The ''Volksfront'' ("People's Front") was a political coalition in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

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 ...

, that was formed in 1928 by the Popular Republican Union (UPR), a group of

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

led by

Charles Hueber Charles Louis Hueber (21 August 1883 – 18 August 1943) was an Alsatian politician. He was the mayor of Strasbourg between 1929 and 1935, and a member of the French National Assembly twice.Charles, Louis HUEBER (1883 - 1943)' Hueber became inv ...

Progressives Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...

led by Camille Dahlet and the Autonomist Landespartei. The ''Volksfront'' had the goals of greater autonomy for Alsace, safeguards for the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

, the promotion of the Alsatian economy and administrative autonomy for the region. The ''Volksfront'' largely represented a continuation of the defunct '' Heimatbund''.Fischer, Christopher J.
Alsace to the Alsatians?: Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870-1939
'. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010. pp. 198-199 The ''Volksfront'' showed some similarities of the 1911 National Union, which also had been a loose coalition.Fischer, Christopher J.
Alsace to the Alsatians?: Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870-1939
'. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010. pp. 179 Co-operation between Alsatian communists and clerical autonomists had begun with the events of Bloody Sunday (1926).Callahan, Kevin J., and Sarah Ann Curtis.
Views from the Margins: Creating Identities in Modern France
'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008. p. 146 Regarding the sensitive issue of relations between church and state, the ''Volksfront'' avoided publicly taking a clear stand. The ''Volksfront'' launched two candidates in a parliamentary by-election in 1928, which had been called as two elected autonomist assemblymen ( Eugène Ricklin and

Joseph Rossé Joseph Rossé (August 26, 1892 – October 24, 1951) was an Alsace, Alsatian politician and autonomist, notable for his engagement in the Union populaire républicaine (1919-1946), Union Populaire Républicaine and his controversial role during a ...

) had been allowed to take their seats): Marcel Stuermel and René Hauss. The ''Volksfront'' won the 1929 municipal election in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

by defeating the incumbent

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

mayor, Jacques Peirotes, who had been backed by an anticlerical and assimilationist coalition. The ''Volksfront'' won 22 seats in the municipal council.Hülsen, Bernhard von.
Szenenwechsel im Elsass: Theater und Gesellschaft in Straßburg zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich : 1890 - 1944
'. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitäts-Verlag, 2003. pp. 169, 264 It formed a municipal government with Hueber as mayor and Michel Walter as deputy mayor and also gained a strong presence in the municipal election in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

. After the election, the group around Hueber was expelled from the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

and formed the Opposition Communist Party of Alsace-Lorraine, which became a new constituent of the ''Volksfront''. As the ''Landespartei'' moved closer to

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

, with a discourse that was increasingly

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 ...

and antidemocratic, divisions began to appear in the ''Volksfront''. The UPR was alienated by the antidemocratic, anti-Catholic and antireligious discourse of the National Socialists and deserted the coalition, followed by Dahlet's Progressives in 1933. The ''Volksfront'' was dissolved in 1935.Goodfellow, Samuel.
From Communism to Nazism: The Transformation of Alsatian Communists
', in ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Vol. 27, No. 2 (Apr., 1992), pp. 231-258

References

{{reflist Alsace independence movement German diaspora political parties Political parties in Alsace