 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (August 2019)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Young Europe Jeune Europe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Jean-François Thiriart |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Dissolved | 1969 |
| Preceded by | Mouvement d'Action Civique |
| Newspaper | La nation européenne |
| Ideology | Pan-Europeanism Neo-fascism Anti-imperialism National communism Nazi-Maoism National Bolshevism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| European affiliation | National Party of Europe |
Jeune Europe (French pronunciation:[ʒœnøʁɔp], "Young Europe") was aneo-fascisteuro-nationalist movement formed byJean Thiriart inBelgium. Emile Lecerf, a later editor of theNouvel Europe Magazine, was one of Thiriart's associates.
Following theAlgerian War of Independence, Thiriart decided to look to a moreEurope-wide vision and founded Jeune Europe as a result, calling for a united Europe that would be "neitherMoscow norWashington" but rather a thirdsuperpower in order that the individual states could stop being squeezed in theCold War.[1] Jeune Europe quickly grew in influence, with major branches opening inFrance,Italy andSpain, as well as minor groups in nine other countries.[1] Its strongest following was amongst students although it attracted wider attention in part due to the strength of Thiriart's personality and his unusually syncretist message.[2] They also participated in 1962 Conference atVenice, where they agreed to participate in theNational Party of Europe, along withOswald Mosley'sUnion Movement,Otto Strasser and others.[3] Jeune Europe as a movement, and Thiriart in particular, also foresaw a future rapprochement with the Soviet Union and sought a rapprochement withMaoistChina in order to oust the Americans from Europe.[4][5]
Although Thiriart publicly disavowedfascism and brandedNazism obsolete, the movement was still accused of having a fascist basis, be it through adopting theCeltic cross, a symbol widely used inneo-fascism, as its emblem or advertising the activities ofneo-Nazi leaderHans-Ulrich Rudel in its eponymous weekly magazine.[6] The group also maintained links with the network of formerSS officers that organised through the magazineNation Europa.[7] However, Thiriart's flirtation with China and the Soviet Union alienated some rank and file members for whom links with fascism were not to be eschewed and when he began to follow a morenational communist path and seek contact withNicolae Ceauşescu membership fell.[8] Other members went in the other direction: Notably,Renato Curcio, an early member ofGiovane Europa (as the group was called in Italy), who eventually switched allegiance to thecommunistRed Brigades.[9]
One member of Jeune Europe,Roger Coudroy, enlisted inFatah.
It was dissolved in 1969.[10]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
