Charles Maurras (April 20, 1868 Martigues Bouches-du-Rhône France – November 16, 1952) was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of the reactionary Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Image File history File links Maurras. ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Martigues is a town and commune in the southeastern part of France, to the northwest of Marseille. ... Bouches-du-Rhône is a département in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in U.S. English), is distinguished by the executive branch of government... A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. ...

Before World War I

Maurras was issued from an old Provençal family, and brought up by his mother and grand-mother in a Catholic and monarchist environment. In his early teens he became profoundly deaf. ^[1]. As many other French politicians, he was heavily affected by the defeat during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War ^[2]. After the 1871 Commune and the 1879 defeat of Marshall Mac-Mahon's Moral Order government, French society slowly found a consensus for the Republic, symbolized by the rallying of the Orleanists to the Republic. In his youth, Maurras was a disciple of the poet Frédéric Mistral and shared the federalist thesis of the Provençal Félibrige movement ^[2]. He published his first article, at 17 years-old, in the Annales de philosophie chrétienne review ^[1]. He then collaborated to various reviews, including L’Événement, La Revue bleue, La Gazette de France or La Revue encyclopédique, where he praised Classicism and attacked Romantism ^[1]. Provençal (Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ... Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. ... The word deaf can have very different meanings depending on the background of the person speaking or the context in which the word is used. ... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Otto Von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Strength 400,000 at the beginning of the war 1,200,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian... Destruction of the Vendôme Column during the Paris Commune The term Paris Commune originally referred to the government of Paris during the French Revolution. ... Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, Marshal of France (13 July 1808 - 16 October 1893) was a Frenchman of Irish descent. ... The French Third Republic, (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe République) (1870/75-10 July 1940) was the governing body of France between the Second French Empire and the Vichy Regime. ... Orleanists comprised a French political faction or party which arose out of the Revolution, and ceased to have a separate existence shortly after the establishment of the Third Republic in 1872. ... Frédéric Mistral (September 8, 1830 - March 25, 1914) was a French poet who led the 19th century revival of Occitan (Provençal) language and literature. ... The term federalist refers to several sets of political beliefs around the world. ... Provençal (Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ... Meeting of the Félibrige in 1854: Frédéric Mistral, Joseph Roumanille, Théodore Aubanel, Jean Brunet, Paul Giéra, Anselme Mathieu, Alphonse Tavan The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the... La Gazette was the first weekly magazine published in France. ... Classicism door in Olomouc, The Czech Republic Teatr Wielki in Warsaw Church La Madeleine in Paris Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicist seeks to emulate. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ...

However, some time in his youth, Maurras lost his faith and became an agnostic over time. At the age of seventeen he came to Paris and started literary criticism in 1887 in the Catholic and Orleanist Observateur ^[2]. At this time, Maurras was influenced by Orleanism, as well as German philosophy reviewed by Léon Ollé-Laprune, an influence of Bergson, or by the philosopher Maurice Blondel, one of the inspirations of Christian "modernists" who would later become his most bitter opponents ^[2]. He came to know the Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral in 1888 and shared the federalist thesis of Mistral's Félibrige movement ^[2]. The same year he met the nationalist writer Maurice Barrès ^[3]. The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... German philosophy, here taken to mean philosophy in German language, has been extremely diverse, and central to both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy for centuries, from Leibniz through Kant and Hegel to contemporary philosophers such as Jürgen Habermas. ... Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (October 18, 1859 _ January 4, 1941) was a French philosopher, influential in France, but out of the main currents of his time. ... Maurice Blondel (2 November 1861, Dijon - 4 June 1949, Aix-en-Provence) was a French philosopher. ... Frédéric Mistral (September 8, 1830 - March 25, 1914) was a French poet who led the 19th century revival of Occitan (Provençal) language and literature. ... The term federalist refers to several sets of political beliefs around the world. ... Meeting of the Félibrige in 1854: Frédéric Mistral, Joseph Roumanille, Théodore Aubanel, Jean Brunet, Paul Giéra, Anselme Mathieu, Alphonse Tavan The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the... Maurice Barrès (September 22, 1862 - December 4, 1923), French novelist, politician, radical conservative and anti-semite was born at Charmes-sur-Moselle (Vosges). ...

