Yves Dechezelles, born on 11 November 1912 in Sables-d'Olonne (

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Louis Bouët and his wife Gabrielle), Dechezelles committed himself to socialist students in 1928. He took on responsibilities in the Jeunesses socialistes (

Young Socialist Movement The Movement of the Young Socialists (, MJS) or simply ''Jeunes Socialistes'' is the youth organisation of the Socialist Party of France. MJS was founded in 1993 as a formally independent youth organisation. However, its statutes commit the MJS t ...

) of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

where he became the federal secretary in 1932. In 1936, he participated as a delegate of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

to the SFIO (

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

)'s National Council. However, Dechezelles soon came to be disappointed by Léon Blum's policy, and in particular the refusal to intervene in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He left the SFIO and instead joined 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 ...

(PCF), in which he very quickly rose to the position of secretary of the

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

division. His time at the PCF, however, was not free from trouble. He was suspected of being a

Trotskyite Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

, and found himself to be incompatible with the authoritarian character of the party's leadership. He left PCF in 1938.

Second World War

He then did his military service, and was not demobilized until 1940, the year he moved to

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, where his wife was from. There, he joined the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

while participating in the resistance within the

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

network. He was part of group D of Paul Ruff, which later disrupted telephone communications between Algiers and Vichy. He participated with 400 resistance fighters, mostly

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, in the putsch of November 7 and 8, 1942 in Algiers, which its achievement paved the way for the rapid success in Algiers of

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the allied landing in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. In 1943, Dechezelles participated in the reconstitution of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, then led by

Daniel Mayer Daniel Raphaël Mayer (29 April 1909 – 29 December 1996) was a French politician and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and president of the ''Ligue des droits de l'homme'' (LDH, Human Rights League) from 1958 ...

under the name of "Socialist Action Committee". In June 1943, he was chief of staff for Adrien Tixier, minister in the provisional government. Dechezelles worked with the party Rassemblement démocratique révolutionnaire. He looked into every opportunity for reconciliation, such as the newspaper

La Commune LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Ange ...

, or the Marceau Pivert International Socialist Correspondence.

1945 to 1955

In 1944, however, he broke up with Mollet, complaining about the gap between the positions defined by the congress of 1946 and the attitude of parliamentarians and socialist ministers. He resigned from the General Secretariat and presented the Congress of August 1947, a motion so-called "Socialist and Revolutionary Action" (ASR). In December of that year, he left the SFIO to form a separate political party. The ASR, of which Dechezelles is general secretary, however loses influence. She takes part in the Revolutionary Democratic Party, which is without a future.

1955 to 1970

At the same time, he continued his professional activities as a lawyer in defense of activists of the national liberation movements, among those being mainly

ns and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

ns. He chose to defend

Messali Hadj Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj (; May 16, 1898 – June 3, 1974; commonly known as Messali Hadj, ) was an Algerian nationalist politician dedicated to the independence of his homeland from French colonial rule. He is often called the "father" of Algeria ...

, who was his close friend. In 1957 the New Left merged with the People's Liberation Movement to create the

Union of the Socialist Left The Union of the Socialist Left (, UGS) was a French movement of left-wing activists, founded on 7–8 December 1957 by dissidents from the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO); former members of the French Resistance, until then cl ...

, he became a member of the political bureau of the new organization, which itself merged three years later with other parties to create the Unified Socialist Party. In 1990, he signed the Appeal of 75 against the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Dechezelles died on 9 January 2007, at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dechezelles, Yves 1912 births 2007 deaths People from Les Sables-d'Olonne French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Communist Party politicians Revolutionary Democratic Rally politicians Union of the Socialist Left politicians Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians French human rights activists 20th-century French lawyers French military personnel of World War II French Resistance members

Second World War

1945 to 1955

1955 to 1970

See also

References