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44-600: Founded on December 16, 1911, by national syndicalist disciples of Georges Sorel , Georges Valois and Édouard Berth , the group was described as "founded by nationalists, and initially addressed only to them". The organisation began as informal meetings consisting of about twenty people on average, mainly monarchists and syndicalists who were associated with the right-wing monarchist group Action Française . The main speakers at these meetings were Valois, Berth, monarchist militant Henri Lagrange and nationalist philosopher Gilbert Mayor . French historian Géraud Poumarède describes

88-581: A trade union wing, called the Association of National-Syndicalist Workers. The New Freewoman The New Freewoman was a monthly London literary magazine edited by Dora Marsden and owned by Harriet Shaw Weaver . Initially, Rebecca West was in charge of the literary content of the magazine, but after meeting Ezra Pound at one of Violet Hunt 's parties in 1913 she recommended that he be appointed literary editor. The magazine existed between June 1913 and December 1913. This article about

132-508: A bulwark for Nazi collaboration in Vichy. In place of the bourgeois ideology and as an alternative to democratic socialism, the Cercle Proudhon propounded a new ethic suited to the alliance of nationalism and syndicalism, those "two synthesizing and convergent movements, one at the extreme right and the other at the extreme left, that have begun the siege and assault on democracy." Their solution

176-501: A copy of the new edition to Sorel. Sorel read the book, and in April 1909 wrote a praising letter to Maurras. Three months later, on 10 July, Sorel published in Il Divenire sociale (the leading journal of Italian revolutionary syndicalism) an essay admiring Maurras and Action Française . Sorel based his support on his anti-democratic thought. For example, he claimed that Action Française was

220-635: A disciplined socialism. In November 1918, Mussolini defined national syndicalism as a doctrine that would unite economic classes into a program of national development and growth. National syndicalism in the Iberian Peninsula is a political theory very similar to the Fascist idea of corporatism , inspired by Integralism and the Action Française . It was formulated in Spain by Ramiro Ledesma Ramos in

264-489: A flyer entitled Déclaration de la Cité francaise signed by Sorel, Valois, Berth, Jean Variot, and Pierre Gilbert . However Variot quarrelled with Valois and went on to publish material with Sorel's support in L'Indépendence . A controversial but influential book by Zeev Sternhell , Neither Right nor Left: Fascist Ideology in France , points to the Cercle Proudhon as a pre-existing laboratory for fascist ideas that would provide

308-595: A further less voluntary merger with traditionalist Carlism , to create a single less radical party on the Nationalist side of the Spanish Civil War . During the war, Falangists fought against the Second Spanish Republic , which initially had the armed support of CNT. National syndicalism was one of the ideological bases of Francoist Spain , especially in the early years. Franco’s brother who died fighting for

352-445: A manifesto published in his periodical La Conquista del Estado on 14 March 1931. National syndicalism under Franco aimed to provide a suitable replacement for capitalist mode of production with worker managed cooperatives, a system in which workers and employers elect representatives to form syndicates/corporations which manage worker and employer relationships and instantiating and promulgate worker ownership. National syndicalism

396-413: A motive force that pushes the group's energy forward and gives it the "strength for martyrdom" for the action. The myth is "identical with the convictions of a group, being the expression of these convictions in the language of movement". Sorel argued that, upon engaging in the direct action for the liberatory purposes, the agent of the action has no experience of this liberation before action, therefore it

440-483: Is a far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism . National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy , Spain , and Portugal . French national syndicalism was an adaptation of Georges Sorel 's version of revolutionary syndicalism to the monarchist ideology of integral nationalism, as practised by Action Française . Action Française

484-449: Is a French nationalist-monarchist movement that was led by Charles Maurras at that time. In 1900, Charles Maurras declared in Action Française' s newspaper that anti-democratic socialism is the "pure" and correct form of socialism. From then on, he and other members of Action Française (like Jacques Bainville , Jean Rivain , and Georges Valois ) interested in Sorel's thought discussed

