Description
Book SynopsisThis wide-ranging work confronts the complex question of nationalism in France in its various permutationsmyths, obsessions, possibilities, and dangers. French nationalism has always been a double-edged sword, from its beginnings in the French Revolution through the two Napoleonic empires, Boulangism, the Dreyfus affair, the fascist groups of the 1930's, Marshal Pétain's National Revolution during World War II, and its latest contemporary incarnation in Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front.
The author distinguishes between an open nationalism, based on the revolutionary values of liberty and equality for all, and closed nationalism, which is xenophobicand, more particularly, antisemitic. He studies not only governments and political figuresNapoleon, Louis Napoleon, Marshal Pétain, and General de Gaullebut also the myths associated with nationalism. These myths are captured in newspaper articles (the charity bazaar fire of 1897), in literature (Huysmans, Céline), and in the writi
Trade Review
"Nationalism, Anti-Semitism, and Fascism in France is testament to Winock's vibrancy and imagination as a scholar of fascism and to his considerable reputation as a historian of ideas and intellectuals."Journal of Jewish Studies
Table of Contents
List of tables; Introduction; Part I. French Nationalism: 1. Open nationalism and closed nationalism; 2. The return of national populism; 3. French anti-Americanism; Part II. The Nationalist Imagination and Anti-Semitism: 4. A foretaste of apocalypse: the charity bazaar fire; 5. Eternal decadence; 6. Diabolical causality; 7. Edouard Drumont and La France juive; 8. Joan of Arc and the Jews; 9. The Dreyfus affairs; 10. The left and the Jews; Part III. Bonapartism and Fascism: 11. The Bonapartist temptation; 12. Outlines of a French fascism; 13. French-style fascism, or fascism nowhere to be found? 14. Socialism and fascism; Part IV. Figures and Moments: 15. Boulanger, providential man; 16. Jules Guerin of Fort Chabrol; 17. Huysmans and decadence; 18. Georges Sorel: a 'fascist' on the left? 19. Peguy: prefascist or insurgent? 20. Gustave Herve: from social war to war; 21. A fascist parable: Drieu La Rochelle's Gilles; 22. The Celine scandal; 23. The Bernanos case; 24. De Gaulle, the last nationalist; Appendixes; Notes; Index.