In 1890, Maurras approved Cardinal Lavigerie's call for the Rallying of Catholics to the Republic, marking his opposition not to the Republic in itself but to "sectarian Republicanism." ^[2] Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (31 October 1825–26 November 1892) was a French cardinal, archbishop of Carthage and Algiers and primate of Africa. ...

Beside this Orleanist filiation, Maurras also shared some traits with Bonapartism. In December 1887, he demonstrated to the cries of "Down with the robbers!" during the decorations scandal which had involved Daniel Wilson, the son-in-law of the President Jules Grévy ^[2]. Despite this, he opposed at first the Boulangist movement ^[2]. But in 1889, after a visit to Maurice Barrès, Barrès voted for the Boulangist candidate ; despite his "anti-semitism of the heart" ("anti-sémitisme de coeur"), he accepted to vote for a Jew ^[2]. In French political history, Bonapartists were monarchists who desired a French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I of France) and his nephew Louis (Napoleon III of France). ... Sir Daniel Wilson (1816 - 1892) was a British archaeologist and writer. ... François Paul Jules Grévy (August 15, 1813 - September 9, 1891) was a President of the French Third Republic. ... General Georges Boulanger Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (April 29, 1837 - September 30, French general and reactionary politician. ... Maurice Barrès (September 22, 1862 - December 4, 1923), French novelist, politician, radical conservative and anti-semite was born at Charmes-sur-Moselle (Vosges). ...

In 1894-95 he briefly worked in Barrès' La Cocarde (The Cockade)'s newspaper, although he sometimes opposed Barrès on his views on the French Revolution ^[2]. La Cocarde supported General Boulanger who almost toppled the Republic in the late 1880s. Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (April 29, 1837 - September 30, 1891) was a French general and reactionary politician. ...

During a trip to Athens for the First Olympic Games in 1896, he came to criticize the Greek democratic system of the polis, which he considered doomed because of its internal divisions and its openness towards métèques (foreigners) ^[2]. Athens is the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ... The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. ... The speakers platform in the Pnyx, the meeting ground of the assembly where all the great political struggles of Athens were fought during the Golden Age. Here Athenian statesmen stood to speak, such as Pericles and Aristides in the 5th century BC and Demosthenes and Aeschines in the 4th... A polis (πόλις, pronunciation pol-is) plural: poleis (πόλεις) is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. ... ...

He became involved in politics at the time of the Dreyfus affair, appearing at the forefront of the Anti-Dreyfusard side. He supported Colonel Henry's forgery blaming Dreyfus, as he considered that to defend Dreyfus, the Republic had to accept to weaken the Army and Justice. According to Maurras, Dreyfus was to be sacrificed on the altar of national interest ^[2]. But when the Republican nationalist thinker Barrès accused Dreyfus of being guilty because of his Jewishness, Maurras went a step forward, vilifying the "Jewish Republic" ^[2]. While Barrès' anti-Semitism found its roots both in the pseudo-scientific racist contemporary theories and on Biblical exegesis, Maurras decried "scientific racism" in favor of a more radical "state anti-Semitism." ^[2]. The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s. ... Hubert-Joseph Henry (1846-1898), Lieutenant-Colonel in 1897. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The national interest, often referred to by the French term raison détat, is a countrys goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. ... Scientific racism might refer to either obsolete scientific theories of the 19th century or to historical and contemporary racist propaganda disguised as scientific research. ... This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ...

