"A French paradox" is a history book that destroys many myths and other lies.
Myth 1: the French extreme right, collaborationist during the Second World War was mainly the extreme right before the war. This is quite the opposite. The majority of the first resistance came from the French Action, which advocated the "integral nationalism" and was Germanophobe.
Myth # 2: the pacifist left, antiracist, philo has mainly composed the Resistance. This is quite the opposite. Pacifists continued, the majority (like the Dreyfus) to be under the Nazi boot.
"That pacifism was the main vehicle for collaboration, that pacifists were many to collaborate and they supplied a large number of employees, that the left was dominant in the collaboration because it was dominant in pacifism - all escape uncomfortable truths to politicians, polemicists and historians anxious to indict "all rights" and make them bear the exclusive hat mistakes, betrayals and crimes that have devastated, forever, the years 1940-1944.
They take care Maurras (French Action) packages committed by people who, for many, were hardened antimaurrassiens. They were to pursue on La Roque (the Croix de Feu), which really had nothing to do. They débusqueront of "fascists" everywhere including here (especially there) where there was none, and they ignore these pacifists, candid and uncompromising at once, which fascinated to Hitler's Germany (. ..) ".
Simon Epstein exposes through specific biographical material, putting them in light of history, in this dense book, exegetical, a very distant historical reality and propaganda multiple oversights born in the postwar period.
The many sources of information drawn especially among Lacache Bernard who was the president of the LICA (predecessor of the current LICRA) who denounced these traitors who having campaigned in this peace movement, left, philo converted to collaboration and its opposite, Henry Coston, the extremist right always, who denounced these "converts" who left after the war for their political career this far right collaborator, give this page of history of France both the image of the stinking sewers racism, shame, murder, and that of the purest skies of heroism, Freedom, Honor.
Finally, the author explains the reasons that supported these myths and treats us with an accurate biography of François Mitterrand.
Some adhesives for strong theme in:
- If Brassillach was Maurrassian, Drieu La Rochelle, was it the extreme right before the war? No. He was left and philo.
- Jean Luchaire, Pierre de Brinon, Alphonse de Chateaubriand: idem left.
- Doriot, Deat? left
- Cocteau, Ayme, Giono? left
- Bergery? Radical Left
- Bertrand de Jouvenel? left
- Simon Sabiani, Maurice Ivan Sicard, Paul Perrin, André Grisoni, Paul Rives, Maurice Levillain, Barthelemy Montagnon, René Chateau, Claude Jamet: left ditto
- Robert Jospin (Lionel's father) complete pacifist, Munich, close to Marcel Deat: SFIO
- Chautemps, Georges Bonnet, Maurice Papon, René Bousquet: the radical left!
- Robert Hersant: same
- Charles Spinasse, Georges Monnet yet
- Georges Suarez who was the friend of Jopseph Kessel in the 20s, biographer Clemenceau and Briand, whose concern of Franco-German reconciliation took him under Vichy the most frantic pronazisme, was the first journalist to be tried for cooperation : close to the briandiste left.
- Alfred Baudrillart, Marc Augier, Jean Balestre: etc.
- Camille Planche, Leo Emery, Rene Gerin, déatistes, from the left.
- Saint-Loup (aka Marc Augier who before war, sang "In front of life" with his Jewish comrades hostels), Saint Paulien (aka Maurice Ivan Sicard, who before the war was vomiting in his "Huron" fascism and fascists), Roland Gaucher (former Roland Goguillot which advocated the revolutionary Students), François Brigneau (Emmanuel Allot, pacifist left): former antifascist veterans of the left and the extreme left, collaborators, activists of extreme right after the war.
- Rene Bousquet, secretary general of the Vichy police, responsible for the deportation of 54,000 French Jews, the lifelong friend of François Mitterrand: Republican center left.
Did you know that 12 of the 17 SFIO ministers from the end of the Third Republic were expelled from the party after the war for their behavior during collaborator?
Did you know that three of the great leaders of collaboration, Pierre Laval (Revolutionary Socialist before World War), Admiral Darlan (socialist) and Deat (former SFIO) fell victim to two nationalist, before the war? Fernand Bonnier de la Chapelle, French Action, Darland assassinated in Algiers in 1942 and Paul Collette, former Cagoulard, wounded by gunshot Deat and Laval in 1941 during a review of the troops of the LVF.
This book is full of specific teachings it is impossible to summarize.
Outstanding work that is a milestone in our understanding of our history.
