French Intellectuals and Politics from the Dreyfus Affair to the Occupation

227 Pages·2005·1.17 MB·English

by  David Drake

French Intellectuals and
Politics from the Dreyfus
Affair to the Occupation
David Drake
French Politics, Society and Culture Series
General Editor: Robert Elgie, Paddy Moriarty Professor of Government and
International Studies, Dublin City University
France has always fascinated outside observers. Now, the country is undergoing
aperiod of profound transformation. France is faced with a rapidly changing
international and European environment and it is having to rethink some of its
most basic social, political and economic orthodoxies. As elsewhere, there is
pressure to conform. And yet, while France is responding in ways that are no
doubt familiar to people in other European countries, it is also managing to
maintain elements of its long-standing distinctiveness. Overall, it remains a
place that is not exactly comme les autres.
This new series examines all aspects of French politics, society and culture. In so
doing it focuses on the changing nature of the French system as well as the
established patterns of political, social and cultural life. Contributors to the series
are encouraged to present new and innovative arguments so that the informed
reader can learn and understand more about one of the most beguiling and
compelling of all European countries.
Titles include:
Jean K. Chalaby
THE DE GAULLE PRESIDENCY AND THE MEDIA
Statism and Public Communications
David Drake
FRENCH INTELLECTUALS AND POLITICS FROM THE DREYFUS AFFAIR
TO THE OCCUPATION
David Drake
INTELLECTUALS AND POLITICS IN POST-WAR FRANCE
Graeme Hayes
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST AND THE STATE IN FRANCE
David J. Howarth
THE FRENCH ROAD TO EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION
Andrew Knapp
PARTIES AND THE PARTY SYSTEM IN FRANCE
A Disconnected Democracy?
Michael S. Lewis-Beck (editor)
THE FRENCH VOTER
Before and After the 2002 Elections
Susan Milner and Nick Parsons (editors)
REINVENTING FRANCE
State and Society in the Twenty-First Century
Sarah Waters
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN FRANCE
Towards a New Citizenship
French Politics, Society and Culture
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Series Standing Order ISBN 0–333–80441–4 paperback
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a
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French Intellectuals and
Politics from the Dreyfus
Affair to the Occupation
David Drake
Emeritus Reader, Middlesex University
Maître de conférences associé, Institut d’études européenes, Paris VIII University
© David Drake 2005
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN-13: 978–0–333–77812–8
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Drake, David, 1946–
French intellectuals and politics from the Dreyfus Affair to the
Occupation/David Drake.
p. cm. — (French politics, society, and culture series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–333–77812–X (cloth)
1. France—Intellectual life—20th century. 2. France—Politics
and government—1870–1940. 3. Politics and culture—France—
History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series.
DC33.7.D72 2005
944.081—dc22
2004056998
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne
For my sister Catherine and in memory of my parents,
W. R. ‘Bob’ Drake (1919–93) and Olive Drake (1920–94)

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1. The Dreyfus Affair and the Birth of the ‘Intellectuals’ 8
Fin-de-siècle France 9
The Case of Alfred Dreyfus (1894–98) 12
The birth of the ‘intellectuals’ 21
Dreyfusard and anti-Dreyfusard intellectuals 23
The ligues and Action française 32
The Dreyfus Affair: from Zola’s trial to the Bloc républicain 33
2. From ‘Republican Defence’ to Defence of the Patrie 35
Waldeck-Rousseau and the defence of the Republic:
Émile Combes and the Republic on the offensive 35
Georges Sorel, socialism, the Dreyfus Affair and the
‘Dreyfusard revolution’ 37
Charles Péguy, the socialists, the Dreyfus Affair and the
‘Dreyfusard revolution’ 39
Socialism, nationalism, internationalism and a new
threat of war? 43
The rise of Action française 43
Péguy’s nationalism 46
Péguy, Daniel Halévy and Sorel’s views of the
Dreyfus Affair 48
Intellectuals and the defence of the homeland
(défence de la patrie) 51
The union sacrée (sacred union) 52
Romain Rolland: ‘Au-dessus de la mêlée’ (Above the Mêlée) 61
3. The 1920s: French Intellectuals and Pacifism,
Communism, Surrealism and Nationalism 67
France: victorious but at what price? 67
Pacifism and revolution 69
vii
viii Contents
From Dada to surrealism 84
Surrealism 87
Nationalism 96
Julien Benda and La Trahison des clercs (The Betrayal
of the Clerisy) 101
4. Fascism, Anti-fascism, Communism, Anti-communism
and Pacifism 103
The Stavisky scandal and the night of 6 February 1934 105
French intellectuals and the USSR 1930–34 107
French communism and the intellectuals 1930–34 113
The years 1934–36: French fascism 118
The years 1934–36: French anti-fascism 124
From Popular Front to the Munich Agreement 142
September 1938: the Munich Agreement 144
August 1939: the Nazi-Soviet pact 148
5. The Occupation 1940–44: Collaborationism,
Collaboration and Resistance 149
September 1939–June 1940: from the Phoney War to defeat 149
Intellectuals and the defeat of 1940 152
Intellectuals and collaboration 1940–42 154
Intellectuals and the Resistance 1940–42 164
Intellectuals and collaboration 1942–44 172
Intellectuals and the Resistance 1942–44 176
Notes 187
Select Bibliography 202
Index 207
Acknowledgements
I have received a lot of support while researching and writing this book
and I would like to thank the following institutions and individuals.
My thanks to Middlesex University who supported this project by
granting me sabbatical leave, to the School of Politics at Birkbeck College,
University of London, where I was an Honorary Research Fellow (2003–4);
I would like to thank the school for the facilities that they placed at my
disposal. I am also grateful to Alexis Karlin, Hermione Harris and Janet
Rée for their generosity in providing me with quiet bolt-holes for the
writing of the book.
A number of people have kindly read all or part of the book in
manuscript and I would like to thank the following for their comments,
observations, suggestions etc. Jean-Marc Benammar, Ian Birchall, Martyn
Cornick, Debra Kelly, Jennifer Lefevre, John Reid, Isabelle Tombs and
Robert Tombs.
Any errors that may have slipped through the net are, however, my
responsibility, as are the views and opinions expressed in the book.
Finally, thanks again to Sarah and Kieran for their invaluable support.
ix