Conservatism in France refers to the political philosophy and ideology ofconservatism as it has developed inFrance. It is usually based on upholdingFrench culture,social hierarchy, andtradition. It stressesnationalism and has historically been associated withmonarchism. It originated as areactionary andcounter-revolutionary movement in theBourbon Restoration period following theFrench Revolution, and it has been a prominent ideology in France ever since.
Early conservatism in France focused on the rejection of the secularism of the French Revolution, support for the role of theCatholic Church, and the restoration of the monarchy.[1] After the first fall ofNapoleon in 1814, theHouse of Bourbon returned to power in theBourbon Restoration.Louis XVIII andCharles X, brothers of the executed KingLouis XVI, successively mounted the throne and instituted a conservative government intended to restore the proprieties, if not all the institutions, of theAncien Régime.[2] TheUltra-royalists were members of thenobility who strongly supportedRoman Catholicism as thestate religion of France, the Bourbon monarchy, social hierarchy, andcensus suffrage againstpopular will and the interests of thebourgeoisie and theirliberal anddemocratic tendencies.[3]
After theJuly Revolution of 1830,Louis Philippe I, a member of the more liberalOrléans branch of the House of Bourbon, proclaimed himself as King of the French. TheSecond French Empire saw an ImperialBonapartist regime ofNapoleon III from 1852 to 1870.[4] The Bourbon monarchist cause was on the verge of victory in the 1870s, but then collapsed because the proposed king,Henri, Count of Chambord, refused to fly the tri-coloured flag.[5]
The turn of the century saw the rise ofAction Française—an ultraconservative, reactionary, nationalist, and royalist movement that advocated a restoration of the monarchy.[6] Its ideology was dominated bythe precepts ofCharles Maurras, following his adherence and his conversion of the movement's founders toroyalism.[7] The movement supported a restoration of the House of Bourbon and, after the1905 law on the separation of Church and State, the restoration of Roman Catholicism as the state religion—all as rallying points in distinction to theThird Republic of France, which was considered corrupt and atheistic by many of its opponents.[8]
Tensions between Christian rightists and secular leftists heightened in the 1890–1910 era, but moderated after the spirit of unity in fighting World War I.[9]
Anauthoritarian form of conservatism characterised theVichy regime of 1940–1944 under MarshalPhilippe Pétain with heightened antisemitism, opposition to individualism, emphasis on family life, and national direction of the economy.[10]Révolution nationale was the official ideology promoted by the regime, which despite its name was reactionary rather than revolutionary as the program opposed almost every change introduced by the French Revolution.[11]
Conservatism has been the major political force in France since World War II, although the number of conservative groups and their lack of stability defy simple categorisation.[12] Following the war, conservatives supportedGaullist groups and parties, espousednationalism, and emphasised tradition, social order, and the regeneration of France.[13] Unusually, post-war conservatism in France was formed around the personality of a leader—army general and aristocratCharles de Gaulle who led theFree French Forces against Nazi Germany—and it did not draw on traditional French conservatism, but on theBonapartist tradition.[14]
Gaullism in France continues underThe Republicans (formerlyUnion for a Popular Movement), a party previously led byNicolas Sarkozy, who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012 and whose ideology is known asSarkozysm.[15]
In 2021, the French intellectualÉric Zemmour founded the nationalist partyReconquête, which has been described as a more rightist version ofMarine Le Pen'sNational Rally.[16]
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