Charles Maurras

Charles Maurras biography

Charles Maurras (1868-1952) was a French intellectual and key contributor to nationalism, particularly integral nationalism. Born in Provence, France, he grew up in a Catholic family who were strong royalists. At age 12, Maurras was left permanently deaf after falling ill. Afterwards, Maurras sought comfort by reading voraciously. He particularly enjoyed reading the works of Greek and Roman philosophers. At this point, Maurras began to divert from his Catholic upbringing and adopted a more agnostic worldview, though he continued to support the church politically.

Maurras moved to Paris at age 17 after distancing himself from his Catholic upbringing. He began engaging in literary criticism as well as poetry. Maurras co-founded the Roman School, which was a group of poets who embraced a more classical approach to poetry as opposed to symbolism.

The Dreyfus Affair in France was a turning point in Maurras' political involvement. The affair inspired Maurras' views on topics like the national interest and helped shape his anti-Semitic views. In 1899, Maurras joined Action Français, a journal that opposed the French Revolution and supported the monarchy and integral nationalism

Charles Maurras's books

Charles Maurras published numerous works beginning in 1889 with his final work published posthumously in 1966, several years after his death. Two of his most important books are Anthinea; d'Athènes à Florence (1901) and L'avenir de l'intelligence (1923).

Charles Maurras and democracy

Charles Maurras supported the hereditary monarchy and believed it was natural for some forms of inequality to exist in society. The monarchy was one of these. Maurras believed the Enlightenment had brought with it principles of liberalism and democracy, which led to the corrosion of French society.

Democracy, according to Maurras, had caused people to begin placing their own needs above the nation's. While many believed democracy improved society, Maurras argued it adversely affected individuals. Maurras believed in placing the nation above all else.

Fig. 1 - Charles Maurras was a French author, poet, and political theorist, influential in the early 20th century.

To spread his nationalist anti-democracy and anti-parliamentary ideologies, Maurras joined Action Français and became its principal leader and ideologist. Action Français was a journal and a political movement that sought to restore France to its pre-revolutionary state. This desire to return France to its supposed Golden Age made the ideologies of Action Français very backwards-looking and heavily romanticised the vision of the past. Maurras and his supporters used the journal to spread Maurres' ideas of him and his supporters to build support after the events of the Dreyfus Affair.

It was through Action Français that Maurras was able to spread his integral nationalism doctrine. The group became popular among the royalists and Catholics of France.

Charles Maurras nationalism

Charles Maurras was a staunch proponent of integral nationalism - so much so that many eventually referred to it as 'Maurrassism'. His conception of integral nationalism emerged as a counter-revolutionary response to the events of the French Revolution. Maurras believed in a strong state tasked with restoring law and order in the form of integral nationalism. He thought the French Revolution led to a state of decadence, stripping the country of the prestige it formally possessed under the reign of monarchs. For Maurras, removing the monarchy was tantamount to removing the very essence of the French state, that France's strength and unity had been compromised by the principles of the French Revolution, including its emphasis on democracy, liberty, and equality.

Maurras argued that the decline of French society and the introduction of the liberal ideas of the French Revolution were a result of the infiltration of France by outside groups. Maurras blames Protestants and Jews for bringing these ideas into France that spurred the revolution.

Fig. 2 - For Maurras, nationalism was deeply tied to the French monarchy and Catholicism, which he saw as the pillars of French national identity and societal order.

Maurras sought to re-establish a cohesive French national identity to combat the view that the country was in national decline. For this to occur, the following changes had to take place:

1. National interests had to take precedence in politics: those who threatened the good of the nation, such as Jews and protestants, were to be excluded.

2. The state and the monarchy would be one and the same; French institutions, society and culture must reflect a respect for the monarchy.

3. The Catholic Church was to play a central role in the culture of France and would serve as a tool for order in society.

In Muarras' conceptions of nationalism, the Church and the monarchy were to play principal roles. Integral nationalism has been seen in other countries like Japan and in Italy under Mussolini's regime. Some prominent features of integral nationalism include anti-individualism, militarism, chauvinism, and totalitarianism.

His integral nationalism was characterised by a strong rejection of foreign influences and a deep reverence for traditional French culture and institutions.

Charles Maurras and racism

Charles Maurras's far-right nationalist ideologies were fraught with racism and anti-Semitism, making him a controversial figure. Maurras supported the fascist Vichy regime, the French national regime that worked alongside Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Maurras viewed Jews as internal enemies of France and sought their exclusion in French society.

Maurras went so far as to make death threats against Léon Blum, the first Jewish prime minister of France, as Maurras was vehemently opposed to the idea of a Jewish prime minister. Maurras discriminated against Jews, especially after the Dreyfus affair, and he also discriminated against Protestants, Freemasons and those generally considered foreign.