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Europe-Action

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Europe-Action
TypeMonthly magazine
PublisherSociété de Presse et d'Édition Saint-Just
FoundedJanuary 1963
Political alignmentWhite nationalism
Pan-European nationalism
LanguageFrench
Ceased publicationNovember 1966
CountryFrance
Circulation7,500–10,000

Europe-Actionwas afar-rightwhite nationalistandeuro-nationalistmagazine and movement, founded byDominique Vennerin 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliamentarianism and traditionalFrench nationalism,Europe-Actionpromoted a pan-European nationalism based on the "Occident" —or the "white peoples" — and asocial Darwinismescorted byracialism,labeled "biological realism". These theories, along with themeta-politicalstrategy of Venner, influenced youngEurope-ActionjournalistAlain de Benoistand are deemed conducive to the creation ofGRECEand theNouvelle Droitein 1968.[1]

History

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Background: 1958–1962

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In his 1962 manifesto titledPour une critique positive( "For a positive critique" ) that he wrote while in prison, formerJeune NationmemberDominique Vennerabandoned the myth of thecoup de force,convinced that a political revolution would not be able to happen before a cultural one. The latter could be achieved via the public promotion of nationalist ideas until they achieve popular support.[2]For Venner, intellectual persuasion and violence both had their place; but his movement had to favor ideas over action.[3]He also aimed at removing "old ideas" from pre-WWII nationalism and fascism, such asanti-parliamentarianism,anti-intellectualism,or a form of patriotism reduced to the boundaries of the nation-state.[4]The text was deemed influential in nationalist circles,François DupratdescribingFor a positive critiqueas their equivalent ofWhat is to be Done?,a political pamphlet written byLenin16 years before theBolshevik Revolution.[5]They held an ambiguous view ofNazism,Europe-Actionstating viaMaurice Bardèchethat "next to genial intuitions,Hitlermade mistakes ", which" are largely due to a lack of established doctrinal foundations ".[4][6]

They were also influenced by the "Manifesto of the Class of '60", published three years before the founding ofEurope-Action,in which thepro-colonialfounders of theFederation of Nationalist Students(FEN) committed themselves to "action of profound consequence", as opposed to the "sterile activism" of street violence alone previously promoted by Jeune Nation in the 1950s.[7]While still deeply committed to the cause ofFrench Algeria,the members ofEurope-Actionchose to take into account the new world emerging from decolonization and the consolidation of theFrench Fifth Republic.They consequently tried to theorize a radical right ideology based on materials other thanVichynostalgia andCatholic traditionalism.[3]

Political activism: 1963–1966

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Europe-Action was launched in January 1963 byDominique Venneras a nationalist movement escorted by a magazine of the same name,[8]in whichAlain de BenoistandFrançois d'Orcivalsoon became journalists.[9][10]Jacques Ploncard d'Assacinitially wrote for the magazine but soon denounced his anti-Christian stance and left in August 1963.[11]The editing company of the magazine, Société de Presse et d'Édition Saint-Just, was founded in November 1962 by Venner, Suzanne Gingembre, the spouse of formerOAStreasurer Maurice Gingembre, and Jacques de Larocque-Latour, a racist caricaturist.Pierre Bousquet,a formerWaffen-SS,later joined the company.[12]

In 1964, De Benoist became the editor-in-chief of the weekly publicationEurope-Action hebdomadaire.[13]Along with theFederation of Nationalist Students,Europe-Actionsupported the far-right candidacy ofJean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourin the1965 presidential electionthrough the "T.V. Committees".[9]After a dispute between the leader ofOccident,Pierre Sidos,and the campaign directorJean-Marie Le Pen,Europe-Actionvolunteers replaced Occident as a support group in the Comité Jeunes ( "Youth Committee" ) of Tixier-Vignancour.[14]Venner's movement used its militant base to organize demonstrations against Algerian immigration.[15]

