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Les Droites en France
Il n'y a pas, en France, une droite mais trois : droites légitimiste, orléaniste et bonapartiste. Énoncée par René Rémond en 1954 dans La Droite en France, cette distinction est devenue classique, et le titre du présent ouvrage prend acte de cette acceptation. Mais, depuis, la France a changé ; les familles politiques aussi. La distinction est-elle encore valable ? La division droite-gauche elle-même a-t-elle encore un sens ? Qu'en est-il de l'extrême droite ? Comment se situe le gaullisme par rapport à ces trois traditions ? Telles sont quelques-unes des questions auxquelles, dans cette étude qui se prolonge jusqu'au lendemain des présidentielles de 1981, René Rémond s'attache à répondre. Loin d'être périmée par l'actualité, sa thèse éclaire en fait le sens des événements les plus récents : en retour, leur déchiffrement projette une lumière nouvelle sur les périodes plus lointaines : l'historien est conduit à faire une lecture neuve du bonapartisme, du boulangisme et des ligues. En outre, tout un chapitre a été consacré au fascisme français et à l'examen des causes de sa faible pénétration. René Rémond, qui enseigne à l'université de Nanterre dont il a été le premier président, et à l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques, conjugue la discipline de l'historien et l'approche du politiste. Convaincu de la constance propre et de l'autonomie des faits de culture, il s'intéresse depuis longtemps à la continuité des idées politiques et aux manifestations de l'opinion publique. Les Droites en France est désormais un ouvrage classique de l'historiographie politique française.
544 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
i-get-the-picture
March 3, 2017Update: Rémond's famous and influential study (published in 1954; and then updated in 1968) identified 3 types of "Right" in France: the Ultra/Legitimists (Restoration, 1815-1830); the Orléanists (1830-1848, the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe); and the Bonapartists (Louis-Napoléon, 1851-1870).
What appears is that Rémond thus neglected the existence of an Extreme Right or Revolutionary Right in France. It is largely against Rémond, I take it, that Zeev Sternhell then wrote to establish the existence of French Fascism -- in fact, its primacy -- and that nearly all subsequent scholarship on the extreme right in France has confirmed. Thus, Rémond is dated.
One point -- while one can find roots of fascism in the earlier 19th cen. notably in the Counter-Revolutionary movements of de Maistre and others -- one should probably view fascism in France as a movement post-Sedan (1870 and later). Thus, it is not simply a matter of the Counter-Enlightenment, but *also* a product of the second wave of the Industrial Revolution.
One important side-note. Rémond connects Gaullism with Bonapartism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Ré...), and classes the National Front (of Jean-Marie Le Pen) in this group as well. This is absurd and shows the futility of Rémond's analysis. But it also explains why you will sometimes find apologists for the FN arguing that their movement is simply a sort of Gaullism for the modern age. They are harkening back to Rémond.
This, of course, is not correct. On Le Pen and the contemporary FN, see the book I recently reviewed by Cecile Alduy, and the book I am currently reading by Jean-Yves Camus, and writings of Tamir Bar-On on de Benoist and the Nouvelle Droite.
Original Review: Trying to read this in an English translation, which is terrible arch and plodding. Gives me a headache.
What appears is that Rémond thus neglected the existence of an Extreme Right or Revolutionary Right in France. It is largely against Rémond, I take it, that Zeev Sternhell then wrote to establish the existence of French Fascism -- in fact, its primacy -- and that nearly all subsequent scholarship on the extreme right in France has confirmed. Thus, Rémond is dated.
One point -- while one can find roots of fascism in the earlier 19th cen. notably in the Counter-Revolutionary movements of de Maistre and others -- one should probably view fascism in France as a movement post-Sedan (1870 and later). Thus, it is not simply a matter of the Counter-Enlightenment, but *also* a product of the second wave of the Industrial Revolution.
One important side-note. Rémond connects Gaullism with Bonapartism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Ré...), and classes the National Front (of Jean-Marie Le Pen) in this group as well. This is absurd and shows the futility of Rémond's analysis. But it also explains why you will sometimes find apologists for the FN arguing that their movement is simply a sort of Gaullism for the modern age. They are harkening back to Rémond.
This, of course, is not correct. On Le Pen and the contemporary FN, see the book I recently reviewed by Cecile Alduy, and the book I am currently reading by Jean-Yves Camus, and writings of Tamir Bar-On on de Benoist and the Nouvelle Droite.
Original Review: Trying to read this in an English translation, which is terrible arch and plodding. Gives me a headache.
March 15, 2021
Le grand classique de René Rémond, particulièrement érudit et passionnant du début à la fin. C'est en quelque sorte la bible de l'histoire politique du XIXe et XXe siècle en France, à travers le prisme de la droite, ou des droites, telles que l'auteur les définit magistralement dans cet ouvrage.
Le découpage en trois droites est peut-être obsolète aujourd'hui, mais cela ne remet pas à cause l'excellence du travail réalisé par René Rémond dans ce livre publié tout d'abord au milieu des années 1950 et a qui connu plusieurs actualisations jusqu'au début des années 1980, au moment où la droite perdait le pouvoir qu'elle détenait depuis les débuts de la Ve République.
