Alternatives To The Third Republic Among Catholic Leftists in The 1930's

Berghahn Books
Alternatives to the Third Republic Among Catholic Leftists in the 1930's

Author(s): Oscar L. Arnal
Source: Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter/Hiver 1978),
pp. 177-195
Published by: Berghahn Books
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41298716
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177
Hi
Alternatives to the Third
Republic Among Catholic
Leftists in the 1930's
Oscar L. Arnal
Wilfrid Laurier University
and
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
Traditional French Catholicism advocated well-known alternatives to the

Third Republic. From the Franco-Prussian War to the 1920's large
sectors of the French Church, hierarchy and laity alike, saw the Republic
in only demonic terms. Hurled onto the defensive by massive laicist and
anticlerical attacks, the Catholics retreated to ultra programs based upon
societies of past glories. Support of the royalist Action Franâise and
condemnation of the Christian Democrats dominated the Church's politi-
cal and social programs. Indeed, French Catholicism had an alternative to
the Third Republic, but it was based on a longing for a past society which
antedated the French Revolution.1
No doubt a number of these reactionaries were prepared to do more
than lament a bygone era. Chief among these were the Social Catholics.
Instead of pursuing a moribund policy of royalism, they adjusted their
program of counterrevolution in light of both the industrial revolution and
the increasingly stable Third Republic. Their chief spokesman for almost
forty years was Count Albert de Mun. Though a monarchist by convic-
tion, de Mun owed his ultimate loyalty to the Church. For this reason, he
abandoned his restoration principles when Leo XIII called upon
'For thorough descriptions of these matters, see Adrien Dansette, Religious History of
Modern France , trans. John Warrington (Edinburgh: Nelson, 1961); John Mc Manners,
Church and State in France, 1870-1914 (London: SPCK, 1 972); and Harry W. Paul ,The
Second Ralliement: The Rapprochement between Church and State in France in the
Twentieth Century (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1967). On
the Action Franâise, see Eugen Weber, Action Frangaise: Royalism and Reaction in
Twentieth-Century France (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1962) and Ed-
ward R. Tannenbaum, The Action Franâise: Die-hard Reactionaries in Twentieth-
Century France (New York and London: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1962).
178 Historical Reflections
Catholics to defend the Church's rights thr

tionality. His impassioned speeches in the
either appeals to uphold Catholicism aga
challenges to adopt social reforms for the
demands for a shorter working day, Sunday
and mixed unions would be adopted and
progressives who would divest them of de M
oblige.2 The description of de Mun by Mar
one: "He goes to the people, but he will ne
In contrast with these positions was the
Christian Democrats. From the 1890's until the outbreak of the Second
World War, they represented that growing mood which desired peace
with the secular Republic. Instead of coming to terms with the Third
Republic for tactical reasons, they endorsed it wholeheartedly because
they were republican by conviction. Though they adopted much of the
social Catholicism of de Mun, they transformed it by their democratic
values. Social paternalism was replaced gradually by social democracy.
This is most clear in the Sillon of Marc Sangnier which not only advo-
cated more radical reforms than the social Catholics but also insisted that
the social redemption of the people would be by the people.4 Sillon, as
forebear of the interwar Catholic left, provided the link which would
transform social Catholicism from its reactionary origins into Catholic
opinions which could be described as both social and democratic.
Pius XI's willingness to live with a moderate interpretation of the
Separation legislation (1924) and his condemnation of the Action
Frangaise ( 1 926- 1 927) marked a turning point for the ralliement forces in
France. The interwar years were marked by an expansion and prolifera-
tion of Catholic voices in support of these papal gestures. They called
upon their fellow believers to accept the Republic, its institutions and its
values, and, in addition, they spoke of the need for reform in social and
2For an up-to-date study of Albert de Mun, see Benjamin F. Martin , Count A Ibert de Mun :
Paladin of the Third Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978).
For a summary of his social and political thought, see Georges Hoog, Histoire du
Catholicisme en France, 1871-1931 (Paris: Doumat, 1946), pp. 10-18, 25-31; and
Alexander Sedgwick, The Ralliement in French Politics, 1890-1898 (Cambridge, Mass.;
Harvard University Press, 1965), p. 16. De Mun told his own story in Ma Vocation
sociale (Paris, 1908).
3 Marc Sangnier, cited in John McManners, Church and State in France, 1870-1914
(London: S.P.C.K. 1972), p. 82.
4Marc Sangnier, "L' Act ion morale et sociale du Catholicisme," Le Sillon, April 10,
1902, pp. 251-52; and "Catechisme d'economie sociale," Le Sillon supplement,
December 25, 1900, pp. 4-60 > passim; L. Antoine, "De FIntervention des syndicats et
du gouvernement dans les greves," Le Sillon, March 10, 1901, pp. 134-139.
Catholic Alternatives to the Third Republic 179
economic matters. These ralliement groups took the form of political

