French party

PPF was founded on June 28, 1936 by former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party (PCF), Jacques Dorio . A prominent figure in the French and international communist movement , who personally knew Lenin , in the mid-1930s, Dorio moved to diametrically opposed positions. This was facilitated not only by his ideological evolution, but also by the defeat in the struggle for leadership in the PCF, suffered from Maurice Thorez .

The past Dorio left an indelible mark on PPF policy. The ideology and propaganda of the fascist party was imbued with leftist radical motives. A significant part of the leadership and PPF asset came from the PCF, pro-communist unions and left-wing organizations. On the other hand, radicals from extreme right-wing organizations ( Fiery Crosses , French Solidarity , French Action ) joined the party, dissatisfied with the passivity of their leaders and attracted by the dynamic image of Dorio. The party’s third cadre source was criminal organizations, especially in Marseille . The target audience was proletarian and lumpenized youth. When the party acted party power structures like assault squads - Service d Ordre - who attacked communist and left activists ^[2] .

The ideology and program of the PPF in many ways resembled the neo-socialist concepts of Marcel Dea . Dorio called “the true essence of the nation” ^[3] workers, peasants, small independent producers, advocated corporatism and active state regulation of the economy, demanded vigorous anti-capitalist measures. On the other hand, anti-communism was in the foreground from the very beginning. The USSR , the Comintern , and the PCF were defined as forces hostile to the national and republican traditions of France. (Most PPF executives, starting with Dorio, knew them well from the inside.)

Back in 1933, Dorio, as a member of the leadership of the PCF, proposed creating a broad coalition with socialists and radicals . This initiative, which anticipated the Popular Front , was then rejected, which served as one of the reasons for the breakup of Dorio with the Communist Party. In 1937, when he led the PPF, Dorio tried to form the Freedom Front movement opposing the Popular Front. The right-wing coalition was supposed to include the PPF, the French Social Party (party-political wing of the Cross of Fire ), the conservative Republican Federation , the French Action League and several small right-wing organizations. The broad right coalition could dramatically change the alignment of the political forces of France. However, the personal ambitions of the three leaders - Dorio , Morras and Colonel de la Roque - the conservatives' waryness, PPF's excessive left bias frustrated the Freedom Front project.

Initially, PPF was not racist, chauvinistic, or anti-Semitic. An important role in its creation was played by the Jew Alexander Abremsky , a friend of Jacques Doriot's joint stay in the PCF. Agitation was actively conducted among immigrants from North Africa (a large party organization operated in Algeria ). However, already in 1937-1938 the party strongly evolved under the external influence of the NSDAP .

The party was built on the leadership principle, the unquestioned authority of the sole leader reached cult values. The name Dorio was listed in the party oath, motto and speech. Joining the PPF took the oath of allegiance. In addition, the PPF member vowed "to give all his strength to the struggle against communism and social egoism." Thus, the fascist combination of anti-communism with anti-capitalism was put at the forefront.

Despite anti-bourgeois slogans, PPF has established close cooperation with the business community. Among the financiers of the former communist party were leading industrial manager Pierre Puchet , banker Gabriel Leroy-Ladurie, and several large financial companies.

In March 1937, the number of PPF was up to 150 thousand. About a quarter of the party members previously belonged to the PCF (most often in Paris, where many ordinary Communists were influenced by Dorio's charisma). Former members of other left-wing parties made up less than 10%. Almost 30% came to PPF from right-wing organizations - most often from the "Crosses of Fire" and "French Action", much less often - from the "respectable" bourgeois parties. The remaining members had not previously been involved in politics.

The social composition of the party was gradually changing. In 1936, the proportion of workers reached almost half. A year later, the representation of the industrial proletariat dropped to less than 40%. At the same time, Dorio lost to the candidate of the FKP the mayoral election of Saint-Denis (he held this post intermittently for almost seven years). It became apparent that the PPF was losing to the Marxist parties - socialist and communist - the struggle for influence on industrial workers.

But from about 40% to almost 60%, the representation of the middle strata has grown - small entrepreneurs, employees, engineering and technical workers. The middle class proved to be the medium most susceptible to the propaganda of French fascism. In this direction, party agitation and organizational work gradually reoriented. (The situation developed similarly in the NSDAP of the 1920s and early 1930s.)

Party organizations operated throughout the country, the most powerful party organizations in Paris (the influence of Dorio) and Marseille (the influence of Sabiani).

