reconcile antagonistic discourses. This political eclecticism, described so well by Drieu La Rochelle, partly explains the PPF’s success within the intellectual milieu. Essentially, this movement represented the ‘left-wing’ of fascism in contrast to Je suis partout, which brought together the ‘right-wing’ elements.