organizations like the Parti Democrate Populaire (P.D.P.) and the
Jeune-Republique; intellectuals like Jacques Maritain; press efforts like
L'Aube, Sept, Esprit and Terre Nouvelle; specialized Catholic youth
groups like the Jeunesse Ouvriere Chretienne; and a trade union federa-
tion, the Confederation Frangaise des Travailleurs Chretiens (C.F.T.C.).
They shared in common a desire to come to terms with the modern world
and to remove from their church all commitment to antirepublican politi-
cal and social programs. However, instead of being described as trans-
formists, these Catholics are portrayed most often as being among the
Republic's staunchest defenders.5
In spite of this, it is simplistic to lump together all republican and
democratic Catholics. In reality, ralliement Catholics were subdivided
into roughly two camps. The larger group remained basically reformist,
combining republican with religious defense. Into this camp fell the
P.D.P. , Jacques Maritain, L'Aube, the C.F.T.C. and, most likely, Sept.
Smaller, yet highly visible and vocal, was the Catholic left which sought
an alternative to the Third Republic - an alternative which would
revolutionize society via radical democratization. Instead of attacking the
Republic from the right, they called for its transformation from the left. In
so doing, they broke also with the programs of other Catholic liberals.6
For the most part they refused to engage in a confessionalist policy of
religious defense, and they repudiated a timid social reformism based
primarily upon anti-Marxism.7 Representing the Catholic left were the
5 For thoughtful descriptions of this emerging ralliement see Paul, Second Ralliement;
Rene Remond,Le.s Catholiques, le communisme et les crises, 1 929-1 939 (Paris: Armand
Colin, 1960); and R. William Rauch Jr., Politics and Belief in Contemporary France:
Emmanuel Mounier and Christian Democracy, 1932-1950 (The Hague: Martinus Nij-
hoff, 1972).
6 A number of scholars have recognized and spelled out these differences among Catholic
rallies and have identified the different groups. For detailed analyses of varying aspects
of these divisions, see Rauch, Politics and Belief, pp. 99-101, 120-127, 154-160,
169-170; David L. Lewis, "Emmanuel Mounier and the Politics of Moral Revolution:
Aspects of Political Crises in French Liberal Catholicism, 1 935- 1 938, ' ' Catholic Histor-
ical Review, LVI (1970), 266-90; John Hellman, "The Opening to the Left in French
Catholicism: The Role of the Personalists," Journal of the History of Ideas, XXXIV
(1973), 381-90; "French 'Left Catholics' and Communism in the Nineteen-Thirties,"
Church History, XLV (1976), 507-23; and John Hellman, "Vichy Background: Political
Alternatives for French Catholics in the Nineteen-Thirties," on-demand article of
Journal of Modern History (1977).
7 Constraints of space and purpose do not permit an elaboration of the positions taken by
those Catholics I have described as reformist and defensive. Nevertheless, the following
references may be consulted to illustrate the point. (A) For examples of their republican
defense, see "Chez nous en France - Le catholique dans la cite," Sept, January 17,
diverse positions taken by the Jeune-Rep

Nouvelle. 8 From these three came an appeal t
revolutionary society, an appeal which, unlik
ralliement Catholics, projected leftist alternat
★★★★★★★★
Heir of the condemned Sillon, the Jeune-Re

represented a radical dimension of the Christ
rhetoric was bold and leftist in tone. Sangn
called for ' 'the advent of a true republic," an
impose upon him "a pseudorepublic or a pseu
the new republic or "Jeune-Republique" wou
from "the republic of smug Radicals and
1936; Georges Bidault, "L'Ordre republicain," L'Aub

Gay and Gaston Tessier, ' 'Notre Programme," ibid., Jan
"L'Heure actuelle - a propos des ligues," ibid. , Nov
nation ale," ibid., July 14-15, 1933; and Jean Raymon
populaire, 1924-1944, p. 4. (B) Examples of their p
can be seen in Jacques Maritain, Integral Humanism : T
of aNew Christendom, trans. Joseph W. Evans (1936; rp
Sons, 1968); pp. 160-165; Jacques Petit, ed., Jacques M
1929-1939: Les Grandes Correspondances, No. 33 (Par
62-63; Jean Goury, "Reflexions d'unelecteurmoyen,"L
que Gay, "Pourbien voter "L'Aube, April 28, 1932; "
Sept, February 7, 1936; Gerard Deygas, La C.F.TC., ci
n.p., 1969), pp. 69-70; Raymond-Laurent, Parti Dem
reformism built upon a defensive anti-Marxism can be s
Pierre-Henri Simon, "Chez Nous en France," Sept,
rouge," Editorial, ibid., May 8, 1936; Georges Bidault
L'Aube, November 27, 1 934; and "La Defense des liber
Gaston Tessier, "Pour la Paix sociale," Vie Catholique,
"L' Importance et les difficultes de la propagande syndica
1925; Maritain, Integral Humanism, pp. 35-94; Petit,
78-79; Le Petit Democrate, November 27, 1927, cited
February 25, 1928, p. 511.
8 There is disagreement among scholars on how the lines
Catholics should be drawn (see Hellman, "French 'Left
and Belief). Should Sept be among the leftist Catholics?
placed with L'Aube? These kinds of questions are not ea
right, center and left are not sharp lines. One group
Nonetheless, my labelling of these three groups as leftist i
justified by contrasting the programs and political prac
9 Marc Sangnier, "Republicain," La Democratic, Septe
etre la 'Jeune-Republique'," ibid., June 7, 1912.
Catholic Alternatives to the Third Republic 18 1
fact, the Jeune-Republique identified with what it called "a truly re-
volutionary scope" which would liberate "our democracy from its ser-
vitude to the powers of money" and bring to life the economic reality
implied in the Rights of Man.10 Sangnier proposed "anew, truly democ-
ratic program" in opposition to political programs of the past.11 Criti-
cism of the existing government was not enough; a Fourth Republic had
to take its place:
The Republic cannot be simply a cry of protest against decayed

regimes. It must be a fruitful and organic reality. It must be the
expression even of democratic aspirations - political , social and
moral . . ., and it is for these reasons that we cannot resign
ourselves to a republic which is less than the expression of all that is
best , most fraternal and most just within us. It is this task which we
have begun together. 12
Rhetoric and slogans alone, of course, are not proof of the leftist charac-
ter of this Sillonist league or of its desire to construct a more radical
republic. As a matter of fact, it could be pointed out that it shared some
vocabulary and defensive programs with the more conservative Christian
Democrats. This is nowhere more apparent than in its adoption of
elements found in the traditional Catholic politics of religious defense.
Like the more orthodox Christian Democrats, Sangnier proposed a
"grand reconciliation of the Church and Republic, of Christian and
French democracy."13 Elements of this program, found among more
conservative Catholics, remained with the Jeune-Republique throughout
its existence. It spoke against sectarian anticlericalism, decried govern-
mental attacks against Catholic schools and condemned "the laicist laws
directed against the common good."14 Nonetheless, this defense of
Catholic principles did not, in and of itself, demonstrate that the league
sought a clericalized alternative to the Third Republic which would
guarantee a privileged position for Catholicism within the state. Instead,
it was insisting that radicalism and secular sectarianism were not equata-
,0Georges Hoog, "Ni Fascisme, ni communisme! la vraie democratic,"

