Georges Valois | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Valois in 1925 | |
| Born | Alfred-Georges Gressent (1878-10-07)7 October 1878 Paris,France |
| Died | February 1945(1945-02-00) (aged 66) |
| Cause of death | Typhus |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, politician |
Georges Valois (French:[ʒɔʁʒvalwa]; bornAlfred-Georges Gressent; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was aFrenchjournalist andnational syndicalistpolitician. He was a member of theFrench Resistance and died in theBergen-Belsen concentration camp.[1]
Born in a working-class and peasant family inParis, Georges Valois went to Singapore at the age of 17, returning to Paris in 1898.[2] In his early years, he was ananarcho-syndicalist. He found work as a secretary atL'Humanité Nouvelle where he metGeorges Sorel.[2] Later, after a stay inImperial Russia (1903), he worked as secretary atArmand Colin publishing house.
After having written his first book,L'Homme Qui Vient (The Coming Man), he met thenationalist andmonarchist writerCharles Maurras and became a member of hisAction Française, where he continued to follow the workers' movement. As his employment would have been compromised by an involvement in thefar-right monarchist league, he took thepseudonym of Georges Valois.[2]
In 1911, he created theCercle Proudhon, anational syndicalist group, and took direction of the publishing house of theAction française, theNouvelle librairie nationale, in 1912.[2] TheCercle mixed Sorel's influence with theintegralism favoured byCharles Maurras and was overtlyanti-Semitic. According to the historianZeev Sternhell, thatideology was the prefiguration ofItalian fascism.
In 1925, Valois founded the weeklyLe Nouveau Siècle (The New Century), which was seen by Maurras as a potential rival.[2] As a result, he lost his job atLa Nouvelle librairie nationale. The rupture with Maurras became even more serious after his creation the same year of theFaisceau league.[2]
His long-term collaboratorJacques Arthuys was one of the leaders of the new league.[3] It was assisted by major entrepreneurs in their fight against the agitation of theFrench Communist Party (PCF). After some initial success (it was joined by such extremist figures asHubert Lagardelle andMarcel Bucard), it disappeared in 1928, when Valois had already been excluded from the party. The middle class may have withdrawn its support because of its lack of confidence in fascism as a plausible solution for France or because it considered, following a trend established by theRoman Catholic Church (which in 1926excommunicated theAction française), that the best solution was to infiltrate theThird Republic's institutions.
Valois lost financial support, theFaisceau was dissolved, he founded theRepublican Syndicalist Party (PRS). Jacques Arthuys was also a leader of the party.[4] During the secondCartel des gauches (Left-wing Coalition), the party published theCahiers bleus (1928–1932), which hosted essays by widely-different personalities, includingMarcel Déat (a futureneo-socialist who had been excluded from theFrench Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who would later be acollaborationist),Bertrand de Jouvenel (co-founder of theMont Pelerin Society, aliberal organisation that still exists),Pierre Mendès France (one of the young guards, orjeunes loups, of theRadical-Socialist Party who would becomeFrench Prime Minister during theFourth Republic), andÉdouard Berth.
After the6 February 1934 crisis, Valois foundedLe Nouvel Âge ("The New Era"), which he presented as aleft-wing review, along with theCahiers bleus. However,Le Nouvel Âge promoted a post-capitalist economy using acorporatist economy.[2] In 1935, he attempted to join the SFIO, but was turned down although he was backed byMarceau Pivert.
Valois took part in theFrench Resistance duringVichy France. DuringWorld War II, he moved nearLyon, where he launched a culturalco-operative project.[2]
Valois was finally arrested by theNazis on 18 May 1944, and died in February 1945 oftyphus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.[2][1]
