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French nationalism (French:Nationalisme français) usually manifests ascivic[1][2] orcultural nationalism, promoting the cultural unity ofFrance.[3]
French nationalism emerged during theHundred Years' War, which consisted of a series of intermittent conflicts with theKingdom of England. The wars produced a great icon of French nationalism,Joan of Arc. TheCatholic Church also played a major role after theProtestant Reformation.[4] French nationalism became a powerful movement after theFrench Revolution in 1789.Napoleon Bonaparte promoted French nationalism based upon the ideals of the French Revolution such as the idea ofliberty, equality, fraternity and justified Frenchexpansionism and French military campaigns on the claim that France had the right to spread theenlightened ideals of the French Revolution across Europe, and also to expand France into its so-called "natural borders." Napoleon's invasions of other nations spread the concept of nationalism outside of France.[5]
After Napoleon's defeat and downfall, French nationalism from the 19th to early 20th century took on an assertive and extreme patriotism that supported military force to achieve its political goals.[5] DuringWorld War I, France pursuedirredentist claims on the region ofAlsace-Lorraine that had been lost toGermany at the end of theFranco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. French national pride was damaged inWorld War I by the long, drawn-out war with Germany fought on its soil; especially inWorld War II when the French government surrendered to Germany in 1940; and after France lost many of its colonies due to decolonization after World War II.[5]
The symbols of nationalism included not only Joan of Arc but also Roland, the hero ofThe Song of Roland (La chanson de Roland). He died in combat against the Unfaithful while defending Charlemagne and his men, making him a suitable patriotic symbol for the modern age.[6]
The politics of left and right played a role as conservatives seized on nationalism to attack the left. Conservative French nationalists successfully labeled antimilitarism as antinationalist in the 1898-1914 era. Many of the more vocal antimilitarists were activist anarchists and radical Marxist organizations. Historians have interpreted this attack by arguing French nationalism was rejecting its roots in the French Revolution and was becoming something of an extremist, protofascist movement. However, most antimilitarists did not reject their nation but instead claimed to be protecting the Republic which they saw as synonymous with the nation. They saw the conservatives as a danger to a republican France.[7]
The large conservative Catholic element, frustrated by the failure to restore the monarchy, turned to a new variation on nationalism. Led by the daily newspaperLa Croix, founded by theAssumptionist priests in 1883, it denounced the Republic's anti-clericalism and encouragedBoulangism andGermanophobia. It promoted French imperialism as the fulfillment of a mission to bring civilization and Christianity to the pagans ("mission civilisatrice") and it boasted of France's cultural superiority over everyone else.[8]
TheDreyfus affair of the 1890s saw conservatives use nationalism to attack the Third Republic. However, when the republicans passedlaws hostile to the Catholic Church in 1901-1905, such as disbanding the Assumptionists, many conservatives switched their energies and funding away from nationalistic projects to a defense of the Church instead. Devout Catholic women were especially active in this switch. Historian Robert Fuller argues it effectively ended the nationalist challenge to the Third Republic.[9]
The disaster of theNazi Occupation of France led to a collapse of confidence in Republican governance.MaréchalPhilippe Pétain, a hero of the world war, was called upon to save France again in the name of French nationalism. He responded by stressing "the need to stay in France, to prepare a national revival, and to share the sufferings of our people. It is impossible for the government to abandon French soil without emigrating, without deserting. The duty of the government is, come what may, to remain in the country, or it could not longer be regarded as the government".[10] Robert Bruce wrote: "He longed to take an active part in remaking France in his image and ridding the nation of the past twenty years of socialist and Marxist teachings and programs whose bitter fruit had been the defeat of 1940. France would be strong again. France would be great again, and it was his duty to make that come to pass."[11]
Pétain's great enemy was the leader ofFree France,Charles de Gaulle. He became President of France and sought to resurrect national pride. De Gaulle sought to make France the leader of an independent Europe - free from American and Soviet influence.[12] De Gaulle's government sought Franco-German reconciliation and took a leading role in the founding of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community that sought to resolve economic tensions between France and Germany, that French foreign ministerRobert Schuman declared was designed "to end Franco-German hostility once and for all".[12]
Into the 21st century, one controversy has been the legal treatment of veiled Muslim women and prostitutes. The government has targeted what some perceive as the 'under-covered' bodies of prostitutes and the 'over-covered' bodies of veiled Muslim women in order to exclude them from the public space. After the multiple Islamic terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016, French nationalists had a new reason to promote anti-immigration laws. The emerging forms of French nationalism emphasize the promotion of sexual liberalism as a core value of citizenship. Julie Billaud and Julie Castro argue that the goals are to enforce a virile nationalism, prescribe new sexual norms, and criminalize immigrants and those living at the social margins.[13]