Jeune-Republique, May 19, 1933.
11 Sangnier, "Ce que nous voulons," ibid., January 16, 1921.
"Sangnier, "La Quatrieme Republique," La Democatie, June 11, 1911.
I3Sangnier, "Effort et travail nouveaux," ibid. , January 18, 1920.
14 Sangnier, "Ce que nous voulons prouver," ibid., November 25, 1910; and "L'Ecole et
la Republique - une contradiction,'* ibid., February 26, 1911; Georges Hoog, "Qu-
est-ce qu'un republicain?," Jeune-Republique, August 8, 1930.
ble. Unlike the other Christian Democrats, th

less intent on defending ecclesiastical institutio
ing a recognition that the coming "democracy
and Christian soul which sustains and animates it."15
The Catholic heritage was used primarily by these believers as the
elan vital which inspired them to build a future republic which would be
truly democratic.16
Much more attention was given by the Jeune-Republique to those
radical visions it deemed necessary for the republic of tomorrow. 4 4 We
have fought the laicist laws in the name of the Republic itself," affirmed
one leaguer. But he added: 4 4 We propose the ideal of a liberal and
fraternal democracy over against the existing reality of sectarian and
bourgeois politics." He combined his organization's policy of religious
defense with a call for proletarian solidarity against 4 'bourgeois
individualism. " 1 7 When the Jeune-Republique' s manifesto affirmed that
4 4 the Republic should protect the liberty of each citizen," it went on to
say that 4 'political liberty is powerless without economic liberty." By
this it meant that the ravages of capitalism should be removed in the name
of the proletariat and by the proletariat.18 Over the years the
Jeune-Republique elaborated on this position. Its political program of
1937 accused 44 the nationalist and capitalist system" of the Third
Republic of being incapable of meaningful reform. In the face of this
moribund regime, the former Sillonists gave themselves two tasks: 44to
renovate the democratic state (Third Republic), its institutions, its spirit
and its methods," and 44to prepare the advent of a new order, truly
democratic, social and practical." To accomplish this, 44the state must
liberate the working class which is currently the serf of Big Capital."19
Clearly the Jeune-Republique had absorbed and transformed its tradi-
tional elements into a program calling for a new republic more radically
democratized than the 4 'bourgeois" republic of which it was a part.20
Emmanuel Mounier's leftist Catholicism and rejection of the Third
Republic, which he identified with 44the established disorder," has been
15Sangnier, "Le Devoir present des ligueurs de la 'Jeune-Republique'," La Democratic,

November 30, 1912.
16Sangnier, "Notre Position au milieu des partis," Jeune-Republique, January 25, 1924.
17Leonard Constant, "Les Deux Republiques," La Democratic, July 12-13, 1914.
18 "Supplement," ibid., June 23, 1912.
19 "Supplement - programme du parti," Jeune-Republique, January 3, 1937.
20 A similar judgment can be examined in Rauch, Politics and Belief, pp. 28-51.
recognized by those who have studied him . 2 1 His firm commitment to the
Catholic faith cannot be used to link him with the defensiveness of those
who advocated a more confessional program. To be sure, Esprit
criticized the laicist values of the French Republic,22 but it spent com-
paratively little effort in dealing with these particular issues. Instead,
Mounier resisted emphatically any program which smacked of confes-
sionalism. He insisted that the Church had to break completely with the
"established disorder" by abandoning its defensive ghetto status.23 This
became abundantly clear in his defense of Esprit against the criticisms of
his mentor Jacques Maritain. This noted Thomist accused Erprif of being
dangerously equivocal "with respect to Catholicism" by its openness to
Protestant Christians and even atheists. Mourner's response included a
defense of his faith and the affirmation that it shaped his vision of the new
revolutionary society, but he continued to insist upon a complete "break
from the Christian order and established disorder. ' ' One way to accomp-
lish this was a resolute openness to the positive contributions of
non-Catholics.24
Some analysts argue that Mounier was a centrist, an articulate
spokesman of traditional Christian Democracy who used a veneer of
leftist rhetoric to call for a defense of the status quo or a timid reformism.
To be sure, he demanded a new order, a revolution, and supported what
he called "a revolutionary dialectic ... in the world," but he insisted
that it was not uniquely "a horizontal battle between two material
forces." Instead, it was a revolution whose battle was in the heart, in the
"vertical laceration at the very being of the essence of spiritual life and
humanity. ' ' This was Mourner's way of describing the traditional Christ-
ian dualism of flesh versus spirit. The revolution would not be accomp-
21 For examples of these positions, see Rauch, Politics and Belief pp. 51-55, 137; Lewis,
4 'Emmanuel Mounier**; Hellman, "The Opening to the Left,** and "French 'Left
Catholics* **; Michel Winock, Histoire politique de la revue " Esprit " 1930-1950 (Paris:
Editions du Seuil, 1975); and Joseph Amato, Mounier and Maritain: A French Catholic
Understanding of the Modern World (University of Alabama: University of Alabama
Press, 1975). This last author, while recognizing Mounier*s break with the old order in
the name of a radical new order (pp. 11, 17-18, 100, 126-27), seems to identify Esprit's
editor with the traditional concern of religious defense and the more cautious conser-
vatism of Jacques Maritain (pp. 9, 124, 145).
"Pierre-Henri Simon, "L'Ecole unique et nous,** Esprit, February, 1933, pp. 779-807;
P. -A. Touchard, 44 A propos d*un manifeste du 'Front laique*,** ibid., April, 1936, pp.
88-89; Henri Chatreix, "Aspects et positions du laicisme,** ibid., December, 1937, pp.
345-68. It is interesting to note that the first two of these articles are not major entries but
rather interpretive addenda by friends of Esprit.
23 Winock, Histoire politique, pp. 29-31; Rauch, Politics and Belief, pp. 83-86.
24Petit, Jacques Maritain, No. 29, p. 56, No. 30, p. 58, No. 34, pp. 64-65, 70-72.
lished by force but rather by enlightenm

