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Charles Maurras: The Beginnings of the Action Française

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French Royalism Since 1870

Abstract

“L’Action Française est née de l’Affaire Dreyfus”, wrote Léon de Montesquiou of the origins of the most resilient, if not the most controversial, political movement in contemporary France.1 Avowedly Catholic, royalist, and Ultranationalist, the Action Française has survived in turn the ban of the Papacy, the repudiation of the House of France, and the condemnation of its leader to national degradation for “intelligence with the enemy” during World War II. To be sure, after 1945 the movement represented little more than a shadow of its former self, and it took on all the aspects of “une chapelle”. Yet the flame continued to flicker, and in the late 1950’s the movement even showed signs of rejuvenation. The domestic career of the Action Française was a stormy one to say the least, and the second generation of Maurrassians has been true to its elders in this as in other ways. Under the Fourth Republic, Maurras’ heritage was bitterly fought over by two weeklies, Aspects de la France and La Nation Française.

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References

  1. A. de Coudekerque-Lambrecht, Lion de Montesquiou: sa vie politique — L’Action Française (Paris, 1925), p. 28. For the important contributions of American scholars to the historiography of the Action Française, see the author’s “Charles Maurras et l’Action Française: Etat des Travaux Américains,” Revue Française de Science Politique, VIII (March, 1958).

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  2. Guy Chapman, The Dreyfus Case: A Reassessment (New York, 1955), p. 9.

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  3. D. W. Brogan, France Under the Republic (New York & London, 1940), p. 341.

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  4. When italicized Action Française refers to the daily as distinguished from the movement as a whole. All references to the review (semi-monthly until 1908; monthly 1908–1914) are made under the title Revue d’Action Française.

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  32. Ibid., II, p. 6.

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  33. “La France aux Français,” was one of the Action Française’s favorite slogans.

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  34. See Charles Maurras: Témoignages... for excellent photographs of Maurras and other Action Française personalities.

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  53. Jean France, Ligues et complots: Trente ans à la rue des Saussaies (Paris, 1931), p. 77.

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  55. Ibid.

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Authors
  1. Samuel M. Osgood
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© 1970 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Osgood, S.M. (1970). Charles Maurras: The Beginnings of the Action Française. In: French Royalism Since 1870. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5071-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5071-4_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-5073-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-5071-4

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