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European Rally for Liberty

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European Rally for Liberty
Rassemblement Européen pour la Liberté
PresidentDominique Venner(1966–67)
Pierre Bousquet(1967–68)
FounderDominique Venner and others
FoundedNovember 1966
Dissolved1969
IdeologyWhite nationalism
Euronationalism
Political positionFar-right

TheEuropean Rally for Liberty(French: Rassemblement Européen pour la Liberté, REL), also translated asEuropean Assembly for Liberty,[1]was afar-right,white nationalistandeuro-nationalistparty active in France between 1966 and 1968, and the political showcase of theNationalist Movement of Progress(Mouvement Nationaliste du Progrès,MNP), created nine months earlier. The movement and the party were founded by theeuro-nationalistmagazineEurope-Action,escorted by militants from theFederation of Nationalist Students.

History

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Background

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The political movement was initially founded in January 1966 as the "Nationalist Movement of Progress" (Mouvement Nationaliste du Progrès,MNP) by head members of the nationalist magazineEurope-Action,escorted by leaders of theFederation of Nationalist Studentsand elements from the "Tixier-Vignancour Committees".[2]Many of them, especiallyDominique Venner,had been deceived by the electoral failure (5.2%) of far-right candidateJean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourin the1965 presidential election.[3]

The first congress was held on 30 April and 1 May 1966, for the movement to reclaimthis date,until then "reserved to [their] communist adversaries" in their views.[4]Dominique Venner introduced the agenda of the movement behind a crowd of 300 delegates:[5]the "defence of the Occidental civilization", which was facing three perceived dangers: "the work of falsification", set up by the elites to make the people forget its own identity and history; the "power of technology", accused of uniforming the planet; and the "demographic tide of the coloured world", which would lead to a "universal brewing" and the "disappearance of [Europeans] genetic specificity, the end of the white world and its civilization". The aim of MNP leaders was therefore to make white people realize this "state of full submission", and persuade them to "fight" and "refuse this death".[4]The white minority government of the breakaway countryRhodesiasent a Rhodesian flag which was prominently displayed throughout the conference.[5]

1967 legislative elections

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The political party "European Rally for Liberty" (REL) was launched in November 1966 to serve as a political showcase for the MNP for the forthcoming elections, Venner asserting that they would benefit from the campaign to promote their view on the public radio and television.Europe-Actionhad a weekly publication,Europe-Action hebdomadaire,which served as an organ for the party and where the main essayists of the magazine—Dominique Venner,Jean Mabire,Alain de Benoist,François d'Orcival—wrote political articles during the campaign.[2]The party was however only able to run 27 contenders in thelegislative electionof March 1967 and fared poorly in the results, receiving 2.5% of the national votes with no elected candidate.[3][4]

Dissolution

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Following this failure, Venner left the leadership and the REL was reorganized under the iron rule ofPierre Bousquetand Pierre Clémenti, two former members of theWaffen-SS.[5]This takeover, along with the relations maintained with the German neo-NaziNPDand seminars held onMein Kampf,triggered a wave of resignations.[6]In March 1968, an extraordinary session of the REL's nation council excluded Bousquet and Venner from the movement.[4]The party was only able to run one candidate, Édith Gérard, in the subsequentlegislative election of June 1968.[7]

Despite the few illusions shown by REL members before the vote—Venner declared toRivarolbefore the election that "[their] aim should not be to have deputies elected, but to get [themselves] known, to impose [their] existence" —, the electoral debacle of the party confirmed the theories developed by Venner and de Benoist in 1962–1965 about the need to achieve cultural dominance before gaining the popular vote.[7]The REL eventually disappeared in 1969 after a financial scandal.[7]

Legacy

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The electoral debacles of the European Rally for Liberty, along with the previous failure of Tixier-Vignancourt, are cited as conducive to the foundation of theethno-nationalistthink tankGRECEand the development of its meta-political strategy.Alain de Benoist,a member of the national council of the REL, founded the think tank in 1968, along with other adherents of the party and former members of theFederation of Nationalist Students.[7]

Another group, led by Pierre Bousquet and Jean Castrillo, created the nationalist magazineMilitantin December 1967, then entered theFront National(FN) in 1973 where they represented the more radical fringe of the party.[2]They broke with the FN in 1979 due its supposed "conservative and Zionist stance".[7]REL's security personnel joinedOccidentin October 1967. Other members chose to support far-left parties during theMay 1968 events.[3]

The MNP was suspected of receiving financial aids from the governments of Rhodesia,South Africa,SpainandPortugal.Despite the claimed 300,000 members, the estimated membership was no more than 2,500. The REL participated in accustoming the far right to contesting elections in theFifth Republic.Following the successive routs of theVichy state,poujadism,and theOASin bringing down the republic,Dominique Vennerindeed recognized in January 1967 that the far right "[had to] take part in the only great political battles of the moment: elections."[5]

Views

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The party wasanti-communist,anti-immigrationand defendedpan-European nationalism.The REL's program included "state control over the banks", a "national convention formed outside established parties to define fundamental laws", the "removal of all aids for developing countries", an "end to North African immigration and ‘the expulsion of elements that pose a danger to public safety and health", "resist American or Soviet hegemony and stem the demographic tide from the Third World, and a" politically unified Europe, with respect for national traditions. "[8][5]

When compared to definitions and terminologies given by its theorists in the 1960s, the "defense of the Occident" agenda must be understood as a "defense of thewhite race".[7]The REL, likeEurope-Action,also disguised racialism under "biological realism".[2]The REL's unique candidate in the1968 legislative election,Édith Gérard, advocated for instance the "friendship among peoples of the world, in the recognition of the biological fact and the right to stay faithful to one's ethnic group and traditions."[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Simmons, Harvey G. (1996).The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge To Democracy.Routledge. p. 201.ISBN9780429976179.
  2. ^abcdTaguieff, Tarnero & Badinter 1983.
  3. ^abcD'Appollonia 1998,p. 311.
  4. ^abcdDard 2000,p. 142.
  5. ^abcdeShields 2007,pp. 137–139.
  6. ^Camus & Lebourg 2017,pp. 132–133.
  7. ^abcdefgTaguieff 1993,pp. 4–6.
  8. ^Staff (1 December 1966)."Le mouvement d'extrême droite R.E.L. présentera une centaine de candidats".Le Monde(in French).Retrieved8 August2019.

Bibliography

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