discussing the virtues of the political right
placing himself squarely in the camp of t
the rightist political values of 4 'honor, . .
and "religion," and by praising the lef
renovative forces of his country, he struck
the program of the Parti Democrate Popu
with his assertion that one task of perso
between these two forces.25
However, a closer examination of Mou
reveals a propensity toward the left. His
ideology involved not only a rejection of
also the affirmation that it sought to con
the heart of the working masses." His pr
was coupled with a scathing critique of the
and the use of metaphysical religiosity
egotism. The peroration encapsulated his
"Disorder shocks us less than injustice. W
uncomfortable city but an evil city."26
As Mounier' s thought developed, his b
became more apparent. He rejected "libe
racy" and asserted that "it is against
democrats."27 Though critical of Marxis
among them "authentic . . . spiritual val
such redeeming qualities, for, basing its
profit, the fruitfulness of money .
economic oligarchy , " it " has cut men int
and the other the exploited."28 He rejec
ticapitalism by defining them only as p
between artisan capitalism and money cap
genuinely to overthrow the capitalist regim
direct effort to break definitively with
republicanism of the Christian Democrat
to him, published by Paul Archambault i
25 Emmanuel Mounier, "Revolution personnaliste

(Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1961), pp. 139-41, 14
26Ibid., pp. 139-41. For a thorough analysis of
between bourgeois individualism and Marxist colle
by Professors Rauch and Amato.
27Mounier, "Revolution communautaire" (1935)
28Mounier (1933-1934), ibid., pp. 227-229.
29Mounier, "Anticapitalisme" (1934), ibid., p. 2
his view democracy was "a future to realize and not an acquisition to
defend" and could in no way be based on 4 'confusion between real
democracy and liberal and parliamentary democracy/' He accused the
Christian Democrats of uncritical support of the current regime by their
belief that liberty was an end in itself, by their acceptance of economic
liberalism and by their purely negative antisocialism.30 His rejection of
the Third Republican brand of democracy was most apparent in these
harsh words against a republic built upon capitalism:
We cannot denounce enough the democratic lie inherent in the

capitalist system. Capitalist liberty has betrayed liberal democracy
by using its formulae and weapons in support of the oligarchy of
wealth , power and class. Now , capitalism in its final stage [has led]
to a statism controlled by large banking and industrial firms which
have seized clandestinely not only the reins of political power but
also the press , public opinion , culture and even the representatives
of the spiritual order. In this way they impose their elitist goals and
mold popular aspirations to suit those goals. At the same time they
deny to the masses the means to realize these dreams. Capitalist
democracy is a democracy which gives to man only those liberties it
snatches back.yx
This critique of capitalism was spelled out more definitely by

Mounier in 1936 when he published his "Manifesto in the Service of
Personalism." In this he held that "bourgeois humanism/' a child of the
Renaissance, was accountable for "the divorce between spirit and mat-
ter" and for "the reign of money." He reaffirmed his criticism of the
materialistic and statist characteristics of Marxism but added the caveat
that "the anti-Marxist coalition [is no more than] an organ of capitalistic
defense." He advocated "the primacy of social service above profit"
and contrasted this ethic with "the capitalist economy" which is or-
ganized without regard to the human person for "a quantitative, imper-
sonal and exclusive end: profit." Describing the Third Republic as an
aristocracy of rich and ambitious men given to the articulation of the false
value of the "absolute domination of the minority by the majority," he
emphasized his own rejection of the existing regime: "we will disting-
uish radically the differences between . . . personalist democracy and
liberal, parliamentary democracy."32 Mourner' s specific alternative to
30Mounier, "Lettre ouverte sur la democratic" (1934), ibid., pp. 294-296.

31 Ibid ., p. 296.
32Mounier, "Manifeste au service du personnalisme" (1936), ibid., pp. 491, 494, 497,
505, 513, 515, 516, 519, 619, 620-21.
the Third Republic was not as clear as his insi

be put in its place. He appealed for "a perso
"structures and spirit would be oriented tow
the personhood of each individual composing
the human person " - which was somehow d
individualism and mechanistic collectivism
principle. Personalist economics asserted th
above profit, and work was not a commodit
rather a personal activity which was more v
The renovated economy would be a plura
elements of liberalism and collectivism.33
That Mounier had grave objections to the Third Republic can
scarcely be doubted, and although he was not always clear about the
alternative he called "personalism," he did stress that this new civiliza-
tion would be a more humane and democratized society. His description
of the new order, sometimes vague, was decidedly gauchiste.
If Mounier' s views defy easy classification, the revolutionary nature
of the philosophy espoused by the Terre Nouvelle 34 group is much
plainer. A cursory glance at its manifesto (published on the inside cover
of every issue) leaves no doubt as to the review's rejection of the current
social and political order in the name of a socialist society:
Because we are Christians we rise up against the capitalist regime ,

enemy of the common good. Against the regime which permits the
bondage and exploitation of the workers by a privileged minority ,
against a regime of class struggle , we propose , with all our will , to
construct a fraternal society without classes (t where the free de-
velopment of each will be the condition of the free development of all
Against the regime which divorces work from property and concen-
trates economic and financial power in a few hands , we propose ,
with all our will , to reunite work and property in the same hands by
bringing about the collective appropriation of the means of produc-
ed., pp. 523-527, 536, 595, 597, 604.

34For descriptions of Terre Nouvelle, see Remond, Les Catholiques; Rauch, Politics and
Belief, pp. 170-72; Lewis, 4 'Emmanuel Mounier," pp. 279-81; Hellman, "French 'Left
Catholics'," pp. 508-13. Terre Nouvelle was not, strictly speaking, a Catholic effort,
though its chief editor, Maurice Laudrain, was a Catholic. One of its leading lights was
Andre Philip, a practising Protestant, as were several of its other contributors, Ecumeni-
city was one of the characteristics of the newly emerging Catholic left. In this respect the
Jeune-Republique and Esprit were no different.
tion and exchange , whose management will be entrusted to the

workers organized in their unions and cooperatives .35
Terre Nouvelle rejected bluntly and forthrightly a capitalist society for a

socialist one, but it never separated either its critique or vision from a
dramatic understanding of the Christian Gospel. Like the
Jeune-Republique and Emmanuel Mounier, this Christian Marxist re-
view integrated its understanding of religious faith with a revolutionary
vision, but unlike its leftist confreres it broke more abruptly with religi-
ous defense. Maurice Laudrain, the Catholic editor of Terre Nouvelle ,
asserted that 4 4 the true defender of religion is anyone who wishes to
deliver the Church, clergy and faithful, from the hold of the capitalist
regime. The true defender of religion can only be a revolutionary."36 In
fact, the 4 'Christian socialists" were 44for the separation of the Church
from the state," and their only concession to traditional religious defense
was their firm rejection of laicist sectarianism along with clericalism.37
Laudrain refused to be identified with 44those defenders of religion who
ait above all the defenders of capitalist privileges. " 38 Terre Nouvelle did
not equate Christianity and Marxism but instead integrated them into an
alliance portrayed by the flamboyant symbol emblazoned on its front
cover. 44The emblem we have chosen: the union of the CROSS of love
with the SICKLE and HAMMER, symbols of the industrial worker and
peasant, express very well the necessary alliance between CHRISTIAN-
ITY and the WORKERS for the realization of a society which responds
fully to the aspirations of the PROLETARIAT and seeks to move human-
ity one step closer to the KINGDOM OF GOD."39 It is the task of the
Christian Gospel to give breadth and depth to the Marxist revolution. In
answer to the question, 44Can a Christian be a Marxist?," Laudrain
responded, 4 4 Christianity does not contradict Marxism; it completes
it. "4° This intimate relationship between Marxism and Christianity was
given more substance by Laudrain in an interview. Speaking of the Terre
Nouvelle group, he said:
It wishes to fertilize the revolutionary masses by the heritage of the

Christian spirit, convinced that this spiritual leavening will fortify
35 4 4 Manifeste de Terre Nouvelle," Terre Nouvelle, May, 1935, p.l.

36Laudrain, "Pour le Regne du Christ - votons rouge," ibid., April, 1936, p. 5. This
quotation is italicized in the original.
37Paul Goyeneche, "Laicite," ibid., March, 1936, p. 6.
38Laudrain, "Pour le Regne,'* p. 5.
39 Laudrain, ' 'La Position doctrinale de Terre Nouvelle, Terre Nouvelle, October, 1936,
p. 12.
40Laudrain, "Un Chretien peut-il etre marxiste?," Terre Nouvelle, December 1937, p.9.
revolutionary aspirations toward greate

that it will prevent them from becomi
material gains. In the socialist cite
pleasure , necessarily opposed to the
compromising even the development of
CHRISTIANITY will give to militant
energy necessary to resist the temptati
their domination . 4 1
Indeed, asserted Laudrain, "we can concl

not only can a Christian be a Marxist;
Nouvelle' s alternative to the capitalistic
society moving toward the Kingdom of G
nary Christianity.
From the philosophy of the Jeune
Mourner' s Esprit and Terre Nouvelle the
left, genuine in the sense that it was not si
traditionally conservative French Catholi
formist in a progressive direction, and it s
in France similar alternatives to the T
Catholic groups, only these three brough
volutionary tradition, and unless the lef
laicist, this presents no problem of defin
these sectors of radical Catholicism fr
societal change in a revolutionary way.
The self-understanding of the Jeune-

Nouvelle and their commitment to a lefti
Republic was given more substance in the
ways in which they responded to particu
group which entered electoral struggl
41 Laudrain, "La Position doctrinale," p. 11.

42Laudrain, "Un Chretien," p. 9. The condemnation
summer of 1936 did not change its radicalism,
circulation and its ultimate collapse in 1939.
43 It could be argued that the Jeune Republique, Esp
rather than specifically Catholic. Certainly all three
evangelical Christians and even humanists to join
constituency and leading ideas of these groups were 4
definition of "Catholic in inspiration," see William
Modern France (Princeton, N.J.: University Pre
forced to formulate specific political programs. The reforms called for

were generally more radical than most of the Third Republic's leftist
parties save for those advocated by the Marxist parties. In many cases,
the league even endorsed transformist policies which had once been the
exclusive preserve of the Marxists. Beyond the advocacy of such pro-
worker reforms as accident and employment insurance, full employment
through public works projects, social security, pension reform, the hon-
oring of collective bargaining, respect of trade union rights and the
eight-hour day,44 the Jeune Republique committed itself to more radi-
cally egalitarian programs. It called for the extension of free education to
secondary students.45 Regressive tax structures were to be abolished and
replaced by a graduated income tax.46 In the realm of production, the
Jeune-Republique asserted the primacy of work over capital and sought
to give expression to this by advocating worker participation in factory
management; it called for a mixed economy in which the larger industries
would be nationalized or collectivized while smaller businesses and
personal property would remain in private hands.47 "Economic democ-
racy," defined as "the participation of all in the management of the
major industries and the predominance of work over capital , ' ' was one of
the planks of the Jeune-Republique' s 1932 electoral program.48 Even in
1924, its blueprint for a new society spoke of a mixed economy of
socialistic, state and private property.49 In his "Manifesto in the Service
of Personalism," Emmanuel Mounier echoed the Jeune-Republique 's
position on workers' control and a mixed economy. Work was given
precedence over capital, and steps toward the achievement of this end
included the extension of democracy into the factory and a planned and
free sector in the economic order.50 Only Terre Nouvelle called for "a
fraternal society without classes" in which the means of production and
exchange would be collectively appropriated and managed by the work-
ers in their varied organizations.51 Based upon this future goal, Andre
44Sangnier, 1 'Ce que nous voulons", * 'Programme d' action democratique et pacifiste pour
les elections de 1932," Jeune-Republique , March 25, 1932; "Les Equipes de la
Jeune-Republique ibid., June 16, 1936.
45 "Programme d' action . . . 1932."
46 4 4 Supplement," La Democratie, June 23, 1912: "Supplement-Programme du parti,"
Jeune-Republique , January 3, 1937.
47 Ibid., Jacques Maury, "Vers la Democratie economique - le controle ouvrier dans
Pusine," Jeune-Republique, March 2, 1923; "Programme d' action . . . 1932."
48 "Programme d' action . . . 1932."
49Sangnier, "Comment faire la paix?" Jeune-Republique, May 9, 1924.
50 Mounier, "Manifeste," pp. 597-99, 604-605.
51 "Manifeste de Terre Nouvelle," p. 1.
Philip advocated a broad program of n