In 1899 he founded the Action Française (AF) review, an off-shoot of the newspaper created by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois the preceding year ^[1]. Maurras quickly became influential in the movement, and converted Pujo and Vaugeois to monarchism, which became the movement's principal cause. With Léon Daudet he edited the movement's review La Revue de l'Action française, which in 1908 became a daily newspaper under the shorter title L'Action française. The AF mixed ethnic nationalism with reactionary themes, shifting the nationalist ideology, beforehand supported by left-wing Republicans, to the right-side of the political field ^[4]. It found a wide readership during the implementation of the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State. In 1899 he wrote a short notice in favour of monarchy, Dictateur et roi ("Dictator and King"), and then in 1900 his Enquête sur la monarchie ("Investigations on Monarchy), published in the Legitimist mouthpiece La Gazette de France, which made him famous. Maurras also published thirteen articles in Le Figaro between 1901 and 1902, as well as six articles between November 1902 and January 1903 in Edouard Drumont's anti-Semitic newspaper, La Libre Parole ^[3]. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Maurice Pujo (26 January 1872 - 6 September 1955) was a French journalist and co-founder, with Henri Vaugeois in 1898, of the Comité dAction Française which subsequently became the nationalist and monarchist Action Française movement. ... Léon Daudet (November 16, 1867 – June 30, 1942) was a French author, an active Monarchist, and a member of the Académie Goncourt. ... Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities); the underlying assumption is that ethnicities should be politically distinct. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. ... Civic nationalism, or civil nationalism, is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry, from the degree to which it represents the will of the people. It is often seen as originating with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and especially the social... The first page of the bill, as brought before the Chambre des Députés in 1905 On 9 December 1905, a law was passed in France separating the church and the state. ... Legitimists are those Royalists in France who believe that the King of France and Navarre must be chosen according to the simple application of the Salic Law. ... Le Figaro (English: ) is one of the leading French morning daily newspapers. ... Édouard Drumont (1844-1917) was a French journalist and writer, known for his anti-semitic ideas. ...

Between 1905 and 1908, when the Camelots du Roy monarchist league was founded, Maurras introduced the concep of political activism through extra-parliamentary leagues, theorizing the possibility of a coup d'état ^[2]. Maurras also founded the Ligue d'Action française in 1905, whose mission was to recruit members for the Action française, with the aim of establishing the duc de Guise on the throne. The Camelots du Roy (alternate spelling: Camelots du Roi) were the youth organization of the Royalist Action française French far right movement. ... Far right leagues (Ligues dextrême droite) gathered several French far right movements opposed to parliamentarism, which mainly dedicate themselves to military parades, street brawls, demonstrations and riots. ... // A coup dÉtat (pronounced ), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, often through illegal means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. ... Jean Pierre Clément Marie dOrléans, Duc de Guise (September 4, 1874-August 25, 1940) was the son of Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910), grandson of Prince Ferdinand-Philippe and great-grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. ...

From World War I to the Liberation

Maurras then supported France's entry into the First World War (even to the extent of supporting the thoroughly republican Georges Clemenceau) against the German Empire. During the war, the Jewish businessman Emile Ullman was forced to resign from the board of directors of the Comptoir d'Escompte after Maurras accused him of being a German agent. He then criticized the Treaty of Versailles for not being harsh enough on the Germans and condemned Aristide Briand's policy of cooperation with Germany ^[1]. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Georges Clemenceau, by Nadar. ... Motto Gott mit Uns (German: God with us”) Anthem Heil dir im Siegerkranz (unofficial) Territory of the German Empire in 1914, prior to World War I Capital Berlin Language(s) Official: German Unofficial minority languages: Danish, French, Frisian, Polish, Sorbian Government Constitutional monarchy Emperor  - 1871–1888 William I  - 1888 Frederick... This article is about the Treaty of Versailles of June 28 1919, which ended World War I. For other uses, see Treaty of Versailles (disambiguation) . The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... Aristide Briand (March 28, 1862 – March 7, 1932) was a French statesman who served several terms as Prime Minister of France and won the Nobel Peace Prize. ...

In 1925 he called for the murder of Abraham Schrameck, the Interior Minister of Paul Painlevé's Cartel des Gauches's (Left-Wing Cartel) government, who had ordered the disarming of the paramilitary wing of the AF ^[3]. For this death threat, he was sentenced to a year on parole ^[3]. He also threatened to death the President of the Council Léon Blum, leader of the Popular Front, in the Action française of 15 May 1936, underscoring his Jewish origins (he once called him an "old semitic camel" ^[3]). This other death threat owed him eight months of prison, from 29 October 1936 to 6 July 1937 ^[3]. Fearing Communism, he joined the pacifists' camp and praised the Munich Agreement in 1938, which the President of the Council Edouard Daladier had signed without any illusions. The Minister of the Interior (full title ministère de l’Intérieur et de l’Aménagement du territoire ) in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following: The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes... Paul Painlevé (December 5, 1863–October 29, 1933) was a French mathematician and politician. ... After the French governments embarrassing failure to collect German reparations even after invading the Ruhr, the Bloc National was replaced by the Cartel des Gauches, a moderate socialistic coalition elected on May 11, 1924. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ... The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing political parties (the Communists, the Socialists and the Radicals), which was in government in France from 1936 to 1938. ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Germany in September 1938. ... French politician Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (June 18, 1884 - October 10, 1970) was a French politician, and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War. ...

Influencing Salazar's Estado Novo regime in Portugal, Maurras also supported Franco and, until spring 1939, Mussolini's Fascist regime. Although he opposed Hitler because of his germanophobia, he did not disown those of his followers who acclaimed Nazism, such as Robert Brasillach, Lucien Rebatet and most of the staff of the Collaborationist newspaper Je suis partout, as well as Abel Bonnard, Paul Chack, etc. Maurras himself requested an integral translation of Mein Kampf — some of its passages had been censored in the French edition. Salazar is the name of: António de Oliveira Salazar, Prime Minister and Dictator of Portugal from 1932 to 1968 Alberto Salazar, U.S. distance runner Alejandro Salazar, U.S. Soccer player Argenis Salazar, former Major League Baseball shortstop Eliseo Salazar, Chilean racing driver Ken Salazar, U.S. Senator from... There have been two regimes known as Estado Novo (meaning New State): Estado Novo (Brazil) Estado Novo (Portugal) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... General Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 - November 20, [1] 1975), commonly abbreviated to Francisco Franco (pron. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... Italian fascism (in Italian, fascismo) was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Robert Brasillach (March 31, 1909 - February 6, 1945) was a French pro-Nazi author in the Vichy France who was executed for collaboration. ... Lucien Rebatet (November 15, 1903, Moras-en-Valloire, Drôme—1972, Moras-en-Valloire) was a French author, journalist and intellectual, an exponent of fascism and virulent antisemite. ... Je suis partout (I Am Everywhere) was a French newspaper founded by Jean Fayard, first published on November 29, 1930. ... Abel Bonnard (December 19, 1883-May 31, 1968) was a French poet and novelist. ... Mein Kampf (English translation: My Struggle) is a book by the German-Austrian politician and dictator Adolf Hitler which combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers Nazi political ideology. ...

After his failure against Charles Jonnart in 1924 to be elected to the French Academy, he succeeded in entering the ranks of the "Immortals" on 9 June 1938, replacing Henri-Robert, winning by 20 votes against 12 to Fernand Gregh. He was received in the Academy on 8 June 1939 by Henry Bordeaux. Charles Jonnart (1857-1927) was a French politician. ... The Académie française (French Academy) is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... Henri Bordeaux (25 January 1870 in Thonon-les-Bains - 29 March 1963) was a French writer and lawyer. ...

