Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1984, 302 p.
With the activity of Sh. de Gaulle, a major statesman, and the political movement he founded, are in one way or another connected with many socio - political processes of modern French history-the resistance movement and post-war reforms, the fall of the IV republic and the collapse of the colonial empire, the formation of the V Republic and the policies of its governments until 1969. Much has been done in Soviet historiography to study the Gaullism of the" Degoll " period1 . However, the history of "Gaullism after de Gaulle" still remained poorly understood. The monograph of Associate Professor of Irkutsk University, Candidate of Historical Sciences G. N. Novikov fills this gap. It analyzes the strategy of modern Gaullism, the social composition and socio-psychological appearance of the voters who support it, the relationship between the Gaullist leadership and the French ruling class, and the organizational features of the Gaullist party.
The research is based mainly on materials collected by the author in 1978-1979 during his internship at the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. G. N. Novikov studied the archive of the Sh. de Gaulle, proceedings of the Documentation Center of the French National Endowment for Political Science. The press department of the Association in Support of the Republic (OPR) provided him with a number of party documents. The results of public opinion polls are also widely used in the work. The author conducted a written survey of Gaullist deputies and senators, revealing their attitude to Gaulism. Thus, the monograph is distinguished by the richness of the sources introduced into scientific circulation.
The main task of the author is to analyze Gaullism not only as a political party, but also as a political party.
1 Antyukhina-Moskovchenko V. I. Charles de Gaulle. 1890-1970. - New and modern History, 1971, NN 3, 4, 5, 6; Molchanov N. N. General de Gaulle. M. 1972; France. M. 1973; Fadeeva T. M. Strategy of bourgeois reformism in modern France. M. 1975; et al.
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and as a certain set of political orientations and traditions that continue to influence the political development of France (p. 8). In the course of its evolution, Gaullism passed through several stages, while experiencing the impact of the changing situation in France and the world, and the different correlation of class forces.
The research focuses on the problem of continuity in the development of Gaullism as an ideological trend and political movement. To solve this problem, G. N. Novikov examines this movement, which had a massive character in the Degoll period (1940-1969), which allowed us to make some adjustments to the estimates established in our science. The author defines" military Gaullism " of the Resistance period as a bourgeois-patriotic movement (p. 20). After the liberation of France, Gaullist ideas were rather general: national independence, a strong state, and reforms. These ideas were interpreted differently by de Gaulle's associates. Their political program was replaced by personal loyalty to the general (p. 25). After the creation of the Union of the French People (RPF), Gaullism took shape in a political movement, right-wing nationalist in its ideology. De Gaulle's supporters united around the ideological program of "authoritarian-reformist nationalism" (p. 44). The RPF's rhetoric was adapted to the needs of the majority of its members, who belonged to the petty bourgeoisie and the middle strata.
"Traditional Gaullism", the author writes, was formed in the years of the Fifth Republic. The Gaullist worldview was formed on the basis of right-wing French nationalism combined with the concept of a "strong state". At the same time, during the Degoll period, "right - wing nationalism, which had a rich tradition of mass movements, merged with state-monopoly tendencies characterized by an increasing role of the state in socio-economic processes and the activity of bourgeois reformism" (p.79). The Gaullist regime allowed the French bourgeoisie to reconstruct the party-political system and "with its help to make the transition from financial and colonial French capitalism to intensive industrial growth in a short time in the context of the scientific and technological revolution and the integration process in Western Europe" (p.81). Gaullist reformism helped overcome the retrogradism of the French ruling class. Such were the class, internal political foundations of Gaullist thought. But he also had such a side of activity as protecting national interests. The Gaullist movement helped strengthen France's position within the world capitalist system, and also deepened the crisis of Atlanticism in France.
After de Gaulle's resignation in 1969, there were clear signs of a Gaullist crisis. Among his followers, disagreements intensified, resulting mainly in the confrontation of two trends - the liberal and the authoritarian reformist. This conflict played a role in the Gaullist defeat in the 1974 presidential election. The author examines in detail two aspects of the Gaullist crisis - in the "lower classes"and in the "upper classes". The first was expressed in the weakening of Gaullist influence among the masses, the second in the breaking of ties between the Gaullists and the French bourgeoisie. The movement was brought out of a state of decline by the formation of the ODA on December 5, 1976, headed by former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. By Chirac. After the 1974 presidential election, the Gaullist party had only 30 thousand members, and at the end of 1978, the leadership of the OPR announced that its number exceeded 760 thousand people (pp. 209-210). As in the days of the RPF, the main source of the increased activity of the movement was "the reaction to the socio - economic crisis coming from the petty-bourgeois, middle strata, and rural owners" (p.217).
During the economic crisis of the 70s, the interests of the financial and industrial oligarchy and the mass of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs increasingly clashed. ODA became the mouthpiece of those layers of the ruling class that were "pushed to the wall" by the crisis, and those right-wing forces that relied on authoritarian methods of fighting the left (pp. 273-274). The current course of ODA also reflects the process of revival of neoconservatism, which is taking place in many capitalist countries in conditions of socio-economic crisis and political instability. G. N. Novikov writes :" Thanks to the existence of a renewed party, which also has a better organized structure and a larger number of people, unlike any other bourgeois group in modern France, Gaullism is even able to become more active. These benefits of ODA are attractive to the ruling class, which may very well be able to count on its own resources.-
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despite the fact that the Gaullist party will become the leader of the right-wing opposition, it will turn into something like the French equivalent of the Conservative Party of Great Britain " (pp. 276-277).
From the author's point of view, it is wrong to "identify modern Gaullism with neoconservatism in other capitalist countries" (p.275), since the opposition of conservatism and reformism in domestic politics continues in the ODA and, to a certain extent, the Gaullists ' commitment to the idea of national independence remains. However, these assessments apply only to the activities of the ODA in the second half of the 70s, when, in search of new slogans and symbols, the party called for turning Gaulism into" modern laborism " and condemned the course of V. Giscard d'Estaing to accelerate the political integration of Western Europe. Now the evolution of ODA is obvious - its rejection of the main theses of Gaullism (about the need to preserve national independence, active state intervention in the socio - economic sphere, state planning of economic activities, and the development of a system of "participation").
Recent French literature notes that ODA is "freeing itself from its past"2 and that its leadership "sent Gaullism to the museum" 3 . Chirac's party adopted the ideas of "Reaganomics" and "Thatcherism" in socio-economic policy, and the ideology of "Atlanticism" and "Europeanism" in foreign policy. The ideological reorientation of the ODA is accompanied by a change in the social composition of the party, a sharp increase in the proportion of owners among its members and supporting voters. Only a small part of the supporters of ODA remained faithful to the Gaullist doctrine. According to the French sociologist F. Portier, their views are only of "archaeological interest" 4 . Of course, much of Gaullism has become "something of a national treasure" (p. 6), but ODA can no longer be considered the guardian of the Gaullist heritage.
G. N. Novikov's work is distinguished by both a clear, well-thought-out composition, and a high level of conceptual generalizations, as well as a skillful combination of various research methods-historical, sociological, and political science. I am attracted by the systematic approach, the author's desire to cover all aspects of the structure and functioning of the Gaullist movement. An interesting study has been added to the Soviet literature on modern France.
2 Chatain J. Quand le RPR "se libere de son passe..." - Cahiers du communisme, 1984, September, p. 32.
3 Baudouin J. "Gallisme" et "chiraquisme": reflexions autour, d'un adultere. - Pouvoirs, 1984, N 28, p. 66.
4 Portier Ph. Les militants dm RPR: etude d'une federation. - Ibid., p. 113.
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