banking, transportation, energy, mining
In the realm of foreign policy the Catho
international peace and disarmament marke
vative diplomacy of the Third Republ
Nouvelle which advocated the most ex
Capitalistic imperialism and the armame
basic causes of war. In the face of this,
achieved only via a socialist victory of th
and international allies. Disarmament was an end rather than a means to
peace, unless it meant the disarmament of ruling elites by the revolutio-
nary proletariat.53 European peace could be maintained by a strong
alliance between France and the Soviet Union, certainly not by 4 'a
capitalistic League of Nations" as long as the military machines re-
mained at the disposal of counterrevolutionary forces.54
Both Esprit and the Jeune-Republique were decidedly more cauti-
ous toward a Franco-Soviet alliance and more hopeful toward programs
of disarmament and the League of Nations. In this respect they approxi-
mated more closely the posture of French centrists, whether Christian
Democratic or Radical. Nonetheless, identifiable differences could be
noted. Emmanuel Mounier believed that bourgeois internationalism and
its institutions were part of the 4 'established disorder" and could not
insure a durable peace as long as "aggressive individualism" continued
to manifest itself through nationalistic and capitalistic imperialism. Dis-
armament would remain a chimera unless its progress were controlled
and unless it involved the progressive abolition of conscription.
Moreover, Mounier affirmed, "the problem of peace is not primarily a
diplomatic problem; it is primarily ... a moral problem, an economic
and social problem."55 Establishing genuine peace would necessitate an
end to economic nationalism and colonial imperialism and an equitable
redistribution of the world's wealth.56 The Jeune-Republique's approach
was somewhat different. More pacifist and internationalist, it was dedi-
cated to an international policy based on disarmament and the creation of
an international police force. It defended the League of Nations against
5 2 Andre Philip, "La Lutte contre la crise et la prise du pouvoir," Terre Nouvelle, July,
1935, p. 7.
53 "Manifestede7Vrre Nouvelle," pp. 1-2; Marcel Dupont, "La Farce du desarmement,"
ibid., November, 1935, p. 10.
S4Rene Vallet, "Le Pacte franco-sovietique et la 'symphonie bourgeoise'," ibid., June,
1935, p. 10; Francis Pichon, "La Guerre en Ethiopie, "/£/</., November, 1935, p. 11.
55 Mounier, "Manifeste," pp. 629, 630, 632.
™Ibid., pp. 632-33; Joseph Folliet, "La Colonisation, son avenir, sa liquidation," Esprit,
December, 1935, pp. 355-365.
the nationalists but insisted that it was only a shadow of true inter-
nationalism. Genuine peace and disarmament could be achieved only by
democratizing and strengthening the League and other international
institutions. Toward this end the Jeune-Republique sponsored interna-
tional democratic congresses and was prepared to see national armies
replaced by an international police force to control aggression.57 These
general perspectives, combined with continued suspicions of Soviet
intentions, prevented Mounier's Esprit and the Jeune-Republique from
enthusiastically accepting a Franco-Soviet alliance, on the grounds that
such an alliance was a conventional response to international disorder
rather than a step towards a new order. Only the threat of Nazi Germany
eventually inclined these Catholic leftists to support a pragmatic rap-
prochement between the Soviets and the French.58
Although Catholic leftists were divided on strategies for interna-
tional transformation, they did agree that imperialistic capitalism was the
cause of war threats and world disorder. They also shared the faith that
peace and disarmament could only be assured by democratizing the globe
and by international machinery. In this respect, they offered an alterna-
tive to the traditional and elitist diplomacy of the Third Republic, whether
represented by a Poincare and Barthou or by a Briand and Herriot.
Finally, their support of the Popular Front and willingness to work
with Communists for social reforms and the defense of republican liber-
ties showed the seriousness with which Catholic leftists held to their
revolutionary self-appraisals.59 This is not to suggest that these Catholics
57Sangnier, "Ce que nous voulons," and "Notre premier Congres democratique interna-
tional (4-11 Decembre 1 92 1 ) , " Jeune-Republique, November 13, 1921; Georges Hoog,
4 4 Avantle Congres international de Bierville - paixet democratic, "/£/*/., July 16, 1926;
Roger de Richemont, "La Jeune-Republique et l'armee," ibid., January 27, 1935.
58Georges Duveau, "De Bilbao a Prague," Esprit, July, 1937, p. 650; Emmanuel
Mounier, "Lendemainsd'unetrahison,''/&u/., October, 1938, pp. 1-15; Louis Masson,
"Face a la guerre qui vient: comment lui barrer la route?," Jeune-Republique, March 6,
1938; " Apres les Accords de Munich - pour la defense de la paix et de la democratic,"
ibid. , November 6, 1 938 , p. 1 . The Catholic leftists, like many Frenchmen of the interwar
period, contributed to the pacifistic defeatism which culminated in the national peace
hysteria surrounding Daladier's return from Munich in 1938. Nonetheless, the capitula-
tion at Munich shocked them. They denounced the betrayal of Czechoslovakia and sought
to find ways to resist Nazi Germany without violating their principles. See the above
references and Rene Depressis, "Apres Munich," Terre Nouvelle, November, 1938, p.
2.
59 For two well-researched studies of the Catholic left s openness or lack of it to French
Communism, see John Hellman, "French 'Left Catholics'," and Francis J. Murphy,
"Maurice Thorez and 'La Main Tendue': French Communist and Catholics,
1936-1939," Diss. (Catholic University of America, 1971). Useful material on the
subject may also be found in Rauch, Politics and Belief; Remond, Les Catholiques; and
Winock, Histoire politique.
did not harbor suspicions toward Commun

