The Revolutionary Social Movement (in French: ''Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire'' MSR) was a fascist movement founded in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in September 1940. Its founder was Eugène Deloncle, who was previously associated with '' La Cagoule'' . The MSR supported the return of

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 ...

to the

Vichy government 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 terr ...

, led by Petain, who removed Laval from the government in December 1940. The MSR collaborated with and was a factions of the Rassemblement National Populaire (RNP), which was founded in January 1941. A split in the RNP came after the Eastern Front opened up in July 1941, and the

Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (french: Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchévisme, LVF) was a unit of the German Army during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially design ...

was formed. Another frontman in the RNP was

Marcel Déat Marcel Déat (7 March 1894 – 5 January 1955) was a French politician. Initially a socialist and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), he led a breakaway group of right-wing ' Neosocialists' out of the SFIO in 1933 ...

, who had the confidence of Laval. When he found out that Deloncle was plotting against him, he had him and his faction removed from the RNP. Deloncle also took many member of the RNP's paramilitary wing with him. In October 1941, Deloncle plotted against seven Parisian synagogues with the help of a local SS officer, Hans Sommer, who provided the explosives for the attack. Further splits in the MSR happened over the next year, as Deloncle became more occupied with the LVF. The other factions then coalesced around Jean Filliol, a former ''Cagoulard'', and revolutionaries Georges Soulès and André Mahé. A coup against the Deloncle faction was completed on May 14, 1942, which left Deloncle without a political future. He was killed two years later in a shootout with the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

, which had suspected him of having obtained ties to the Allies. For a time in 1942, leadership passed to Jean Fontenoy.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', 1990, p. 130 Filiol began plotting against Laval, whose government interned him in October 1942. The remaining Soulès faction of the MSR moved into an anti-German position but disappeared at the end of the war.

References

* * 1940 establishments in France Fascist parties in France The Holocaust in France Political parties of the Vichy regime Organizations established in 1940 Fascist parties Anti-communist organizations {{gov-stub