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Republican Federation Fédération républicaine | |
|---|---|
| President | Philippe Henriot (last) |
| Founder | Jules Méline |
| Founded | 1 November 1903; 122 years ago (1903-11-01) |
| Dissolved | 1945; 81 years ago (1945) |
| Merger of | National Republican Association Liberal Republican Union |
| Succeeded by | Republican Party of Liberty (notlegal successor) |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Membership(1926) | 30,000 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| National affiliation | National Bloc (1919–1924) Freedom Front (1937–1940) |
| Colours | Blue |
TheRepublican Federation (French:Fédération républicaine,FR) was the largestconservativeparty during theFrench Third Republic, gathering together theProgressive Republicans and theOrléanistsrallied to the Republic.
Founded in November 1903, the party competed with the more secular and centristAlliance démocratique (Democratic Alliance). Later, most deputies of theFédération républicaine and ofAction libérale (which included Catholics rallied to the Republic) joined theEntente républicaine démocratique right-wing parliamentary group.[1]
The Republican Federation was founded in November 1903 to gather theright-wing of theModerate Republicans who opposed bothPierre Waldeck Rousseau'sBloc des gauches (Left-wing Block), his alliance with theRadical-Socialist Party and for some of them the defense of the Jewish officerAlfred Dreyfus. These conservative Republicans were ideologically indebted toJules Méline,Alexandre Ribot,Jean Casimir-Perier orCharles Dupuy. They represented the Republicanbourgeoisie, closely connected to business circles and opposed tosocial reform. Furthermore, they were fond of a relativedecentralisation, thus enrolling themselves in the legacy of theGirondins of theFrench Revolution. Just as theDemocratic Republican Alliance, it was a party composed of notables, which rested upon local electoral committee, which merged in the National Assembly in one or several parliamentary groups. It never had many members (30,000 in 1926 and 18,000 in 1939).
AfterWorld War I, the Republican Federation participated during the1919 legislative election within theBloc national (National Block)'s electoral lists. The same year, theAction libérale populaire (Popular Liberal Action), an alliance of Catholics who had accepted the legality of the Republican regime, entered the Republican Federation by sitting within parliamentary grouping of theEntente républicaine démocratique (Arago group).
The Republican Federation shifted more and more to the right during theinterwar period and it is important to note that it cannot be simply labelled aChristian-democratic party (a label that is more rightly applied to the very smallPopular Democratic Party). Itsreligious-right andultranationalist wing were strengthened by theelection victory of the centre-left in 1924 and the subsequent rise of theanti-parliamentary and nationalist leagues as well as by a generational shift in its leadership. At the same time, the party's smaller Christian-democratic andsocial Catholicleft-wing received a boost from the arrival of the parliamentary Catholics of thePopular Liberal Action. However, the rift in political ethos was shown by the fact that these preferred to sit in a separate parliamentary grouping from the main party (such as the Popular Democratic group, the AlsatianPopular Action group, orPernot's Social Action group).
These changes were reflected in the handover of power from theBelle Époque industrialist and conservative leaderAuguste Isaac to the younger militant and academicLouis Marin in 1925. Under Marin's leadership, the Republican Federation slowly transitioned from a confederation of local political bosses into a more streamlinedpolitical party on the model created by theRepublican Left at the turn of the century, becoming more hierarchisesd with the creation of youth sections while ordinary members were given more weight.
Although several members participated to theDoumergue,Flandin andLaval governments of 1934–1935, most of the party opposed itself to this cooperation with the republican centre, which seemed to vindicate the "rallying of the center" (concentration républicaine) strategy advocated by thecentre-rightDemocratic Republican Alliance. Following the experience of the Bloc National first and then of theCartel des gauches (Left-Wing Cartel) in 1924, many voices inside the party argued in favor of a strategy enforcing the unity of the right-wings instead of acentrist strategy. After the6 February 1934 riots which toppled the secondCartel des gauches, the majority of the party chose this right-wing strategy, taking the side of the opponents to the Republic accused of being anti-patriotic.
The Republican Federation thus formed in 1937 during thePopular Front aFront de la liberté (Freedom Front) along withJacques Doriot's fascistParti populaire français (French Popular Party) and the smallParti républicain national et social andFrench Agrarian and Peasant Party (Fleurant Agricola). Although this Freedom Front was theorized by Louis Marin and the other leaders of the party as a tactic against the growing influence of ColonelFrançois de La Rocque'sFrench Social Party—one of the first right-wing French mass party—this union also corresponded with the ideology of the leading classes outside Paris (such as Victor Perret in theRhône region) and of the activists opposed both to the lefts and to the centre-right parties such as the Democratic Alliance or the Popular Democrats.
This shift to the right of the party during the 1930s explain how several important pre-war figures of the party (such asLaurent Bonnevay) left it. The Republican Federation acted as the nexus between parliamentary conservatives and the anti-Republican nationalist right organized in the various far-right paramilitaries and in the ultramonarchistAction française. Party members such asPhilippe Henriot orXavier Vallat (both futurecollaborationists) thus served as intermediaries between the leaders of the Republican Federation and the extra-parliamentary right.
Although few important members of the Republican Federation actively engaged incollaborationism during theVichy regime, their conservative allegiance (traditional Catholicism,anti-communism andconservative nationalism) induced most of them to accept the new regime of theRévolution nationale. However, the Republican Federation was part of one of the six member parties of theConseil national de la Résistance (National Council of Resistance) represented by Jacques Debû-Bridel. Alongside Louis Marin, the latter tried without success to recreate the Republican Federation at theLiberation, but the party remained discredited by the passive attitude of most of its members. After 1949, theNational Center of the Independents was the main political structure pursuing the Republican Federation's legacy after the failure of several structures, including theRepublican Party of Liberty.
The Republican Federation deputies sat in the following parliamentary groups in theChamber of Deputies:
Furthermore, theRepublican Independents group ofGeorges Mandel was also close to the Republican Federation.
The Republican Federation senators sieged in the ANRS group (Action nationale républicaine et sociale, National Republican and Social Action) at least until 1936.
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||
| Election year | No. of overall votes | % of overall vote | No. of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | 1,864,557 (2nd) | 21.16 | 78 / 585 | – | |
| 1910 | 1,565,698 (2nd) | 19.08 | 119 / 595 |  41 | |
| 1914 | 397,547 (5th) | 4.72 | 37 / 601 |  82 | |
| 1919 | 1,819,691 (1st) | 22.23 | 183 / 613 | 146 | |
| 1924 | 3,190,831 (1st) | 35.35 | 102 / 581 | 81 | |
| 1928 | 2,082,041 (2nd) | 21.99 | 102 / 604 |  | |
| 1932 | 1,233,360 (4th) | 12.88 | 59 / 607 | 43 | |
| 1936 | 1,666,004 (3rd) | 16.92 | 60 / 610 | 1 | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
