 | |
| Type | Daily |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Charles Maurras |
| Editor | Léon Daudet |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Ceased publication | 1944 |
| Political alignment | Royalism,integral nationalism |
| Language | French |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Country | France |
| Circulation | 200,000 (peak, 1934) (as of 1908–1944) |
L'Action française, organ ofintegral nationalism (French:L'Action française, organe du nationalisme intégral) was aroyalist French newspaper founded inParis in March 1908.[1] It wasbanned during theLiberation of France in August 1944.
The newspaper succeeded theRevue d'Action française ofHenri Vaugeois andMaurice Pujo. Based on theRue de Rome in Paris, its director wasCharles Maurras, the leader of the monarchistAction Française movement. Its editorial line is classified asfar-right due to its violentanti-parliamentarianism, anti-republicanism, and antisemitism. For a brief period, it also published a weekly edition titledL'Action française du dimanche.
This newspaper was the official organ of theAction Française movement. It was anationalist,monarchist,anti-Dreyfusard, andantisemitic daily.[1]
L'Action française was a fierce opponent of the policies of theThird Republic, as well as ofliberalism anddemocracy. Uniting collaborators from variousnationalist andtraditionalist movements, the newspaper became the crucible for the major currents offar-right ideology in France during the1930s. Through denunciation and personal attacks, its journalists, led byLéon Daudet, conducted intenseroyalist and anti-republicanpropaganda duringWorld War I and the interwar period culminating in the riots ofFebruary 6, 1934, and theStavisky affair.[2] The newspaper also waged relentless campaigns against theSoviet regime,communism,Jews, andFreemasonry.
The daily practiced defamation ("it often happened that people were falsely accused"), the use of false documents, and provocation to murder.[3] It also served as the intellectual and literary hub of the Action française movement, gathering philosophers, historians, poets, and novelists around publications such as theRevue critique des idées et des livres (1908–1924) and theRevue universelle (1920–1941).
The first issue was published on 21 March 1908, with the motto "All that is national is ours."[4] It was sponsored by twelve figures, includingHenri Vaugeois,Léon Daudet,Charles Maurras,Léon de Montesquiou, andJacques Bainville.
The widerMaurrassian press gained a measure of success from 1908 onwards.[5] 1908 also saw the birth of theRevue critique des idées et des livres, the "ideas laboratory" and literary organ of the Maurrassian movement until the war.
The paper, which sent out thousands of free subscriptions, was in deficit and regularly called for subscriptions to fight "Jewish gold".[3] Many donors came from the nobility; in 1912, thepretender to the Orleanist throne gave 1,000 francs a month.[3] By 1914, the daily had 20,000 readers, half of whom were subscribers.[6] Between 1920 and 1926, the paper's losses amounted to nearly five million francs. BillionaireFrançois Coty donated two million francs toL'Action française between 1924 and 1928.[3] Between 1930 and 1935, the average loss exceeded one million francs a year.[3] In fact, "the only period whenL'Action française's budget appears to have been balanced was shortly before it ceased publication" inGerman-occupied Lyon.[3]
Circulation varied between 50,000 and 100,000 copies, peaking at 200,000 in 1934 during theStavisky affair and the crisis ofFebruary 6, 1934.[7]
Shortly before the papal condemnation, the daily saw its heyday. As a result, many French army officers sensitive to Maurras' integral nationalism read the paper.[8] In 1926, with a print run of almost 100,000 copies,[9] the nationalist paper had, according toEugen Weber, 45,000 subscribers and the same number of single-issue buyers,[3] plus 25,000 subscribers to the Sunday supplement,L'Action française agricole.[9] In 1920, its circulation was just 60,000 copies. On February 5, 1934, it peaked at 200,000 copies.[10]
At the military level, from 1928 onwards, a special page containing GeneralLavigne-Delville [fr]'s column was printed on the 10th and 25th of each month, forming a link between the press, the army, and the authorities.[8]
But in the same year, the Roman condemnation meant that many subscriptions were not renewed, although some remained loyal to the paper, such as CaptainPhilippe de Hautecloque, who was a regular reader ofBainville andL'Action française in the 1930s.[8] Following the 1926-1927 crisis with theHoly See andPope Pius XI's condemnation ofL'Action française,Jacques Maritain distanced himself from the organization and the journal. The pontifical condemnation scandalizedGeorges Bernanos, a devout Catholic, who drew closer to theagnostic Charles Maurras.[11]
Hostile toPan-Germanism, someL'Action française collaborators criticized German policy during the 1930s.[12]
