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Young Trudeau: 1919-1944: Son of Quebec, Father of Canada
This book shines a light of devastating clarity on French-Canadian society in the 1930s and 1940s, when young elites were raised to be pro-fascist, and democratic and liberal were terms of criticism. The model leaders to be admired were good Catholic dictators like Mussolini, Salazar in Portugal, Franco in Spain, and especially Pétain, collaborator with the Nazis in Vichy France. There were even demonstrations against Jews who were demonstrating against the Nazis' actions in Germany.
Trudeau, far from being the rebel that other biographers have claimed, embraced this ideology. At his elite school, Brébeuf, he was a model student, the editor of the school magazine, and admired by the staff and his fellow students. But the fascist ideas and the people he admired—even when the war was going on, as late as 1944—included extremists so terrible that at the war’s end they were shot. And then there’s his manifesto and his plan to stage a revolution against les Anglais .
This is astonishing material—and it’s all demonstrably true—based on Trudeau's personal papers that the authors were allowed to access after his death. What they have found has astounded and distressed them, but they both agree that the truth must be published.
Translated by William Johnson, this explosive book is a key part of Canadian political history.
Trudeau, far from being the rebel that other biographers have claimed, embraced this ideology. At his elite school, Brébeuf, he was a model student, the editor of the school magazine, and admired by the staff and his fellow students. But the fascist ideas and the people he admired—even when the war was going on, as late as 1944—included extremists so terrible that at the war’s end they were shot. And then there’s his manifesto and his plan to stage a revolution against les Anglais .
This is astonishing material—and it’s all demonstrably true—based on Trudeau's personal papers that the authors were allowed to access after his death. What they have found has astounded and distressed them, but they both agree that the truth must be published.
Translated by William Johnson, this explosive book is a key part of Canadian political history.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2006
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 25, 2013
Trudeau As Young Fascist!
An analytical biography of young Trudeau that successfully breaks down some of the myths behind the aura of the man. Here are some of the myths dispelled:
- Trudeau as young rebel, as recalcitrant student.
- Trudeau was very much a product of his environment. The authors paint a picture of Quebec from the 1920's thru the early 1940's. That picture is not very ennobling. The French Canadians of Quebec were sequestered within a religious-ethnic cocoon. There was little contact with the outside world with non-French and non-Catholics. Trudeau's Jesuit education was a form of religious indoctrination that led him to be a fervid French-Canadian nationalist of the time (the word today would be Quebecois). Trudeau spoke and wrote avidly of his French-Canadian national aspirations (for instance he was anti-conscription - hence rabidly despised MacKenzie King).
- The young Trudeau was also very proto-fascist, which was a good fit with the French-Canadian elite of the era who spoke well of Mussolini's fascism, Franco's Spain, and later of Petain's "rule" of Nazi occupied France (Petain's policy favouring religion and family was well received by the catholic religious leaders in Quebec). This same elite was anti-British and saw Britain's opposition to Hitler's Germany as nothing more than a trick to lure French Canadian's into another colonial war. The myopia of these leaders overlooked the blatant evil of a Nazi-dominated Europe.
It must be remembered that religion and education in Quebec at that time were closely linked - for all practical purposes Quebec was a sectarian, religious state - at least for the French Canadians. There was little contact with English Quebecers who were viewed as aliens hardly to be trusted.
The Jesuit Brebeuf school that Trudeau attended had lists of restricted authors and books. As the authors sardonically mention, the Jesuit's at Brebeuf had absorbed nothing of France after the revolution of 1789. After graduation Trudeau continued to write to them for permission to read/study some of these restricted books while at Université de Montreal. Seems like a very docile or conforming Trudeau to me - or quite different from the one encountered in the 1960-80's! So much for his "pretended" independence from authority as a young student.
Another myth dispelled with is that Trudeau "stumbled" into political life in the early 1960's. Trudeau's entire young adult life is a thorough and conscious preparation for obtaining political office and power.
There are some glimpses of the emerging leader we come to know. Even at Brebeuf school, Trudeau believed in the "supremacy of the individual," but at that time he felt the individual could best achieve full stature through a proto-fascist dictatorship - in his case a French-Canadian Catholic corporatist one.
The author's emphasize that Trudeau encapsulated Quebec society in the early 1940's. He was barely aware of the rise to power of Hitler and the start of World War II. In all the pages of notes Trudeau made of the books and courses he took - the rise of Nazism and its' threat to mankind is barely acknowledged. MacKenzie King, conscription, the evil presence of English Canada is more of a threat to Trudeau's society. Like others in French Quebec who thought the same, it was a "British-Anglo conspiracy to conscript French Canadians."
Even though Trudeau's mother was English and he himself spoke English - all Trudeau's friends were French speaking. Up to the age of 24, his education was in French speaking Quebec.
The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, does he slowly begin to realize the insularity of his little world in Quebec. Even though he took philosophy at Brebeuf, and economics at Universite de Montreal, he had never studied this standard economic text. Trudeau is starting to remove the shackles of his restricted upbringing. He definitely had the mind and the body to overcome this.
The author's use of Trudeau's manuscripts and notes on his readings is the primary interpretation of his evolving thought processes. At times, towards the second half of the book there is a certain redundancy about his restrictive Catholic upbringing. Nevertheless the authors portray well both Trudeau growing up, and the Quebec of that era.
An analytical biography of young Trudeau that successfully breaks down some of the myths behind the aura of the man. Here are some of the myths dispelled:
- Trudeau as young rebel, as recalcitrant student.
- Trudeau was very much a product of his environment. The authors paint a picture of Quebec from the 1920's thru the early 1940's. That picture is not very ennobling. The French Canadians of Quebec were sequestered within a religious-ethnic cocoon. There was little contact with the outside world with non-French and non-Catholics. Trudeau's Jesuit education was a form of religious indoctrination that led him to be a fervid French-Canadian nationalist of the time (the word today would be Quebecois). Trudeau spoke and wrote avidly of his French-Canadian national aspirations (for instance he was anti-conscription - hence rabidly despised MacKenzie King).
- The young Trudeau was also very proto-fascist, which was a good fit with the French-Canadian elite of the era who spoke well of Mussolini's fascism, Franco's Spain, and later of Petain's "rule" of Nazi occupied France (Petain's policy favouring religion and family was well received by the catholic religious leaders in Quebec). This same elite was anti-British and saw Britain's opposition to Hitler's Germany as nothing more than a trick to lure French Canadian's into another colonial war. The myopia of these leaders overlooked the blatant evil of a Nazi-dominated Europe.
It must be remembered that religion and education in Quebec at that time were closely linked - for all practical purposes Quebec was a sectarian, religious state - at least for the French Canadians. There was little contact with English Quebecers who were viewed as aliens hardly to be trusted.
The Jesuit Brebeuf school that Trudeau attended had lists of restricted authors and books. As the authors sardonically mention, the Jesuit's at Brebeuf had absorbed nothing of France after the revolution of 1789. After graduation Trudeau continued to write to them for permission to read/study some of these restricted books while at Université de Montreal. Seems like a very docile or conforming Trudeau to me - or quite different from the one encountered in the 1960-80's! So much for his "pretended" independence from authority as a young student.
Another myth dispelled with is that Trudeau "stumbled" into political life in the early 1960's. Trudeau's entire young adult life is a thorough and conscious preparation for obtaining political office and power.
There are some glimpses of the emerging leader we come to know. Even at Brebeuf school, Trudeau believed in the "supremacy of the individual," but at that time he felt the individual could best achieve full stature through a proto-fascist dictatorship - in his case a French-Canadian Catholic corporatist one.
The author's emphasize that Trudeau encapsulated Quebec society in the early 1940's. He was barely aware of the rise to power of Hitler and the start of World War II. In all the pages of notes Trudeau made of the books and courses he took - the rise of Nazism and its' threat to mankind is barely acknowledged. MacKenzie King, conscription, the evil presence of English Canada is more of a threat to Trudeau's society. Like others in French Quebec who thought the same, it was a "British-Anglo conspiracy to conscript French Canadians."
Even though Trudeau's mother was English and he himself spoke English - all Trudeau's friends were French speaking. Up to the age of 24, his education was in French speaking Quebec.
The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, does he slowly begin to realize the insularity of his little world in Quebec. Even though he took philosophy at Brebeuf, and economics at Universite de Montreal, he had never studied this standard economic text. Trudeau is starting to remove the shackles of his restricted upbringing. He definitely had the mind and the body to overcome this.
The author's use of Trudeau's manuscripts and notes on his readings is the primary interpretation of his evolving thought processes. At times, towards the second half of the book there is a certain redundancy about his restrictive Catholic upbringing. Nevertheless the authors portray well both Trudeau growing up, and the Quebec of that era.
February 3, 2008
I really wanted to look beyond the axe this book had to grind (or its "thesis", I should say) and just enjoy new Trudeau tidbits, but the self-congratulatory tone of this thing is truly objectionable. It lists a lot of shit Trudeau did when he was younger. Some of it was normal, some of it stupid, some of it genuinely dodgy. The author never seems to come to grips with the fact that everyone holds stupid opinions when they're young. Yes, it's mildly surprising that Trudeau went in for the semi-fascism of his day, I guess, and then later dropped it. Not shocking enough to merit an entire book of OMGWTFBBQ.
January 2, 2018
This was a pretty solid book especially if you're interested in PET. Although there is a good deal of speculation, the authors do a great job of providing us with a lot of missing information regarding some of the controversial views he had earlier on in his life. Whether or not those were the result of his upbringing it's still pretty intense to discover.
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November 13, 2008Shows that a bright and creative young person could indeed "hang around with terrorists" as he tests himself and his ideas against the world, and then turn out to be one of his country's greatest leaders.
February 16, 2013
Excellent and balanced book of a flawed but towering figure in Canadian history.
April 7, 2015
very good read. delves much deeper into his thinking than other biographies.
November 9, 2015
Discussed things such as Trudeau's past ideologies and his becoming of man-- a good, raw truth book!
August 13, 2021
Extraordinaire plongée dans les écrits de jeunesse de Trudeau.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews