Marcel Déat (7 March 1894 – 5 January 1955) was a French politician. Initially a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and a member of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(SFIO), he led a breakaway group of right-wing ' Neosocialists' out of the SFIO in 1933. During the occupation of France by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, he founded the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

National Popular Rally (RNP). In 1944, he became Minister of Labour and National Solidarity in

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occ ...

's government in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

, before escaping to the

Sigmaringen enclave The Sigmaringen enclave was the exiled remnant of France's Nazi-sympathizing Vichy government which fled to Germany during the Liberation of France near the end of World War II in order to avoid capture by the advancing Allied forces. ...

along with Vichy officials after the Allied landings in Normandy. Condemned ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

'' for collaborationism, he died while still in hiding in Italy.

Early life and politics

Marcel Déat was raised in a modest environment, which shared republican and patriotic values. After brilliant studies, he entered in 1914 the ''

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

'' (ENS) after having been the student of Alain, a philosopher who was active in the Radical Party and who would write a deeply anti-militarist book after World War I. The same year, Déat joined the SFIO. While he attended the ENS and worked to get a philosophy degree, World War I broke out. He joined the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

and saw active duty, winning the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and five bravery citations. By the war's end, Déat had achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Under the pseudonym of Taëd, he then published ''Cadavres et maximes, philosophie d'un revenant'' (approximately translated by "Corpses and Maxims, Philosophy of a Ghost"), in which he expressed his horror of

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

, strong

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...

views, as well as his fascination for collective discipline and war camaraderie. When the war ended in 1918, he finished his studies at the École Normale and passed his ''

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''profe ...

'' of philosophy, and oriented himself towards sociology under the direction of

Célestin Bouglé Célestin Charles Alfred Bouglé (1 June 1870 – 25 January 1940) was a French philosopher known for his role as one of Émile Durkheim's collaborators and a member of the '' L'Année Sociologique''. Life Bouglé was born in Saint-Brieuc, Cô ...

, a friend of Alain and also member of the Radical Party. In the meanwhile, Déat taught philosophy in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

. During the 1920

Tours Congress The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25–30 December 1920. During the Congress, the majority voted to join the Third International and create t ...

in which a majority of the SFIO decided to spin off to found the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European ...

, Marcel Déat positioned himself at the right wing of the SFIO, taking part in the '' groupe de la Vie socialiste'' current, alongside Pierre Renaudel. Déat was elected municipal counsellor of Rheims in 1925, and then deputy for the Marne during a partial election in 1926. However, he lost his seat after the 1928 elections. In these times,

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

, the leader of the SFIO, tried to favor youths in the party, and decided to name Déat secretary of the SFIO parliamentary group. After having been put in charge of the documentary center of the ENS by Célestin Bouglié, Déat now founded a documentary center for the SFIO deputies.

Neo-Socialist period

Marcel Déat published in 1930 ''Perspectives socialistes'' (Socialist Perspectives), a revisionist work closely influenced by Henri de Man's ''

planisme A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, parti ...

''. Along with over a hundred articles written in '' La Vie Socialiste'', the review of the SFIO's right-wing, ''Perspective socialistes'' marked the shift of Déat from classical Socialism to Neosocialism. Déat replaced

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The form ...

by collaboration of classes and national solidarity, advocated

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

as a social organization model, replaced the notion of "

Socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

" by "

Anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...

" and supported an authoritarian state which would plan the economy and from which

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...

would be repealed. During the 1932 elections, he was elected deputy of the

20th arrondissement of Paris The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () a ...

, beating the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Jacques Duclos Jacques Duclos (2 October 189625 April 1975) was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial ...

— who himself had gained the upper hand against Léon Blum in 1928 in the same electoral district. Déat and other Neosocialists were expelled from the SFIO at the 5 November 1933 Congress, for their revisionist views and disagreements with

's policies toward Prime Minister

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

, leader of the second '' Cartel des Gauches'' (Left-Wing Coalition). The official position of the SFIO was then to support the Cartel without participating in the government, which it considered "bourgeois." The same year, Déat joined the Socialist Party of France – Jean Jaurès Union (PSdF) created the same year by Planist and Neosocialist elements expelled by the SFIO during the 1933 Congress. The new party's slogan was "Order, Authority and Nation". The expelled faction was a minority in the SFIO, but represented the majority of the SFIO parliamentary group. They were opposed both by the left wing of the SFIO, represented by Marceau Pivert, and by the SFIO's center, headed by Blum. The Neosocialists wanted to "reinforce the state against the

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

", open themselves to the middle classes and participate in non-Socialist governments. Without the support of the Socialists, Déat lost his seat in the Chamber. Two years later, he joined the

Socialist Republican Union The Socialist Republican Union (french: Union socialiste républicaine, USR) was a political party in France founded in 1935 during the late Third Republic which united the right-wing of the French Section of the Workers' International with the l ...

(USR). He became Minister of Air in the "bourgeois" government of

Albert Sarraut Albert-Pierre Sarraut (; 28 July 1872 – 26 November 1962) was a French Radical politician, twice Prime Minister during the Third Republic. Biography Sarraut was born on 28 July 1872 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. On 14 March 1907 Sarraut, ...

(

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

) but he quickly resigned his post over disputes with the Prime Minister. With the increasing threats represented by Nazi Germany, Déat wanted to maintain peace at any cost. He returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 1936 as a delegate from

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins ...

, and at first supported the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

led by Blum before denouncing "Communist infiltration" of it. After Blum's replacement by

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II. Daladier was born in Carpe ...

in 1938, which marked the end of the Popular Front, Déat participated in the "Anti-Communist Rally." The same year, he made explicit his support of the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

in an article titled '' Why Die for Danzig?'', published in the newspaper '' L'Œuvre''. There, he argued that France should avoid war with Germany if the latter seized Poland – the publication caused a widespread controversy, and propelled Déat to national fame. Déat would collaborate with ''L'Œuvre'' during the entire period of

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its t ...

Collaborationism

A strong supporter of Germany's occupation of northern France in 1940, Déat took up residence in Vichy France, and was initially a supporter of

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

. He attempted to create a single party to fully realize the aims of the "''

Révolution nationale The ''Révolution nationale'' (, ''National Revolution'') was the official ideological program promoted by the Vichy regime (the “French State”) which had been established in July 1940 and led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain's regime wa ...

''", the official, reactionary ideology of Vichy. Thereafter, he founded in February 1941 the National Popular Rally (RNP) which advocated Collaboration with Nazi Germany and

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. When Vichy, then headed by Pétain, did not become the Fascist state Déat had in mind, he moved to occupied Paris and was funded by the Germans. The Germans forced Déat at first to merge his new party (RNP) with

Eugène Deloncle Eugène Deloncle (20 June 1890 – 17 January 1944) was a French politician and Fascist leader, who founded of the “Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action" (CSAR), known as "The Hood" (la Cagoule), and became a prominent Nazi collaborator d ...

's MSR (Social Revolutionary Movement), a far-right party, the successor of the '' Cagoule'' terrorist group. The merger was a failure and Déat later expelled MSR elements from his party, before trying to form a unified front of Collaborationist parties. Déat also founded, along with fellow Collaborationists

Jacques Doriot Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Party (P ...

and Marcel Bucard, the Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF), a French unit of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

(later affiliated with the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

). While reviewing troops from the LVF with Vichy figure

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

on 27 August 1941, Déat was wounded in an assassination attempt—carried out by

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

member

Paul Collette Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. After recovering, he became a supporter of Pierre Laval, who supported more reactionary policies than Pétain and had become prime minister of the Vichy regime in 1942. Under the suggestion of the Germans, Marcel Déat became on 16 March 1944, Minister of Labour and National Solidarity in Laval's cabinet.

Exile

After the Allied landings at

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and the fall of the Vichy government, Déat fled to Germany and became an official of the Vichy government in exile at

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaring ...

. With the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Déat fled to Italy in April and took his wife's name, temporarily teaching in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He was later taken in and hidden by a Catholic religious order in the convent of San Vito, near Turin, where he wrote his memoirs and lived undiscovered until his death in 1955. After the war, he had been convicted of treason and sentenced to death ''in absentia'' by a French court.

References

Works

* Marcel Déat, ''Perspectives socialistes'' (Paris, Valois, 1930) *

Max Bonnafous Max Bonnafous (21 January 1900 – 16 October 1975) was a French sociologist who was Minister of Agriculture and Supplies from 1942 to 1944 in the Vichy government. Early years Max Bonnafous was born on 21 January 1900 in Bordeaux, Gironde. He gr ...

– Marcel Déat – Adrien Marquet – Barthélémy Montagnon, ''Néo-socialisme ? Ordre, autorité, nation'', Paris, Grasset, 140 pages, 1933. Speech pronounced at the SFIO Congress of July 1933. * ''Le Plan français : doctrine et plan d'action'', Comité du Plan, Paris, Fasquelle, 199 pages, 1936. Preface by Marcel Déat. * Marcel Déat, ''De la fausse collaboration à la vraie révolution, décembre 1941-janvier 1942'', Paris, ''

Rassemblement national populaire The National Popular Rally (french: Rassemblement national populaire, ''RNP'', 1941–1944) was a French political party and one of the main collaborationist parties under the Vichy regime of World War II. Created in February 1941 by former mem ...

'', 47 pages, 1942. Various articles extracted from '' L'Œuvre'' (30 December 1941 – 13 January 1942) and a conference pronounced at ''

Radio-Paris Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II. Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Fren ...

'' (5 January 1942). * Marcel Déat, ''Le Parti unique'', Paris, Aux Armes de France, 183 pages, 1943. Articles published in '' L'Œuvre'' (18 July – 4 September 1942). * Dominique Sordet (ed.), ''Le Coup du 13 décembre'', Paris, impr. de Guillemot et de Lamothe, 47 pages, 1943. Article by Marcel Déat : "Il faut les chasser". * Marcel Déat, ''Mémoires politiques'', Paris, Denoël, 990 pages, 1989. Introduction & notes by Laurent Theis; epilogue by Hélène Déat. * Marcel Déat, ''Discours, articles et témoignages'', Coulommiers, Éd. Déterna, " Documents pour l'histoire ", 149 pages, 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deat, Marcel 1894 births 1955 deaths People from Nièvre Politicians from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté French Section of the Workers' International politicians Socialist Party of France – Jean Jaurès Union politicians Socialist Republican Union politicians National Popular Rally politicians Government ministers of France Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French neo-socialists French anti-communists École Normale Supérieure alumni French military personnel of World War I French collaborators with Nazi Germany Former Marxists People sentenced to death in absentia French exiles French expatriates in Italy French politicians convicted of crimes People convicted of treason against France