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François de La Rocque | |
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![]() 1930s photograph of François de La Rocque | |
Born | 6 October 1885 Lorient, Brittany, France |
Died | 29 January 1970 Paris, France | (aged 84)
Cause of death | Unknown, possibly stroke |
Resting place | Lorient, Brittany |
Nationality | French |
Other names | The Colonel, Le dictateur |
Alma mater | Saint Cyr Military Academy |
Occupation | Military man, politician |
Known for | Dictator of France |
Title | Dirigeant of France |
Term | 1931-1970 |
Predecessor | (Position established) |
Successor | Jacques Doriot |
Political party | Croix-de-Feu |
François de La Rocque (French: [fʁɑ̃swa dəlaʁɔk]; 6 October 1885 – 29 January 1970) was the leader of the French from 1931, to his death in 1970, and leader of the right-wing league the Croix-de-Feu. He came to power after gaining support due to the French losing the First World War, which eventually led to a coup d'état in 1931, establishing himself under the title of Dirigeant. He is most known for starting the Second World War by invading Germany. During his time as dictator, France became a prospering nation, although many other regions suffered, with his policies of Francization and the Marcel Plan, which decimated local populations.
Early life[]
La Roque was born on 6 October 1885 in Lorient, Brittany, the third son of a family from Haute-Auvergne. His parents were General Raymond de La Rocque, commander of the artillery defending the Lorient Naval Base, and Anne Sollier.
He entered Saint Cyr Military Academy in 1905 in a class known as "Promotion la Dernière du Vieux Bahut". He graduated in 1907, during the middle of the First World War. He would became a soldier for the French Army, fighting in the Western Front, until 1909, being sent to the Italy in 1908. After he would return to Paris in late 1908, he would side with the communists during the French Civil War. Fighting in the Battle of Paris and Versailles, in which he would almost die, after a grenade fell near him. He would then be sent to the South fighting against the Republican rebels. After Philippe II would win the Civil War in 1910, he would be posted to Constantine. Staying there until 1912, where he would be sent to help Savoyan soldiers in Italy, staying there until 1915. La Rocque would remain in the army until 1927, when he resigne from the French Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Croix de Feu[]
La Rocque came from the patriotic and social Catholic movement created by Félicité Robert de Lamennais in the late 19th century. He then joined the Croix de Feu in 1929, two years after it had been formed, and took it over in 1930. He quickly transformed the veterans' league; created a paramilitary organisation (les dispos) and formed a youth organization, the Sons and Daughters of the Croix de Feu (fils et filles de Croix de Feu). He also accepted anybody who accepted the league's ideology in the Volontaires nationaux group (National Volunteers). The Great Depression made La Rocque add to its nationalist ideology a social program of defense of the national economy against foreign competition, protection of the French workforce, lower taxes, fighting speculation and criticisms of the state's influence on the economy. That was overall a vague program, and La Rocque stopped short of giving it the clearly antirepublican and fascist aspect that some National Volunteers demanded of him. During this time his popularity would increase among the country, over a thousand people would visit his rallies, during which time many began telling him to become president.
In 1930, he would also release the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto, L'avenir (''The Future''}. La Rocque gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting his ''Great French Nation'', anti-Semitism, anti-Germanism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Fascist propaganda. He frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as part of a communist conspiracy.
Prime Minister and Dirigeant[]
La Rocque would win against Pierre Laval in 1931, becoming Prime Minister of France on January 27. During this time France began to become more and more of a totalitarian state.
In the late hours November 29, he and his followers would march into a military building in Paris, picking over 9000 arms and ammunition and began their way to the Parliament building. On November 30, 1931, La Rocque and his followers burst into the French Parliament dissolving it. When news reached Philippe II about what La Rocque had done, he would sent an army of 1000 men to arrest him, most of whom were former soldiers. So when they reached him, instead of arresting him, they would join him, as they hadn't been payed in months. Then on December 5, he would overthrow the monarchy and Philippe too, exiling him. There he would establish the State of France to a crowd of ten thousand people. In 1932, during the last presidential election, the Croix de-Feu would win 99.8% of the vote, officially proclaiming himself under the new title of Dirigeant.
World War Two[]
Cold War[]
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