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528-550: Is an epistemological obscurity for it since it is the "event from the future". For this purpose, the direct action can be only driven by "myth", "a memory from the future". Therefore, the myth is a "representation of the unrepresentable" and allows intelligibility with the future liberation, and thus direction action must be based on myth. The action itself brings the "framing of the future, in some indeterminate time". Sorel saw decentralized trade unions and their means of struggle, general strikes, as expressing direct action. For Sorel,

572-399: Is sometimes described as the father of revolutionary syndicalism. He supported militant trade unionism to combat the corrupting influences of parliamentary parties and politics, even if the legislators were distinctly socialist. As a French Marxist who supported Lenin, Bolshevism and Mussolini concurrently in the early 1920s, Sorel promoted the cause of the proletariat in class struggle, and

616-469: The " plutocratic " nations of France and the United Kingdom. Corradini's views were part of a wider set of perceptions within the right-wing Italian Nationalist Association (ANI) that claimed that Italy's economic backwardness was caused by corruption within its political class, liberalism, and division caused by "ignoble socialism". The ANI held ties and influence amongst conservatives , Catholics, and

660-775: The "catastrophic polarization" that would arise through social myth-making of general strikes. The intention of syndicalism was to organize strikes to abolish capitalism; not to supplant it with State socialism, but rather to build a society of worker-class producers. This Sorel regarded as "truly true" Marxism. Georges Sorel developed his thought based on Henri Bergson 's irrationalist philosophy and his conception of "social myths". According to him, parties, parliamentary democracy and state are all abstractions that rest on centralism. He argued that these abstractions are "enslaving" humanity, while only direct action and individualism are close to "immediacy of life". He considered every direct action to be based on "mythical image", which serves as

704-458: The "myth of general strike" served as a "true impulse of an intensive life". Sorel thought that only proletariat possessed the militant energy needed for direct, revolutionary action to revitalize the degenerate and sick soul of Europe. The self-realization of proletariat with liberatory action is accompanied by the conflict, and therefore, violence, because it juxtapositions old order with the new – social refoundation involves destruction of old and

748-417: The "national enemy" as inprising mythical image, as well as syndicalist myth of fight against the bourgeois order and the class enemy. In 1909, the integral nationalists Action Française began to work with Sorel. The connection was formed after Sorel read the second edition of Maurras' book, Enquête sur la monarchie . Maurras favorably mentioned Sorel and revolutionary syndicalism in the book, and even sent

792-597: The Cahiers." The Circle published a bulletin entitled Cahiers du Cercle Proudhon , and operated a bookstore owned by Valois named the La Nouvelle Librairie which is still open to this day. The first issue of Cahiers du cercle Proudhon appeared in January – February 1912 and included a Déclaration : The founders – republicans, federalists, integral nationalists , and syndicalists – having resolved

836-514: The Circle Proudhon are all nationalists. The boss they chose for their assembly made them meet other French, who are not nationalists, who are not royalists, and who join them to participate in the life of the Circle and the writing of Cahiers. The initial group includes men of different origins, different conditions, who have no political aspirations in common, and who will freely expose their views in

880-407: The Circle's ambition as to "convert trade unionists to the monarchy". Despite the group's close association to Sorel he was initially hostile to the group stating that he feared the Circle would make "young people less able to understand Proudhon". Charles Maurras was also wary of the group describing them in his book, L’Action française et la religion catholique (1913): "The French who met to found

924-477: The Fascist cause, but most syndicalist leaders eventually embraced nationalism and "were among the founders of the Fascist movement," where "many even held key posts" in Mussolini's regime. Benito Mussolini declared in 1909 that he had converted over to revolutionary syndicalism by 1904 during a general strike. Enrico Corradini promoted a form of national syndicalism that utilized Maurassian nationalism alongside

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968-603: The General Confederation of Fascist Syndical Corporations in December 1922, other Italian national syndicalists were adopting the "Fascist syndicalism" phrase in their aim at "building and reorganizing political structures… through a synthesis of State and labor". An early leader in Italian trade unionism, Rossoni and other fascist syndicalists not only took the position of radical nationalism, but favored "class struggle". Seen at