Maurras acclaimed the fall of the Third Republic in 1940, replaced by Marshall Pétain's "French state," as a "divine surprise." Vichy's reactionary program of a Révolution nationale (National Revolution) was fully approved of by the leader of the Action française, who inspired large parts of it ^[1]. The monarchist newspaper acclaimed on 1st November 1940 Pétain's decision during the Montoire interview with Hitler to collaborate with Nazi Germany. But Vichy did not go far enough for Maurras: in La France Seule (1941), he criticized the 1940 Statute on Jews for being too moderate ^[2]. The French Third Republic, (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe République) (1870/75-10 July 1940) was the governing body of France between the Second French Empire and the Vichy Regime. ... Philippe Pétain Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (April 24, 1856 – July 23, 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French soldier and Head of State of Vichy France, a Nazi puppet state, from 1940 to 1944. ... Motto Travail, famille, patrie French: Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Capital-in-exile Sigmaringen (1944-1945) Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Chief of state  - 1940 — 1944 Philippe Pétain President of the Council  - 1940 — 1942 Philippe Pétain  - 1942 — 1944 Pierre Laval... The Révolution nationale (National Revolution) was the official ideological name under which the Vichy regime (the French state) established by Marshall Pétain in July 1940 presented its program. ... Collaborationism, as a pejorative term, can describe the treason of cooperating with enemy forces occupying ones country. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Vichy Regime voted in many laws on the status of Jews, grouping them as a lower class of citizen before rounding them up at Drancy then taking them to be exterminated in concentration camps. ...

An admirer (before the war) of Charles de Gaulle, who himself had been influenced by Maurras' integralism, he then harshly criticized the General in exile. He later claimed he believed that Pétain was playing a "double game", working for an Allied victory in secret. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Integralism is a belief that society is an organic unity. ... A representation of the changes in territory controlled by Allies and Axis powers over the course of the war. ...

Arrest and death

Maurras was arrested in September, 1944, and sentenced to death in 1945 for collaboration with Nazi Germany by the High Court of Lyon. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, deprivation of civil liberties and automatic expulsion from the Académie française (a measure included in the 26 December 1944 ordinance ^[1]). His response to his conviction was to exclaim "C'est la revanche de Dreyfus!" (It's Dreyfus's revenge!) ^[2] Meanwhile, the Académie française declared his seat vacant instead of expelling him, as it had done for Pétain, sparing him the fate of Abel Hermant and Abel Bonnard ^[1]. They waited until his death to elect his successor, Antoine de Lévis-Mirepoix, who was himself close to the Action française and collaborated with Pierre Boutang's La Nation française monarchist review. Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Abel Bonnard (December 19, 1883-May 31, 1968) was a French poet and novelist. ... La Nation française (The French Nation) was a French monarchist weekly influenced by Charles Maurras, the founder of the Action française movement. ...

Imprisoned in Riom and then Clairvaux, Maurras was released in March 1952 to enter a hospital, assisted by the writer Henry Bordeaux, who repeatedly asked the President of the Council Vincent Auriol to pardon Maurras. He was transferred to a clinic in Tours, where he soon died. Although weakened, he collaborated with Aspects de la France, which had replaced in 1947 the outlawed Action française review. In his last days, he returned to the Catholic faith of his childhood ^{[citation needed]}. Riom is a historic city in the Auvergne région of France. ... Clairvaux abbey was founded in 1115 by St. ... Jules-Vincent Auriol (August 27, 1884 – January 1, 1966) was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. ... Tours is a city in France, the préfecture (capital city) of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. ...

Maurras' political thought

Central to Maurras' political ideas were an intense nationalism (what he described as "integral nationalism") and a belief in an ordered society based on a strong leadership. These were the bases of his support for both a French monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church. Yet he had no personal loyalty to the house of Bourbon-Orléans, and was a convinced agnostic for nearly all of his adult life. His work particularly marked the French right, including its far-right component, as he succeeded in theorizing for all of the various right-wing families an offensive political strategy, which contrasted with the Legitimists' apathy for political action ^[2]. He managed to brought together the paradox of a reactionary thought which would actively change history, a form of Counter-revolution opposed to simple conservatism ^[2]. According to the historian Alain-Gérard Slama, Maurras' efficiency was to bring together the various right-wing families of France (Legitimism, Orleanism and Bonapartism) and to give them a theory of political action as well as a positive ideology, Integralism, whereas the right-wings were usually characterized by their sole opposition to the left-wings ^[2]. His "integral nationalism" rejected all democratic principles which he judged contrary to "natural inequality," criticizing all evolution since the 1789 French Revolution and advocated the return to a hereditary monarchy ^[1]. Integralism is a belief that society is an organic unity. ... Also see:  Early Modern France The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. ... The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. ... The far-right tradition in France founds its origins, as the distinction of left and right in politics itself, to the 1789 French Revolution. ... Legitimists are those Royalists in France who believe that the King of France and Navarre must be chosen according to the simple application of the Salic Law. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. ... Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Legitimists are those Royalists in France who believe that the King of France and Navarre must be chosen according to the simple application of the Salic Law. ... Orleanists comprised a French political faction or party which arose out of the Revolution, and ceased to have a separate existence shortly after the establishment of the Third Republic in 1872. ... In French political history, Bonapartists were monarchists who desired a French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I of France) and his nephew Louis (Napoleon III of France). ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on...

Like many people in Europe at the time, he was haunted by the idea of "decadence," partly inspired by his reading of Taine and Renan, and admired classicism. He felt that France had lost its grandeur during the Revolution of 1789, a grandeur inherited from its origins as a province of the Roman Empire and forged by, as he put it, "forty kings who in a thousand years made France." The French Revolution, he wrote in the Observateur français, was negative and destructive. See also Decadent movement Decadence refers to a personal trait and, much more commonly, to a state of society. ... Portrait of Hippolyte Taine on French postage stamp of 1966 Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (April 21, 1828 - March 5, 1893) was a French critic and historian. ... Ernest Renan (February 28, 1823–October 12, 1892) was a French philosopher and writer. ... Classicism door in Olomouc, The Czech Republic Teatr Wielki in Warsaw Church La Madeleine in Paris Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicist seeks to emulate. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent. ...

He traced this decline further back, to the Enlightenment and the Reformation; he described the source of the evil as "Swiss ideas," a reference to the adopted nation of Calvin and the birth nation of Rousseau. Maurras further blamed France's decline on "Anti-France", which he defined as the "four confederate states of Protestants, Jews, Freemasons and foreigners" (his actual word for the latter being the xenophobic term of métèques). Indeed, to him the first three were all "internal foreigners." The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; German: ) was an eighteenth century movement in European and American philosophy, or the longer period including the Age of Reason. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      For other uses, see Reformation (disambiguation). ... John Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism or Reformed theology. ... Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778) was a Genevan philosopher of the Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ... ...

Antisemitism and anti-Protestantism were common themes in his writings. He believed that the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the eventual outcome of the French Revolution had all contributed to individuals putting themselves before the nation, with consequent negative effects on the latter, and that democracy and liberalism were only making matters worse. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews[1] as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ... Anti-Protestantism is an institutional, ideological or emotional bias against Protestantism and its followers. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; German: ) was an eighteenth century movement in European and American philosophy, or the longer period including the Age of Reason. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ...

Although Maurras advocated the return of monarchy, in many ways Maurras did not fit into the French monarchist tradition at all. His support for the monarchy and for Catholicism was explicitly pragmatic, as he felt that a state religion was the only way of maintaining public order. By contrast with Maurice Barrès, theorist of a kind of Romantic nationalism based on the Ego, Maurras claimed to base his views on Reason rather than on sentiment, loyalty and faith. Maurice Barrès (September 22, 1862 - December 4, 1923), French novelist, politician, radical conservative and anti-semite was born at Charmes-sur-Moselle (Vosges). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... eGO is a company that builds electric motor scooters which are becoming popular for urban transportation and vacation use. ...