After the1940 armistice, the paper retreated toLimoges, then toLyon in October 1940.[13] The sympathy of Maurras and those close to him for theVichy regime made him one of the ideological pillars of the new regime. After the occupation of the whole country in November 1942, alignment with the occupying power,Nazi Germany, became more marked.[14]
Several journalists, such as Jacques Delebecque,[15] employed in the Vichy regime's propaganda department (L'Éclair [fr] newspaper) and then a refugee inSwitzerland until 1949 during the purge,[16] were involved incollaboration with the Nazis. The paper regularly carried dispatches from theOffice Français d'Information (OFI) announcing theWaffen-SS "conseils de révision" (review boards [fr]), until 1944, which opened their doors to Frenchmen wishing to enlist in theCharlemagne division.[17] The paper was hostile toResistance fighters, who were referred to as "terrorists".[3] Maurras called for the execution of resistance fighters and their families.[3] HistorianBénédicte Vergez-Chaignon [fr] sums up Maurras's inevitable break with some of his followers (such asPhilippe Ariès): "After the decisive events of November 1942, the introduction of the STO and the creation of the Milice, a certain number of Maurrasians, like other French people of different opinions, discovered with varying degrees of violence that their desire to fight against the occupying forces was totally incompatible with Maurras' positions. The AF leader's discourse suddenly appeared for what it was".[18]
WhenFrance was liberated, thedaily was banned for collaboration, and its main contributors (Charles Maurras and Maurice Pujo) were imprisoned.[19][20]
TheRevue d'Action française was the predecessor ofL'Action Française, published from 1899 to 1908, when it received the new name.[21]
In 1947,Georges Calzant founded a newAction française journal entitledAspects de la France, using the initials AF. While this periodical remained faithful toMaurrasian doctrine, perpetuating a certain form of idealism and monarchist radicalism,Pierre Boutang (another disciple of Maurras) founded another journal claiming to beL'Action française:La Nation française.[22][23] Gathering mainly intellectuals and academics (includingPhilippe Ariès andRaoul Girardet), this new branch of the AF was more reflective and better adapted to post-war political reality; it rejected theantisemitism of its predecessors and distanced itself from the discourse ofVichy nostalgists. It attempted to rethink monarchism and nationalism in the light of the problems facing France in the 1950s (notably theAlgerian war), while remaining faithful to the initiatives of Charles Maurras.[24]
L'Action française also published theAlmanach de l'Action française, theCours et conférence d'Action française and several works at theLibrairie d'Action française.[25][26]
Founded in 1947 by Georges Calzant,Aspects de la France was a monarchist publication linked to the Action Française movement. It emerged in response to the 1944 ban on the dailyL'Action française over allegations of collaboration with the Vichy regime. The publication also incorporatedLes Documents nationaux, a clandestine review operated by Action Française members during the Liberation of France.[27]
Founded in 1955,La Nation française was a French monarchist weekly magazine influenced by Charles Maurras, the founder of the Action Française movement.[28] It originated as an offshoot ofAspects de la France, the monarchist review created in June 1947 by Maurice Pujo and Georges Calzant. Both Pujo and Calzant, former members of Action Française, remained dedicated to the nationalist monarchist cause.[29]
L'Action française étudiante [fr], subtitled "mensuel des étudiants de la Restauration nationale", was a French royalist monthly magazine published from June 1971 to 1980 by theRestauration Nationale (RN) movement. Led by Louis Juhel, son of RN founder Pierre Juhel, AFE also referred to student activist groups within the organization.[30]
Founded in 1992, the periodical followed the ideas of Charles Maurras andL'Action française. Due to its resemblance to Maurras' magazine, the periodical was forced to change its name by a court injunction.[31]
The choice of the new titleL'Action française 2000 was made on the basis of the court situation, and after exhausting all avenues of appeal. In 1998,L'Action française hebdo changed its name toL'Action française 2000, which is published fortnightly.[32]
In 2019, the newspaperLe bien commun, published by the CRAF, took over fromL'Action française 2000 and was also auctioned off by the movement's activists.[33][34]
Integral nationalism
[…] For years, Action française has worked tirelessly: it has continually addressed the entire French people.
It expressed this in its "Review". It taught this in its Institute. […] At the forefront of the newspaper created to propagate its ideas daily, Action française has an obligation to reiterate that it has never appealed to a single party.
[…] Down with the Republic! And, for the sake of France, long live the King!
[Signed]Henri Vaugeois,Léon Daudet,Charles Maurras,Léon de Montesquiou,Lucien Moreau,Jacques Bainville,Louis Dimier,Bernard de Vesins, Robert de Boisfleury,Paul Robain,Frédéric Delebecque,Maurice Pujo
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