A New Order for France and Europe? Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alfred Fabre-Luce between Liberalism, Fascism and Europeanism (1930-1954) Floris Daniël Knegt Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, 13 November 2015 European University Institute Department of History and Civilization A New Order for France and Europe? Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alfred Fabre-Luce between Liberalism, Fascism and Europeanism (1930-1954) Floris Daniël Knegt Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board Prof. Dr. Dirk Moses (EUI/ Supervisor) Prof. Dr. Laura Lee Downs (EUI/Second Reader) Prof. Dr. Peter Romijn (University of Amsterdam) Prof. Dr. Kevin Passmore (Cardiff University) © Floris Daniël Knegt, 2015 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Thesis abstract Thanks to the success of recent attempts to study fascism within an international or transnational framework, scholarship on the subject has broken free from its traditional national orientation. By now, the European or even global interconnectedness of the revolutionary right has clearly come to light. This is not necessarily true for the links between fascism and internationalist and Europeanist intellectual currents in interwar and post-war Europe. My thesis explores the political thought of Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alfred Fabre- Luce, two French intellectuals, journalists and political writers who belonged to this Europeanist avant-garde. I argue that their Europeanist ideas and international contacts played a major role in their ‘drift’ towards fascism during the 1930s, while they were seduced by a fascist vision of a united Europe during the Second World War. Paradoxically, these ideas also enabled them to gradually reintegrate with the political mainstream during the early post- war years. Jouvenel’s post-war career as a leading neoliberal intellectual and founding member of the Mont Pèlerin society should, just like Fabre-Luce’s continued involvement with the French extreme right, be seen within the light of continuity in their ideas about Europe, fascism and democracy, stretching from the turning of the 1930s well into the 1950s. iii iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements . vii List of Abbreviations . ix Chapter 1: Both Right and Left: Historiography of Fascism in France . 1 Intellectual Fascism? . 1 Between Immunity and Pan-Fascism . 5 New Perspectives . 15 Europeanism, Fascism and Neoliberalism . 24 Chapter 2: ‘En Faisant l’Europe’: Internationalism and the Fascist Drift . 33 ‘La Nouvelle Génération Européenne’: Generation Politics in 1920s France 33 Reconciliation with Germany at all Costs? . 40 Metaphysical Europeanism . 48 Chapter 3: Planning, Fascism and the State: 1930-1939 . 55 From Liberalism to ‘l’Économie Dirigée’. 55 A National and Social Revolution . 60 Party Intellectuals at the Service of Fascism . 69 Chapter 4: Facing a Fascist Europe: 1939-1943 . 77 Defeat and Readjustment . 77 Tracing the Origins of Defeat . 86 ‘On the Threshold of a New World’ . 99 New Rulers, Old Acquaintances . 107 Collaboration and ‘Attentisme’ . 117 Chapter 5: A European Revolution? Liberation and the Post-war Extreme Right . 135 Liberation and Persecution . 135 Exile and Exclusion . 149 ‘Beyond Nazism’: Monarchism and the Heritage of Fascism . 157 v Reinventing the Extreme Right . 167 Europeanism, Federalism and the Reconfiguration of the Extreme Right . 181 Chapter 6: Europeanism, Neoliberalism and the Cold War . 193 On Private Life and Facial Hair . 193 On Power: Pessimism, Aristocracy and the Distrust of Democracy . 197 A Mountain in Switzerland: Neoliberalism and the Mont Pèlerin Society . 206 ‘This General Feeling of Open Conspiracy’ . 217 Conclusion: From the Sohlberg to Mont Pèlerin . 227 Bibliography . 235 vi Acknowledgements Writing this thesis has been a bumpy road full of interesting sights, indecipherable signposts and – as the Dutch expression goes – bears. Standing at the end of it, and experiencing the feelings of relief and accomplishment I have often longed for in the past five years, I am indebted to all who have helped me on my way. First of all, I want to thank my supervisor, Dirk Moses, for his very valuable help (and unmatched email-answering speed) during the full duration of my PhD. His indefatigable feedback has also made it possible for me to critically improve my written English. My second reader Laura Lee Downs has also been crucial for the success of this thesis. From the moment she became involved with my project, many hitherto confusing signposts have become legible, and several of the roaming bears have turned out to be quite friendly and domesticable. I also