Paradoxically, he admired the positivist philosopher Auguste Comte, like many of the Third Republic leaders he detested, in which he found a counter-balance to German idealism. Whereas the Legitimists monarchists declined to engage in political action, retreating into an intransigently conservative Catholicism and an indifference to a modern world they saw as irredeemably wicked and apostate, Maurras was prepared to engage in political action, both orthodox and unorthodox (the Action Française's Camelots du Roi league frequently engaged in street violence with left-wing opponents). His slogan was the phrase La politique d'abord! ("Politics first!"). Others influences included Frédéric Le Play,English empiricists, whom allowed him to reconcile Cartesian rationalism with empiricism ^[2], and La Tour du Pin. // Positivism is a philosophy that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method. ... Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who coined the term sociology. ... The French Third Republic, (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe République) (1870/75-10 July 1940) was the governing body of France between the Second French Empire and the Vichy Regime. ... German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... Legitimists are those Royalists in France who believe that the King of France and Navarre must be chosen according to the simple application of the Salic Law. ... The Camelots du Roy (alternate spelling: Camelots du Roi) were the youth organization of the Royalist Action française French far right movement. ... Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play (April 11, 1806 - April 5, 1882 in Paris), was a French engineer, sociologist and economist, born at La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur, a village near Honfleur (Calvados), the son of a custom-house official. ... In philosophy generally, empiricism is a theory of knowledge emphasizing the role of experience, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, while discounting the notion of innate ideas. ... Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. ... In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ...

Maurras' religious views were likewise less than orthodox. He supported the political Catholic Church both because it was intimately bound up with French history and because its hierarchical structure and clerical elite mirrored his image of an ideal society. He considered the Church to be the mortar which held France together, and the chain linking all Frenchmen together. However, he distrusted the Gospels, written, as he put it, "by four obscure Jews" ^[5], but admired the Catholic Church for having allegedly concealed much of the Bible's "dangerous teachings." Maurras' interpretation of the Gospels, as well as his integralist teachings, were fiercely criticised by many Catholic clergy.

Notwithstanding his religious unorthodoxy, Maurras gained a large following among French monarchists and Catholics, including the Assumptionists and the Orleanist pretender to the French throne, the count of Paris. Nonetheless, his agnosticism worried parts of the Catholic hierarchy and in 1926, Pope Pius XI placed some of Maurras's writings on the Index of Forbidden Books and condemned the Action Française movement as a whole. This papal condemnation was a great shock to many of his followers, who included a not inconsiderable number of French clergy, and caused great damage to the Action française. It was lifted however in 1938, the same year that Maurras was elected to the Académie française. The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Orleanists comprised a French political faction or party which arose out of the Revolution, and ceased to have a separate existence shortly after the establishment of the Third Republic in 1872. ... Louis-Philippe Albert dOrléans, Comte de Paris Louis-Philippe Albert dOrléans, Comte de Paris (August 24, 1838 – September 8, 1894) was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. ... Pope Pius XI (Latin: ; Italian: Pio XI; May 31, 1857 – February 10, 1939), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, reigned as Pope from February 6, 1922 and as sovereign of Vatican City from 1929 until his death on February 10, 1939. ... Venetiis, M. D. LXIIII. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. ...

Maurras was evidently a leading exponent of what Allan Bloom called (in his The Closing of the American Mind) the "conservatism of Throne and Altar," and an intellectual descendant of Joseph de Maistre, one of the prime thinkers of the Counter-Revolution. Allan Blooms translation and interpretation, Second edition 1991. ... Joseph de Maistre (portrait by Karl Vogel von Vogelstein, 1810) Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre (April 1, 1753- February 26, 1821) was a French-speaking Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher. ... A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. ...

