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Marcel Bucard | |
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 Bucard in 1936 | |
| Born | (1895-12-07)7 December 1895 Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Val-d'Oise, France |
| Died | 13 March 1946(1946-03-13) (aged 50) Fort de Châtillon, Paris, France |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Political party | Mouvement Franciste |
| Criminal status | Execution by firing squad |
| Conviction | Treason |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Marcel Bucard (7 December 1895 – 13 March 1946) was a FrenchFascist politician.
A decorated soldier who earned a reputation for bravery inWorld War I,[1] Bucard became active in politics after 1918, initially as a member ofAction française, anintegralist monarchistfar-right group, and later as a member of the overtly-fascist andanti-SemiticFaisceau ofGeorges Valois.
In September 1933, Bucard founded his own group, theMouvement franciste, which was arguably the most extreme group and was financed byBenito Mussolini's government. During the6 February 1934 crisis, theFrancistes joined the other right-wing parties in the protests and riots in front of thePalais Bourbon provoked by theStavisky Affair and accused of being intended as acoup d'état.
In 1936, the newPopular Front government banned his movement and all other right-wing "leagues", fascist or otherwise, and Bucard was briefly imprisoned. His attempt to recreate the movement as a party (Parti franciste) in 1938 had little success, and it was outlawed as well.
After theFall of France duringWorld War II and the start ofNazi Germany'soccupation of France and ofVichy France, Bucard'sParti was again active (from 1941), now as acollaborationist force. Bucard called upon his Francists to give whatever support they could to the Germans, including military intelligence and information on the Resistance.[2] His role in the period was, however, limited, as he was usually absent since he suffered from old wounds. He was still a co-founder of theLégion des volontaires français contre le bolchevisme. After theNormandy landings, he argued that Francists should join the FrenchWaffen SS or French/foreign units in theNational Socialist Motor Corps or theKriegsmarine.[3]
In 1946, after the German defeat, Bucard was sentenced to death fortreason, and a month later executed byfiring squad at theFort de Châtillon. Marcel Bucard went to the firing squad while singing the Catholic song "Je suis chrétien! Voilà ma gloire" (I am a Christian, that is my Glory).[4]
At his trial, the prosecutor, Vassart, accused the Francists of routinely infiltratingFrench resistance groups to betray them to the Germans, of numerous crimes, including the murder of opponents and violently resisting French police even before the Liberation, and Bucard was blamed for the deaths of Soviet and French combatants because of his wholehearted support for theGerman occupier and his recruitment activities on behalf of the LVF, theMilice and theFrench Waffen SS.[5]
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