From June 1965 to 1966,Jean Mabirewas redactor-in-chief ofEurope-Action.[16][17]After the electoral demise of Tixier-Vignancour, head members ofEurope-Actionfounded in 1966 theEuropean Rally for Liberty(REL), along with by young nationalists from theFederation of Nationalist Students.[2]Europe-Action hebdomadairebecame the organ for theEuropean Rally for Libertyduring the campaign,[9]and was replaced by a short-lived magazine namedL'Observateur Européen.[18]The REL was only able to run 27 candidates during the1967 legislative electionand failed at 2.58% of the votes.[2][19]This electoral debacle is cited as conducive to the foundation of theethno-nationalistthink tankGRECEand the development ofNouvelle Droitemeta-politics.[2]

The magazine released its last issue in November 1966 following the bankruptcy of its publishing house.[15][20]Europe-Actionended definitively in the summer 1967 after a failed attempt to relaunch the publication.[15]It had an estimated circulation of 7,500 to 10,000.[21]The symbol ofEurope-Actionwas ahoplitehelmet.[22]

Views

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The movement developed two main thesis: a "biological realism" composed ofracialismandsocial Darwinism;and apan-European nationalismbuilt on a common Western civilization seen as the link between the peoples of the "white race".[20]These ideas were to be promoted through ameta-politicalstrategy of ideological influence until the eventual achievement of cultural dominance in wider society.[23]

Biological realism

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"Biological realism", a concept coined by French neo-fascist activistRené Binetin 1950, promoted the establishment of individual and racial inequalities upon pseudo-scientific observations.[20]Binet argued that "interbreeding capitalism" ( "capitalisme métisseur" ) aimed at creating a "uniform inhumanity" ( "barbarie uniforme" ); and that only "a true socialism" could "achieve race liberation" through the "absolute segregation at both global and national level."[24]Europe-Actionalso drew influence from the so-called "message of Uppsala",[20]a text likely wrote in 1958 by French neo-fascists related to theNew European Order,and deemed influential on European far-right movements that followed as it carried out subtle semantic shifts between "differentialism" and "inequality".[25]The ideas of Binet and "Uppsala", characterized by a worldwide "biological-cultural deal" where each group would remain sovereign in its own region, foreshadowed both theracialismofEurope-Actionand theethno-pluralismof GRECE.[26][20]

Following the Algerian independence in 1962,Europe-Actionwas among the first to oppose Algerian immigration (labeled "invasion" ).[20]The group defended a racial rather than geographical nationalism, proclaiming race to be "the new homeland, thehomeland of the fleshwhich should be defended with an animal-like ferocity. "[27]Opposed to ethnic mix, they called forremigration,[20]arguing that "race mi xing [was] nothing more than a slow genocide".[28]Calling for an end to development aid towards former colonies, they feared a future France "occupied bytwentymillion Maghrebi Arabs andtwentymillion Negro-Africans ".[29][30]

In France, the significant immigration of colored elements is a grave issue […]. We also know the size of the North African population [...]. What is serious for the future: we know that the basis of European settlement, which allowed for civilizing expansion, was that of a white ethnic group. The destruction of this balance, which can be quick, will lead to our disappearance and that of our civilization.

— Dominique Venner,Europe-Action,nº 38, février 1966, p. 8.

Europe-Actionpromoted the project of creating a genetically improved social elite along with, "without futile sentimentality", the elimination of "biological waste",[31]"not through massacres but through eugenic processes".[30]They proposed to "eliminate biological foam" by "returning the mediocre elements of this class to their ranks and retain the valid elite" only, in order "not to allow the biological growth of waste".[32]

Euro-nationalism

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Their conception of Europe was not limited to the continent, and described as a "heart whose blood beats inJohannesburgand inQuebec City,inSydneyandBudapest,aboard white caravels and spaceships, on every sea and in every desert in the world. "[2][33]Europe-Actionissue of June 1964 indeed grouped the US, France and South Africa together, as mere "provinces of this large motherland that is the white race."[34]

The "Dictionary of the militant", published inEurope-Actionin May 1963, defined theOccidentas the "community of the white peoples", thepeopleitself being defined as a "biological unity confirmed by history".[35]The following definition ofnationalismis thus given: "doctrine that expresses in political terms the philosophy and the vital necessities of the white people".[36]According to political scientistStéphane François,this world view was influenced by theVölkischidea of an organic entity gathering those of the same blood, the same culture and same destiny.[20]

