Occident (movement)
Encyclopedia
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
political group, often described as fascist-leaning. A number of members of Occident later were prominent members of right-wing parties, and even obtained ministerial
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
positions. The movement never had more than 550 members.
History
Founded by Pierre SidosPierre Sidos
Pierre Sidos was a French far right political figure.Sidos' father was active in the collaborationist Milice and he was executed for his involvement. Sidos continued his father's political beliefs and became founder of the Jeune Nation after the Second World War, along with his brothers François...
in 1964, it mostly recruited university students. Occident was intensely anti-communist, but also denounced the administration of President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, making common cause with the pied-noir
Pied-noir
Pied-Noir , plural Pieds-Noirs, pronounced , is a term referring to French citizens of various origins who lived in French Algeria before independence....
s (French citizens living in the Algerian French Department, before the Algerian War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
) who accused de Gaulle of having sold them out.
On January 12, 1967, a group of Occident members attacked the Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
committees on the campus of the University of Rouen
University of Rouen
The University of Rouen is a French university, in the Academy of Rouen.-See also:* List of public universities in France by academy...
. About 20 members of Occident were arrested, including Gérard Longuet
Gérard Longuet
Gérard Longuet is a French conservative politician. On 27 February 2011, he became the new French Defense Minister.-Biography:...
, Alain Madelin
Alain Madelin
Alain Madelin is a French politician and a former minister of that country.Madelin, a strong supporter of laissez-faire economics, was a candidate in the 2002 French presidential election as the leader of the Démocratie Libérale party, where he scored 3.91% on the first round...
and Patrick Devedjian
Patrick Devedjian
Patrick Devedjian is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement party...
(all future right-wing ministers). This case fed the natural tendency of paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
of the group, with suspicions that someone had tipped off the police. Patrick Devedjian, summoned for an alleged meeting, was brutally interrogated by fellow members, including waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
in a bathtub. Devedjian escaped in the nude.
In January 1968, Roger Holeindre
Roger Holeindre
Roger Holeindre is a French politician, vice-president of the National Front far-right party. He is a representant of the “national-conservative” tendency, opposed to the “nationalist revolutionaries”...
(future vice-President of the National Front) founded the Front uni de soutien au Sud-Viêt-Nam (United Front in Support of South Vietnam) which supported the US war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
effort. Occident actively participated in this Front.
Following violent confrontations during the period of turmoil of May 1968, Occident was termed an illegal violent group and dissolved by the administration of Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
on 31 October 1968 by application of the 1936 law on combat groups and private militias. Many of Occident's former members joined newer far-right groups such as the Groupe Union Droit
Groupe Union Droit
Groupe Union Défense or Groupe Unité Défense , better known as GUD, is the name of a succession of violent French far-right student political groups. Regularly dissolved, it keeps surfacing under altered names...
(GUD) students' trade-union.
Occident and the groups that succeeded it have a Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
emblem.
Former members
Former members include:- William Abitbol (French politician).
- Dominique ChabocheDominique ChabocheDominique Chaboche was a French far-right wing politician and member of the European Parliament affiliated to the Front National....
(late National Front member) - Patrick DevedjianPatrick DevedjianPatrick Devedjian is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement party...
, (French politician) - Claude GoasguenClaude GoasguenClaude Goasguen is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the city of Paris, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-Biography:...
(deputy of the XVIth arrondissement of Paris ), - Jean-Jacques GuilletJean-Jacques GuilletJean-Jacques Guillet is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Hauts-de-Seine department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-References:...
(deputy ) - Gérard LonguetGérard LonguetGérard Longuet is a French conservative politician. On 27 February 2011, he became the new French Defense Minister.-Biography:...
(former minister, now close to François LéotardFrançois LéotardFrançois Gerard Marie Léotard is a retired French politician. The late singer and actor Philippe Léotard was his brother....
), - Alain MadelinAlain MadelinAlain Madelin is a French politician and a former minister of that country.Madelin, a strong supporter of laissez-faire economics, was a candidate in the 2002 French presidential election as the leader of the Démocratie Libérale party, where he scored 3.91% on the first round...
(French political leader), - Hervé NovelliHervé NovelliHervé Novelli is a French politician of Italian origin, and a past member of the UDF group. He was a deputé in the Assemblée Nationale for the Indre-et-Loire département from 2002 to 2007, having previously been a député from 1993-1997...
(deputy, assistant of Madelin ) - Gerald Pencionelli (director of the far-right weekly MinuteMinuteA minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units...
) - Ronald Perdomo
- Guillaume Raoult (former state secretary),
- Alain Robert
- Michel de Rostolan (National Front responsible and former deputy)
- Xavier Raufer (now criminologist).
Slogans
Its sloganSlogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
s included:
- Mort aux Bolches !
Death to the Bolshes (punPunThe pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
between bolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
and boches) - Écrasons les valets du Viêt-Cong !
Let us stomp the Viet Cong's valets! - Gauchistes, ne vous cassez pas la tête, Occident le fera pour vous.
Leftists, don't break your head [worry], Occident will do it for you. - Sortez les manches !
Get the handles out ! - Sous-développés = Sous-capables
Under-developed = Under-capable
See also
- Organisation armée secrèteOrganisation armée secrèteThe Organisation de l'armée secrète was a short-lived, French far-right nationalist militant and underground organization during the Algerian War . The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence...
(OAS, the French terrorist group against the independence of Algeria) - Politics of FrancePolitics of FranceFrance is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a pluriform, multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...