The Revolutionary Social Movement (in French: ''Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire'', MSR) was a

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 ...

movement founded in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in September 1940. Its founders were

Eugène Deloncle Eugène Deloncle (20 June 1890 – 17 January 1944) was a French politician and fascist leader who founded the organisation “Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action" (CSAR), better known as . He became a prominent Nazi collaborator during Wo ...

, who was previously associated with '' La Cagoule,'' and Eugène Schueller, owner of the

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

company. The MSR supported the return of

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...

to the

Vichy government 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 defeat against ...

, 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 The National Popular Rally (, 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 members of the French Section of the Workers' ...

(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 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 19 ...

, 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 14 May 1942, which left Deloncle without a political future. He was killed two years later in a shootout with the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

, which had suspected him of having obtained ties to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. For a time in 1942, leadership passed to Jean Fontenoy. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 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 French collaboration during World War II The Holocaust in France Political parties of the Vichy regime Organizations established in 1940 {{gov-stub