Emmanuel Mounier was the most cautious
what he believed was a bureaucratic statism in the Marxist-Leninist
tradition, and he called dialectical materialism "a metaphysical and
moral disorder/' Marxism was the offspring of perverted parentage,
namely capitalism, and had to be combatted in line with the principle that
"the spiritual commands the political and economic."60 The Esprit
group could never shake the feeling that the Communists were militants
giving uncritical obedience to the Soviet Union.61 The Jeune-Republique
shared these doubts. Although its leaders continued to speak of a re-
volutionary society, they insisted that it would be "neither fascism nor
communism' ' but "a true democracy."62 The league's chief criticism
was that the Communists were totalitarians rather than democrats, and
this judgment prevented their joining the Common Front coalition of
Socialists and Communists against fascism.63 This refusal of the Jeune
Republique in 1934 was parallelled by Sept and the more traditional
Christian Democrats with respect to the Popular Front electoral coalition
of 1936. 64
Where they diverged from the reformist Catholics was in their
willingness to work with the Communists inside the Popular Front, which
they deemed to be more than a coalition designed to protect the Third
Republic.65 It was true that Catholic leftists joined the Front in the name
of "republican defense." However, for the Jeune-Republique this meant
not only defending "the Republic, its institutions and its essential liber-
ties" against fascism; it also implied both "a broad union of leftists" and
the replacement of * 'Democracy of form and word with the Democracy of
Word and Action."66 The Jeune Republique continued to see itself as
60 Mounier, Oeuvres, pp. 142, 146, 217, 225, 231, 513.

61 Winock, Histoire politique, pp. 97-98; Andre Ulmann, "La Cite - Front Populaire,"
Esprit, September, 1935, p. 823.
62Hoog, "Ni Fascisme, ni communisme! la vraie democatie."
63Fabien France, "La Democratic en peril - 'Le Front commun'," ibid., February 24,
1935; Georges Hoog, "Le 'Front populaire' etle 'Comitedu plan'," /£«/., July 7, 1935.
64See the articles by Simon, Bidault, and the editorial from Sept cited in note 7 (C). Also:
Gaston Tessier, "Une forte Poussee a I'extreme gauche surtout communiste," L'Aube,
April 27, 1936; Luigi Sturzo, "La Poussee communiste et les electeurs catholiques en
France," ibid., May 16, 1936; and "La Lutte contre le communisme," ibid., October
29, 1936; Georges Bidault, private interviews, Paris, 1973 and 1977.
65 For example, Sept expressed a willingness to work with Communists and the Popular
Front but only in a legal or reformist sense. See Marc Sherer, "Jeunesses communistes et
jeunes catholiques - non possumus,"Sep/, May 1, 1936; "Un Avertissement," Editor-
ial,/^., January 31, 1936; "La France continue," Editorial, ibi d., May 15, 1936; "M.
Leon Blum nous declare . . .," Editorial, ibid., February 19, 1937.
66 "Aux Ligueurs de la Jeune-Republique , Jeune-Republique, February 1 1 , 1934; Hoog,
"Le'Front populaire' et le 'Comite du plan'."
revolutionary, and it was on this basis that an alliance with Communism

was justified. 4 The Communist Party is Marxist and revolutionary. Our
movement is revolutionary, non-Marxist and democratic," was the
league's judgment, and although Marxist materialism was to be regret-
ted, an alliance with Communists for the negative struggle against
capitalism and militarism was very much in order. The revolution in-
volved the twofold task of destroying capitalism and building the new
society. All leftist revolutionaries could join in the first, but only those
revolutionaries with a spiritual dimension could construct the new order.
This is why the Jeune-Republique could conclude: "We are different
from the Communists , but we are not their enemies . ' ' 1 67 Esprit ' s position
was more cautious and ambiguous. It maintained a critical sympathy
toward the Popular Front because it deemed such a coalition necessary
because of the threat of "domestic fascism" and "the financial oligar-
chies." But beyond this defensive posture and Esprit1 s suspicions of the
Communists was the conviction that both the Communists and Popular
Front represented that peguyiste- type mystique which contained the
seeds of the new order.68
Of the three Catholic leftist groups, only Terre Nouvelle advocated
a total alliance with the Communists and the Popular Front. This was
certainly in line with the review's commitment to Marxist socialism. The
chief critique voiced against the Communist offer to collaborate with all
who were willing to defend the Republic was the judgment that Terre
Nouvelle' s alliance with both the Communists and the Rassemblement
Populaire went beyond the goal of republican defense and included the
desire to build the Socialist city.69 Confidence in the Popular Front was
based upon the conviction that the presence of Socialists and Communists
would make it the foundation of a revolution to follow.70 This was why
Maurice Laudrain called upon Catholics in the 1936 elections "to vote
for those who are committed firmly to the destruction of the capitalist
regime and the construction of socialism."71 Should a victory fail to
materialize by these methods, it might become necessary to resort to
"revolutionary violence, the only means capable of destroying a violent
regime."72
67 Philippe Wolff, 4 4 La Jeune-Republique et le communisme,"£.s/?nf, October, 1934, pp.