1012-430: The Italian nationalist cause with the syndicalist cause and had entered into contact with Italian nationalist figures such as Enrico Corradini . These Italian national syndicalists held a common set of principles: the rejection of bourgeois values, democracy , liberalism , Marxism , internationalism , and pacifism while promoting heroism , vitalism , and violence. Not all Italian revolutionary syndicalists joined

1056-408: The business community. A number of Italian fascist leaders began to relabel national syndicalism as Fascist syndicalism . Mussolini was one of the first to disseminate this term, explaining that "Fascist syndicalism is national and productivistic… in a national society in which labor becomes a joy, an object of pride and a title to nobility." By the time Edmondo Rossoni became secretary-general of

1100-433: The creation of new. The general strike expresses direct action for Sorel, because, it possess this structural, epoch-making character – it gives its agents focus and direction for radical transformation, it totally destroys the structural and institutional status quo. The form of general strike is actually non-violent, but the transformation it brings entails the "phenomenal violence" of "life against life". According to Sorel,

1144-430: The general strike would be very general and extending to whole country, therefore paralyzing system by making the repression impossible. The general strike would lead to "a release of the individualistic forces within the rebelling mass". But later on, along with class struggle, Sorel elaborated on nationalism or "national myth" as another "myth" inspiring direct action. He saw the myth of "great nation to be created" and

1188-435: The greatest human guarantees for production and culture, if one wishes to preserve and increase the moral, intellectual and material capital of civilisation, it is absolutely necessary to destroy all democratic institutions. Berth and Valois had been brought together by Georges Sorel when he was planning a Nationalist and socialist -leaning journal La Cité française in 1910. This journal never appeared, except as heralded in

1232-489: The ground because of Georges Valois's animosity toward Jean Variot. After the failure of La cité française , Sorel decided to found his own journal. Sorel's biweekly review, called L'Indépendance , was published from March 1911 to July 1913. Its themes were the same as the journal of Action Française , such as nationalism , antisemitism , and a desire to defend the French culture and heritage of ancient Greece and Rome. During

1276-429: The group was to provide "a common platform for nationalists and leftist anti-democrats". The new political group, called Cercle Proudhon , was founded on 16 December 1911. It included Berth, Valois, Lagrange, the syndicalist Albert Vincent and the royalists Gilbert Maire , René de Marans, André Pascalon, and Marius Riquier. As the name Cercle Proudhon suggests, the group was inspired by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon . It

1320-507: The nationalist cause was also a syndicalist rebel leader in the Andalusian syndicalist revolt. Franco introduced in 1940 a radical syndicalist law that gave extensive rights to workers in the syndicates. In later years the rights of the syndicates became more constrained, but there are still examples of successful worker cooperatives such as the Mondragon worker cooperative that could develop under

1364-549: The only force capable to fight against democracy. Action Française reprinted the essay in its newspaper on 22 August, titled "Anti-parliamentary Socialists". In 1910, Sorel and Valois decided to create a journal called La cité française . A prospectus for the new journal was published in July 1910, signed by both revolutionary syndicalists (Georges Sorel and Édouard Berth ) and Action Française members (Jean Variot, Pierre Gilbert and Georges Valois). La cité française never got off

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1408-444: The outbreak of World War I , Sergio Panunzio noted the national solidarity within France and Germany that suddenly arose in response to the war and claimed that should Italy enter the war, the Italian nation would become united and would emerge from the war as a new nation in a " Fascio nazionale " (national union) that would be led by an aristocracy of warrior-producers that would unite Italians of all classes, factions, and regions into

1452-507: The philosopher of democracy, Rousseau . Now, nobody ever pounded Rousseau as effectively as Proudhon did, and in that fact the Cercle Proudhon finds its excuse. But it is not to be inferred that, because Proudhon destroyed Rousseau's theory of the social contract , he did not believe in the advisability of a social contract, or would uphold a monarchy in exacting an oath of allegiance. Partial bibliography of Cahiers du Cercle Proudhon National syndicalist National syndicalism

