Marcel Bucard (7 December 1895 – 13 March 1946) was a French

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

politician.

Early career

A decorated soldier who earned a reputation for bravery in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Bucard became active in politics after 1918, initially as a member of ''

Action française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'', an integralist

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

group, and later as a member of the overtly-fascist and

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Faisceau Le Faisceau (, ''The Fasces'') was a short-lived French fascist political party. It was founded on 11 November 1925 as a far right league by Georges Valois. It was preceded by its newspaper, ''Le Nouveau Siècle'', which had been founded as a ...

'' of

Georges Valois Georges Valois (; born Alfred-Georges Gressent; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Lif ...

. In September 1933, Bucard founded his own group, the ''

Mouvement franciste The Francist Movement (, MF) was a French Fascism, fascist and anti-semitic Far-right leagues, league created by Marcel Bucard in September 1933 that edited the newspaper ''Le Francisme''. Mouvement franciste reached a membership of 10,000 and ...

'', which was arguably the most extreme group and was financed by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

's government. During the

6 February 1934 crisis The 6 February 1934 crisis (also known as the Veterans' Riot) was an anti-parliamentarist street demonstration in Paris, organized by multiple far-right leagues that culminated in a riot on the Place de la Concorde, near the building used for t ...

, the ''Francistes'' joined the other right-wing parties in the protests and riots in front of the

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the Rive Gauche of the Seine across from the Place de la Concorde. The offi ...

provoked by the Stavisky Affair and accused of being intended as a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. In 1936, the new Popular Front government banned his movement and all other right-wing "leagues", fascist or otherwise, and Bucard was briefly imprisoned. His attempt to recreate the movement as a party (''Parti franciste'') in 1938 had little success, and it was outlawed as well.

World War II

After the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the start of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

and of

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

, Bucard's ''Parti'' was again active (from 1941), now as a

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...

force. Bucard called upon his Francists to give whatever support they could to the Germans, including military intelligence and information on the Resistance. His role in the period was, however, limited, as he was usually absent since he suffered from old wounds. He was still a co-founder of the '' Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchevisme''. After the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

, he argued that Francists should join the French

Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...

or French/foreign units in the

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the older National Socialist Automobile Corps (, NS ...

or the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

Death

In 1946, after the German defeat, Bucard was sentenced to death for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, and a month later executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

at the Fort de Châtillon. Marcel Bucard went to the firing squad while singing the Catholic song "Je suis chrétien! Voilà ma gloire" (I am a Christian, that is my Glory). At his trial, the prosecutor, Vassart, accused the Francists of routinely infiltrating

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

groups to betray them to the Germans, of numerous crimes, including the murder of opponents and violently resisting French police even before the Liberation, and Bucard was blamed for the deaths of Soviet and French combatants because of his wholehearted support for the German occupier and his recruitment activities on behalf of the LVF, the

Milice The (French Militia), generally called (; ), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy France, Vichy régime (with Nazi Germany, German aid) to help fight against the French Resistance during World War ...

and the French Waffen SS.Réquisitoire de M. le Procureur de la République Vassart in ''Quatre procès de trahison devant la cour de justice de Paris'' (Paris: Les éditions de Paris, 1947)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucard, Marcel 1895 births 1946 deaths Christian fascists French fascists French military personnel of World War I French politicians convicted of crimes Executed politicians People affiliated with Action Française People from Val-d'Oise Nazi collaborators shot at the Fort de Châtillon