Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

The French Invasion of England

Discussion in 'Alternate History' started by Vladd, Aug 27, 2010.

  1. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2006
    Messages:
    24,984
    Likes Received:
    2,386
    In fact France was damn close from getting a fascist regime in 1934.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_February_1934_crisis


    On the night of 6 February, the leagues, which had gathered in different places in Paris, all converged on Place de la Concorde, located in front of the National Assembly, but on the other side of the Seine river. The police and guards managed to defend the strategic bridge of the Concorde, despite being the target of all sorts of projectiles. Several rioters were armed, and the police forces fired on the crowd. Disturbances lasted until 2:30 AM. 16 people were killed and 2,000 injured, most of them members of the Action Française.
    The far-right leagues had the most important role in the riots. Most of the Union nationale des combattants (UNC) veterans avoided the Place de la Concorde, creating some incidents near the Elysée palace, the president's residence. A few isolated members of the communist ARAC were also present; one public notice afterward proclaimed: "The Cartel [Cartel des gauches, the radical-socialist government] had the unarmed veterans who shouted "A bas les voleurs! Vive la France!" ("Down with the robbers, long live France!") killed."
    While on the right side of the Seine (north, on the Place de la Concorde), the policemen's charges contained the rioters with difficulty, the Croix-de-feu had chosen to demonstrate in the south. The Palais Bourbon, seat of the National Assembly, is much more difficult to defend on this side, but the Croix-de-feu limited themselves to surrounding the building without any major incident before dispersing. Because of this attitude, they earned the pejorative nickname of Froides Queues in the far-right press. Contrary to the other leagues which were intent on overthrowing the Republic, it thus seemed that Colonel de la Rocque finally decided to respect the constitutional legality.
    In the National Assembly, the right wing attempted to take advantage of the riots to push the Cartel des gauches government to resign. The left wing, however, rallied around president of the Council Édouard Daladier. The session was ended after blows were exchanged between left and right-wing deputies.
     
  2. green slime

    green slime Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2010
    Messages:
    3,150
    Likes Received:
    584
    "Despite the fears of the left wing, the 6 February crisis was not a fascist conspiracy. The far-right leagues were not united enough and most of them lacked any specific objectives. However, their violent methods, their paramilitary appearances, their cult of leadership, etc., explained why they have often been associated with fascism. Beyond these appearances, however, and their will to see the parliamentary regime replaced by an authoritarian regime, historians René Rémond and Serge Bernstein do not consider that they had a real fascist project."

    Sounds as well organised as a Beer Hall coup.
     
  3. green slime

    green slime Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2010
    Messages:
    3,150
    Likes Received:
    584
    The experience with Hyperinflation, the stab-in-the-back myth (Germany didn't lose by force of arms it was Jews/Communists/Alien Boogeymen), the willingness of big industry to support right wing extremism, the lack of support for the Weimar Republic by the remnants of the military, and the bias of the Judiciary all supported the growth of extremism, and undermined the middle class economically, and its respect for law and order as provided by the republic.

    While similar conditions existed in other European countries, they were nowhere as pronounced as in the Weimar Republic: a new system of government, war reparation payments, fears of communism, racist myths...
     
  4. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2006
    Messages:
    24,984
    Likes Received:
    2,386
    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    They were quite well organised and they were fascists and they were a thread for democracy. They marched liked Fascists, they used the skulls and the Iron Cross as a symbol, they had the ideology and the violence and they were well organised enought to stir up a riot that caused 16 death in a night.... Not exactly a bunch of beer drinkers. Their uniforms and symbols are inspired by paramilitaria. One of the first things the Front Popular did in 1936 was to disolve their party.

    This caused many of former Croix de Feux members to side with the Germans , not because they liked the Germans , but because they could get back at the Socialist that made their party illegal in 1936.

    It's an interesting aspect of the thirties, without this animosity between the left and the right , Vichy would have a much harder way to find recruits
     
  5. green slime

    green slime Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2010
    Messages:
    3,150
    Likes Received:
    584
    Right wing extremists existed in all the western democracies in the 30's, even in the USA.

    My reference to a Beer Hall coup was an allusion to the failed so-called Beer Hall Putsch in Munich of 1923. A fair number of people also died that night. By contrast, in Germany, the Nazis received remarkably light sentences, especially when compared to Communists acting against Weimar in the same period.
     

Share This Page