Mouvement populaire du 13-Mai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Lionel-Max Chassin 1958 |
| President | Robert Martel 1958-1960 |
| Founded | June 1958 |
| Dissolved | January 1960 |
| Ideology | Extreme right-wing colonialist |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
The Mouvement populaire du 13-Mai (Popular Movement of 13 May), or the MP-13, was an extreme-right-wing French political party formed after the failure of the French Fourth Republic and the onset of the Fifth Republic.
It was founded in June 1958 by general Lionel-Max Chassin following the May 1958 crisis in France caused by events of 13 May in Algiers. Prior to this, different reactionary organisations of European colonists in Algeria had formed after the uprising of Algerian nationalists in 1955. Headquartered in Paris, the MP-13 was rooted in support for Christianity, the family, working traditions and rejection of the left, capitalism, freemasonry, and atheism. Its broad aims were to put an end to the actions of the Front de libération nationale (Algérie) (FLN) - the Algerian independence movement - a “refusal to give up French land” (i.e. colonial Algeria and the Sahara) and “the will to end an incompetent régime” (i.e. the administration of the French Fourth Republic). A Committee of Public Safety, with general Jacques Massu as its leader, had been formed to demand Charles de Gaulle's return but many supporters became anti-Gaullist. Leading supporters demonised Jews and Muslims, conflating their influence with capitalism and socialism respectively. No voting advice was given to members for de Gaulle's subsequent 1958 French constitutional referendum because opinions within the group were so polarised. The majority were led by Robert Martel - a counter-revolutionary French-Algerian vineyard owner nicknamed “the Chouan of Mitidja”. He wrote to Massu, announcing his resignation from the Safety Committee. [1] [2] [3]
In the inaugural Congress of September 1958 - and by prior agreement - the MP-13 merged with the Union française nord-africaine (UFNA) which had been created in 1955 by Louis Boyer-Banse and later led by Martel; Boyer-Banse had been expelled from Algeria after a demonstration against its governor general, Robert Lacoste. Martel had effectively relied on Chassin's connexions in France. Chassin was the head of the patronage committee of the Association des combattants de l’union française (ACUF) which had amongst its members prominent military and right-wing elements. At the Congress, he became embarrassed and angry at the violent words of Martel. Some senior members of the ACUF - including army generals and commanders - left the party in disgust and Chassin resigned. [4] Martel succeeded him as the MP-13 leader and a logo of a heart mounted by a cross (as that worn by the celebrated local Roman Catholic martyr Charles de Foucauld) was agreed upon. The movement had about 22 000 members, 17 000 in Algeria and 5 000 in France. The Congress was set at fifty members. Nine regional delegations were formed. On its national council of twenty members were former Alsatian regionalist and Nazi collaborator fr:Joseph Bilger - general secretary and treasurer of the party - lawyer Roger Girard and militant nationalist Dr. Henri Martin, all former Cagoulards . Prominent members included Martel's right-hand man Maurice Crespin, neo-fascist white nationalist Dominique Venner, Vichyiste Pierre Sidos, resister and counter-espionage agent fr:Pierre de Villemarest and Paul Chevallet formerly of the fr:Union de défense des commerçants et artisans. There were different newspapers of the Movement including Salut public de l'Algérie française. [5] [1] [2] [3]
The MP-13 collapsed in 1960 after an arrest order was issued for Martel, Martin and Crespin because of their support of "la semaine des barricades" which began on 24 January of that year, leading to the Algerian War; they went into hiding. Venner and Sidos were imprisoned. Most of the Movement's members joined the Organisation de l'armée secrète the following year. [6] [3] : 79, 97 [1] [2]
The Organisation armée secrète was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out several attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence from French colonial rule. Its motto was L’Algérie est française et le restera.
The Algerian War was a major armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and war crimes. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities. The war took place mainly on the territory of Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.
Occident was a French far-right militant group, active in France between 1964 and 1968 and considered the "main activist group on the extreme right in the 1960s". Occident activists were known for their "commando" actions against various "enemy" targets, such as left-wing students, PCF offices, immigrant associations, and anti-colonialists. A number of former Occident members later became prominent figures in mainstream right-wing parties; some even obtained ministerial positions. The movement was banned by the French authorities in October 1968, following violent confrontations with left-wing groups during the May 1968 events.
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution of 13 October 1946. Essentially a reestablishment and continuation of the French Third Republic which governed from 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War to 1940 during World War II, it suffered many of the same problems which led to its end. The French Fourth Republic was a parliamentary republic.
Jacques Émile Massu was a French general who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War, the Algerian War and the Suez Crisis. He led French troops in the Battle of Algiers, first supporting and later denouncing their use of torture.