165 ff.
68 Jacques Madaule, "La Mort du Rassemblement populaire," Esprit, February, 1938, pp.
781-82; Rauch, Politics and Belief , pp. 172-74, 181-85; Winock .Histoire politique, pp.
121, 123; Hellman, "Opening to the Left," p. 387.
69Laudrain, "Catholicisme et communisme," Terre Nouvelle, June, 1937, p. 7.
70 Jacques Mourlot, "Le Programme du Front Populaire," ibid., February, 1936, p. 4.
71 Laudrain, "Pour le Regne," p. 5.
72 Henri Tricot, "Le Probleme de la violence revolutionnaire," Terre Nouvelle, January,
1936, p. 7.
Whether in principle or in program, the

alternatives to their society which would
Republic along radically democratic and soc
other contemporary Catholics, who desired
the past or a Third Republic denuded of t
Jeune-Republique and Terre Nouvelle broke
sive character of French Catholicism. Thei
integrated with leftist aspirations which prod
republic's history, a Catholicism which dem
tives to the current regime. That few even h
years of the Third Republic should not be
unimportance. In fact, even in their own tim
of French Catholic conservatives ranged aga
size. They were being heard within the chur
was negative and hostile.73
War, resistance, and postwar reconstruct
to the Catholic leftists. Mounier's equipe ,
Andre Philip of Terre Nouvelle were all ac
ment against both the occupying Germans
sion of progressive Catholicism in France
World War owes a debt of gratitude to the
leftists who raised a minority voice for rad
Whether directly or indirectly, they laid the
as the Mouvement Republicain Populaire, t
ment and Catholic-Marxist dialogue.74 The
directly influenced the Catholic leftists of Q
73Remond, Les Catholiques, pp. 82, 273-74; Sangn

Jeune-Republique , October 20, 1922. For some e
opposition to the Catholic leftists, see "Contre 1'
faucille avec la croix," France Catholique, May 18,
de ties dangereuses illusions," La Croix, June 18, 1
des cardinaux et arche veques de France, " Semaine re
934; cited in Documentation Catholique, Novem
"Catholicisme et communisme," Esprit , April 1, 1
74For detailed examinations of these influences, see R
in France (London: Allen Unwin, 1973); Mario Einau
Democracy in Italy and France (Notre Dame, Ind.; U
Catholicism and Crisis ; A. Coutrot and F. Dreyf
societe frangaise (Paris: Colin, 1965); Emile Poula
(Paris: Casterman, 1965); John Petrie, ed. & tran
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1956); John Hellman, "V
Baum, "The French Bishops and Euro-Communism
February, 1978), 17-25.
to the Latin American theology of liberation;75 and have affected directly

the ecclesiastical life of four of the last five popes. Small though they
were, these tiny teams of Catholic leftists sowed the seed of their vision
so successfully that their offspring have given birth to a Catholicism
competent and able to face the demands of a pluralistic world. This is
due, in no small measure, to those leftist Catholic pioneers in France,
who, in the interwar years, offered their alternatives to the Third Repub-
lic.
D
p
d
M
A
p
g
ca
en
au
an
d
Bien que ces trois expressions du catholicisme de
rentre-deux-guerres ne soient pas toujours en parfait accord, leurs
critiques de l'ordre etabli et leurs vues du futur les isolaient des autres
groupes catholiques frangais de l'epoque.
L' article se termine par une breve description de 1' impact de ce
petit groupe sur l'eglise catholique de Tapres-guerre, en France et
ailleurs.
75 J.-M. Domenach of Esprit , private interview, Paris, June, 1977.

Alternatives To The Third Republic Among Catholic Leftists in The 1930's - Oscar Arnal

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Alternatives To The Third Republic Among Catholic Leftists in The 1930's - Oscar Arnal

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Traditional French Catholicism advocated well-known alternatives to the

Catholics to defend the Church's rights thr

economic matters. These ralliement groups took the form of political

diverse positions taken by the Jeune-Rep

Heir of the condemned Sillon, the Jeune-Re

1936; Georges Bidault, "L'Ordre republicain," L'Aub

The Republic cannot be simply a cry of protest against decayed

,0Georges Hoog, "Ni Fascisme, ni communisme! la vraie democratic,"

ble. Unlike the other Christian Democrats, th

15Sangnier, "Le Devoir present des ligueurs de la 'Jeune-Republique'," La Democratic,

lished by force but rather by enlightenm

25 Emmanuel Mounier, "Revolution personnaliste

We cannot denounce enough the democratic lie inherent in the

This critique of capitalism was spelled out more definitely by

30Mounier, "Lettre ouverte sur la democratic" (1934), ibid., pp. 294-296.

the Third Republic was not as clear as his insi

Because we are Christians we rise up against the capitalist regime ,

ed., pp. 523-527, 536, 595, 597, 604.

tion and exchange , whose management will be entrusted to the

Terre Nouvelle rejected bluntly and forthrightly a capitalist society for a

It wishes to fertilize the revolutionary masses by the heritage of the

35 4 4 Manifeste de Terre Nouvelle," Terre Nouvelle, May, 1935, p.l.

revolutionary aspirations toward greate

Indeed, asserted Laudrain, "we can concl

The self-understanding of the Jeune-

41 Laudrain, "La Position doctrinale," p. 11.

forced to formulate specific political programs. The reforms called for

Philip advocated a broad program of n

did not harbor suspicions toward Commun

60 Mounier, Oeuvres, pp. 142, 146, 217, 225, 231, 513.

revolutionary, and it was on this basis that an alliance with Communism

67 Philippe Wolff, 4 4 La Jeune-Republique et le communisme,"£.s/?nf, October, 1934, pp.

Whether in principle or in program, the

73Remond, Les Catholiques, pp. 82, 273-74; Sangn

to the Latin American theology of liberation;75 and have affected directly

75 J.-M. Domenach of Esprit , private interview, Paris, June, 1977.

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