TheFrench Agrarian and Peasant Party (French:Parti agraire et paysan français, PAPF) was a French political party founded in 1927 during theFrench Third Republic byGabriel Fleurent.[1]
The PAPF was founded on acorporatist,right-wing populist andagrarian program after Fleurent visited Eastern Europe, visited existing peasant based parties and was from the start aligned with theirInternational Agrarian Bureau.[2] The party's first congress, held at Paris in January 1929.[3]
In1932 they managed to elect one deputy to theNational Assembly,[4]Louis Guillon ofVosges.[5]
It was initially politically eclectic,[6] but in 1934 it moved right and it joined theFront paysan with the activist and radically right wingComités de défense paysanne and the conservativeUnion nationale des syndicats agricoles.[7] One sign of radicalization was at the height of theStavisky Affair, proposing the death penalty by hanging for politicians found guilty of forgery or embezzlement.[8]
This move to the right in 1936 divided the PAPF into two factions, while both were right wing on the French political spectrum, the more Republican and centrist faction founded theRepublican, Social and Agrarian Party led by the PAPF's sole deputy in the 1932 Assembly, Louis Guillon. The more right-wing element remained known as the PAPF and was led byPierre Mathé (Côte-d'Or).[6]
In1936 PAPF elected eleven deputies.[4]
The Front paysan itself fell apart in 1936 due to differences in political strategy.[9]
Post-war a smallPeasant Party existed, with a large section splitting off in 1951 as theIndependants Paysans and then joining theliberalNational Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNI), which exists to this day (though much weaker than in the past).[10]