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour was a French lawyer and far-right politician. Elected to the National Assembly in 1936, he initially collaborated with the Vichy regime before leaving for Tunisia in 1941. After a military court declared Tixier-Vignancour ineligible to hold public office for ten years for his early WWII activities, he joined the nationalist group Jeune Nation but left in 1954, opposed to their use of violence. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1956, but lost his seat during the first legislative elections of the Fifth Republic.
Legislative elections were held in France on 23 and 30 November 1958 to elect the first National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic.
The Cité Catholique is a Traditionalist Catholic organisation created in 1946 by Jean Ousset, originally a follower of Charles Maurras and Jean Masson (1910–1965), not to be confused with Jacques Desoubrie, who also used the pseudonym Jean Masson. Despite the presence of Roman Catholic clergy in some of its meetings, the Cité catholique is not officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Church.
The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacement by the Fifth Republic led by Charles de Gaulle who returned to power after a twelve-year absence. It started as a political uprising in Algiers on 13 May 1958 and then became a military coup d'état led by a coalition headed by Algiers deputy and reserve airborne officer Pierre Lagaillarde, French Generals Raoul Salan, Edmond Jouhaud, Jean Gracieux, and Jacques Massu, and by Admiral Philippe Auboyneau, commander of the Mediterranean fleet. The coup was supported by former Algerian Governor General Jacques Soustelle and his activist allies.
Jeune Nation was a French nationalist, neo-Pétainist and neo-fascist far-right movement founded in 1949 by Pierre Sidos and his brothers. Inspired by Fascist Italy and Vichy France, the group attracted support from many young nationalists during the Algerian war (1954–62), especially in the French colonial army. Promoting street violence and extra-parliamentarian insurrection against the Fourth Republic, members hoped the turmoils of the wars of decolonization would lead to a coup d'état followed by the establishment of a nationalist regime. Jeune Nation was the most significant French neo-fascist movement during the 1950s; it gathered at its height 3,000 to 4,000 members.
Operation Resurrection was a planned military operation of the French Army in 1958 that sought to take over the capital of France, Paris, to force the return of Charles de Gaulle to head the government. Masterminded by General Jacques Massu, the operation was to be preceded by Opération Corse in which French Army paratroopers took over Corsica. The operation was cancelled after French politicians had immediately arranged for de Gaulle's return to power.
Dominique Venner was a French historian, journalist, and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding the neo-fascist and white nationalist Europe-Action, before withdrawing from politics to focus on a career as a historian. He specialized in military and political history. At the time of his death, he was the editor of the La Nouvelle Revue d'Histoire, a bimonthly history magazine.
Pierre Sidos was a French far right nationalist, neo-Pétainist, and antisemitic activist. One of the main figures of post-WWII nationalism in France, Sidos was the founder and leader of the nationalist organizations Jeune Nation (1949–1958) and L'Œuvre Française (1968–2013).
Operation Corsica was a military operation that precipitated the fall of the Fourth French Republic in 1958.
The Federation of Nationalist Students was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as a lead journalist.
Europe-Action was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliamentarianism and traditional French nationalism, Europe-Action promoted a pan-European nationalism based on the "Occident"—or the "white peoples"— and a social Darwinism escorted by racialism, labeled "biological realism". These theories, along with the meta-political strategy of Venner, influenced young Europe-Action journalist Alain de Benoist and are deemed conducive to the creation of GRECE and the Nouvelle Droite in 1968.
L'Œuvre Française, also called L'Œuvre, was a French nationalist, néo-Pétainist and antisemitic far-right movement founded in 1968 by Pierre Sidos. Inspired by the "semi-fascist" regimes of Vichy France, Francoist Spain and the Estado Novo, L'Œuvre Française was—until its dissolution by the authorities in 2013—the oldest nationalist association still active in France.
Robert Martel, nicknamed "the Chouan of Mitidja", was a French-Algerian farmer, counter-revolutionary French nationalist, founder member of the Union Française Nord-Africaine (UFNA) then leader of the extreme-right-wing political party the Mouvement populaire du 13-Mai (MP-13) following the coup d'état of 13 May 1958.
Guillaume Jean Max Chassin, known as Lionel-Max Chassin, was a French Air Force general, resister, colonial activist and supporter of Catholic extreme-right-wing politics.
Georges Watin, nicknamed la Boîteuse [the feminine version of "The Limper"], was an Algerian-born French agricultural manager and militant activist of the counter-revolutionary Organisation armée secrète. He was involved in torture, murder, bombings and assassination attempts, including against French president Charles de Gaulle. His plans and actions were a major inspiration for events depicted in Frederick Forsyth's début novel, The Day of the Jackal, in which he called Watin "The most dangerous man in the room".
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