In Popular Culture

In Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series of alternate-history novels, Action Française gains controll of France, leading Maurras to be crowned King Charles XI in the 1930's. Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American historian and prolific novelist who has written historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction works. ... Timeline-191 is a fan name given to a series of Harry Turtledove alternate history novels. ... Alternate history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

References

The Académie française In the French educational system an académie LAcadémie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... LHistoire is a monthly mainstream French magazine dedicated to historical studies, recognized by peers as the most important historical popular magazine (as opposed to specifics university journals or less scientific popular historical magazines). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Michel Winock (1937) is a French historian, whom studied among others things on anti-Semitism and far right movements. ...

Works

• 1889: Théodore Aubanel
• 1891: Jean Moréas
• 1894: Le Chemin du Paradis, mythes et fabliaux
• 1896–9: Le voyage d'Athènes
• 1898: L'idée de décentralisation
• 1899: Trois idées politiques : Chateaubriand, Michelet, Sainte-Beuve
• 1900: Enquête sur la monarchie
• 1901: Anthinéa : d'Athènes à Florence
• 1902: Les Amants de Venise, George Sand et Musset
• 1905: L'Avenir de l'intelligence
• 1906: Le Dilemme de Marc Sangnier
• 1910: Kiel et Tanger
• 1912: La Politique religieuse
• 1914: L'Action française et la religion catholique
• 1915: L'Étang de Berre
• 1916: Quand les Français ne s'aimaient pas
• 1916–8 : Les Conditions de la victoire, 4 volumes
• 1921: Tombeaux
• 1922: Inscriptions
• 1923: Poètes
• 1924: L'Allée des philosophes
• 1925: La Musique intérieure
• 1925: Barbarie et poésie
• 1927: Lorsque Hugo eut les cent ans
• 1928: Le prince des nuées.
• 1928: Un débat sur le romantisme
• 1928: Vers un art intellectuel
• 1929: Corps glorieux ou Vertu de la perfection.
• 1929: Promenade italienne
• 1929: Napoléon pour ou contre la France
• 1930: De Démos à César
• 1930: Corse et Provence
• 1930: Quatre nuits de Provence
• 1931: Triptyque de Paul Bourget
• 1931: Le Quadrilatère
• 1931: Au signe de Flore
• 1932: Heures immortelles
• 1932–3: Dictionnaire politique et critique, 5 volumes
• 1935: Prologue d'un essai sur la critique
• 1937: Quatre poèmes d'Eurydice
• 1937: L'amitié de Platon
• 1937: Jacques Bainville et Paul Bourget
• 1937: Les vergers sur la mer.
• 1937: Jeanne d'Arc, Louis XIV, Napoléon
• 1937: Devant l'Allemagne éternelle
• 1937: Mes idées politiques
• 1940: Pages africaines
• 1941: Sous la muraille des cyprès
• 1941: Mistral
• 1941: La seule France
• 1942: De la colère à la justice
• 1943: Pour un réveil français
• 1944: Poésie et vérité
• 1944: Paysages mistraliens
• 1944: Le Pain et le Vin
• 1945: Au-devant de la nuit
• 1945: L'Allemagne et nous
• 1947: Les Deux Justices ou Notre J'accuse
• 1948: L'Ordre et le Désordre
• 1948: Maurice Barrès
• 1948: Une promotion de Judas
• 1948: Réponse à André Gide
• 1949: Au Grand Juge de France
• 1949: Le Cintre de Riom
• 1950: Mon jardin qui s'est souvenu
• 1951: Tragi-comédie de ma surdité
• 1951: Vérité, justice, patrie (with Maurice Pujo)
• 1952: À mes vieux oliviers
• 1952: La Balance intérieure
• 1952: Le Beau Jeu des reviviscences
• 1952: Le Bienheureux Pie X, sauveur de la France
• 1953: Pascal puni (published posthumously)
• 1958: Lettres de prison (1944–1952) (published posthumously)
• 1966: Lettres passe-murailles, correspondance échangée avec Xavier Vallat (1950–1952) (published posthumously)