Among the initiators of the PPF creation were:

• Jacques Doriot
• Henri Barbe - Chief of Staff, former member of the Political Bureau of the PCF
• Paul Marion - chief ideologist, leader of propaganda, former member of the Central Committee of the PCF
• Jules Tölyad - syndicalist, curator of trade union work, former member of the PCF and the Profintern , leader of the builders' union
• Simon Sabiani - Marseille administrator and gangster authority, a former member of the PCF, oversaw the party organizations of the Mediterranean coast, criminal connections and the power component
• Pierre Puchet - party financier, previously was a member of the "Fire Crosses"
• Pierre Drieu La Rochelle - writer, “literary radical”
• Bertrand de Jouvenel - philosopher, sociologist, economist, oversaw communications with intellectual circles
• Camille Fezhi - Party Press Leader, Editor of La Liberté ( Liberty ), formerly an employee of the PCF of L'Humanité

The composition of the party leadership has changed. In particular, Henri Barbe subsequently joined the party of Marcel Dea , Bertrand de Jouvenel came out in protest against the support of Dorio of the Munich agreement . On the other hand, after the outbreak of war, Joseph Darnan joined the PPF. Jacques Fontenay , the leader of the communist youth of Saint-Denis Marcel Wett , a member of the Central Committee Fernand Supé, former ideologist of Trotskyism Pierre Selor moved from the PCF.

In the spring of 1940, the PPF was banned for pro-German propaganda (at about the same time, in fact, the PCF was banned for the same thing). Dorio began the formation of the pro-Nazi "Movement of the National Revolution", and he was assisted in this by the former secretary of the Central Committee of the PCF Marcel Zhitton . In April 1941 , already under German occupation, the PPF was recreated.

The French People’s Party was the most loyal Nazi political force in the occupied country. Unlike the Vichy Petan government (with its conservative nationalism), and the Marseille Death National People’s Association (with its adherence to republican traditions), Parisian collaborators Doriot were ready to “dissolve France without a trace in Hitler Europe” ^[4] . PPF to stylistic details imitated the NSDAP in ideology and propaganda ^[5] .

Dorio took an active part in the creation of the French volunteer Legion sent to the Eastern Front . Against the Resistance , PPF activists collaborated not only with the Vichy police (Darnan was the link), but also directly with the Gestapo ^[6] . At the same time, PPF members themselves often became targets for the underground.

A prominent role in armed collaboration was played by the Marseille gangsters Sabiani, especially the Paul Carbon group. The occupying authorities did not authorize the re-establishment of the party power structure, but used the PPF party activist to identify Resistance fighters and Jews. The difference between the Paris PPF and the Vichy was fierce agitation of a populist anti-capitalist character.

Relations between Dorio and Dea were characterized by intense hostility. The idea of ​​a joint “National Revolutionary Front" was not developed due to competition between the leaders of Paris collaborators, and most importantly, because of the negative attitude of the German authorities towards such a union. Compared to the Dea party, the Dorio party was more radical, more active, younger, less inclined to theoretical interviews, more to practical power actions to help the invaders. The number of PPF during the occupation was reduced five times - up to 20-30 thousand. Most of the members were workers and representatives of the urban middle classes.

In September 1944, PPF leaders moved to Sigmaringen . On January 6, 1945, Dorio established the French Liberation Committee. According to some reports, he was looking for secret contact with de Gaulle to offer his transition to the side of the anti-communist wing of the Resistance. It is difficult to judge how thorough this version is. In any case, this option did not materialize: on February 22, 1945, Jacques Dorio died during an air raid.

The leadership of the PPF passed to Viktor Barthelemy , a former functionary of the PCF (in 1972, Barthelemy together with Jean-Marie Le Pen participated in the creation of the National Front ) ^[7] . However, the de facto history of PPF has ended. Subsequently, many activists faced justice. Sufficiently severe sentences took place, in particular, Pusche and Darnan were executed.

It can be stated that the creation of the French People's Party in 1936 reflected objective social needs. In conditions of political tension and left bank, significant social groups were interested in the appearance of a party declaring radical transformations based on national traditions. The emergence of a dynamic PPF that simultaneously puts forward anti-communist and anti-oligarchic slogans (at least in declarations) ^[8] , appealing to the masses, responded to this social request.

However, the internal laws of fascism, superimposed on objective historical circumstances (primarily foreign policy), and not least the personal characteristics of the leader, perverted the development of the party. The result was an extremely negative transformation with a corresponding ending.

The creation and development of the French People's Party is reflected by the writer Jules Romain in the epic Les hommes de bonne volonté ( People of Good Will ) - Volume XXIII, Naissance de la bande (The Birth of the Gang ) ^[9] .

• French Social Party
• Freedom front
• National People's Association

• Wolfgang Wipperman, "European Fascism in Comparison."