Rejecting both the Europe of the nation-states advocated by theGaullistsand theUnited States of Europeendorsed by theChristian democrats,Europe-Actionsupported a racialist Europe that would have been founded on its indigenous ethnic groups, uniting the white peoples of Europe within a powerful imperial entity eventually crowned by an international alliance with white-minority-ruled states likeRhodesiaorSouth Africa.[20]

Meta-politics

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Initially conceived as a think tank founded on a magazine,Europe-Actiongradually evolved towards a political movement.[30]Seeking to oppose the anti-intellectualism that had been a major hindrance to the right in the battle of ideas—notably against the Marxist set of concepts—Venner aimed at establishing a new radical right doctrine to be spread in wider society and bring about a nationalist cultural revolution.[2][37]He progressively accepted the democratic institutions and the emergence of a post-fascist society, arguing thatEurope-Actionhad to show the bureaucracy they were capable of running a state to win their support. DescribingEurope-Actionmembers as "militants of a white nation", Venner concluded that nationalists shouldinfiltrate organizations,"however small, including unions, local newspapers, even youth hostels" in order to disseminate their ideas.[5][38]

Legacy

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Political scientistStéphane FrançoisdescribesEurope-Actionas "the main structure in France that bridged WWII activists and the young post-war generations".[20]Jean-Yves Camusfurther adds that the "transition from French nationalism to the promotion of European identity, theorized byEurope-Actionin the mid-1960s, disrupted the references of the French far-right by producing a gap that has not been repaired to date, separating integralsovereignists,for whom no level of sovereignty is legitimate except the Nation-State [...] from theidentitarians,for whom the Nation-State is an intermediate framework between being rooted in a region (in the sense of the German "Heimat") and belonging to the civilized framework of Europe."[39]

Europe-actiontheories indeed formed the ideological foundations of the think tankGRECEin 1968, and the magazine-movement has been described as the "embryonic form" of theNouvelle Droite.[2][40]The latter however distanced themselves fromEurope-Action's anti-communism and pro-colonial stance, in order to develop a critic aliberal capitalismand adopt aThird-Worldistpoint of view.[23]Many founding members of theethno-nationalistthink tank were indeed formerly involved in the magazine.[41]GRECE and theNouvelle Droiteinherited a number of themes fromEurope-Action,among them "the anti-Christian stance, a marked elitism, the racial notion of a united Europe, the seeds of a change from biological to cultural definitions of" difference ", and the sophisticated inversion of terms like racism and anti-racism".[1]Another group led byPierre Bousquet,Jean Castrillo,andPierre Pautyestablished the magazineMilitantin 1967. They were later among the founders of theFront Nationalin 1972, and at the origin of theFrench Nationalist Partyin 1983.[42]