express my gratitude to the other members of the jury, Professors Peter Romijn and Kevin Passmore, who have provided me with valuable feedback, and to Heinz-Gerhardt Haupt, Kiran Klaus Patel, Anthony La Vopa and everybody working at the EUI history department, in whose midst it has been a true pleasure to pursue my research. Talking about Florence: my EUI years would never have been so pleasurable without the company of my Florentine friends, with whom I have shared so many unforgettable moments. Besides being a ‘community of scholars’, the EUI is also a great place because it is an endlessly inspiring and energising melting pot on all kinds of less scholarly levels. With Jonas, Gabriele and Karena, I have thrown myself down snowy mountain slopes, discovered unknown islands and cycled through the impressive landscapes of the Mugello and the Chianti. With Robrecht, I shared so many drinks, hikes, crappy football games, serious thoughts and laughs that I can’t wait for the next Benelux meeting with him, Griet and of course little Kasper. I have also experienced countless memorable moments with Matti, Vera, Alan, Sani, Kaarlo, Pol, Bart, Roel, Tommaso, Brian, Carolina and so many others, and I hope that official and unofficial occasions will keep bringing us together. Archival research brought me to Paris for several short and less short stays. I wish to thank Anne de Jouvenel and the descendants of the Fabre-Luce family for generously giving me access to their relative’s private archives, kept at the Archives Nationales and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. At this latter institution, I am grateful to conservator Michèle Le Pavec for preparing the manuscripts I wished to consult, and for her friendly and important guidance through the vast Jouvenel archive. I would also like to thank Anne de vii Simonin and Pascal Raimbault, who have been very helpful in directing me towards Fabre- Luce’s Épuration dossier. I even thank the librarians of the BNF’s François Mitterand site, whose relentless surveillance and draconian threats, to keep me from taking the photographs I desperately needed, have given me a valuable impression of what fascism may look like in practice. I am happy to say their efforts have been in vain. I am grateful to the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach for hosting me, for several ice cold February days, in a studio right next to their beautiful archive, where I consulted the Ernst Jünger papers. During the past few years, my good old University of Amsterdam has provided me with an academic asylum of the best kind. I am very grateful to James Kennedy and Jouke Turpijn for giving me the occasion to further develop myself, as a visiting scholar and subsequently a lecturer. My UvA office-mates, colleagues and friends, Tim, Frans, Alberto, Valentina, Guido, Eleá, Jan, Lisa, Rosanne, Robin, Lotte and Merel, have made my working environment a fantastic place where I liked to spend time, albeit occasionally slightly too much. The editors of Historisch Café deserve a special mention here, as do all the students of the Grand Tour historical study trip, with whom I spent two unforgettable weeks in Georgia and Armenia. I look forward to more adventures next year. Although it would be impossible to mention them all, I want to thank all my Amsterdam friends, Tim, Micha, Tim, Matthijs, Harmen, Tim, Onno, Willemijn, Thomas, Bo, Ambi, Lea, Maria, Sterre and so many others, for supporting me, distracting me and most importantly for just being there. For general inspiration, I wish to thank Wamberto. The German, Italian, Austrian and Swiss national railways have carried me, the seldom-flying Dutchman, across Europe on so many occasions that they also deserve my gratitude. They gave me breathtaking views of the Alps and ample time to think, read and listen to music, while feeling weirdly happy. I senk ju för träweling. Lastly, I want to thank my parents, Jette and Robert, for everything that I do in life. And I thank my brother Bram and Anne-Rose for being such great people. I can’t wait to meet my little nephew, less than two months from now… And finally of course Julia, meine liebe Jule, with whom I share my life and who has given me Simon, our son born on 1 April 2014. This thesis is dedicated to him. Daniel Knegt Amsterdam, 29 October 2015 viii List of Abbreviations AFL Alfred Fabre-Luce AN Archives Nationales ARPTR Association des Représentants du Peuple de la Troisième République BdJ Bertrand de Jouvenel BNF Bibliothèque Nationale de France CdF Croix-de-Feu CFA Comité France-Allemagne CIRL Centre International d’Études pour la Rénovation du Libéralisme CNE Comité National d’Écrivains CNIP Centre National des Indépendants