1496-531: The political problem or dismissed it from their minds, are all enthusiastically in favour of an organisation of French society in accordance with principles taken from the French tradition which they find in Proudhon 's works and in the contemporary syndicalist movement, and they are all completely in agreement on the following points: Democracy is the greatest error of the past century. If one wishes to live, if one wishes to work, if one wishes in social life to possess

1540-399: The preparations for launching La Cité française , Sorel encouraged Berth and Valois to work together. In March 1911, Henri Lagrange (a member of Action Française ) suggested to Valois that they found an economic and social study group for nationalists. Valois persuaded Lagrange to open the group to non-nationalists who were anti-democratic and syndicalists. Valois wrote later that the aim of

1584-400: The similarity between the movements in Action Française' s conferences and in essays published in the movement's newspaper, hoping to form a collaboration with revolutionary syndicalists. Such collaboration was formed in 1908 with a group of labor unions' leaders led by Émile Janvion . As a result of this collaboration, Janvion founded the anti-republican journal Terre libre . Georges Sorel

1628-409: The syndicalism of Georges Sorel . Corradini spoke of the need for a national syndicalist movement that would be able to solve Italy's problems, led by elitist aristocrats and anti-democrats who shared a revolutionary syndicalist commitment to direct action through a willingness to fight. Corradini spoke of Italy as being a " proletarian nation " that needed to pursue imperialism in order to challenge

1672-466: The time as "radical or leftist elements," Rossoni and his syndicalist cadre had "served to some extent to protect the immediate economic interests of the workers and to preserve their class consciousness". Rossoni was dismissed from his post in 1928, which could have been due to his powerful leadership position in the Fascist unions, and his hostilities to the business community, occasionally referring to industrialists as "vampires" and "profiteers". With

1716-555: The time came, it would not be difficult for a synthesis of this kind to take on the name of fascism. Many anarchists rejected the Cercle Proudhon interpretation of Proudhon's works. In the October 1st, 1913 issue of The New Freewoman , American Individualist Anarchist Benjamin Tucker argued that Cercle Proudhon purposely misrepresented Proudhon's views: Democracy is an easy mark for this new party, and it finds its chief delight in pounding

1760-411: The wings of Franco’s national syndicalist regime. An example of worker cooperatives practicing worker ownership is Mondragon's ten union/co-op principles founded in 1987, one principle is for the sovereignty of labor. "Sixty years of the Mondragon cooperative experience showcase pathways to overcoming Labor commodification through wider, deeper and more inclusive worker ownership practices". The ideology

1804-546: Was also inspired by Georges Sorel and Charles Maurras. In January 1912 the journal of Cercle Proudhon was first published, entitled Cahiers du cercle Proudhon . In the early 20th century, nationalists and syndicalists were increasingly influencing each other in Italy. From 1902 to 1910, a number of Italian revolutionary syndicalists including Arturo Labriola , Agostino Lanzillo , Angelo Oliviero Olivetti , Alceste De Ambris , Filippo Corridoni and Sergio Panunzio sought to unify

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1848-548: Was intended to win over the anarcho-syndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) to a corporatist nationalism. Ledesma's manifesto was discussed in the CNT congress of 1931. However, the National Syndicalist movement effectively emerged as a separate political tendency. Later the same year, Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista was formed, and subsequently voluntarily fused with Falange Española . In 1937 Franco forced

1892-828: Was present in Portugal with the Movimento Nacional-Sindicalista (active in the early 1930s), its leader Francisco Rolão Preto being a collaborator of Falange ideologue José Antonio Primo de Rivera . The Spanish version theory has influenced the Kataeb Party in Lebanon , the Falanga National Radical Camp in Poland and various Falangist groups in Latin America . The Unidad Falangista Montañesa maintained

1936-462: Was thus intended as a complete replacement of the liberal order. They wished to create a new world — virile, heroic, pessimistic, and puritanical — based on the sense of duty and sacrifice: a world where a morality of warriors and monks would prevail. They wanted a society dominated by a powerful avant-garde, a proletarian elite, an aristocracy of producers, joined in alliance against the decadent bourgeoisie with an intellectual youth avid for action. When

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