Notable members

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^abBar-On 2001,p. 339.
  2. ^abcdefgTaguieff 1994,pp. 4–6.
  3. ^abShields 2007,p. 119.
  4. ^abMilza 1987,pp. 132, 339.
  5. ^abFysh & Wolfreys 2003,pp. 105–106.
  6. ^Nazism: "A German popular movement that was called to power in 1933 under the leadership of its leader Adolf Hitler. In five years of peace, he deployed tremendous energy and transformed Germany into an innovative country in social, legal and economic terms (...). He achieved German unity and mobilized the people in a powerful lyrical exaltation. National Socialism has been described as a youth dictatorship. Alongside brilliant intuitions, their mistakes resulted in their loss: hypertrophy of the notion of the leader; romantic (non-scientific) racism only intended to reinforce a narrow, vengeful, aggressive nationalism; reactionary European politics that not only led to their defeat, but also to the general hostility of the European peoples. These errors are largely due to a lack of established doctrinal foundations" (Maurice Bardèche. "National-socialisme". In "Dictionnaire du militant",Europe-Actionn°5, May 1963, p. 65)
  7. ^Shields 2007,pp. 119–120.
  8. ^"Europe-Action. France".data.bnf.fr.Retrieved8 August2019.
  9. ^abcdTaguieff, Tarnero & Badinter 1983,pp. 32–33.
  10. ^Lebourg 2011.
  11. ^Europe-Action,n.8, Aug 1963 — "French nationalists, even agnostics like Maurras, have always recognized the Christian character of the French ethnic group. There is therefore an incompatibility between atheistic materialism and the very object of French nationalism."
  12. ^Algazy 1984,p. 266.
  13. ^Simmons, Harvey G. (5 March 2018).The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge To Democracy.Routledge.ISBN9780429976179.
  14. ^Shields 2007,pp. 126–128.
  15. ^abcShields 2007,p. 123.
  16. ^Picco, Pauline (28 June 2018).Liaisons dangereuses: Les extrêmes droites en France et en Italie (1960-1984).Presses universitaires de Rennes. p. 91.ISBN9782753555761.
  17. ^Hamelin, Bertrand; Marpeau, Benoît (2009)."Intellectuel normand ou intellectuel en Normandie? Michel de Boüard et Jean Mabire, itinéraires croisés".Annales de Normandie.35(1): 288–90.doi:10.3406/annor.2009.2544.
  18. ^Duranton-Crabol 1991,p. 65.
  19. ^D'Appollonia 1998,p. 311.
  20. ^abcdefghijFrançois 2013.
  21. ^Algazy 1984,p. 283.
  22. ^Camus & Lebourg 2017,p. 142.
  23. ^abCrépon 2015,p. 53.
  24. ^René Binet,Théorie du Racisme,s.e., Paris, 1950, pp. 16-35
  25. ^Taguieff, Pierre-André (1985). "Le néo-racisme différentialiste. Sur l'ambiguïté d'une évidence commune et ses effets pervers".Langage & société.34(1): 69–98.doi:10.3406/lsoc.1985.2039.
  26. ^Taguieff 1981.
  27. ^D'Appollonia 1998,pp. 309–310.
  28. ^Gilles Fournier, "La guerre de demain est déjà déclenchée",Europe-Action,nº 16, April 1964, p. 21
  29. ^Algazy 1984,pp. 271–274.
  30. ^abcShields 2007,pp. 122–123.
  31. ^Europe-Action,Jul-Aug 1964, p. 20
  32. ^Europe-Action,Jul-Aug 1964,p.20.
  33. ^Europe-Action,Jul-Aug 1964, p. 3.
  34. ^Taguieff, Pierre-André. "La Nouvelle droite à l’œil nu" (1),Droit et liberté,December 1979.
  35. ^"Dictionnaire du militant",Europe-Action,n° 5, May 1963, pp. 73-74
  36. ^"Dictionnaire du militant",Europe-Action,n° 5, May 1963, p. 26
  37. ^Shields 2007,pp. 119–121.
  38. ^Europe-Action,May 1963, pp. 50–1
  39. ^Camus, Jean-Yves (1 May 2018)."Le mouvement identitaire ou la construction d'un mythe des origines européennes".Fondation Jean-Jaurès.Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2021.Retrieved16 August2019.It was the transition from French nationalism to the promotion of European identity, theorised by Europe-Action in the mid-1960s, that upset the references of the French far-right by producing a gap that has not been repaired to date. This fracture separates integral sovereignists, for whom no level of sovereignty is legitimate except the Nation-State [...] from the identitarians, for whom the Nation-State is an intermediate framework between being rooted in a region (in the sense of the German "Heimat" ) and belonging to the framework of European civilization.
  40. ^McCulloch, Tom (2006). "The Nouvelle Droite in the 1980s and 1990s: Ideology and Entryism, the Relationship with the Front National".French Politics.4(2): 160.doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200099.ISSN1476-3427.
  41. ^abShields 2007,p. 145.
  42. ^Lebourg, Nicolas."Neo-fascisme et nationalisme-révolutionnaire. 2. Etat-Nation-Europe".phdn.org.Retrieved31 August2019.
  43. ^Simmons, Harvey G. (2018).The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge To Democracy.Routledge. pp. 69 (note 10).ISBN9780429976179.
  44. ^Camus & Lebourg 2017,p. 30.

Bibliography

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