La Guerre Sociale
Encyclopedia
La Guerre Sociale was an ultra-left journal appearing in France
from 1977 to 1983. It attracted controversy over its support for negationism.
The leading spirit was Dominique Blanc. He had previously been involved in the Organisation des Jeunes Travailleurs Révolutionnaires (OJTR) during the early 1970s. Originally inspired by the Situationist International, the OJTR was later influenced by left communism
. A milieu had developed around the bookshop La Vieille Taupe
which sought to reconcile the views of the German and Italian left communists. The group Le Mouvement Communiste had emerged from these circles.
In 1972 OJTR published the text Militantisme, stade suprême de l'aliénation. They also produced texts under the name Quatre Millions de Jeune Travailleurs, taking the name from a 1971 youth publication of the Parti Socialiste Unifié
- a French Socialist Party. During 1974 OJTR organised a national conference but disappeared shortly afterwards. However the text Un Monde Sans Argent emerged from the remains of the group. It was published as three pamphlets by the 'Les Amis de 4 Millions de Jeunes Travailleur' between 1975-76.
By 1976 Dominique Blanc had published a journal called King Kong International with former members of the OJTR, Le Mouvement Communiste and the milieu around La Vieille Taupe. The following year essentially the same grouping produced the first issue of La Guerre Sociale.
The text 'De l'exploitation dans les camps à l'exploitation des camps' appeared in GS#3 in 1979. This tackled the concentration camp system and its subsequent ideological use. It made extensive use of the work of Paul Rassinier
, a lifelong pacifist whose political trajectory had taken him through being a left-oppositionist, socialist deputy and by the 1950s a member of the Anarchist Federation
. He had been interned in German labour camps during the war for his resistance activities. He subsequently wrote several books challenging other accounts of the concentration camps. In the course of this he moved from scepticism about the existence of extermination camps as opposed to labour camps, to denial of the scale of the holocaust. Although GS appreciated the visceral anti-Stalinism in Rassinier's writings, such as his accusations that Communist Party
members collaborated in the functioning of the camps, they 'failed' to mention that Rassinier was equally antisemitic.
Extracts from the article were used on a wall poster titled Qui est la juif ?(Who is the Jew?), which Guerre Sociale published in defence of Robert Faurisson
, at the time an obscure professor of literature with a taste for controversy. He claimed he was being 'persecuted' for declaring that the gas chambers had not existed. Faurisson's alleged 'victimisation' by opponents of his views was compared through the title of this wall poster to the victimisation of Jews. The was the beginning of ultra-left revisionism.
The mentor of this phenomenon was Pierre Guillaume
, a former member of Socialisme ou Barbarie
and Pouvoir Ouvriere who in 1965 had founded the bookshop La Vieille Taupe. Until its closure in 1972 it provided a home to a section of the ultra-left milieu in Paris. By 1978, several years after the bookshop had closed, Guillaume became infatuated with Faurisson and revived the name La Vieille Taupe for a publishing house devoted to negationism. He soon became the principal negationist publisher in France. However although Guillaume was the messenger, La Guerre Sociale were the prime movers in disseminating Holocaust denial
amongst the French ultra-left in the early 1980s.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
from 1977 to 1983. It attracted controversy over its support for negationism.
The leading spirit was Dominique Blanc. He had previously been involved in the Organisation des Jeunes Travailleurs Révolutionnaires (OJTR) during the early 1970s. Originally inspired by the Situationist International, the OJTR was later influenced by left communism
Left communism
Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International...
. A milieu had developed around the bookshop La Vieille Taupe
La Vieille Taupe
La Vieille Taupe is a publishing house and bookshop in Paris, France. The establishment went through two distinct phases in its history. Between 1965 and 1972, it had a politically ultra left slant...
which sought to reconcile the views of the German and Italian left communists. The group Le Mouvement Communiste had emerged from these circles.
In 1972 OJTR published the text Militantisme, stade suprême de l'aliénation. They also produced texts under the name Quatre Millions de Jeune Travailleurs, taking the name from a 1971 youth publication of the Parti Socialiste Unifié
Unified Socialist Party (France)
The Unified Socialist Party was a socialist political party in France, founded on April 3, 1960. It was originally led by Édouard Depreux , and by Michel Rocard .- History :...
- a French Socialist Party. During 1974 OJTR organised a national conference but disappeared shortly afterwards. However the text Un Monde Sans Argent emerged from the remains of the group. It was published as three pamphlets by the 'Les Amis de 4 Millions de Jeunes Travailleur' between 1975-76.
By 1976 Dominique Blanc had published a journal called King Kong International with former members of the OJTR, Le Mouvement Communiste and the milieu around La Vieille Taupe. The following year essentially the same grouping produced the first issue of La Guerre Sociale.
The text 'De l'exploitation dans les camps à l'exploitation des camps' appeared in GS#3 in 1979. This tackled the concentration camp system and its subsequent ideological use. It made extensive use of the work of Paul Rassinier
Paul Rassinier
Paul Rassinier was a French pacifist, political activist, and author. He was also an anti-Nazi French Resistance fighter, and a prisoner of the German concentration camps at Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora. A journalist and editor, he wrote hundreds of articles on political and economic subjects...
, a lifelong pacifist whose political trajectory had taken him through being a left-oppositionist, socialist deputy and by the 1950s a member of the Anarchist Federation
Anarchist Federation
Anarchist Federation is the name of several organisations:*Anarchist Federation *Anarchist Federation *Anarchist Federation *Italian Anarchist Federation*Iberian Anarchist Federation...
. He had been interned in German labour camps during the war for his resistance activities. He subsequently wrote several books challenging other accounts of the concentration camps. In the course of this he moved from scepticism about the existence of extermination camps as opposed to labour camps, to denial of the scale of the holocaust. Although GS appreciated the visceral anti-Stalinism in Rassinier's writings, such as his accusations that Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
members collaborated in the functioning of the camps, they 'failed' to mention that Rassinier was equally antisemitic.
Extracts from the article were used on a wall poster titled Qui est la juif ?(Who is the Jew?), which Guerre Sociale published in defence of Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson is a French academic who is a Holocaust denier. Faurisson generated much controversy with a number of articles, published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, as well as various letters he has sent to French newspapers , which deny various aspects of the Holocaust,...
, at the time an obscure professor of literature with a taste for controversy. He claimed he was being 'persecuted' for declaring that the gas chambers had not existed. Faurisson's alleged 'victimisation' by opponents of his views was compared through the title of this wall poster to the victimisation of Jews. The was the beginning of ultra-left revisionism.
The mentor of this phenomenon was Pierre Guillaume
Pierre Guillaume
Pierre Guillaume is a French political activist. He was the founder of the Paris book shop La Vieille Taupe in 1965 and later the negationist publishing house of the same name. A former member of Socialisme ou Barbarie, he moved to Pouvoir Ouvrier with Jean-François Lyotard and P....
, a former member of Socialisme ou Barbarie
Socialisme ou Barbarie
Socialisme ou Barbarie was a French-based radical libertarian socialist group of the post-World War II period . It existed from 1948 until 1965...
and Pouvoir Ouvriere who in 1965 had founded the bookshop La Vieille Taupe. Until its closure in 1972 it provided a home to a section of the ultra-left milieu in Paris. By 1978, several years after the bookshop had closed, Guillaume became infatuated with Faurisson and revived the name La Vieille Taupe for a publishing house devoted to negationism. He soon became the principal negationist publisher in France. However although Guillaume was the messenger, La Guerre Sociale were the prime movers in disseminating Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
amongst the French ultra-left in the early 1980s.