Jacques Benoist-Méchin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 July 1901 |
| Died | 24 February 1983 (1983-02-25) (aged 81) Paris, France |
| Education | Lycée Louis-le-Grand |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, author |
Jacques Michel Gabriel Paul Benoist-Méchin (1 July 1901 – 24 February 1983) was a Frenchfar right politician and writer. He was born and died inParis. Well known as a journalist, he later became prominent for hiscollaborationism under theVichy regime. After his conviction in 1947 and release in 1954, in the second part of his life he became a historian, with a focus on theArab world, and in 1981 won thePrix Broquette-Gonin.
Benoist-Méchin was educated at leading schools inSwitzerland and theUnited Kingdom as well as theLycée Louis-le-Grand before attending theSorbonne.[1] He subsequently served in theFrench Army, spending the period from 1921 to 1923 as part of the forces involved in theoccupation of the Rhineland. He then became a journalist, working for theInternational News Service from 1924 to 1927 and was appointed editor ofL'Europe Nouvelle in 1930 byLouise Weiss.[1]
A critic ofdemocracy, Benoist-Méchin joined theFrench Popular Party in 1936.[1] A notedGermanophile, he joined theComité France-Allemagne, a group dedicated to fostering closer links between the two countries.[1] Despite this his earlier military service meant that when war broke out between the two countries in 1939 he was mobilised and during theBattle of France he was captured and for a time held as a prisoner of war inVoves.[1] He was quickly freed however and served as chief of the POWs diplomatic mission toBerlin, aimed at securing the release of those held in Germany.[1]
In the main the Germanophile Benoist-Méchin somewhat welcomed theGerman occupation of France duringWorld War II.[2] He served as an undersecretary inFrançois Darlan's cabinet and, along withPierre Pucheu andPaul Marion, became part of the so-called "young cyclists" group of pro-German Darlan loyalists.[1] The 11 May 1941, he accompaniedDarlan toBerchtesgaden in order to negotiate military facilities inSyria forGermany withHitler.[citation needed] In early 1942 he received from his personal friendOtto Abetz an offer that would guarantee France effective independence if the country agreed to become a military ally of Germany, although when the offer was officially made the terms had been watered down somewhat.[3] Despite this loss of face Benoist-Méchin was an enthusiastic collaborator who claimed that France was working with Germany rather than opposing her and risking further defeat or working for her and thus becoming subservient.[4] He was briefly the official ambassador for the collaborationist government in occupied Paris although early on this role passed to fellow GermanophileFernand de Brinon.[5]
A minister without portfolio inVichy France, Benoist-Méchin's influence grew when he, along with his alliesPaul Marion andJoseph Darnand, was appointed to the controlling committee of theLégion des Volontaires Français in June 1942.[6] In this position he suggested renaming the groupLégion Tricolore and converting it into a professional military unit, an idea soon adopted.[7] Increasingly sidelined byPierre Laval, Benoist-Méchin was involved in plotting with Darnand andJacques Doriot for the three men to form a pro-Nazi triumvirate to administer Vichy France but the plan came to nothing.[1]
After theliberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, Benoist-Méchin did not go with Pétain toSigmaringen. With the launch of theépuration légale by the newprovisional government, in September 1944 he was arrested for his role as a collaborator and detained atFresnes Prison. His trial began on 9 May 1947 before theHigh Court of Justice. He was accused of tactical and strategic collaboration with the enemy. On 6 June, Benoist-Méchin was sentenced to death andindignité nationale. He was pardoned on 30 July by PresidentVincent Auriol and on 6 August his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and later to 20 years.[8] He benefited from a remission of sentence on 24 September 1953 and was released on parole in November 1954, when he was freed fromClairvaux.[9]
Immediately before and following his release, Benoist-Méchin wrote for a number of right-wing journals, notablyÉcrits de Paris andParoles Françaises, the organ of theRepublican Party of Liberty.[1] He was a member of theUnion des Intellectuels Indépendants, along with the likes ofPierre-Antoine Cousteau, and was co-patron withMaurice Bardèche ofL'Union Réaliste, a group that sought to glorify the Vichy years.[1]
In his early career, Benoist-Méchin was most noted as anArabist and as a prominent admirer ofIbn Saud.[10] Shortly before the Second World War, he produced aHistory of the German Army in ten volumes,[11] and in 1939Éclaircissements sur Mein Kampf d'Adolphe Hitler, an interpretation of Hitler'sMein Kampf. After the fall of France cameLa Moisson de Quarante, a memoir of his time as a prisoner-of-war.[1]
Benoist-Méchin's major achievement as a historian is a collection of seven sensational books published between 1961 and 1980 under the general titleLe Rêve le plus long de l'Histoire (The Longest Dream in History), referring to the dream of powerful historic personalities about merging the West and the Middle East. The seven areAlexander the Great, theEmperor Julian,Cleopatra, theEmperor Frederick II (for which work he won the renowned FrenchPrix Broquette-Gonin[12]),Napoleon (in Egypt),Lawrence of Arabia, andHubert Lyautey. HisDe la Défaite au désastre, memoirs of the Vichy period, was published in 1984.[3]
Benoist-Méchin was a patron of the famous Paris bookshopShakespeare and Company and during the Second World War used his connections to secure the release of the shop's American-born ownerSylvia Beach from a spell of internment.[13] He befriendedJames Joyce and made an early French translation ofMolly Bloom's monologue fromUlysses, and also provided the musical transcription of "Little Harry Hughes" photographed for episode 17.[14] He also corresponded withErnst Jünger during the German scholar's residence in occupied France.[15] He also developed a close friendship withUnion Movement leaderOswald Mosley whilst the latter lived in France after the war.[16]