Le découpage en trois droites est peut-être obsolète aujourd'hui, mais cela ne remet pas à cause l'excellence du travail réalisé par René Rémond dans ce livre publié tout d'abord au milieu des années 1950 et a qui connu plusieurs actualisations jusqu'au début des années 1980, au moment où la droite perdait le pouvoir qu'elle détenait depuis les débuts de la Ve République.
May 31, 2010
A must-read classical history book, where Rémond gives his now widely diffused distinction of three Rights in France, which appeared in the 19th century in reaction of the French Revolution, and have since then cristallized: legitimist (or "ultra-royalist"), orleanist (liberal) and bonapartist (in which he more or less include gaullism).
Several criticisms could of course be given to this distinction, one of the first being the tendency to underestimate or ignore the distinctive movements of far-right appeared at the end of the 19th century, either the "fascist movement" studied by Sternhell or the national-catholic movement whose links to legitimism are debatable, and which remains influent today. Where, also, would poujadism be included ? in the Bonapartist tradition?
In all cases, a classical books which give a handful frame for thinking French political history ; like all frames, it is bound to give rise to over-simplification.
Several criticisms could of course be given to this distinction, one of the first being the tendency to underestimate or ignore the distinctive movements of far-right appeared at the end of the 19th century, either the "fascist movement" studied by Sternhell or the national-catholic movement whose links to legitimism are debatable, and which remains influent today. Where, also, would poujadism be included ? in the Bonapartist tradition?
In all cases, a classical books which give a handful frame for thinking French political history ; like all frames, it is bound to give rise to over-simplification.
February 1, 2026
This intellectual history of the French right written in the 1960s is a dense work on a very niche topic, so if you don't have a fairly strong knowledge of French political history from the period in question, you're not likely to get anything out of it. For specialists and students, though, who really want to go deep into the weeds on the competing schools of thought, this will be an invaluable source.
Because of its clear chronological structure, it is easy for a reader interested in or researching a particular period, for example the July Monarchy or the late Third Republic, to do a deep dive in just that section. For those who read it all the way through, though, it can be fascinating to see the author develop his thesis that the three rival dynastic movements of the nineteenth century (Legitimist, Orleanist, and Bonapartists) were grounded in competing ideological strains of right wing thought that evolved and persisted in adapted but clearly identifiable strains. It left me wishing some professor of French intellectual history will come along and write a sequel covering 1968 to now!
Because of its clear chronological structure, it is easy for a reader interested in or researching a particular period, for example the July Monarchy or the late Third Republic, to do a deep dive in just that section. For those who read it all the way through, though, it can be fascinating to see the author develop his thesis that the three rival dynastic movements of the nineteenth century (Legitimist, Orleanist, and Bonapartists) were grounded in competing ideological strains of right wing thought that evolved and persisted in adapted but clearly identifiable strains. It left me wishing some professor of French intellectual history will come along and write a sequel covering 1968 to now!
March 28, 2019
A very quick rundown of the parties, personalities and philosophies of French politics from the time of King Louis XVIII to De Gaulle. Nothing deep, but more of a broad overview of the political landscape which covered many revolutions, paradigm shifts from Empire to Republics and back again.
October 20, 2022
For anyone who wants to understand French politics (and to a lesser extent Western European politics) this book is essential. René Rémond gives a history of the French Right from the Restoration of Louis XVIII to Charles de Gaulle.
His book is most famous for its division of the French Right into three political families: Legitimism, Orleanism, and Bonapartism. He shows their relative growth and decline over a century and a half, their main ideas, their infighting and erstwhile alliances with the Center and Left, and their frequent reinventions. The French Right has had an enormous philosophical influence on the country, even more than the Left, and certainly more than it receives credit for.
Although not a fault of the author, the book was written sixty years ago and is somewhat dated and obsolete for the 21st-century observer, at least regarding the particulars of French politics. It was also written before May 1968, for example, although my English edition has an epilogue that describes the effect it had on the French Right in the short term.
However, Rémond's description of the main lines of thought and philosophy in the French Right is still relevant and even essential if one wants to understand France and Europe today. Highly recommended.
His book is most famous for its division of the French Right into three political families: Legitimism, Orleanism, and Bonapartism. He shows their relative growth and decline over a century and a half, their main ideas, their infighting and erstwhile alliances with the Center and Left, and their frequent reinventions. The French Right has had an enormous philosophical influence on the country, even more than the Left, and certainly more than it receives credit for.
Although not a fault of the author, the book was written sixty years ago and is somewhat dated and obsolete for the 21st-century observer, at least regarding the particulars of French politics. It was also written before May 1968, for example, although my English edition has an epilogue that describes the effect it had on the French Right in the short term.
However, Rémond's description of the main lines of thought and philosophy in the French Right is still relevant and even essential if one wants to understand France and Europe today. Highly recommended.
May 27, 2013
Still relevant today.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews