From L’Humanité to L’Ordre national. On a deviation of the “socialism of war”
Ramos, Raphaël
From L’Humanité to L’Ordre national. On a deviation of the “socialism of war” - 2019.
43
The recent discovery of a batch of unpublished archives sheds new light on the “socialism of war” and its actors. Among them is Pierre Georget La Chesnais (1865–1948), who was both the addressee and the author of these precious documents. Through these archives, we were able to reconstruct the path of a man involved in various literary and political circles. Introduced almost simultaneously to the Mercure de France and to L’Humanité by his old friends—the symbolist poet, André-Ferdinand Hérold, and Louis Révelin, a disciple of Jaurès—, this early supporter of the Human Rights League of France and the French Section of the Workers’ International grew close to a group of students of the Ecole Normale assembled around Albert Thomas during the First World War. Among the advisers of the minister of armaments were the Durkheimians Maurice Halbwachs, François Simiand, and, most notably, Hubert Bourgin, with whom La Chesnais was to build a strong political friendship. After their failed attempt to found a new and more patriotic socialist party in the 1920s, their association led them to become contributors to L’Ordre national, a prominent anti-Semitic periodical. This shared path highlights the deviations of a “purely intellectual socialism,” which Hubert Bourgin retrospectively described with bitterness and resentment in most of his books. La Chesnais’ elitist activism of the early years was built on literature, symbolist poetry, and the plays of Ibsen, considered at the time to be hotbeds of libertarian ideas. But following the footsteps of Bourgin, he later rubbed shoulders with far-right propagandists ahead of the upcoming conflict.
From L’Humanité to L’Ordre national. On a deviation of the “socialism of war” - 2019.
43
The recent discovery of a batch of unpublished archives sheds new light on the “socialism of war” and its actors. Among them is Pierre Georget La Chesnais (1865–1948), who was both the addressee and the author of these precious documents. Through these archives, we were able to reconstruct the path of a man involved in various literary and political circles. Introduced almost simultaneously to the Mercure de France and to L’Humanité by his old friends—the symbolist poet, André-Ferdinand Hérold, and Louis Révelin, a disciple of Jaurès—, this early supporter of the Human Rights League of France and the French Section of the Workers’ International grew close to a group of students of the Ecole Normale assembled around Albert Thomas during the First World War. Among the advisers of the minister of armaments were the Durkheimians Maurice Halbwachs, François Simiand, and, most notably, Hubert Bourgin, with whom La Chesnais was to build a strong political friendship. After their failed attempt to found a new and more patriotic socialist party in the 1920s, their association led them to become contributors to L’Ordre national, a prominent anti-Semitic periodical. This shared path highlights the deviations of a “purely intellectual socialism,” which Hubert Bourgin retrospectively described with bitterness and resentment in most of his books. La Chesnais’ elitist activism of the early years was built on literature, symbolist poetry, and the plays of Ibsen, considered at the time to be hotbeds of libertarian ideas. But following the footsteps of Bourgin, he later rubbed shoulders with far-right propagandists ahead of the upcoming conflict.
Réseaux sociaux